The Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins will renew hostilities tonight as they face each other for the 3rd time this season. The Canadiens are coming off of consecutive losses to Washington and Carolina while Boston lost their most recent match against Nashville. The Canadiens still sit in 1st place in the Atlantic division with 41 points but Detroit and Ottawa are narrowing the gap as they are now only 6 points behind. The Bruins sit in 4th place, 10 points back and clinging to the last wild card spot in the Eastern conference. The Canadiens will be looking to rediscover their winning ways with their revised lineup and continue their recent domination over the Bruins. The Canadiens have won the last 7 straight contests against the Bruins.
The last two Canadiens-Bruins games have been won by the Canadiens with identical scores of 4-2. Neither of the Bruins goalies had any early against the Habs as Tuukka Rask and Jonas Gustavsson have each started and lost a game vs the Canadiens this year. Rask will get the nod to start tonight despite his career record of 3-14-3 and GAA of 2.74 versus the Canadiens. The rest of the Bruins lineup will look like:
Jimmy Hayes back in the #Bruins lineup after being scratched for two games. https://t.co/XdRKIuFAyq pic.twitter.com/BbS2LGu1DV
— Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) December 9, 2015Defense Pairs:
Chara—Trotman
Krug—McQuaid
Morrow—K. Miller
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) December 9, 2015The Canadiens will counter with the same lines seen from yesterday’s practice:
#Habs lines this am in Brossard: #TSN690 pic.twitter.com/0BeCDUSxlA
— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) December 8, 2015The big news from the Canadiens practice this morning is that forward Alex Semin will not be reporting to the St. John’s Ice Caps and so he has been placed on unconditional waivers for mutual contract termination. Afterwards, his salary will officially come off the books. Canadiens general manager took a swing when he signed Semin in the off-season and even though it did not work out, it was worth the risk. There is no denying that Semin is a talented hockey player. The signing created excitement and in general fans were excited that their GM was going for it. Others were weary of the relationship and tension that could occur between player and coach. In the end it wasn’t a match and with NHL players only getting faster, it really does not seem like the right place for Semin anymore. After that, not much more can be said other than the experiment didn’t work out and it was time to cut ties. Suivant, next.
In brighter news, Charles Hudon was called up yesterday evening by the Canadiens for the first time but he will not be playing tonight:
"Charles deserved to be called up. He was one of the best players in St. John's, but he won't play tonight." - Michel Therrien #GoHabsGo
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) December 9, 2015Torrey Mitchell is still skating by himself and has not yet joined the team for practice. With Devante Smith-Pelly on the injured reserve, the Canadiens needed an extra forward. Therrien says that he has not promised Hudon a game but I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets into the action either tomorrow night in Detroit or Saturday vs Ottawa. He has shown no sophomore slump in his second year of professional hockey and the call-up is well deserved. Therrien also commented on Smith-Pelly’s injury. We have seen that a healthy Smith-Pelly is aggressive and an effective player for the Canadiens. Hopefully this rest is what he needs to get back to playing that way:
Head coach Michel Therrien says @smithpelly23's injury isn't serious, but it's enough to keep him from performing up to his level. #GoHabsGo
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) December 9, 2015Finally, Therrien and Nathan Beaulieu also commented on the young defenceman's apparent demotion (From Canadiens.com):
“It’s not necessarily a bad thing moving things around. We haven’t been happy with the results we’ve had the last couple of games. We’re just trying to find a little spark here and there. Change is never a bad thing when things aren’t going the way you want them to. We know that we have to step up and play a good game tonight,… shared Beaulieu, who was most recently paired with Jeff Petry on the back end. “New looks are always fun, and everyone is really comfortable playing with each other. We’re fortunate to have so much depth. We’re able to move guys around to so many different places. We’re very flexible like that. It’s a positive thing for us in this room.…And Therrien on Beaulieu:
“He knows that he hasn’t met our expectations over the last two games. We expect more from him,… admitted Therrien. “It’s a challenge to work with young players. We’re looking for consistency. The challenge for young players is to have the least amount of ups and downs as possible over the course of the year.…
Beaulieu has not looked any less consistent to me than Alexei Emelin. Perhaps the coaching staff felt he was getting a little too comfortable or complacent in recent games. With Greg Pateryn and Jarred Tinordi itching to get into the lineup, this should motivate Beaulieu to keep working hard and prove that he does indeed belong in the top four. He is saying all the right things demonstrating maturity and growth. Now he has to go out and re-earn his minutes...
5 Questions for tonight’s game:
1) Expectations for the Canadiens new top line are huge for tonight. Which of Pacioretty-Galchenyuk-Andrighetto will have the greatest impact against the Bruins?
2) Will the Canadiens get off to a fast start tonight or will they be a little slow coming off of their little break?
3) Will Rask finally be able to solve the Canadiens?
4) Can the line of Eller-Plekanec-Byron contribute offensively or will they be counted on to defend against Boston’s best?
5) The Bruins have the top powerplay in the league with a scoring percentage of 30.7%. Can the Canadiens penalty kill unit hold them off?
Puck drops at 7:30pm.
Cheers and enjoy the game! Follow @Jenbcutler