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Spider-Man NL · 02-07-2010, 12:16 PM

2009-10 Regular Season Record:

23-22-11 : 57 Points
(11th Place in the Eastern Conference)

28-25-6 : 62 Points
(6th Place in the Eastern Conference)

Projected Goalies For This Game Are:

Bruins

# 40 Tuukka Rask
GPI: 25
Wins: 10
Loses: 7
OTL: 4
SO: 2
GAA: 2.11
Save%: .925

Canadiens

# 41 Jaroslav Halak
GPI: 28
Wins: 17
Loses: 8
OTL: 2
SO: 3
GAA: 2.43
Save%: .928

Boston Player Roster
Link

Montréal Player Roster
Link

(52)Darche - (14)Plekanec - (74)S.Kostitsyn
(61)Maxwell - (91)Gomez - (21)Gionta
(32)Moen - (40)Lapierre - (15)Metropolit
(53)White - (58)Desharnais - (59)Trotter

(79)Markov - (20)O'Byrne
(44)Hamrlik - (6)Spacek
(75)Gill - (26)Gorges

(41)Halak
(31)Price

Meetings This Year:

Nov. 5th, 2009:

2

1 (SO)

Dec. 4th, 2009:

1

5

Feb. 4th, 2009:

3

2 (SO)

Former Habs Now Playing For The Bruins

(27)Steve Begin
(28)Mark Recchi
(73)Michael Ryder

Former Bruins Now Playing For The Habs

(15)Glen Metropolit
(22)Paul Mara
(75)Hal Gill

This game can be seen live at 3:00 pm eastern on;

,

&

Listen to the game live at 3:00 pm on CJAD 800 AM

OR

Listen to the game live (In French) at 3:00 pm on CKAC 730 AM

Spider-Man NL · 02-07-2010, 12:16 PM

http://www.nhl.com/ice/preview.htm?id=2009020869

Bruins visit Canadiens, try to avoid 11th straight loss

By Brian Hunter

BRUINS (23-22-11) at CANADIENS (28-25-6)

Last 10: Boston 0-6-4; Montreal 5-3-2

Season Series: Fourth of six meetings this season between Northeast Division rivals. Montreal has taken all three matchups so far, including a 5-1 win on Dec. 4 in the only game played at the Bell Centre. Mike Cammalleri had a hat trick. The Canadiens also beat the Bruins in a pair of shootouts in Boston -- 2-1 on Nov. 5 and 3-2 on Feb. 4.

Big Story: Only five points separate these Original Six teams in the Eastern Conference standings, but their seasons have taken remarkably different turns of late. The Canadiens lost Cammalleri for the next 6-8 weeks with a knee injury, but have won three in a row without him to take over sole possession of sixth place. The Bruins just can't buy a win, and are in danger of tying the franchise record of 11 straight losses set in 1924-25 if they drop Sunday's game. In each of their last two they've blown a two-goal lead and lost in a shootout.

Team Scope:

Bruins: If there's a way to lose a game, Boston has found it of late. Even when the Bruins are playing from ahead and outshooting their opponents, as they did Saturday against the visiting Canucks, something ends up going wrong. First-period power-play goals by Zdeno Chara and Michael Ryder set them up to end the skid, but Vancouver battled back and Pavol Demitra netted both the tying goal in the third and the shootout winner.

"I think both goaltenders played well tonight and certainly kept their teams in the game," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "Again, with that 2-0 lead we really had to try to find a way to get that third goal. It didn't happen, so eventually it came to the shootout again."

Canadiens: Facing defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh, which was coming off a four-day break, Montreal was the sharper team Saturday. Brian Gionta scored a pair of goals and assisted on another, and Tomas Plekanec chipped in a goal and two assists in a 5-3 victory, the Canadiens' first in six games against the Penguins. After having to stop 45 shots in each of his previous two wins, Jaroslav Halak only needed to make 18 saves in this one.

"We were initiating the play," Gionta said. "We weren't sitting back and waiting for them to come to us. Against a team like that, so skilled, so offensively talented, you need to initiate the play and get them back on their heels."

Who's Hot: Marc Savard's return has energized the Bruins' offense, and he has five assists in as many games since getting back in the lineup. … Plekanec has five goals and seven assists in his last 11 games. The Canadiens' leading scorer now has 58 points in 59 games. Scott Gomez has consecutive multi-point efforts, totaling a goal and three assists.

Injury Report: Julien said defenseman Andrew Ference is "a good possibility" to return after missing 14 games with a groin injury and play Sunday. Ference skated on Saturday. Fellow blueliner Mark Stuart is expected to miss four weeks after surgery on his left pinky finger.

Cammalleri is out with a right MCL injury for Montreal, which also has forward Andrei Kostitsyn (knee) and defenseman Paul Mara (upper body) on injured reserve.

Stat Pack: The Bruins outshot their opponents 165-111 on a recent four-game homestand that failed to produce a victory. … The Canadiens continue to excel on special teams, with their power play ranking second in the League at 25 percent and their penalty kill seventh at 83.7 percent.

Puck Drop: Even a 10-game losing streak hasn't dropped the Bruins far from the top eight. This is the start of a four-game road trip prior to the Olympic break. Perhaps getting away from the TD Garden and the pressures of trying to snap their skid at home will be the spark Boston desperately needs.

Spider-Man NL · 02-07-2010, 12:17 PM

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/stor...bs-bruins.html

Habs catching Bruins at perfect time

By John F. Molinaro

It's a classic tale of two teams, two eternal rivals in two cities.

While the Montreal Canadiens have won three straight and five of their last eight overall, the Boston Bruins have slumped to 10 consecutive losses, including a 3-2 setback against the Habs just three days ago.

Montreal will try to continue their hot streak and inflict a little more pain on Boston when they host the Bruins in a Sunday matinee (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 3 pm ET).

The Habs are coming off a big 5-3 win over the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday afternoon on home ice. Brian Gionta, who had one goal in his previous eight games, scored twice and added an assist for Montreal, while Scott Gomez (his second in 19 contests), Mathieu Darche and Tomas Plekanec also found the back of the net.

But the real story of the game was the play of Montreal's fourth line.

Called up together from the American Hockey League's Hamilton Bulldogs, the trio of David Desharnais, Ryan White and Brock Trotter provided the Canadiens with plenty of inspiration.

The trio hustled and drew a big penalty in the second period that led to a key goal, and in the final frame kept Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby pinned in their own end for a key full shift.

"It was pretty nerve-racking, in front of this many fans," said Trotter, a U.S. college grad who was playing in his first-ever NHL game.

"I've never played in front of this many people."

Jaroslav Halak recorded 18 saves for Montreal, none bigger the one he made midway through the third period that helped spring Brian Gionta, who scored to give the Habs a comfortable 5-2 lead.

"(Halak) made some huge saves for us," Gionta said. "We didn't give up too many chances. Especially against a talented team like that, that's what we needed."

As for the Bruins, they're still wounded from their heartbreaking 3-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.

Boston ran into a hot goalie in the form of Roberto Luongo, who stopped 41 shots in regulation and overtime, and all three shootout attempts.

"You're speechless like I am," Bruins coach Claude Julien said when the media were slow to ask the first question in his post-game news conference.

Failure to win in Montreal Sunday afternoon would see the Bruins, who haven't won since Jan. 14, tie a franchise-worst 11-game losing streak set from Dec. 3, 1924-Jan. 5, 1925, in the team's inaugural season.

The Bruins sport an anemic 1-10-3 record since Jan. 7.

"Same story, I guess," winger Michael Ryder said after Saturday's loss.

"We did a lot of good things we threw a lot of pucks at the net and had good puck possessions. We just have to stick with it right now and we just have to find ways to get a few wins."