Besides revenge, the Bruins will be trying to avoid rewriting team history with their 11th straight loss. The last time a Bruins team did that was 85 years ago. The frustration is building and each game the Bruins seem to find a way to lose. Now it’s time to find ways to win.
When And Where
Sunday Feb. 7, 3 p.m. (NESN)
Bell Centre, Montreal, QC
Records
Bruins (23-21-11, 57 points; fourth place in Northeast Division; ninth place in Eastern Conference)
Canadiens (28-25-6, 62 points, third place in Northeast Division, sixth place in Eastern Conference)
Head to Head
The Canadiens have won all three meetings this year between the longtime rivals with the most recent being a 3-2 shootout win over the Bruins at TD Garden on Thursday night. The Habs lead the all-time series 163-131-56-2.
The two teams play again March 2 in Boston and March 13 in Montreal.
Skinny
The Bruins are 0-6-4 over their last ten games. With a loss today they would tie their longest winless streak since their inaugural season in 1924-25, when they went a club record eleven games without a win.
The Bruins have gone to a shootout in two straight games and in three of their last four. They have lost all three by a 3-2 margin.
The Canadiens have won three straight games beating the Canucks 3-2 last Tuesday, the Bruins 3-2 in a shootout Thursday and then the Penguins 5-3 Saturday.
Projected Lineups
Bruins
Forwards
Milan Lucic—Marc Savard—Miroslav Satan
Marco Sturm–Patrice Bergeron–Mark Recchi
Blake Wheeler–David Krejci–Michael Ryder
Daniel Paille—Steve Begin–Shawn Thornton/Byron Bitz
Defensemen
Zdeno Chara–Derek Morris
Matt Hunwick–Dennis Wideman
*Andrew Ference–Adam McQuaid
Goaltenders
Tuukka Rask
Tim Thomas
*Andrew Ference may replace Johnny Boychuk who didn't travel with the team to Montreal after taking a puck to the face on Saturday. Ference hasn't played since Jan. 5 when he suffered a groin injury.
Canadiens
Forwards
Brian Gionta—Scott Gomez—Travis Moen
Sergei Kostitsyn—Tomas Plekanec—Mathieu Darche
Maxim Lapierre—Glen Metropolit—Ben Maxwell
Ryan White—David Desharnais—Brock Trotter
Defenseman
Andrei Markov—Ryan O’Byrne
Roman Hamrlik–Jaroslav Spacek
Hall Gill—Josh Gorges
Goaltenders
Jaroslav Halak
Carey Price
Goaltender Matchup
Bruins
Tim Thomas is 13-15-7 with a 2.52 GAA and .915 save percentage. Thomas has four shutouts. Thomas is winless (0-4-2) in his last six starts.
Tuukka Rask is 10-7-4 with a 2.11 GAA, .925 save percentage. Rask has two shutouts. Rask is winless in his last six starts going 0-4-2. He is second in the NHL in GAA.
Canadiens
Jaroslav Halak has started three straight games and won all three. Halak is 16-8-2 with a 2.40 GAA and .930 save percentage.
Carey Price is 11-17-4 with a 2.73 GAA and .913 save percentage. Price has not won in his last three starts, going 0-2-1. He is 2-0-0 against the Bruins this season, making 37 saves in a 5-1 win on Dec. 4 and 42 saves in a 2-1 shootout win on Nov. 5.
Stat Sheet
Bruins
Patrice Bergeron had an assist Saturday and now has 22 helpers this season. He leads the team with 34 points.
Zdeno Chara broke a ten-game goal drought Saturday and now has five goals. He is second on the team in points with 30 and leads the team with 25 assists.
Marc Savard had two assists Saturday and now has an assist in four of the five games he’s played since coming back Jan. 29 at Buffalo. He has five points during that span and has 27 points this season.
Michael Ryder scored his first goal since January 21 Saturday and now has 13 goals and 22 points this season.
The Bruins killed off all five Vancouver power plays on Saturday. They have killed off 18 of the last 23 power plays they have faced and have allowed only 27 power-play goals on 202 power plays faced, boasting a 86.6 percent success rate.
The Bruins are 7-for-28 on the power play over their last six games and are 35-for-193 this season with a 18.1 percent success rate. They have scored a power-play goal in four straight games.
Canadiens
Tomas Plekanec had a goal and an two assists Saturday and he leads the team with 43 assists and in points with 58.
Former Bruin Glen Metropolit is a Bruins killer since joining the other side of the rivalry. Metropolit has scored in a goal in each of the Habs' three wins against Boston and has four points against his former team this season.
Brian Gionta had two goals and an assist Saturday and now has 29 points. Gionta scored the game-winning shootout goal against the Bruins Thursday.
Scott Gomez had a goal and assist Saturday and has four points in his last two games. Gomez has 31 assists and 39 points this season.
Back and Blue
Bruins
Andrew Ference has been practicing with the team this past week and skated in warm-ups Saturday. He was taken off injured reserve and could return from a groin injury Sunday or this week.
Mark Stuart is on injured reserve and out until after the Olympics with a broken finger.
Johnny Boychuk took a puck off the face in the first period Saturday and did not return to the game. Boychuk did not travel to Montreal with the Bruins.
Canadiens
Michael Cammalleri suffered an injury to his right knee in the Ottawa game on Jan. 30. He won't require surgery but he will be out of the lineup for six weeks.
Paul Mara left the Jan. 22 game in New Jersey with an upper-body injury and he has now missed five games.
Andrei Kostitsyn left the Dec. 31 game in Florida with a lower-body injury from a check. He underwent surgery on Jan. 8 and is out indefinitely.
Marc-Andre Bergeron suffered a lower body injury against the Bruins Thursday and is day-to-day.
Benoit Pouliot is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.
This Date in Bruins History
On Feb. 7, 1976, Maple Leafs forward Darryl Sittler has a record six goals and four assists in a 11-4 win over the Bruins.
Overheard
"Everyone is speechless like I am. It's a matter of taking a 2-0 lead and real good chances to make it 3-0."
-Head coach Claude Julien
Press Box
Bruins
The Bruins blew another two-goal lead and lost in a shootout.
Even though the Bruins have finally got their power play going, it hasn't been enough to stop their free fall.
Canadiens
A banged-up Habs team took it to the champs Saturday.
Habs defenseman Ryan O'Byrne has been playing with a heavy heart.
NHL
Did the Thrashers get all they could for Ilya Kovalchuk?
Senators defenseman Matt Carkner may not remember Saturday night.
Outlook
The Bruins will have no problem playing desperate hockey Sunday as they try to avoid going down in Bruins infamy, but they need to make sure their desperation doesn’t hurt them. Obviously, they’re pressing hard now, and they’re gripping theri sticks tighter than ever, but they need to somehow stay focused and just play their game. A lot easier said than done, of course. But a good way of doing that would be to play with more emotion and physical presence, something that’s been sorely missing from their game all season.
