The Bruins see the Canadiens often enough in both the regular season and the playoffs, but the regular season is starting to show that it would be a shame if the two weren’t brought together once again in mid-April. 

The Bruins had faced the hated Canadiens three times this season entering Wednesday night and wound up frustrated after each contest (0-2-1). After the teams’ fourth meeting, there can’t be many people hoping the two teams aren’t limited to seeing each other just twice more this season. 

If the season were to end after Wednesday night’s games, the third-seeded Bruins would face the No. 6 Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs. Based on the last two games between the teams (the first of which saw the Canadiens winning in overtime after trailing 2-0 with 2:22 to play in regulation), it’s hard to see how the 2010-11 edition of the rivalry wouldn’t be perfect for the spring.

There wasn’t much that Wednesday’s penalty-minute-filled 8-6 Bruins victory (recap) didn’t feature. Teams that have relied upon strong goaltending saw Carey Price and Tim Thomas allow eight and six goals, respectively, and even square off in a short-lived goalie fight that ended with the two smiling and patting one another on the back. Perhaps most shocking is that both goaltenders stayed in the whole game without being yanked despite the back and forth, high-scoring nature of the contest. 

“A win like that had to be entertaining for the fans," Thomas said after the game. "It was a weird one to be in. I didn't expect that. I don't think anybody saw that coming.“

While a matchup of Thomas and Price against one another in the first round of the playoffs would be interesting given the importance of playoff goaltending, there was enough shown Wednesday from the rest of the rosters to suggest the intrigue goes well beyond the pipes. 

Watching the play that ultimately resulted in the second-period goalie fight (and the scene of crowded penalty boxes) afterward was telling of just how much these teams are waiting for something to set them off. When Brad Marchand hit James Wisniewski after he touched up on an icing, each skater on the ice found a partner, and by the end of it, Marchand, Zdeno Chara, Steven Kampfer, Mark Recchi, Patrice Bergeron and Shawn Thornton (serving Thomas’ penalty) were in the box for the B’s. 

“It just shows that both teams were playing hard,” Kampfer said after the game. “Marchand goes in on the forecheck there and hits the guy after the whistle, but it just shows that guys in this locker room, we're going to stick up for each other.”

Wednesday was the latest sign that here’s a new pair of Habs players for the B’s fans to target as villains, as ultra-pest P.K. Subban and Connecticut native Max Pacioretty have emerged as both problems for the Bruins and popular guys when things get chippy between the two teams. 

Pacioretty, who scored the game-winner in overtime on Dec. 16 before setting off some fireworks with Zdeno Chara, scored two goals for the Habs on Wednesday. In the aforementioned second-period incident, the former University of Michigan Wolverine jumped his college teammate in Kampfer, which accelerated the process of other players getting involved and Thomas eventually taking exception to Price’s contribution.

“I wasn't expected to get jumped from behind there,” Kampfer, who has never had a fighting major and had his opportunity with Wisniewski, said. “I think Zee saw him out of the corner of his eye and grabbed me before he got in there. I just tried to tie up Wisniewski there. We threw a couple at each other and then both decided that it was enough. We were either going to get five and tossed or twos.”

Then there’s Subban. A series worth of yapping between the rookie and Milan Lucic, Nathan Horton, Brad Marchand and others would be golden for Bruins fans.

The scene of the six Bruins crammed in the penalty box is something fans shouldn’t count on seeing again, especially in a playoff scenario. Yet while the individual aspects of Wednesday don’t exactly translate to playoff hockey, the intensity between the two teams was unmistakable.

“It was just old time hockey really, going end end-to-end and scrapping it out,” Price said following the game. “It was actually pretty fun to play in; it is just that the end result was not what we were looking for.”

The last time the Bruins played the Canadiens in the first round, they swept the Habs in four games back in 2009. Should the teams meet again this spring, it promises to be a little more interesting.