After taking on the New York Rangers yesterday, the Montreal Canadiens will be playing the Boston Bruins for a second time this season this afternoon.
If Samuel Montembeault had a chance to bounce back against the New York Rangers yesterday, this afternoon, it will be Cayden Primeau's turn to chase redemption against the Boston Bruins. Last month, he was on duty when the Massachusetts outfit beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-4.
The first round took place on day two of the season, and coming off a 1-0 season opener win against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Habs met their match in Boston with Primeau surrendering six goals on 29 shots.
That first meeting was a good game for Brendan Gallagher who scored a pair of goals, including the first one of the game. Lane Hutson, Joel Armia and Kaiden Guhle all had two-point nights as well and Cole Caufield scored his second goal in as many games.
Things have changed since then though, Jim Montgomery is no longer behind the locals' bench and Joe Sacco is doing his best to get the perennial contenders back on track, but the scoring drought scorer David Pastrnak is experiencing is certainly not helping, but he did at least get three assists against the New York Islanders on Thursday.
Even if he is struggling to put up points, he still leads the Bruins with 22 points in 24 games. Veteran left winger Brad Marchand is second with 17 points and off-season signing center Elias Lindholm has 13 points, including just three goals.
What's more worrying for the Bruins and GM Don Sweeney however is Jeremy Swayman's performance. Last season, Boston had arguably the best goaltender tandem in the league, Linus Ullmark and Swayman were pushing each other and exceling.
This Summer, they promptly traded Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators because they couldn't afford to keep both netminders, and they went through tough negotiations with the last man standing Swayman. In the end, he held out until Oct. 6 to sign an eight-year pact with an $8.25 M cap hit. So far this season, he has an 6-9-2 record with a 3.09 goals-against average and a .892 save percentage. Last season he had a 25-10-8 record, a 2.53 GAA and a .916 SP.
Thankfully, Jonas Korpisalo who was acquired in return for Ullmark is having a good season with a 5-2-1 record, a 2.45 GAA and a .907 SP. The identity of this afternoon's starter is not yet known but both goalies have a winning record against the Canadiens. Swaymen is 8-0-1 with a 2.65 GAA and a .901 SP, while Korpisalo is 8-2-0 with a 2.49 GAA and a .916 SP.
As for the Canadiens' starter, Primeau has played the Bruins twice but only started one game, he's lost the only verdict he was involved in, has a 6.18 GAA and a .800 GAA. Montembeault, who will be acting as backup today is 2-6-1 against Boston with a 4.16 GAA and a .876. Neither goaltenders have fared very well against the hosts.
Gallagher is the Canadiens best scorer against Boston with 28 points in 41 games. Juraj Slafkovsky has four points in five duels while Nick Suzuki has nine points in 16 tilts and Caufield has three points in eight matches. Speaking of the sniper, he'll be looking to score in a fourth consecutive game.
On the other side, the aforementioned Pastrnak has got 40 points in 30 contest against the Habs and will surely be hoping to keep dominating against the Bruins bitter rivals. Brad Marchard has also been a big Canadiens' tormentor in the past with 48 points in 55 games while free agent Summer signing Elias Lindholm has 24 points in 33 duels.
This afternoon's tilt will be the second of three meetings between the two sides this season, the last one being set for April 3 in Montreal. The hosts have won nine of the last 10 meetings, with the Canadiens' last win dating back to Nov. 11, 2023 in Montreal.
The game is scheduled for 3:00 PM and it will be interesting to see if the Canadiens' energy level stays as high as it did in Columbus after a second game in as many days, especially since the loss against the Rangers was a real punch to the gut yesterday. It's worth noting that there will be a Centennial celebration ceremony at 3:00 PM, but that the puck drop is actually set for 4:00 PM.
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