BOSTON — The Bruins are back in Boston and ready to take on archrival Montreal for the first time this season on Thursday night.
They'll do without much rest, as the Bruins rallied for a 7-4 win in Pittsburgh with five third-period goals on Wednesday. With a road game and flight home the previous night, the Bruins canceled their morning skate, giving the players a little extra time to heal up from Wednesday's physical clash with the Penguins and rest up for what is always an emotional matchup with Montreal.
Rehabbing forwards Marc Savard (post-concussion) and Marco Sturm (knee) and defenseman Johnny Boychuk (forearm), along with emergency call-up Jamie Arniel, were the only Bruins to take the ice on Thursday morning.
With no skate, there is no indication yet who will be in goal for the Bruins against the Canadiens. Tim Thomas improved to 8-0-0 Wednesday in Pittsburgh but did give up a season-high four goals. He also made a season-high 42 saves, though, including some huge stops in the third.
That could earn him another start on Thursday, or the Bruins could opt to rest him and give Tuukka Rask the nod. Rask is still looking for his first win of the season, but he has played very well in his last two appearances.
After Wednesday's balanced attack supplied goals from seven different players and 15 different skaters each had at least one point, the lines should remain the same on Thursday. That means Patrice Bergeron will stay on the top line with Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton while David Krejci remains sidelined with a concussion, and Blake Wheeler will play his second game at center.
For the Canadiens, Carey Price was the first off the ice at their skate, indicating he will get the start in goal. That's hardly a surprise, as Price has played all but one game so far this season and put up solid numbers at 8-5-1 with a 2.28 GAA, .920 save percentage and two shutouts, including a 34-save effort in a 2-0 win over Vancouver in Montreal's last game on Tuesday.
The Canadiens are completely healthy at the moment, leaving two healthy scratches to be made, likely Alexandre Picard on defense and Dustin Boyd up front. Boyd was placed on waivers and went unclaimed earlier this week but was not assigned to Montreal's AHL affiliate in Hamilton.
Montreal has had three healthy scratches most of the season, but completed a trade on Thursday morning. The Habs sent spare blueliner Ryan O'Byrne to Colorado for prospect Michael Bournival, who is currently playing for Shawinigan in the QMJHL.
Projected Bruins lines:
Forwards
Milan Lucic-Patrice Bergeron-Nathan Horton
Jordan Caron-Blake Wheeler-Mark Recchi
Daniel Paille-Tyler Seguin-Michael Ryder
Brad Marchand-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Andrew Ference
Matt Hunwick-Dennis Seidenberg
Mark Stuart-Adam McQuaid
Goalies
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Scratches: Jamie Arniel, David Krejci (concussion), Johnny Boychuk (forearm)
Projected Canadiens lines:
Forwards
Michael Cammalleri-Tomas Plekanec-Brian Gionta
Andrei Kostitsyn-Scott Gomez-Maxim Lapierre
Benoit Pouliot-Jeff Halpern-Mathieu Darche
Tom Pyatt-Lars Eller-Travis Moen
Defense
Andrei Markov-Josh Gorges
Roman Hamrlik-Jaroslav Spacek
Hal Gill-P.K. Subban
Goalies
Carey Price
Alex Auld
Scratches: Alexandre Picard, Dustin Boyd
