With the NHL’s holiday break approaching, two important points will be at stake when the Boston Bruins host the Montreal Canadiens in the Original Six rivals’ second meeting of the season on Tuesday night.
The teams are separated by just two points in the Atlantic Division after their Sunday losses. Boston dropped its third straight game (0-2-1) with a 6-2 defeat to the Ottawa Senators, while Montreal fell in a 4-3 shootout against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Bruins are currently 1-2-1 during a five-game homestand and aim to finish strong before the holidays. After Tuesday’s game, they won’t return home until Jan. 8 to face the Calgary Flames — one of the teams they will also play on the upcoming five-game trip.
“We need to win that game,” Boston defenseman Nikita Zadorov said. “We’re out of a playoff spot. That’s not where we want to be. It’s really tight in the standings, but we know where we’re at. Nowhere near where we want to be as well, so we’ve got to show up (for) a big rivalry game.”
On Sunday, Charlie McAvoy scored his first goal of the season after assisting on David Pastrnak’s first-period tally that cut into Ottawa’s 3-0 lead.
However, another three-goal period saw the Senators respond to both Boston tallies, forcing coach Marco Sturm to pull a goaltender for only the second time this season. After starting the previous four games, Jeremy Swayman was forced to relieve Joonas Korpisalo, who allowed five goals on 17 shots.
In Sturm’s eyes, it was a simple game to break down — and he will look for a response in a key game.
“It was disappointing, just right from the start,” he said. “(Ottawa) came out flying. … They outworked us right away, right from the first puck drop and then they finished us right away in the paint.”
The season’s first Boston-Montreal meeting was a 3-2 road win for the Bruins on Nov. 15. McAvoy was hit by a slap shot in that game, causing the facial fracture that kept him out of the lineup for 11 games.
“I’m excited to be back,” McAvoy said Sunday night. “Every game for me is a chance to just keep building.”
The Canadiens will look to get back at their arch-rival after a busy home-and-home weekend against Pittsburgh, earning a 4-0 Saturday win before starting a seven-game road trip with Sunday’s shootout loss.
Montreal is now 4-1-2 in its last seven games and 9-3-4 away from the Bell Centre this season.
While top scorers Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki were kept in check until Caufield scored in the shootout, coach Martin St. Louis’s second line had a strong Sunday. Ivan Demidov and Oliver Kapanen each scored a goal and added an assist, and Juraj Slafkovsky contributed two helpers.
“At times, we weren’t perfect in our D-zone, but we fought, we managed to come back and we had chances to win the game,” Slafkovsky said. “So, not every game is going to be perfect.”
Former Boston College goaltender Jacob Fowler is coming off a 31-save shutout Saturday in just his fourth NHL start. He is expected to make Tuesday’s start after Jakub Dobes played on Sunday and recorded 28 saves.
Fowler is 2-1-1 with a .915 save percentage to start his NHL career.
“The way he carries himself, it seems like he’s been ready for a long time,” St. Louis said of Fowler.
Less than two weeks after Fowler got his first start, forward Sammy Blais became the latest Montreal player to be recalled from AHL affiliate Laval.
Blais wasted little time recording a point in his Canadiens’ debut on Sunday, assisting on Noah Dobson’s game-tying goal in the third period. The Quebec native played in eight games for the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier this season.
–Field Level Media
