Game 2: Montreal Canadiens @ Boston Bruins
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Bruins region: NESN
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
A night after a tough opening game versus the Toronto Maple Leafs that saw Samuel Montembeault tested 48 times, the Canadiens are back on the ice to play the Boston Bruins. The Bruins also experienced a rough first game of the year, but it resulted in a loss, and you have to expect they’ll want to come out stronger tonight.
The same can be said of the members of the Canadiens’ top six, who spent more time than they would have wanted in their own zone last night. The trio of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Juraj Slafkovský wasn’t able to generate much in the way of offence at five-on-five (though Caufield did score on the power play). Kirby Dach showed a bit of rust after not playing for about a full calendar year. but in his brief time with the Habs has looked his best with the Bruins on the opposite side of the ice, so tonight could be a much different story for centreman.
Our Patrik Bexell predicted that Oliver Kapanen would be in the running to claim a roster spot this season, and tonight he makes his NHL debut next to Jake Evans and Brendan Gallagher. He looked very good in training camp, especially in the first few games, and now we’ll find out how that translates to the meaningful matches.
On paper, the Bruins’ lineup isn’t a scary one, but they do have an established system of play that seems to hold fast no matter which players are in the fold. Montreal’s structure is still a work in progress under Martin St-Louis, and the difference in tactics could end up being the difference in tonight’s game if the Canadiens can’t outscore their growing pains.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #13 Cole Caufield |
#14 Nick Suzuki |
#20 Juraj Slafkovský |
| #35 Alex Newhook |
#77 Kirby Dach |
#40 Joel Armia |
| #11 Brendan Gallagher |
#71 Jake Evans |
#91 Oliver Kapanen |
| #27 Alex Barré-Boulet |
#28 Christian Dvorak |
#17 Josh Anderson |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #8 Mike Matheson |
#21 Kaiden Guhle |
| #48 Lane Hutson |
#58 David Savard |
| #72 Arber Xhekaj |
#52 Justin Barron |
| Starter |
Backup |
| #30 Cayden Primeau |
#35 Samuel Montembeault |
Boston Bruins projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| Pavel Zacha |
Elias Lindholm |
David Pastrnak |
| Brad Marchand |
Charlie Coyle |
Morgan Geekie |
| Riley Tufte |
Trent Frederic |
Judtin Brazeau |
| John Beecher |
Mark Kastelic |
Cole Koepke |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| Nikita Zadorov |
Charlie McAvoy |
| Hampus Lindholm |
Brandon Carlo |
| Parker Wotherspoon |
Andrew Peeke |
| Starter |
Backup |
| Jeremy Swayman |
Joonas Korpisalo |
