Montreal and Ottawa are geographically close: about 170 km as the crow flies … a bit more if the crow still has the energy to get to the Canadian Tire Centre in suburban Kanata.
The crowd at every Canadiens visit includes a sizeable contingent of vocal Habs fans from Gatineau.
And there’s bad blood, dating back to the 2013 playoffs, when Eric Gryba destroyed Lars Eller with a crunching check.
More recent games, however, have been relatively tame.
And Canadiens fans harbor considerably more hatred for two other Atlantic Division rivals: the Bucking Fruins and, to a lesser degree, the Leafs.