Bruins at Canadiens
Working overtime isn't working out too well for the Montreal Canadiens, who will attempt to halt their longest losing streak of the season when they open a five-game homestand Saturday night against the Boston Bruins. The Canadiens gave up a late goal in regulation before suffering their third straight defeat (0-1-2) with a 3-2 overtime loss to red-hot Buffalo on Friday.
Montreal has not gone more than two games without earning a point this season, although it dropped to 0-5 in overtime and has dropped nine straight OT decisions dating to last year. "We lost a big point tonight," Canadiens coach Claude Julien said after his team yielded the tying goal with just under 2 1/2 minutes to play. "You can't be satisfied with picking up just one point against a team in our division." Overtime also had been a thorny issue for Boston, which had dropped four of five this season before reversing the trend with a 2-1 OT victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night. That marked the lone home contest in a stretch of seven games for the Bruins, who have won only four of 12 (4-4-4) on the road entering the two-game trek to Montreal and Toronto.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NESN (Boston), TVAS, Sportsnet (Montreal)
ABOUT THE BRUINS (12-6-4): David Pastrnak has scored a league-leading 17 goals, but has been blanked over the past four games and was held without a shot on net for the first time this season Friday. Pastrnak still managed to make a huge contribution by collecting an assist on Joakim Nordstrom's overtime goal and looks to continue his success against Montreal, having notched six goals and 11 points in 12 career games. Jake DeBrusk has heated up after a slow first month and scored for the sixth time in eight games Friday.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (11-7-5): Forward Andrew Shaw continued his hot streak with a third-period power-play goal Friday, his sixth tally in eight games, but he was more satisfied with the team's defensive effort after Montreal had allowed 10 goals in its previous two games. "I think we worked hard," Shaw told reporters. "We're going to play well defensively again (against Boston) and we're going to go after the two points." The defense could receive a huge boost with captain Shea Weber expected to make his season debut Tuesday against Carolina.
OVERTIME
1. Montreal ended a six-game slide in the series with a 3-0 victory at Boston on Oct. 27 behind Carey Price's only shutout of the season.
2. Bruins G Tuukka Rask lost to the Canadiens last month but was 3-0-0 with five goals allowed in three starts against them last season.
3. Shaw needs one goal and one assist to reach 100 for his career in each category.