The Bruins will look to sweep a playoff series tonight for the first time since 1992 when they finished off the Montreal Canadiens in 4 games in the Adams Division Finals. The B's will have human wrecking ball Milan Lucic back in the lineup after serving a one game suspension for his hit to the head of Maxim Lapierre in Game 2. The Habs will look to stay alive and avoid elimination after falling down 3-0 in the series.
Projected Lines:
Claude Julien has not given out his lines for tonight yet. It is unclear what line Milan Lucic will skate on, but he did practice with the third line during yesterday's practice. The other question mark will be if Julien decides to scratch Byron Bitz or Blake Wheeler tonight.
Projected Starting Goaltenders:
Injury Report:
Boston
LW Marco Sturm: Out for Season (knee)
D Andrew Ference: Out (undisclosed)
D Matt Hunwick: Out (spleen)
Montreal
D Andrei Markov: Out (knee)
C Robert Lang: Out (Achille's tendon)
D Francis Bouillon: Doubtful (groin)
D Mathieu Schneider: Doubtful (upper body)
LW Alex Tanguay: Doubtful (upper body)
RW Sergei Kostitsyn: Out (concussion)
D Patrice Brisebois: Out (lower body)
Notes:
- Habs coach Bob Gainey has named Carey Price as his Game 4 starter between the pipes.
- The Bruins decided not to hold a morning skate today.
- Andrew Ference skated again today with strength and conditioning coach John Whitesides.
- Mathieu Schneider joined Montreal's morning skate but left the ice before the end of the session.
- Blake Wheeler is not in the running for the Calder Trophy. The NHL announced Steve Mason, Kris Versteeg, and Bobby Ryan as the finalists for the award given to the rookie of the year.
- The Bruins can't get roped into taking retaliatory penalties against the Habs. This has been an emotionally charged series and the Habs have nothing to lose tonight. The B's need to be smart and realize that they can't afford to get any more suspensions. Sweeping the Habs in the first round would be sweet revenge in itself.
- Game starts at 7:00 and will air on NESN. Public Skate (open thread) starts at 6:00.
Views from Bleu, Blanc, et Rouge Tinted Lenses
Habs Eyes on The Prizes (SBN Habs Blog) - Your #1 Source for Habs History....and delusional homerism. In all seriousness, if you want to learn more about the B's-Habs rivalry, check out Robert's awesome (and only slight slanted) post on the history of the rivalry.
Habs Inside/Out - Montreal Gazette's Canadiens Blog
Four Habs Fans - One of the funniest hockey blogs out there. My site has been featured a lot on their "Inside View of the Massholes", so I figured I would throw a link their way. Come for the jokes, stay for the pics of hot chicks.
Dennis Kane - My counterpart for the New York Times Hockey Night in Blogdom
25Stanley - For those of you that actually paid attention in high school French class.
Daily Hab-it - Habs blog written by freelance sports reporter Arpon Basu
Series Recap
Game 1
Game 2
Game 3