(SportsNetwork.com) – The Montreal Canadiens will begin a road-heavy stretch
of play on Saturday night with a stop in Boston to take on the rival Bruins
for the third time this season.
The Habs are set to play three straight and seven of their next eight on the
road, where they are 6-2-1 on the season. This slate of games comes on the
heels of Montreal having played eight of 10 at home to begin the month.
The Canadiens packed their bags on a winning note, having topped the St. Louis
Blues 4-1 on Thursday. Max Pacioretty led the charge on his 26th birthday with
a pair of goals.
“I told my parents this morning that this is my time, around my birthday, but
I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself,” Pacioretty said. “I’m just happy
to contribute and hope we all keep going now.”
Dale Weise and Lars Eller also scored and Carey Price made 31 saves for the
Canadiens, who rebounded from Tuesday’s 4-0 loss to Pittsburgh to win for the
seventh time in their last eight games.
Pacioretty leads Montreal with 10 goals and 18 points, and he also netted a
pair of tallies in a 5-1 victory over visiting Boston on Nov. 13. Weise and
Eller scored as well and Price made 21 saves as the Canadiens defeated the
Bruins for the third straight time and for the eighth time in the last nine
meetings.
Dougie Hamilton picked up the lone score in defeat and Niklas Svedberg was on
the hook for all five goals on 34 shots for the Bruins, who have lost four
straight at home in this series.
Price will start for the Habs tonight and is 19-8-3 lifetime against the
Bruins with a 2.50 goals against average and .918 save percentage.
Boston returns home to play for a second straight night having topped the
Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 in a shootout last night. Alex Khokhlachev had the
lone tally of the tiebreaker, lighting the lamp in the seventh round.
Khokhlachev was recalled from the American Hockey League on Thursday on an
emergency basis and was inserted into the lineup when David Krejci was a late
scratch due to an undisclosed issue. Friday night marked his second career
game.
Khokhlachev’s heroics were made possible thanks to third-period goals from
Dennis Seidenberg, Matt Fraser and Daniel Paille as Boston went on to win its
third straight and eighth in the past 10.
“That was a good comeback win knowing we’re down two goals going into the
third,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said.
Svedberg stopped 25 shots through overtime for a Bruins club that also was
without Brad Marchand due to an unknown injury.
With Svedberg having started last night, Tuukka Rask is likely to start in net
versus the Canadiens. He is just 3-11-3 with a 2.80 GAA and .902 save
percentage in this matchup.
