Bruins Need to Overcome Fatigue to Avoid Letdown Against Rival Canadiens

The Bruins certainly didn’t lack for motivation when they played Matt Cooke and the Penguins in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, and they came through with a 7-4 victory to end a two-game slide.

Now they return to Boston and have to face their most ancient rival less than 24 hours later, as Montreal pays its first visit to the Garden this season on Thursday.

Getting up for another emotional game after such a short turnaround could be a challenge, but at least one Bruin never has a problem bringing the hate for the Habs.

“I’m not going to lie — I get up probably a little bit more against Montreal every time,” said Bruins forward Shawn Thornton. “I love the history of that rivalry. But that being said, as professionals we should be able to get up for every game. It’s 82 games. It’s our job to get up for every single one. I know it doesn’t happen that way, but we definitely should prepare like it’s going to happen that way.”

When and Where

Boston Bruins (8-3-1, 17 points) vs. Montreal Canadiens (9-5-1, 19 points)
Nov. 11, 7 p.m. (NESN)
TD Garden, Boston, Mass.

Head to Head

This is the first of six meetings this season between the Original Six rivals. Boston trails in the all-time series 263-333-103-6, but does hold a 161-132-56-4 edge at home against the Habs. The Bruins were just 1-3-2 against the Canadiens last year, losing all three games at the Garden.

Goaltending Matchup

Tim Thomas gave up a season-high four goals but still improved to 8-0-0 on the season with Wednesday’s win in Pittsburgh. He’s just 8-13-3 with a 3.02 GAA and a .906 save percentage against the Canadiens, who are the only Canadian-based team he has not posted a shutout against in his career.

Tuukka Rask remains winless but was sharp in a 2-1 shootout loss to St. Louis on Saturday. He’s 0-3-1 with a 2.62 GAA and a .921 save percentage on the year, and 1-3-1 with a 2.41 GAA and a .917 save percentage against Montreal. Rask does have one shutout against the Habs, beating them 3-0 last year for Boston’s only win in the season series.

Carey Price has played in all but one game this year, posting an 8-5-1 record with a 2.28 GAA, .920 save percentage and two shutouts. He’s also 9-2-2 with a 2.39 GAA and a .923 save percentage against Boston.

Backup Alex Auld won his lone start this year, making 30 saves in a 3-1 win against the Islanders on Oct. 29. He’s 4-2-0 with 2.52 GAA and a .918 save percentage against the Bruins.

Stat Sheet

Bruins

• The Bruins have outscored opponents 16-5 in the third period this season. That includes five goals in the third Wednesday in Pittsburgh, when Boston rallied from a 4-3 deficit for a 7-4 win.

•  The Bruins are perfect against Northeast Division foes this year, going 3-0-0 with wins over Toronto, Ottawa and Buffalo. They won those games by a combined score of 11-2, with Thomas posting shutouts of both the Leafs and Senators.

• Shawn Thornton, who had just one goal in 74 games last season, scored his third goal of the season and second in the last three games Wednesday in Pittsburgh. Thornton’s goal broke a 4-4 tie and stood up as the game-winner. It was the fourth game-winning goal of his career, all of which have been with Boston. The last game-winner he scored was against Montreal on Feb. 1, 2009.

Canadiens

• Montreal’s power play is 29th in the league at just 7.8 percent, as the Habs have just four goals on 51 opportunities. They did score once in three chances in their last game against Vancouver, but were 0-for-13 in the four games before that.

• Montreal defenseman Andrei Markov‘s 365 career points rank him fourth all time among Russian-born defensemen in NHL history. Only former Bruin Sergei Gonchar has more points among active Russian-born blueliners.

• Center Scott Gomez will be playing his 800th career game on Thursday. He has 161-479-640 totals, including 9-20-29 totals against the Bruins. This will be his 40th game against Boston.

Infirmary Report

Bruins

• Center David Krejci (concussion) is out at least a week.

• Defenseman Johnny Boychuk (fractured left forearm) is expected to miss another two weeks.

• Center Marc Savard (post-concussion syndrome) is out indefinitely.

• Left wing Marco Sturm (knee surgery) is expected to be out until at least early December.

• Center Trent Whitfield (ruptures Achilles) could miss the entire year.

Canadiens

• Montreal reports no current injuries.

Familiar Faces

Goalie Auld played 23 games with the Bruins in 2007-08, going 9-7-5 with a 2.32 GAA, .919 save percentage and two shutouts. Defenseman Hal Gill (Bolton, Mass.) played 626 games in Boston from 1997-2006. Forward Brian Gionta played collegiality at Boston College. Bruins forwards Mark Recchi and Michael Ryder each played for the Canadiens before arriving in Boston, while head coach Claude Julien was behind the Montreal bench for parts of three seasons.

Fight Card

The Canadiens have just five fighting majors in 15 games. Travis Moen leads with two, while Gill, Jeff Halpern and Maxim Lapierre each have dropped the gloves once. After three more fights in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, the Bruins have 15 fighting majors in just 12 games, including at least one in seven straight games. That streak could end in this one, as Montreal doesn’t fight often. Last year’s series produced just one fight, a quick scrap between unlikely combatants Blake Wheeler and Ryan O’Byrne. Greg Campbell and Mark Stuart lead the Bruins with three fights each, while Thornton, Milan Lucic and Adam McQuaid each have two.

Outlook

The Bruins had an emotional win in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, but they’ll have to find a way to maintain that intensity for this one, as Montreal comes to town for a key early-season divisional clash. Getting up for a Habs game is usually no problem for the Bruins, but doing so 24 hours after a physical battle with the Penguins could be a challenge.