BRUINS AT CANADIENS
Bell Centre, Saturday, 7 p.m., Sportsnet, TVA Sports, TSN Radio 690
The matchup: One of the longest and most bitter rivalries in the NHL resumes with the Bruins hoping to avenge a 4-2 loss at TD Garden on Oct. 10. The Canadiens have dominated the regular-season series between these teams in recent years, sweeping the four games last season while outscoring the Bruins 16-8.
The goalies: The Bruins dropped a 4-1 decision in Washington Thursday night for their first road loss of the season and it marked another disappointing performance for Tuukka Rask, whose record dropped to 3-5-1 with a 3.46 goals-against average and an .879 save percentage. Rask has seldom played against Montreal — he has a 3-14-3 career record versus the Canadiens — which suggests that Jonas Gustavsson will get the start. He’s 3-0 this season with a 2.00 GAA. The Canadiens will continue to ride rookie goalie Mike Condon, who has been superb while filling in for the injured Carey Price. A 4-1 win over the Islanders Thursday gave Condon a 5-0-1 record. He leads the NHL with a 1.50 GAA and he’s second with a .941 save percentage.
Getting offensive: These are the two most productive teams in the NHL on offence. The Canadiens are averaging a league-best 3.87 goals a game, while the Bruins are second at 3.78. There are some differences — the Bruins rely heavily on their top two lines, while the Canadiens are better balanced with third-liner Dale Weise leading the team with eight goals. In the past, the Canadiens have taken advantage of undisciplined play by the Bruins and have feasted on the power play, and that could be a scenario this time around. The Canadiens have scored at least one power-play goal in seven of their last nine games and rank third in the NHL with a success rate of 25 per cent. The Bruins top the league with a 35-per-cent success rate, but Boston has the worst penalty-killing unit in the league, stopping the opposition only 70 per cent of the time.
Players to watch: The Canadiens have an NHL-best eight players with at least 10 points. Tomas Plekanec leads the way with 14, while Max Pacioretty, David Desharnais and defencemen P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov each have 13. Pacioretty ended a five-game point drought with a pair of assists against the Islanders, while Weise extended his consecutive-game points streak to four. He has five goals and an assist during that run. David Krejci leads the Bruins in goals (7) and points (15) while Patrice Bergeron, Loui Eriksson and Jimmy Hayes each have four goals and seven assists.
Injury update: Price remains on the injured list for the Canadiens. David Pastrnak is day-to-day with a foot injury for the Bruins, while Dennis Seidenberg (back surgery) and Chris Kelly (broken femur) are long-term casualties.
Coming up: This is the finale of a four-game homestand for the Canadiens. They travel to Pittsburgh Wednesday and return home to face the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.
