One night after rallying for five goals in the third to beat Pittsburgh, the Bruins gave up the only two scores in the final period to fall to their archrivals in the first of six meetings this year between Boston and Montreal.
Third Period, 17:55, Canadiens 3-1: Rask has gone to the bench for the extra attacker.
Third Period, 17:45, Canadiens 3-1: The Bruins have been outshot 41-33 so far. This is the second night in a row they've given up 40-plus shots.
Third Period, 14:50, Canadiens 3-1: The Bruins are taking some chances now trying to get back in this one, and the Habs are able to counterattack.
Matheiu Darche gets in alone on a breakaway, but Rask makes the stop.
Third Period, 13:30, Canadiens 3-1: The Bruins got lucky that Travis Moen couldn't corral a juicy rebound Rask left in front there, as this one stays a two-goal game.
Third Period, 10:30, Canadiens 3-1: The Bruins are going to need another big third-period rally, as Scott Gomez extends the Montreal lead to two goals.
Rask made the initial save on Kostitsyn from the left side, but Gomez got the rebound n front ad his shot hit off the right post, then off Rask and in.
Third Period, 7:58, Canadiens 2-1: The Bruins had some chances, but couldn't net the equalizer on the power play.
Boston is now 0 for 4 on the man-advantage in this one, while Montreal has scored both of its goals on the power plays. Once again special teams proving the difference.
Third Period, 5:58, Canadiens 2-1: The Bruins have their chance to pull even on the power play as Tomas Plekanec goes off for slashing.
Third Period, 3:39, Canadiens 2-1: This is the first time the Bruins have allowed more than one power-play goal in a game.
And it comes against the 29th-ranked power play in the league.
Third Period, 0:29, Canadiens 2-1: The Habs don't need long on that power play to pull ahead, as former BC star Brian Gionta gives Montreal the lead.
Tomas Plekanec started the play in the right corner, getting it to Michael Cammalleri in the circle, and Cammalleri then sent it over to Gionta at the left post for an easy tap in.
Second Intermission Notes: The Bruins and Habs are locked in another tight battle here at the Garden, as they go into the third tied at 1-1.
The clubs are also tied in shots at 26-26 after Boston had a 13-10 edge in the second period, but both Rask and Price are having strong games so far.
The Bruins lead in hits 22-17, with Thornton pacing the club with four. he also leads the B's with four shots on goal in another strong all-around effort for the tough guy.
The Bruins also hold a 28-20 egde in face-offs, winning 58 percent of the draws. Bergeron is 9-4, which is no surprise. But newly converted center Blake Wheeler is also holding his own, winning 5 of 9 draws so far.
Montreal begins the third with 1:53 left on their fifth power play of the night. They have just two shots on the man-advantage so far, but one of those went in. The Bruins have two short-handed shots as well. Montreal is just 5 for 56 on the power play this season.
End Second Period, 1-1: And the second period is in the books with neither side adding to the score.
The clubs head into the third tied at 1-1, but Montreal will have 1:53 of power-play time to start the final frame.
Second Period, 19:52, 1-1: The Habs get a late power play as Chara is called for interference in the closing second after bowling over Pouliot in front of the Bruins net.
Important face-off here for the B;s, who will then have to start the third on the PK if they can avoid a last-second score.
Second Period, 15:25, 1-1: The Habs finally put one by Rask as Jeff Halpern chips in a rebound from the top of the crease, but it appeared to be kicked in with his left skate.
Benoit Pouliot had the initial shot in from the right wing that Rask turned aside.
And the review rules the puck was indeed kicked in. No goal, and it remains 1-1.
Second Period, 11:54, 1-1: Chara throws a hit on Lars Eller at the blue line. Eller doesn't like and starts jostling with the big guy, but wisely doesn't try to escalate it further.
Second Period, 11:42, 1-1: The Bruins kill off the penalty and Thornton gets a shot in just after leaving the box, this time taking care to avoid any white jerseys after exiting the sin bin.
Second Period, 9:42, 1-1: The Bruins didn't get a power play for long, as Thornton heads back to the box for interference after colliding with Hamrlik just after leaving the box.
Hamrlik backed into Thornton at the blue line. Questionable call there as the contact looked more incidental than intentional.
Second Period, 9:16, 1-1: The Bruins nearly score short-handed when Bergeron breaks in after Spacek breaks a stick at the points, but Bergeron's spin-o-rama gets broken up.
Montreal gets a penalty though, with Kostitsyn off for elbowing Mark Stuart behind the play. They'll be 22 seconds of 4 on 4 before the B's get a power play.
Second Period, 7:38, 1-1: Plenty of action in the Montreal zone as Thornton steals a pass in the high slot for a scoring chance.
Price makes the save, but a huge scrum in the crease ensues, with Campbell and Andrei Markov wrestling in the net. Thornton comes charging in and gets double teamed by a pair of Habs, but only Thornton gets a roughing minor, along with matching minors to Campbell and Markov, to give Montreal a power play.
Second Period, 5:29, 1-1: Michael Ryder might need a reminder that he doesn't play for the Habs anymore, as he has a brutal giveaway in front of his own net, but ask saves the day to keep it a 1-1 game.
Second Period, 3:18, 1-1: The Bruins can't cash in on Lapierre's diving penalty, but came very close with Lucic, Horton and Wheeler buzzing around the net for multiple chances at the tail end of the power play.
Second Period, 1:18, 1-1: Montreal's reputation finally ctaches up to them, as diving expert Maxim Lapierre gets called for diving to give the Bruins a power play.
Lapierre might have drawn the penalty on Andrew Ference for interference behind the net if he hadn't embellished it so blatantly.
Second Period, 0:25, 1-1: Marchand and Subban have words after the whistle, but big brother Thornton comes over and Subban quickly quiets down.
Second Period, 0:00, 1-1: And the second period is under way, with the Bruins again starting the "energy line" of Campbell, Thornton and Marchand looking to keep the momentum from the end of the first going.
First Intermission Notes: The Bruins once again fell behind early with another slow start, but this time they didn't wait until the third period to turn things around.
Boston got going quickly, tying it up off a great play by Milan Lucic to set up Zdeno Chara, and carried the play for much of teh second half of the opening frame.
Montreal still holds a 16-13 edge in shots, but Tuukka Rask has looked sharp.
The Bruins have a slim 12-10 advantage in hits, with Lucic leading the way with three. Montreal's Travis Moen actually has a game-high four so far. It's been a physical affair with plenty of shoving matches and scrums, but no full-fledged fights. That's to be expected in a Montreal game though, as the Habs usually have their gloves glued on with no real legitimate tough guys on their roster.
End First Period, 1-1: The Bruins and Habs head to the first intermission tied, as the Bruins weathered Montreal's early storm and came back to tie it at 1-1 and carried the play for much of the later stages of the opening frame.
First Period, 18:31, 1-1: Blake Wheeler is an official center now. He was just tossed out of the face-off circle trying a cheat a bit too much on the draw.
First Period, 18:22, 1-1: The Bruins' PK comes through again, with Marchand creating the best scoring chance with a short-handed bid from the right wing that sailed just high.
First Period, 16:22, 1-1: The Bruins have another penalty to kill as McQuaid gets the only call out of scrum next to the Bruins crease.
McQuaid goes off for two minutes for roughing.
First Period, 15:49, 1-1: And the Bruins have tied it up, with Chara finishing a superb setup by Milan Lucic.
Lucic circled behind the net and came out on the left side, then found Chara pinching in on the right with a crossing pass an Chara buried it top shelf to tie the game.
First Period, 14:26, Canadiens, 1-0: Big collision at center ice between Marchand and Jaroslav Spacek.
Both men go down, and Marchand gets up angry, shaking his gloves as he stands over Spacek, but nothing further develops.
First Period, 13:30, Canadiens, 1-0: Subban loaded up for another bomb from the point, but McQuaid blocks this one out front.
It must have hit all pad though, as McQuaid showed no signs of discomfort as he completes his shift.
First Period, 12:06, Canadiens, 1-0: Good pressure from the Wheeler-Recchi-Caron line, but Price comes up with a couple big stops to keep it a 1-0 game.
First Period, 10:40, Canadiens, 1-0: Travis Moen, the closest thing the Habs have to a tough guy, takes a few extra whacks at Rask after a save, and both Shawn Thornton and Adam McQuaid take exception and go after Moen, but the linesmen don't let anything break out.
First Period, 8:41, Canadiens, 1-0: The Bruins can't convert on the man-advantage, despite some good possession time in the Montreal zone by the first power-play unit, which now consists of Bergeron and Chara at the points and Horton, Lucic and Wheeler up front.
First Period, 6:41, Canadiens, 1-0: The Bruins will get their first chance on the power play as Roman Hamrlik gets two minutes for roughing.
First Period, 5:19, Canadiens, 1-0: Make that five goals on the power play, as P.K. Subban sends in a one-timer from the top of the left circle that eludes Rask to open the scoring.
First Period, 5:00, 0-0: The Habs get the first power play of the night as Tyler Seguin goes off for tripping.
Montreal has struggled mightily on the man-advantage, ranking 29th in the league with just four goals on 51 chances.
First Period, 4:10, 0-0: Mark recchi with te steal from Gill and a bid from the right circle.
He gave an extra stab at Price after the save, which brought over pest Max Lapierre for a few words, with Blake WHeeler stepping in as well.
First Period, 2:01, 0-0: Jordan Caron with a bid in front, but Price makes the save.
Got to be a thrill for Quebec native Caron to play his first regular-season game against the Habs.
First Period, 0:00, 0-0: And we're under way at the Garden.
Plenty of Habs sweaters in the crowd as usual, but not in the numbers they've been seen in past years as the Bruins' rising popularity makes it tougher for the out-of-towners to get tickets.
6:50 p.m.: The Canadiens have scatched forward Dustin Boyd and defenseman Alexandre Picard as expected.
The Bruins don't have any healthy scratches with Jamie Arniel returned to Providence.
In addition to Price in goal, the Habs are starting old friend Hal Gill and P.K. Subban on defense, with Benoit Pouliot, Jeff Halpern and Mathieu Darche up front. The Bruins once again will start the energy line of Greg Campbell, Shawn Thornton and Brad Marchand, with Mark Stuart and Dennis Seidenberg on defense and Rask in goal.
6:30 p.m.: Tuukka Rask led the Bruins onto the ice for warm-ups, so he'll be getting the start in this one as predicted.
Carey Price is in net for Montreal as expected.
6 p.m.: The Bruins will take on the Canadiens for the first time in just about an hour.
While the Bruins didn't skate this morning, several players did speak with the media this afternoon and coach Claude Julien just wrapped up his pre-game breifing.
Still no indication of who will start in goal for this one. That will have to wait until the warm-ups and we see who takes the ice first. With a second game in two nights, it's likely to be Tuukka Rask after Tim THomas got the call in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
Julien also noted that Jamie Arniel has been returned to Providence, indicating that Michael Ryder will be fine to play. Julien also updated David Krejci's condition. The center has not experienced any setbacks from the concussion suffered on Saturday, but he has also not had any physical activity or taken any neuro tests since the injury.
8 a.m.: The Bruins continue a stretch of emotional games as they return from Wednesday's win in Pittsburgh to host Montreal for the first time this season on Thursday.
There's always something special about seeing these Original Six rivals meet, but it probably won't feature the nastiness of the matchup with the Penguins or past clashes against the Habs. The current Montreal roster has been built on speed and skill rather than physical play, but there's always still a little hate between the clubs.
There's also plenty at stake, as the Bruins and Habs are battling for the top spot in the Northeast Division. The Canadiens are in first right now with 19 points, but the Bruins are just two points back and have played three fewer games.
The puck drops at 7 p.m., so check back here throughout the day for updates on all the action.
