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On the afternoon of the final regular-season head-to-head between the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens, the question on everyone’s mind is a rather fun one: Will Claude Julien give the hockey world its wish and give the start to Malcolm Subban, younger brother of Montreal superstar and notorious B’s killer P.K. Subban, for tonight’s Sunday night tilt at TD Garden?
“Are there any other questions?… Julien asked last night when pressed about the potential of turning back to Tuukka Rask, who stopped 39-of-40 in Saturday’s win over the New York Islanders, tonight.
For the Bruins, it’s not about hiding Subban, as much as it’s been rolling with a 27-year-old Rask that’s been downright dominant in 2015, with eight wins and a .947 save percentage in 13 games since Jan. 1.
“He’s in a zone, he’s just been really good for us, focused and even intense,… Julien said of Rask. “He’s not afraid to yell at the players around him if they aren’t doing their jobs and you know he’s just been determined athlete in this last little while and it’s made a big difference for our hockey team.…
At the same time, Rask has played 791 minutes of hockey in just over a month, and he’s already paced for a 65-game season, the highest mark of his career, so the need for rest at some point is an undeniable one. But given Rask’s struggles against the Canadiens, and the fact that the Bruins will likely have to go through Montreal at some point in the postseason, getting him one more crack at exorcising these demons is a must for the Black and Gold.
Rask has just three wins, a 2.72 goals against average, and .902 save percentage in 19 career games against the Habs, and is 0-2-2 on the second leg of a back-to-back this season.
The Canadiens will counter with Carey Price (28-11-2), the backbone of the Canadiens, with a Vezina-esque line featuring a 2.06 goals against average and .931 save percentage.
The Habs also roll into town with a Saturday win under their belt, dominating the New Jersey Devils by a 6-2 final, with P.K. Subban picking up a three-assist night.
The Bruins are winless in their last five games against the Canadiens, including an 0-3-0 mark this season, and have not beaten them at home since Jan. 12, 2012. Still, the Bruins don't wanna scare themselves out of playing their game against their arch rival to the north.
"Our focus is still about, looking the schedule we know we have a tough schedule for the next little while. Just try to really minimize it by focusing on the game at hand," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "That’s what we did yesterday, I think it helped us out. Today, it’s about Montreal, it’s about – again, we understand where we are with them as far as wins, losses. It would be nice to get a win today, no doubt about that. The biggest and most important thing we can do is go out there and play our game."
20:00 - Bergeron line and Zdeno Chara and Dougie Hamilton get the start for Boston. Montreal counters with the Desharnais line and Subban and Andrei Markov.
17:44 - Delay of game against Adam McQuaid. The Bruins have killed 29 of the last 31 penalties against. The Canadiens' power play is clicking at 17.6% this season.
15:18 - B's kill it off. Great block by Gregory Campbell to deny a prime scoring chance for the Habs' Tom Gilbert. One of the things that makes Montreal's power play hard to defend? Tons of crisp, quick passes that send defensive units spinning.
13:11 - The boos are Subban get louder and louder every game here. And sometimes, I wonder if the Habs pass him the puck just to see if the Garden crowd is paying attention.
11:04 - Price misplays the puck behind his net, and the Bruins get about three golden chances to score with their fourth line. Craig Cunningham came the closest, but a sea of bodies in the Montreal crease kept that one out. Huge chance for the Bruins, and they could not connect.
4:55 - The Bruins had the start of an odd-man rush, but Subban came up with the huge block. You'll say that a lot about this Montreal team. They are just so good when it comes to breaking up passing and shooting attempts with their bodies or their sticks. Block City.
4:27 - Brad Marchand comes in and boards Subban. Dumb penalty from No. 63. Not what the Bruins, currently outshot 11-to-6, need or want right now. They call it a charge.
2:34 - Paille with a near breakaway. But he falls down. You know how that one ends, anyway.
Well, not the worst period from the Bruins, but far from the best.
The Bruins have seemingly abandoned the McQuaid-Seidenberg pairing for the second straight contest, putting Kevan Miller up with Seidenberg, and dropping McQuaid down to the third-pairing alongside Torey Krug. That should help a Boston defense that's been getting beat to pucks and losing footraces a lot more than they'd like to admit through 20 minutes.
At the other end, they're finding shooting lanes, but the Canadiens are standing right there and simply blocking everything. It's going to force the B's to get a bit more creative with their offensive chances, and really use their speedier, craftier wings (David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, Loui Eriksson). Gotta throw everything -- and I mean everything -- to beat Price.
19:20 - Dale Weise on the doorstep, and it's 1-0, Montreal. Max Pacioretty and David Desharnais pick up the assists. Third goal in the last two games for Weise.
15:32 - Paille with a huge hit on Sergei Gonchar. Huge.
13:50 - Brendan Gallagher and Dennis Seidenberg exchange some nastiness after the whistle.
11:49 - P.K. tries to welcome David Pastrnak to the NHL with a huge hit, but the 18-year-old, 170-pounder barrels right through Subban and continues on his way. Garden crowd loves that.
10:08 - The Bruins have not scored a goal against the Habs in over 130 minutes now.
9:43 - Boston turns it on with some offensive zone passing, and they find Chara streaking in, but the B's captain throws a rather soft wrister right into Price's glove. Need the hammer there.
6:06 - There's a curse on Danny Paille, I swear. Another glorious chance for No. 20, but he can't bury it. Just straight-up rotten luck at this point. He's in the right place every time.
3:08 - One definite concern here-- Zdeno Chara has not looked like himself tonight. Does not look like he has the legs in this one.
0.0 - Montreal skates with a 1-0 edge after two.
The Bruins do not have a goal against Carey Price and the Canadiens in their last 143:56 of hockey. That's absolutely brutal. Zero in 100 minutes at TD Garden, too.
19:00 - Unreal. Two B's defenders collide going for the same puck, and the Canadiens get a breakaway and Pacioretty does not miss. 2-0. Straight-up blooper reel stuff.
15:10 - I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why this team implodes against Montreal. Just completely shuts down and forgets how to do everything that makes them successful.
14:00 - Lucic with a retaliatory penalty on Emelin.
9:52 - This is hard to watch. Just brutal.
4:31 - Bruins score. It goes to review, but that's a clear goal. Pastrnak.
3:19 - From a morgue to jumpin' in a minute and a half. The Garden is buzzing in search of that game-tying goal.
30.5 - Habs on the empty net. 3-1.
Ty Anderson has been covering the Boston Bruins for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, is a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com