Game 18: Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In Canada: CityTV, Sportsnet East (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the Bruins region: NESN
Streaming: ESPN+, Sportsnet+
The Montreal Canadiens didn’t play as poorly on Thursday as the scoreline indicated, but 7-0 is still a demoralizing loss for a team, especially one that now has two goaltenders not playing at their best, a top-six winger out long-term, and a top-four defenceman facing a longer recovery than originally expected. Seeing Alex Newhook taken out of commission for four months was the biggest loss in the game, one that will prevent the Habs from playing at the same offensive level we had seen through the first 15 games.
Montreal did win the scoring-chance battle versus the Dallas Stars despite some major defensive breakdowns. The problem is that the lack of offence over the past couple of games led the team to try to force the puck into the net when they did opt to end their long strings of passes in the offensive zone, seeing many of those shots going wide, and putting themselves out of position to be ready for counter-attacks. The Stars scored on better than one-third of their shots, and many of the 19 they did receive came with little resistance from a scrambling Habs defence.
It’s a bad state to be in as the Canadiens welcome in a rival Boston Bruins team they have had a hard time beating recently. Montreal’s win in their final meeting last season ended a five-game losing streak versus Boston, and the previous win back in November of 2023 snapped a 10-game run by the Bruins. Given how close all the teams are in the Eastern Conference and the proximity of the two teams in the standings, this four-game season series could have significant implications on the playoff picture.
Tale of the Tape
| Canadiens | Statistics | Bruins |
|---|---|---|
| 10-5-2 | Record | 11-8-0 |
| 49.2% (17th) | Expected-goal share | 46.1% (26th) |
| 3.41 (6th) | Goals per game | 3.37 (7th) |
| 3.41 (25th) | Goals against per game | 3.37 (24th) |
| 24.5% (8th) | PP% | 25.8% (6th) |
| 79.3% (17th) | PK% | 80.3% (16th) |
| 1-2-0 | Head-to-Head Record (24-25) | 2-1-0 |
| Cole Caufield (12) | Most goals | Morgan Geekie (12) |
| Nick Suzuki (16) | Most assists | Charlie McAvoy (14) |
| Nick Suzuki (20) | Most points | David Pastrnak (24) |
Montreal and Boston have similar records to begin the year and sit on the same 22 points, though the Bruins have needed to play two more games to get to that total. The difference is that the Canadiens started the season off strong out of the gate and have cooled off the last few games, while the Bruins have won eight of their last 10 matches.
They also have very similar stats, ranking within no more than a couple of places of one another in offence, defence, and special teams, leaving little to separate them in any aspect of the game. Each club allows more goals that it would like but has been able to outscore those issues so far, and accomplishes something similar in odd-man situations.
As ever, David Pastrnak remains the most dangerous player on the roster, with 24 points as well as 19 during a 10-game point streak versus Montreal. However, Morgan Geekie is really coming into his own in his sixth full season in the NHL, continuing a steady rise in his production by scoring at just about a point-per-game pace this season. Geekie has been kept off the scoresheet one time since October 21 and only two of his team-leading 12 goals have come on the power play. That top line of Geekie, Pastrnak, and Murat Khusnutdinov at centre is one the Habs will need to pay the most attention to if they hope to prevent the Bruins from leaping over them in the standings in this four-point-swing game.
