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Saturday Showdown: Preview & Bruins lines vs. Montreal

One last tilt against Claude and Co. What’s the lineup look like?

By Dan.Ryan
Boston Bruins v Montreal Canadiens

Preview

Left this game off the coverage sheet! Oops. That means you get the PREVIEW/LINES COMBO!

When: Tonight, 7 PM

Where: Bell Centre, Montreal, QC

How to follow: NESN, NHL Network, TVAS, SN, 98.5 The Sports Hub

Rival SBN site: Habs Eyes on the Prize

Game Notes:

  • Montreal played last night in DC, beating the Caps by a 3-2 score. Antti Niemi got the start for the Habs and played well, stopping 24 of 26 shots to give Montreal a much-needed win.
  • Logic would dictate Carey Price starting tonight if Niemi got the nod last night, but there’s always a chance Claude Julien tries to ride the hot hand.
  • In the two previous games Montreal has played vs. the Bruins, not a single player on their team has recorded more than one point. Not uncommon for a struggling team, but it shows the depth to which Montreal’s big guns are struggling.
  • The Habs are currently nine points out of the second wild card spot, with two games in hand on that team (Pittsburgh). However, there are four teams between the Habs and the Penguins. Not ideal for Claude and Company.
  • Expect the Habs to have a tribute to Red Fisher, the legendary hockey journalist who passed away on Friday.

Lines

With the team on an epic run of late, there aren’t a ton of lineup decisions to be made. The two main ones: goalie and bottom defense pair.

For the latter, it looks like the Bruins will be sticking with the status quo:

There’s a chance that Miller is healthy and the Bruins are just letting McQuaid play, or it could be that Miller isn’t quite 100% yet and the team sees no reason to rush him back.

If it ends up being McQuaid in for Miller, your defense will be:

Zdeno Chara - Charlie McAvoy

Torey Krug - Brandon Carlo

Matt Grzelcyk - Adam McQuaid

Up front, there haven’t been any injuries reported and there’s really no need for tinkering. Stick with what’s been working:

Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - David Pastrnak

Jake DeBrusk - David Krejci - Ryan Spooner

Danton Heinen - Riley Nash - David Backes

Tim Schaller - Noel Acciari - Sean Kuraly

With Anton Khudobin starting on Thursday night, it makes sense to assume that Rask will get the start.

Also, we didn’t have a preview up today