(Welcome to the TD Garden for tonight's game between the Boston Bruins and visiting Montreal Canadiens...)

Win and you're atop both the Northeast Division and Eastern Conference. That's pretty much all you need to know when it comes to tonight's divisional showdown between the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens. Entering play with 30 points, the Black-and-Gold getting there by a 14-2-2 record this year and the Habs achieving the same total with a 13-4-4 record in 2013, the second of five meetings between these arch rivals in this condensed season comes with some high stakes around the season's midpoint.

"They’re a good team," B's coach Claude Julien said of the Habs, who despite a 7-6 overtime loss last night in Montreal, have been among the league's best in 2013. "I know for a fact, if you take yesterday’s game out – it was a run and gun type of game, a lot of goals scored, I should say – they’ve been really solid, they’ve played really good hockey. We know what we’re up against, nobody has to tell us."

In net, the Bruins will turn to the 25-year-old Tuukka Rask. In addition to a 20-save win against Montreal back on Feb. 6, the Finnish netminder comes into play following a white hot February that included seven wins and a .951 save-percentage in just eight games. The Habs will counter with backup Peter Budaj, who has won two of four games this year, and comes into action with a .885 save-percentage in two career games against the Boston Bruins.

On a lineup note, the Bruins will scratch forward Chris Bourque. With just one assist and four minutes in the box in his last five games, the 5-foot-7 winger will be replaced in the lineup by the veteran bottom-sixer Jay Pandolfo.

In over nine minutes of time-on-ice yesterday, the 38-year-old forward played nearly three minutes on the penalty-kill, finishing with a blocked shot. Expect him to skate on the fourth line with Gregory Campbell and B's enforcer Shawn Thornton.

First Period

20:00 - The Habs start with the Tomas Plekanec line featuring Travis Moen and Michael Ryder on the wings. Ryder, a Bruin from 2008 to 2011, gets a mixed reaction from the Boston crowd, as if he decided to be traded to Montreal. The Bruins will counter with the Patrice Bergeron line featuring Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin.

18:40 - Brandon Prust gets a pass off to Lars Eller, who rings iron. That was close to being a Montreal goal.

15:45 - Zdeno Chara in point blank, but his blast goes just wide, but it throws a crazy sequence into action, with David Krejci and Nathan Horton nearly striking over and over. Tons of chances right there.

12:54 - Habs currently outshooting Boston, 5-1.

10:25 - Boston will be shorthanded. Andrew Ference off for interference. Habs went 0-for-3 on the man-advantage last night, but the Boston penalty-kill struggled against Tampa Bay yesterday. Perfect storm.

10:03 - Who else but Tomas Plekanec? He strikes on the power-play, and it's an early 1-0 lead for Montreal. The assists will go to Ryder and P.K Subban. That'll be Ryder's first point since joining the Habs. Plekanec now has nine goals and 17 points in 25 games at the Garden. Guy loves the Dirty Water.

9:13 - B's get it right back. Tyler Seguin. That's two goals in two games for No. 19, and he now has points in seven of his last eight contests, tallying three goals and five assists over that stretch. Assists go to Bergeron and Marchand. Great play.

8:57 - Habs right back again. 2-1, Montreal. Max Pacioretty looks to get it, but this one's gonna be reviewed. Could've been kicked.

8:57 - Goal stands. That'll be Pacioretty's eighth goal of the year. David Desharnais gets the helper.

6:45 - The bad news: The Habs are outshooting the Bruins 12 to 4. The good news? The B's have a goal on one of those four shots. Ipso facto, Peter Budaj is not very good.

2:25 - Plekanec and Shawn Thornton share some words. I'd advise No. 14 in white to uhh, not do that.

1:10 - Brendan Gallagher will sit for two. B's going on the power-play for the first time tonight. He'll sit for charging.

0.0 - Wow, for once -- the crowd chanting 'shoot' had the right idea. B's waste a ton of time and don't even get a shot off. They'll have 50 seconds of power-play time remaining when the puck drops for the second.

Thoughts after one...

Is there a goaltender that looks more beatable than Peter Budaj right now? Every shot off the B's sticks looks as if it could be a goal, and there's no doubt that the Black-and-Gold could expose him for what he is and bust this one open, but not if they keep committing themselves to these bad angle shots. There's holes in the armor, of course.

Striking early in the middle frame early should be key for the Bruins as the Habs are one of the league's better second period clubs, with 26 goals in the middle frame of contests in 2013, second in the NHL.

Scoring change: Pacioretty's goal will be instead credited to David Desharnais, as it never hit the heel of Pacioretty's stick.

Second Period

19:00 - Nothin' happening for the B's on that last power-play.

15:54 - Bruins score! Seguin with Bergeron on a two-on-one, and it trickles through Budaj and into the cage. That's two goals on 12 shots for Boston.

14:13 - Habs storming back. Desharnais hits a post, and Travis Moen gets a great chance but he's denied by Rask.

12:30 - Marchand and Subban look to have a chat.. someone wants to go with someone. It doesn't happen though.

12:13 - B's going back to work on the power-play. Lars Eller will sit for crosschecking in front of the Boston net. Boston's 0-for-1 on the man-advantage tonight.

12:07 - Power-play's killed six seconds into it. Milan Lucic going off for holding.

10:04 - Dougie Hamilton. First goal in Boston, and it's against the Habs. On the doorstep, and he capitalizes on a Marchand rebound. 3-2, Boston.

9:42 - Eller with the shot at Rask after the whistle and the B's don't like that. A crowd gathers. Nothing comes of it though.

8:59 - Adam McQuaid will go off for interference against Brandon Prust. Two toughguys going at it but McQuaid crosses the line per the men in stripes, and Montreal will go back on the power-play.

8:09 - Rough stretch for Ference continues. He's sent to the box for cross-checking. Habs will have a 5-on-3 for 70 seconds.

6:00 - B's kill it off. Allow just one shot on the 5-on-3. Wow, great kill from Bergeron/Kelly and Chara-Seidenberg.

5:55 - Somehow, someway.. the puck stays out of the net, and Rask covers it up. Scrum ensues, and the B's are big fans of Brendan Gallagher's netfront tactics as Ference goes at him.

4:59 - And the powderkeg just went off. McQuaid wasn't happy with Eller, Prust wasn't happy with Lucic, and Horton wasn't happy with Subban. Prust and Lucic have a go, and Lucic gets the better of Prust.

4:59 - Like I've said, I love the skills of P.K Subban, but my God what he just did was so pathetic as a hockey player. During the scrum, Horton went at him, and he collapsed to the ice as if he was made of jelly. Then got up and went at Horton when the officials were in the way. That's gutless. Your whole team is willing to go and you're going to pull that? Utterly detestable display.

4:15 - And here we go. Alexei Emelin with a crosscheck on Seguin that appears to hobble No. 19 in Black-and-Gold. That draws an irate Chara over and he destroys Emelin. Fuming, he goes down the tunnel. He'll get the instigator (17 minutes in penalties in total) and Montreal will go the power-play.

2:00 - B's kill it off.

Thoughts after 40...

Gongshow.

All of it.

With 20 minutes to go, the B's hold a 3-2 edge and could very well make this a two-goal lead at any point given the lack of confidence we've seen displayed by Peter Budaj. He's reactive, and struggling to track the puck. Like I said: A trickle away from a two-goal edge.

But don't sleep on the Habs, if you're Boston, especially in a period that will be played sans Zdeno Chara for at least the opening ten minutes. Golden opportunity for Montreal really.


Third Period

16:00 - Physical start to the third. Bangin' and slammin' at each end. Subban and Marchand exchange pleasantries once again following a hit from Shawn Thornton that floored No. 76 in white.

14:29 - Montreal ties it up. Pacioretty from near the blue-line.

10:43 - And just like that, Montreal has the lead. Desharnais jams it home, and they lead 4-3 with just over 10 minutes to go.

8:19 - Still no Chara 'cause of the instigator. That's absolutely killing a Boston blue-line that's looked lost in the third period.

7:56 - The Garden crowd is absolutely dead right now. Not a peep comin' out of 'em. That's not a good sign. Bruins still holding an advantage in the shot department, 30-26.

7:00 - Habs appear to take an over the glass delay of game but the refs rule that it's been deflected. Off who? Looks like a missed call, but I'm pretty high up.

5:02 - 302 seconds to go in this one. The Bruins still trailing.

4:00 - Bruins get a good look on a Krejci-Horton chance but can't convert. Budaj with the stop.

3:46 - Pacioretty's down holding his face.

:19 - Marchand with the cheap stick to the face of Prust when he was down.

:19 - Bruins will take their timeout here. Six attackers out there. They have Campbell out there as the sixth to stand in front of Budaj. Seidenberg and Chara on the points, and the Bergeron line out there.

0.0 - Bruins come up short, 4-3 final.

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