Montreal Canadiens thump Boston Bruins 6-2 in fight-filled affair

Montreal Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj (72) fights Boston Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov (91) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, in Boston. (Charles Krupa/AP Photo)

BOSTON (AP) — Zachary Bolduc scored to give the Canadiens the lead as Montreal scored four goals in a five-minute span to snap a third-period tie and run away from the Boston Bruins 6-2 on Tuesday night.

Sammy Blais, Ivan Demidov, Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky also scored for Montreal. Jacob Fowler stopped 26 shots for the Canadiens in a game that started with fisticuffs but ended with the Bruins going down meekly.

Marat Khusnutdinov and Alex Steeves scored in the first period to give Boston a 2-1 lead, but Demidov tied it two minutes into the second when he swept in to steal a bad pass from Nikita Zadorov to David Pastrnak and skated in on Jeremy Swayman for the goal.

• Philip Danault: back home with the Canadiens and in good spirits

The Bruins had a goal waved off in the final seconds of the second period and it was still 2-2 when Zadorov broke his stick while trying to clear the zone and left the puck for Bolduc.

The Canadiens winger passed the puck and then followed up to knock home a rebound to make it 3-2. Caufield scored on a power play 99 seconds later, and Suzuki scored with a two-man advantage.

Swayman stopped 23 shots for the Bruins.

Boston killed a four-minute power play when Steeves was sent off for a high-sticking double minor late in the second, and then appeared to take the lead with 5 seconds left in the period, but Elias Lindholm’s goal after a scramble in the crease was waved off for goaltender interference.

Up next

The Canadiens face Tampa Bay on Sunday.

The Bruins visit Buffalo on Saturday.

Jimmy Golen, The Associated Press