The Boston Bruins will look to enter their mid-season bye week break on a high, and with four games in just six days, beginning with Monday’s meeting against the Montreal Canadiens.
“We definitely talked about that — making sure it’s a big week for us,” Bruins center Patrice Bergeron said when asked of the team’s task at hand this week. “We’re playing some good teams and we’ve been playing some good hockey, so carry that over and keep that going and hopefully feeling good going into the break.”
Bruins netminder Tuukka Rask gets the call in net. Rask was brilliant in Toronto on Saturday, stopping 30-of-32 shots thrown his way, and really earning the final two points in what was a relentless final seven minutes of play behind enemy lines. Rask comes into play riding a five-game winning streak, with a .955 save percentage over that span, and has captured victories in seven of his last eight head-to-heads with the Canadiens.
The Canadiens counter with Carey Price. The veteran Price stopped all 28 shots thrown his way in a shutout victory over the Avalanche on Saturday, and holds a 25-13-5 record and .922 save percentage in 44 career meetings against the Bruins.
Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy will keep his lineup the same, meaning defenseman John Moore, who has recorded two goals and nine points in 41 games to date this season, will once again be the odd man out on the backend.
As a fun aside, the Bruins will wear their 2019 NHL Winter Classic jerseys for tonight’s game. Given the fact that they’re going against the Canadiens, too, this one should be a dream from a visual standpoint.
This will be the final 2018-19 meeting between these century-long rivals.
Here are the complete lines and pairings for the Bruins…
Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk – David Krejci – David Backes
Danton Heinen – Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson – Ryan Donato
Sean Kuraly – Noel Acciari – Chris Wagner
Zdeno Chara – Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug – Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk – Kevan Miller
Tuukka Rask