Canadiens: Getting Ready For The Old Enemy
Brendan Gallagher trying to screen the Bruins goaltender - Photo credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn ImagesThe Montreal Canadiens will face the Boston Bruins at the Bell Centre on Thursday night. Contrary to recent years, the Massachusetts outfit is dead last in the Eastern Conference, even behind the poor Buffalo Sabres. While the Habs are in the thick of the playoff race, the Bruins were sellers at the deadline and even traded captain Brad Marchand for a conditional second-round pick in the 2027 draft.
The Bruins have lost their last six games and are 1-8-1 in their last ten, while the Canadiens have bounced back after a tough stretch with two consecutive wins against the defending Stanley Cup Champions Florida Panthers and are 4-3-3 in their last ten matches.
The Bruins have won the first two meetings between the two sides this season, 6-4 in October and 6-3 in December, and nine of the last 10 duels. The Canadiens only had an optional skate on Wednesday, so it’s too early to know if there will be any lineup changes. Still, the club announced that Oliver Kapanen would report to Montreal rather than Laval, and considering how little ice time Michael Pezzetta had had in the last two games, it wouldn’t be surprising if the new arrival was asked to take over. We’ll probably know more after Thursday’s morning skate.
While there’s no confirmation yet about the identity of Martin St-Louis’ starting netminder, it would be surprising to see Jakub Dobes in net, Samuel Montembeault is the likely starter. He has a 2-6-1 record against the Bruins, with a 4.16 goals-against average and a .876 save percentage, while Dobes has never played them.
The Canadiens will need to keep a close eye on David Pastrnak - Photo credit: Natalie Reid-Imagn Images At the other end of the ice, the Canadiens have never beaten Jeremy Swayman in regulation; he has a 9-0-1 record against them with a .900 SP and a 2.69 GAA. As for backup Jonas Korpisalo, he also has a solid 8-2-0 record against the Habs, with a .916 SP and a 2.49 GAA. Whoever starts will present a challenge for the Sainte-Flanelle.
Brendan Gallagher is the Canadiens’ most productive player against the Bruins, with 28 points in 42 games. Patrik Laine is next with 12 points in 15 games, and Josh Anderson is third with 12 points in 19 games. Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield had two points in the last game against the Bruins and will be hoping to pick up where they left off.
For Boston, David Pastrnak will be looking for his 50th point against the Habs since he has 49 in just 31 games. Elias Lindholm is in second place with 24 points in 34 games, while Charlie McAvoy has 16 in 23.
The game is set to start at 7:00 PM and will be one of nine games on the schedule with playoffs race rivals Columbus Blue Jackets also being in action against the Colorado Avalanche.
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