Bruins at Canadiens
THE STORY: After putting an end to one lengthy winning streak, the Montreal Canadiens will get a chance to stop an even hotter team when they host the rampaging Boston Bruins on Monday. Montreal put an abrupt stop to the New York Rangers' seven-game winning streak with a decisive 4-0 victory at home Saturday. Now the Canadiens will turn their attention to the surging Bruins, who reeled off their eighth consecutive victory by battering the New York Islanders 6-0 on Saturday. It marked the fifth time the reigning Stanley Cup champions have scored at least six goals during the winning streak, a stretch in which the Bruins have outscored their opponents by a staggering 41-14. Montreal is 2-0 this season against Boston, which has not lost since getting swept by the Canadiens in a home-and-home series Oct. 27 and Oct. 29.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, Versus, RDS
ABOUT THE BRUINS (11-7-0): After two one-goal victories, Boston steamrolled another opponent behind a pair of goals and an assist by Chris Kelly, who had his first two-goal game since Dec. 10, 2010. Goaltender Tim Thomas registered his second shutout in four games while extending his winning streak to five contests. Defenseman Zdeno Chara has one goal and 10 assists in the last nine for Bruins, who have their longest streak since winning 10 straight from Dec. 8, 2009-Jan. 1, 2009.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (9-8-3): Montreal netminder Carey Price is on a roll of his own with back-to-back shutouts, including a 17-save effort against the Rangers. Brian Gionta scored a pair of goals to give him three in his last two games. Erik Cole and Tomas Plekanec added power-play tallies. Plekanec has three straight multi-point games. Montreal has killed off 24 consecutive penalties and ranks third in the league with a success rate of 89.3 percent (9-for-84).
OVERTIME:
1. Price beat the Bruins twice last month to improve to 15-4-2 against them in his career.
2. Chara makes his first appearance at the Bell Centre since authorities announced they will not pursue criminal charges for his crushing check on Montreal’s Max Pacioretty in March.