MONTREAL — The Canadiens welcome the rival Boston Bruins to the Bell Centre on Thursday night for their home opener.
It’s the teams’ first meeting since the Habs eliminated the Bruins from the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs in Game 7 of the second round at TD Garden.
Much of the talk going into Thursday’s matchup involves Bruins forward Milan Lucic and Canadiens forward Dale Weise. The two veterans exchanged words during the handshake line following Boston’s Game 7 loss, and Weise said that Lucic threatened him.
Weise has been a healthy scratch for Montreal’s first four games, but he skated on the fourth line during Thursday’s morning skate, per the team’s website.
Another player who allegedly exchanged words with Lucic during that handshake line was Canadiens defenseman Alexei Emelin. The 28-year-old blueliner didn’t play in Montreal’s last two games, but he will return to the lineup Thursday night, per TSN’s John Lu.
[tweet https://twitter.com/JohnLuTSNMtl/status/522771955314089984 align=”center”]
Lucic and Emelin have a history that started before last season’s playoff series. Emelin laid a low hit on Lucic during a regular-season game in March, which upset both sides. In April 2013, Emelin went to hit Lucic in the neutral zone during a regular-season contest in Montreal, and the Habs defenseman suffered the worst of the collision. He picked up an injury and didn’t play for the rest of that season.
You can watch the next chapter in the Bruins-Canadiens rivalry at 7:30 p.m. on NESN. Pregame coverage begins at 7 p.m. Be sure to follow NESN.com’s live blog for analysis and highlights, too.
Here are the expected lines and pairings for both teams:
BOSTON (2-3-0)
Milan Lucic–David Krejci–Seth Griffith
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–Reilly Smith
Chris Kelly–Carl Soderberg–Loui Eriksson
Daniel Paille–Ryan Spooner–Simon Gagne
Zdeno Chara–Dougie Hamilton
Dennis Seidenberg–Adam McQuaid
Kevan Miller–Torey Krug
Tuukka Rask
MONTREAL (3-1-0)
P.A. Parenteau–Tomas Plekanec–Alex Galchenyuk
Max Pacioretty–David Desharnais–Brendan Gallagher
Jiri Sekac–Lars Eller–Rene Bourque
Brandon Prust–Manny Malhotra–Dale Weise/Travis Moen
P.K. Subban–Alexei Emelin
Andrei Markov–Tom Gilbert
Jarred Tinordi–Mike Weaver
Carey Price
Photo via Eric Bolte/USA TODAY Sports Images
