Game 52: Montreal Canadiens @ Boston Bruins
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In the Canadiens region: CBC, Sportsnet E/O/P/1, Omni (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the Bruins region: NESN
Streaming: CBC Gem, ESPN+, Sportsnet+
For the first time since December 17, the Montreal Canadiens are no longer a seeded team in the Atlantic Division. With a win this afternoon, the Buffalo Sabres have moved into the third spot, and what was a threat from Buffalo to overtake the Canadiens with their recent play and especially two wins from head-to-head battles in the last two weeks, that threat is now the reality.
Montreal shouldn’t have needed any more motivation for tonight’s game versus Boston, but now they have some anyway. Already seeing one rival team pass them, the Bruins would move just one point back of the Habs with a regulation win tonight. The Habs need an effort equal to the one they had versus Boston just before the Christmas break to avoid losing another of these four-point games to a division opponent.
Needing a win, some changes have been made to the lineup. Alexandre Texier is ready to play after missing a few games with an injury, and Joe Veleno will come out of the lineup to make room for his return. On the blue line, Arber Xhekaj draws in for Jayden Struble. Nothing has changed in net from Thursday’s loss to Buffalo as Samuel Montembeault gets the call for consecutive games. He has been playing somewhat better, but tonight he needs to be a difference-maker to help the team claim a vital two points.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #20 Juraj Slafkovský |
#91 Oliver Kapanen |
#93 Ivan Demidov |
| #13 Cole Caufield |
#14 Nick Suzuki |
#85 Alexandre Texier |
| #76 Zachary Bolduc |
#71 Jake Evans |
#77 Kirby Dach |
| #17 Josh Anderson |
#24 Phillip Danault |
#11 Brendan Gallagher |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #8 Mike Matheson |
#53 Noah Dobson |
| #48 Lane Hutson |
#21 Kaiden Guhle |
| #72 Arber Xhekaj |
#45 Alexandre Carrier |
| Starter |
Backup |
| #35 Samuel Montembeault |
#75 Jakub Dobeš |
Scratched: Sammy Blais, Jayden Struble, Joe Veleno
Injured: Patrik Laine, Alex Newhook
Boston Bruins projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| Marat Khustnutdinov |
Elias Lindholm |
David Pastrnak |
| Casey Mittelstadt |
Pavel Zacha |
Viktor Arvidsson |
| Alex Steeves |
Fraser Minten |
Morgan Geekie |
| Tanner Jeannot |
Sean Kuraly |
Mark Kastelic |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| Jonathan Aspirot |
Charlie McAvoy |
| Hampus Lindholm |
Mason Lohrei |
| Nikita Zadorov |
Andrew Peeke |
| Starter |
Backup |
| Jeremy Swayman |
Joonas Korpisalo |
