Bruins at Canadiens
Carey Price looks to continue his recent run of dominance when the Montreal Canadiens host the Original Six-rival Boston Bruins on Thursday. The gold medal-winning goaltender staked Montreal to its third straight victory while notching his first shutout of the season in a 3-0 triumph over Winnipeg on Tuesday. Price also was in net in the Canadiens' 6-4 win over Boston on Oct. 16, stopping 25 shots to improve to 18-8-3 lifetime versus the Bruins.
While Montreal is riding high, Boston saw its five-game winning streak come to an emphatic end with a 6-1 setback to Toronto on Wednesday. Tuukka Rask, who yielded four goals on 16 shots to earn an early exit in the second period, will look to put his extensive troubles against the Canadiens behind him. The reigning Vezina Trophy winner allowed five tallies in the teams' first meeting to drop to 3-11-3 against Montreal in his career.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NESN (Boston), RSN360, RDS (Montreal)
ABOUT THE BRUINS (10-7-0): Milan Lucic didn't endear himself to the Montreal faithful with his less-than-courteous comments in the handshake line following last season's playoff series, as well as his obscene gesture during the waning moments of the teams' first meeting in 2014-15. Lucic, who apologized for the latter incident and paid a $5,000 fine, knows the team needs to keep its emotions in check on Thursday. "I think we have to just not worry about the things that don't matter, just focus on just playing our game and doing what it takes to win," he said. "If we do that, that'll give us the best chance to win in that building."
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (11-4-1): Veteran defenseman Sergei Gonchar is expected to make his debut with his new team after being acquired from Dallas for forward Travis Moen on Tuesday. Gonchar has scored 102 of his 219 career goals on the power play, and coach Michel Therrien would love to see the 40-year-old provide a spark as the Canadiens have failed on all 22 opportunities with the man advantage in the last 10 games. "He's a guy who has made a career out of his work on the power play," Therrien said. "We'll see how things play out, but he's definitely a guy with a lot of experience who has always been known for his vision and quick thinking on the power play."
OVERTIME
1. Boston D Dennis Seidenberg scored his team's lone goal on Wednesday but has just one in 32 career meetings with Montreal.
2. The Canadiens assigned D Jarred Tinordi to Hamilton of the American Hockey League on Wednesday.
3. The Bruins yielded three power-play goals on Wednesday after permitting that many in their previous nine contests.