The season series has been split, 2-2, thus far, and all but one of the games have been decided by one goal (the other game, decided by two, featured an empty-netter). The teams are less than a year removed an incident involving a criminal investigation and a thrilling playoff series that was settled in overtime of Game 7. 

Yet it seems the Bruins-Canadiens rivalry has been awfully tame this season. Maybe even – by comparison – a little boring. 

Last season's February 9 meeting between the two teams featured six fights in the third period alone. In four games this season, the teams have fought just twice. 

When considering all of the attention that's still being paid to the Bruins-Canucks meeting from last weekend, the two rivarlies don't even compare. Yes, the B's and Canucks are a different story because the Cup raises emotions to another level, but think of last season. Think of the beautiful hip check P.K. Subban put on Brad Marchand. Think of all four installments of the Max Pacioretty saga (the shove on Zdeno Chara, jumping Steve Kampfer, the infamous shove from Chara, and the Marchand tweet). Even Tim Thomas and Carey Price fought last season. 

The team's first meeting this season featured some entertaining stuff from Marchand and Subban when the two tried time and time again to fight, but the rivalry hasn't been anything near what it usually is, and what the one with the Canucks has been. Since all of the B’s-Habs drama of last season, the Bruins have found a new team to despise, and Boston has found another group of fans and writers to disagree with.

Yet Canadian rivals might be like friends. The Bruins have made a new one, but there’s no doubt they’ll keep the old.

"I guess you could say it's a little bit overshadowed by the other one, especially because the Vancouver game wasn't so long ago," B's forward Milan Lucic said of the Bruins-Canadiens rivalry after Wednesday's practice. "But this one has more history than any other one in the NHL, and I think that's what makes this one so special."

One reason the rivalry isn't quite as exciting this season is the fact that the Canadiens simply haven't been a good team this season. The Habs have won two of their last three games, but are only 3-8-0 in their last 11 contests. They're in last place in the Northeast Division with just 39 points and are 12th in the Conference. Think of it this way: Aside from the Hab's sweep of a home-and-home with the B's in October, the Candiens have 14 other wins this season. The Bruins knocked out 14 wins in the 15 games that followed those meetings. 

Still, the Canadiens do present a challenge for the Bruins. Not only do they have one of the league's best goaltenders in Price (put better defensemen in front of him and the numbers would show that more), but they play the B's tight every time they meet. The Bruins have won both contests against Montreal since dropping both games of the aforementioned home-and-home, but it took a Tim Thomas shutout to do so on Nov. 21 (a 1-0 B's win), and they just held off the Habs in a 3-2 victory on Dec. 19. 

"They come at you well," Claude Julien said Wednesday of the Habs. "The one thing that they seem to do is give us good games all the time, just like certain teams match up better against others. I think they feel confident when they play against us, and they play a style that gives us some issues. We have to really battle hard to beat those guys.”

Then there’s the media aspect. Admittedly, the Boston media wouldn’t be doing its job if it chose to make this week about the Canadiens rather than continuing to sift through all everything with the Canucks from this weekend.

Then on the Montreal end, they obviously have bigger fish to fry. Reporters are having a tough time dealing with the team’s new coach, Randy Cunneyworth, based on the fact that Cunneyworth does not speak French. With Boston focused on Vancouver and Montreal focused on Montreal, there hasn’t been much time for the two sides to focus on one another. 

Maybe Thursday can be a turning point for the rivalry this season. For the Bruins, games have become predictable, and many opponents have struggled to keep up. Saturday’s game against the Canucks provided both a skill level that matched the Bruins and hatred being displayed at its finest.

That sort of thing is what the Bruins have come to expect from the Canadiens, and while the two teams have played close games once again this season, the two cities are still awaiting the fireworks. With only two meetings left between the two teams in the regular season and a postseason matchup unlikely, they couldn’t come sooner.