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Sunday was quite busy for the NHL. An abbreviated schedule has its perks. Hockey was wall to wall. Among the big matches were two that we had our eye on. The first game of the day featured classic Original Six rivals Chicago and Detroit at The Joe on NBC. They didn’t disappoint.

The Blackhawks were looking to extend their record streak to 22 games with at least a point at the season’s start. The Red Wings wanted to put an end to it on NBC. It was a playoff atmosphere on the ice and in the stands. What you got was a hotly contested game that lived up to the hype. There have been some great ones already, including Pittsburgh edging Montreal 7-6 the previous night on Hockey Night In Canada. Oddly enough, the Les Habitants weren’t done raising the level in a 4-3 win over arch enemy Boston last night.

Back to Hawks/Wings. It was the play of goalies Corey Crawford and Jimmy Howard that stole the show. Each was impenetrable. They took turns making splendid saves to keep the game scoreless through two. Finally, a goal was scored when Joakim Andersson set up Tomas Tatar (Tah-tah) for a 1-0 lead at 2:43 of the third. It looked like it would hold up. Detroit played strong defensively, blocking shots and intercepting passes to keep the high powered Chicago offense at bay.

The Wings came close to making it a two-goal lead. But Crawford would have none of it. His clutch stops allowed his team a chance to come back. They did it with help from Detroit. Defenseman Jonathan Ericsson took a delay of game penalty with less than three minutes left. Patrick Kane made him pay. He has been money this year. Just as the Wings were about to clear the puck, Viktor Stalberg deflected it right to Kane who beat Howard with a laser- tying it 1-1 with 2:02 left. Amazing.

Even crazier, Niklas Kronwall took an identical delay of game minor 62 seconds after Ericsson. A game they had nearly became a regulation defeat. Howard got them to overtime. Neither side was able to score, taking it to a shootout. Kane scored the only goal, patiently out waiting Howard before scoring in Round Two. Crawford denied Pavel Datsyuk, Damien Brunner and Henrik Zetterberg to push Chicago to 19-0-3. As lethal a trio as there is in the skill competition and no one beat him. Simply Crawesome.

The Blackhawks already have 41 points. They’re nine points better than East-leading Montreal and Pacific leader Anaheim. In one of the toughest divisions in hockey, they lead St. Louis and Detroit by 17. Nashville trails by 18 and poor Columbus is 25 behind. Two more games and that’s half of 48. They next play host to Minnesota tomorrow and Colorado Wednesday.

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Habs rule in Boston: Nobody expected the Canadiens to be this good. A change in GM and coach has turned it around in Montreal. Most including myself chuckled at Michel Therrien returning to coach the Habs. Well, who’s laughing now? Therrien has done an outstanding job with a mostly young club that features rookies Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher.

The Canadiens are much grittier thanks to key additions Brandon Prust and Colby Armstrong. There is something to be said for team toughness. Prust battled Milan Lucic again as he had when he wore the Blueshirt. He took on the meanest power forward and fought to a draw. Afterwards, Therrien heaped praise on Prust by referencing his leadership.

“Obviously it’s fun in rivalries. Those are always the best games,” Prust said about the epic battle between Montreal and Boston. “There’s a lot of energy in here. They are fun game and the rivalry is kind of ignited again.”

A game that featured seven combined goals and a couple of lengthy scraps was the latest installment of Habs/Bruins. First place in the East was up for grabs and it showed. The intense hatred they have for one another is what makes this classic rivalry one of the best. There’s history with Zdeno Chara and Max Pacioretty. They didn’t go at it yesterday. Pacioretty chipped in offensively with a goal and helper that decided it in the third. Chara was too busy going after Alexei Emelin following a nasty hit of fallen teammate Tyler Seguin.

“The guy just broke his stick cross-checking Tyler and when he went down, I was just reacting to it,” explained the Boston captain. “He’s one of our best players and I’m not going to just watch him getting crushed like that.”

It was epic. Once Emelin knocked down Seguin, Chara sought out Emelin and proceeded to pummel him. Emelin stood in there against the Slovak tower.

The Bruins got big games from Patrice Bergeron (1-2-3) and Brad Marchand (3 assists). But it wasn’t enough to beat Montreal backup Peter Budaj (31 saves). This isn’t a misprint. Therrien really got away with winning with PETER BUDAJ. Carey Price went against the Pens. Budaj made a big stop at the end to backstop the Habs to the win.

David Desharnais tallied twice, including the game-winner. Gallagher tallied two assists and Tomas Plekanec lit the lamp. On the Boston side, rookie defenseman Dougie Hamilton notched his third. What a player he already is. The final piece of the Phil Kessel trade that also landed Seguin, who had a goal and helper.

The rematch is near the end of the month at TD Garden on 3/27. Don’t you dare miss it.