Jeremy Swayman Addresses Heated Bruins-Canadiens Scrap

As is often the case when the longtime rivals share the ice, things got pretty tense between the Bruins and the Canadiens on Saturday night.

A brief melee between the Original Six foes broke out with a little more than four minutes to play in the third period at Bell Centre. An ordinary swarm of bodies developed in Boston’s end after Jeremy Swayman smothered a puck, but the temperature turned up when Brendan Gallagher ripped off the Bruins goalie’s mask. Every skater on the ice found a dance partner, and it took a few minutes before play resumed.

It was a scene reminiscent of past years when the Bruins-Canadiens rivalry was more fierce. But after Boston’s 3-2 overtime loss, Swayman didn’t make much of what went down.

“I think it was a scrum,” the netminder told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Hockey play, you see it 10 times a night. So, nothing different.”

As skaters grappled with each other, Swayman looked down the ice at Canadiens goalie Sam Montembeault.

“Just letting him know I’m there,” Swayman told reporters. “If it calls for it — I’m not going to say yes or no. It didn’t happen, obviously, so there’s nothing to talk about.”

The B’s will try to get back in the win column Tuesday night when they visit the Buffalo Sabres.