BOSTON — The Bruins will be looking for their first win of the season against archrival Montreal when they host the Habs on Wednesday night.
"We've played three games, and the last one I think we should've won," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "So if we had won that one, it'd be a 2-1 series, and it'd be a lot different."
But the Bruins didn't win that one, blowing a 2-0 lead in the final minutes before falling 3-2 in overtime in Montreal on Jan. 8. That's a loss that still stings, but it's far from the only frustrating result the Bruins have suffered against the hated Habs.
"Some teams seem to bring the worst out of you," Julien said, "and at times they've done that."
The Bruins will try to turn that around on Wednesday, and they'll have Patrice Bergeron in the lineup to help do it, despite his taking a puck to the chin in practice Tuesday that required a trip to the hospital for stitches. Bergeron has points in all three games against Montreal this season with 2-3-5 totals, and he has more goals and points against the Canadiens than any other team, with 11-16-27 totals in 35 career games.
Tim Thomas was the first goalie off the ice at the morning skate, indicating he will get the nod in this one. Thomas leads just about every goaltending category in the league this season at 25-6-6 with a 1.80 GAA, .945 save percentage and seven shutouts. But he's just 8-14-4 with a 3.04 GAA and a .907 save percentage against Montreal, including an 0-1-1 mark this season.
Zdeno Chara and Mark Recchi did not participate in the morning skate, but Julien stated there were no injury issues — "just rest" for the two veterans, who will both be in the lineup.
Rookie Tyler Seguin will not, as he will be a healthy scratch for just the second time in his young career.
For the Canadiens, coach Jacques Martin confirmed that Carey Price would get the start in goal. That's no surprise, as Price is 12-2-2 with a 2.31 GAA and a .926 save percentage all time against the Bruins, including a 3-0-0 mark this season against Boston.
The Habs are without defenseman Andrei Markov and Josh Gorges, both out for the season with knee injuries, and forward Michael Cammalleri, who is sidelined with a shoulder injury. They are expecting to get defenseman James Wisniewski back on Wednesday after he missed the last two games with the flu. If he is able to play, Alexandre Picard will sit.
Projected Bruins lines
Forwards
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Mark Recchi
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton
Blake Wheeler-Zach Hamill-Michael Ryder
Jordan Caron-Greg Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Steven Kampfer
Dennis Seidenberg-Johnny Boychuk
Andrew Ference-Adam McQuaid
Goalies
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Scratches: Daniel Paille (suspension), Tyler Seguin, Mark Stuart
Projected Canadiens lines
Forwards
Max Pacioretty-Tomas Plekanec-Brian Gionta
Andrei Kostitsyn-Scott Gomez-Lars Eller
Travis Moen-Jeff Halpern-Benoit Pouliot
Mathieu Darche-David Desharnais-Tom Pyatt
Defense
Hal Gill-P.K. Subban
Roman Hamrlik-James Wisniewski
Jaroslav Spacek-Yannick Weber
Goalies
Carey Price
Alex Auld
Scratches: Alexandre Picard, Michael Cammalleri (shoulder)
