An Original Six rivalry heats up Saturday night when the Boston Bruins take on the Montreal Canadiens. The Bruins went on a 6-1 run after losing their first three games, but have dropped their last two heading into this game. Meanwhile, the Habs continue to be the most dominant team with a league-high 25 points.
Can the Bruins upend the Habs? Or will Montreal continue on its march of dominance? Read on as we take a look at the thrilling matchup. It’s a busy Saturday with plenty of big college football matchups. Check out some of the big games this weekend with our complete previews for LSU vs. Alabama and Notre Dame vs. Pittsburgh.
Boston started fast, taking the first four shots and going up 1-0. But the Bruins quickly fizzled as they let the Washington Capitals back in en route to a 4-1 loss Thursday night. The Bruins have now lost back-to-back games heading into this contest.
[sc:NHL240 ]The Bruins need to keep themselves in games if they’re to finally best their Original Six rivals. They’ve dropped seven straight games to Montreal dating back to the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Boston will need its stars to step up. David Krejci leads the Bruins with 15 points and seven goals. He’ll be the Bruins’ main man against the Canadiens; Krejci has scored 24 points (four goals and 20 assists) in 38 career regular season games against Montreal.
Krejci will have some solid support in right wingers Loui Eriksson and Jimmy Hayes as well as center Patrice Bergeron. The three each have four goals and seven assists this season for 11 points. Meanwhile, Torey Krug has been an excellent playmaker from the blue line with a team-high 10 assists.
If Boston wants to break its losing streak against the Canadiens, they’ll also need a solid effort from goalie Tuukka Rask (3-5-1, 3.46 GAA). He’s been pretty solid on the road this season, going 2-1 with a 2.35 GAA. But Rask has been vulnerable against Montreal, going 3-14-3 with a 2.74 GAA in 21 career matchups. He allowed three goals in a 4-2 home loss against the Canadiens in October.
The Bruins have won five of their last six on the road.
Betting on the Montreal Canadiens
While the Boston Bruins were blown out at Washington on Thursday night, the Montreal Canadiens once again flexed their muscle with a dominant 4-1 win over the New York Islanders. David Desharnais, Brendan Gallagher, Dale Weise and Tomas Plekanec all scored for the Habs. They won even without stellar goaltender Carey Price, who’s out with a lower body injury.
The Habs are now 3-0-1 since Mike Condon (5-0-1, 1.50 GAA) took the starting goaltender spot for the injured Price. He’ll have quite a matchup on Saturday in his first meeting against Montreal’s heated rivals in the Bruins.
It’ll be up to the blue line, led by P.K. Subban, to help their rookie goalie in such a tense atmosphere. Subban has been excellent this season, leading the team with a plus-11 and 12 assists this season. Subban has been solid against the Bruins in his career with 12 points and a plus-four in 25 matchups.
The Montreal defenseman will do well to feed the puck to the likes of Plekanec or Max Pacioretty. Plekanec has 42 career points in 61 games against Boston, while Pacioretty has 23 points in 27 matchups.
The Habs have won three straight home games against Boston.
Writer’s Prediction
The Bruins snap their long losing streak to Montreal. Create a betting account now and get ready for a whole season of exciting hockey action.
