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Pregame: Canadiens vs Bruins |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
Samuel Montembeault will be back in the Canadiens’ net tonight for the fourth and final tilt of the season between the Habs and their biggest rivals, the Bruins. So far this season, Boston has won two of the three games, including a 9-4 obliteration back in January. The Bruins are currently third in the President’s Trophy race and have lost their last game to the Blues by a 5-1 score. The game was on Monday night and it’s a well-rested team that will be taking on Martin St.Louis’ men tonight.
So far, Samuel Montembeault has taken on Boston nine times in his career and his numbers aren’t great with a 4.44 GAA and a .876 SP. He’s won just two games and lost six, not being implicated in the decision of the ninth match.
As always, Montreal will have to keep an eye on Brad Marchand who’s got 46 career points against the Habs in 53 games, and David Pastrnak who has 37 s in 28 games. Boston’s goaltender hasn’t been confirmed yet but given the fact Jeremy Swayman has got seven wins in eight starts against Montreal he could be the logical choice. However, Swayman also started the last game so Linus Ullmark could be on duty. He’s only faced Montreal four times and has a 2-1-0 record with a 3.02 GAA and a .890 SP.
As for the Canadiens, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Jordan Harris come back in the lineup in place of Jonathan Kovacevic. The Kovacevic-Struble duo struggled mightily against Columbus on Thursday night and were often stuck in their zone, unable to clear the puck to get a much-needed change. Two of their shifts even lasted for over three minutes. If that were to happen against Boston, the pair would not get away with it, the Bruins would certainly make them pay.
The Bruins have won nine of the last 10 matches between the two sides and are the favorites to grab the win tonight, even more so if Montreal plays in the same way it did against the Blue Jackets on Tuesday. The game starts at 7:00 PM and you can catch all the action on TSN2 or RDS.