The Montreal Canadiens won their home-and-home battle with the New York Islanders, with victories of 3-1 and 6-3 on Wednesday and Friday, respectively. But those results came at the expense of rookies Victor Mete and Charles Hudon, who both sustained hand injuries during the series, as well as captain Max Pacioretty, who flew home to be evaluated after being unable to suffer through a lower-body injury in the third period of last night’s game.
With players getting healthy around the time of the trade deadline, the Canadiens have enough bodies to make up the losses at forward, as Nicolas Deslauriers and Logan Shaw draw back in after sitting out Friday night’s game. The team had fewer options available on defence, bringing about the recall of Rinat Valiev from the Laval Rocket of the AHL. The former Toronto Marlies blue-liner won’t be playing into tonight’s game, however, instead taking Jordie Benn’s spot on the sidelines.
The Boston Bruins are dealing with a significant injury as well, one that has forced superstar centre Patrice Bergeron out of the lineup, and off what was perhaps the best line in the NHL. Riley Nash has stepped into his spot between Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, and the newly-appointed top-line centre has responded with back-to-back two-point performances, with a goal and an assist in each of his last two games.
Nash’s goal was just one of eight the Bruins put on the board in Thursday’s meeting with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Antti Niemi will be called upon early and often, and will have to have his best game of the season if the Habs are going to get a win versus the Bruins in their last chance to do so this year.
Puck drop is at 5:00 PM EST / 2:00 PM PST
How to watch
In Canada: Sportsnet, Sportsnet Now (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the Bruins region: NESN
Elsewhere: NHL.tv/NHL GameCentre Live, NHL Center Ice
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Nikita Scherbak | Phillip Danault | Artturi Lehkonen |
| Alex Galchenyuk | Jonathan Drouin | Brendan Gallagher |
| Paul Byron | Jacob de la Rose | Logan Shaw |
| Nicolas Deslauriers | Byron Froese | Andrew Shaw |
Defence
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| Jordie Benn | Jeff Petry |
| Karl Alzner | Noah Juulsen |
| Mike Reilly | David Schlemko |
Goaltenders
| Goaltenders |
|---|
| Antti Niemi |
| Charlie Lindgren |
Scratched: Daniel Carr, Rinat Valiev
Injured: Ales Hemsky (concussion), Charles Hudon (hand), Victor Mete (hand), Max Pacioretty (lower body) Carey Price (concussion), Shea Weber (foot)
Boston Bruins projected lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Brad Marchand | Riley Nash | David Pastrnak |
| Jake DeBrusk | David Krejci | Rick Nash |
| Tommy Wingels | David Backes | Brian Gionta |
| Tim Schaller | Sean Kuraly | Noel Acciari |
Defence
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| Zdeno Chara | Charlie McAvoy |
| Torey Krug | Kevan Miller |
| Nick Holden | Brandon Carlo |
Goaltenders
| Goaltenders |
|---|
| Tuukka Rask |
| Anton Khudobin |
Injured: Patrice Bergeron, Anders Bjork, Matt Grzelcyk
