Game Thread: Habs host Bruins
The Boston Bruins, at the Bell Centre on a Saturday night. For fans of the Montreal Canadiens, it can't get much better that this... Well a guaranteed win would be the topper and put the Habs just a game below .500 to close out October.
The two teams square off for the second straight game, after the Habs squeaked out a 2-1 win on Thursday.
Jacques Martin had no line changes in the morning skate, and will start Carey Price in goal. Price is 4-0 in his last four regular season home games against the B's, posting a 1.73 GAA.
Noticeably absent this morning was Aaron Palushaj. The team confirmed shortly after that they had sent the forward back to the Hamilton Bulldogs. He'll likely catch up with Louis Leblanc and the rest of 'Dogs in Albany, NY, where they play the Devils tonight.
Tonight is the Canadiens 3100th home game. Red Fisher has seen 'em all. Mathieu Darche plays in his 200th NHL game.
A rematch between P.K. Subban and Brad Marchand? Let's hope not.
Ex-Habs and current Bruins forward Benoit Pouliot is reportedly ill and did not make the trip to Montreal. Tuukka Rask gets the start in goal for the Bruins
Claude Julien has shuffled his lines in attempt to get the Bruins back on track. According to TSN's John Lu, the Bruins coach has also mixed up his defense pairings since their Friday practice.
Meanwhile, ESPN reports that Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli is working the phones, as the defending champs continue their playoff hangover. "I haven't liked what I've seen on the ice," Chiarelli said. "..and I really didn't like Thursday night." Rask, David Krejci, and Johnny Boychuk have been named in possible deals with the Calgary Flames or the Phoenix Coyotes.
ESPN also reported that Bruins forward Tyler Seguin has a congenital hip condition. NECN's Joe Haggerty reported this afternoon that Seguin has dismissed the claims. "I’ve heard there was a story out there about my hip. I can say that I’m 100 percent healthy," Seguin said in the report.. "Anything about my hip is really false."
Puck drops just after the 7pm hour. Hopefully our parent company (SBN) does not go on overload tonight.
PROJECTED MONTREAL CANADIENS LINEUP
Forwards
Travis Moen - Tomas Plekanec - Brian Gionta
Andrei Kostitsyn - Lars Eller - Max Pacioretty
Mike Cammalleri - David Desharnais - Erik Cole
Mike Blunden - Petteri Nokelainen - Mathieu Darche
Defense Pairings
Josh Gorges - P.K. Subban
Jaroslav Spacek - Yannick Weber
Goalies
BOSTON BRUINS PROJECTED LINEUP
Forwards
Milan Lucic - David Krejci - Nathan Horton
Jordan Caron - Chris Kelly - Rich Peverley
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Tyler Seguin
Daniel Paille - Gregory Campbell - Shawn Thornton
Defense Pairings
Zdeno Chara - Dennis Seidenberg
Andrew Ference - Johnny Boychuk
Goaltenders
The loud mouth chattah at Stanley Cup of Chowder