Scott Gomez Could Be Scratched After Clash With Assistant Coach As Bruins Pay Final Visit to Montreal

by

Feb 15, 2012

The Bruins open a season-high six-game road trip Wednesday in Montreal, but they do it without much rest coming off a 3-0 loss to the Rangers in Boston on Tuesday.

With the back-to-back games, the Bruins did not hold a morning skate in Montreal so there were no hints of any lineup changes. Bruins coach Claude Julien may wish to shake things up a bit after the loss to New York, and the Bruins did take a pair of extra players along for the trip in defenseman Andrew Bodnarchuk and forward Josh Hennessy, so the option is there for Julien to inject some new blood if he chooses.

Julien did tweak the lines during Tuesday's game, moving David Krejci back between Milan Lucic and Rich Peverley, while putting Chris Kelly back down with Benoit Pouliot and Jordan Caron.

Tim Thomas played Tuesday, which likely sets up Tuukka Rask to take on the Canadiens, but Thomas did play both games of the last back-to-back set the Bruins played earlier this month. Thomas bounced back from a 2-1 loss to Pittsburgh at home on Feb. 4 with a 4-1 win in Washington on Feb. 5, and could be given the chance to do the same this time around.

For Montreal, the big question is whether $7.3 million man Scott Gomez, who recently snapped a goal-scoring drought that lasted more than a full calendar year, will be scratched after getting into a shouting match with assistant coach Randy Ladoucer on Tuesday. Gomez and the enigmatic Andrei Kostitsyn, who was benched late in Monday's 5-3 loss to Carolina and dropped to the fourth line in practice on Tuesday, were both labeled "game-time decisions" by head coach Randy Cunneyworth after Wednesday's morning skate.

The Canadiens are expected to have Ryan White in the lineup. White just returned from a conditioning stint in the AHL. He has missed the entire season following surgery for a sports hernia, and will add some much-needed toughness and grit to the Habs lineup.

Dean Morton and Steve Kozari will be the referees, with Pierre Racicot and Steve Barton working the lines.

Projected Bruins lines

Forwards
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Rich Peverley
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Tyler Seguin
Benoit Pouliot-Chris Kelly-Jordan Caron
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton

Defense
Zdeno Chara-Johnny Boychuk
Dennis Seidenberg-Joe Corvo
Andrew Ference-Adam McQuaid

Goalies
Tuukka Rask
Tim Thomas

Scratches: Nathan Horton (concussion), Andrew Bodnarchuk, Josh Hennessy

Projected Canadiens lines

Forwards
Erik Cole-David Desharnais-Max Pacioretty
Mathieu Darche-Tomas Plekanec-Rene Bourque
Louis Leblanc-Lars Eller-Aaron Palushaj
Andrei Kostitsyn-Scott Gomez-Ryan White

Defense
Josh Gorges-P.K. Subban
Hal Gill-Chris Campoli
Tomas Kaberle-Alexei Emelin

Goalies
Carey Price
Peter Budaj

Scratches: Travis Moen (upper body), Raphael Diaz, Yannick Weber

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