Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In Canada: Sportsnet (English)
In the Canadiens region: RDS (French)
In the Bruins region: NESN
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, Sportsnet+
We just saw what a team coached by Jim Montgomery could do when the St. Louis Blues beat the Montreal Canadiens last Tuesday by a 6-1 score, the worst loss Montreal has suffered since the 4 Nations. St. Louis is riding a 10-game winning streak, and their play since beginning the post-tournament schedule has seen them turn an eight-point deficit to the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference into a seven-point lead on the ninth-place Calgary Flames.
The decision by the Boston Bruins to fire Montgomery and the Blues turnaround after signing him almost immediately was highlighted in our preview of the Blues game a week ago. Tonight’s we’ll see the other side of the coin. The Bruins arrive at the Bell Centre having lost their last nine contests, and that freefall has dropped them below the Buffalo Sabres (who have started to win quite regularly) to sit last in the Eastern Conference.
Once the most feared team to play in the NHL, the Bruins have been anything but in 2024-25. They were in the black in terms of scoring chances in the opening month, but since making their coaching change have had the seventh-lowest expected-goal share at five-on-five in the NHL Trading away Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle, and Brandon Carlo at the deadline stripped the team of many of its star players, making even stealing points from games they get outplayed in difficult. That’s the state the Habs find them in.
Canadiens Statistics Bruins 35-30-9 Record 30-36-9 47.5% (27th) Scoring-chances-for % 48.8% (22nd) 2.99 (15th) Goals per game 2.61 (29th) 3.31 (26th) Goals against per game 3.29 (25th) 21.2% (17th) PP% 15.4% (29th) 80.3% (13th) PK% 76.3% (22nd) 0-2-0 Head-to-Head Record 2-0-0 With Charlie McAvoy out of the lineup with the shoulder injury he sustained at the 4 Nations and Elias Lindholm joining him in the press box, David Pastrnak is the only star left in the lineup. The Czech forward has matched his jersey number with 88 points on the season; the next-closest teammate is Pavel Zacha at 47. While the whole team have been struggling for weeks now, he has managed to post seven points during the nine-game losing streak, and scored two goals in his last game.
It’s a one-man band in Beantown right now, and, even though Pastrnak is about to complete only the second year of his eight-year contract, it’s hard to see any other solution for the Bruins but to trade him for a haul of picks and prospects and opt for a full rebuild. The organization’s prospect pool ranked 30th in The Athletic‘s latest ranking, and despite trading all those players away this season, they have just one additional second-round pick to go with their assigned allotment of one per round this summer, and just the Toronto Maple Leafs’ first-rounder from the Carlo trade extra for next year. As it stands, they’re staring at a long rebuild, and need to bring a lot more talent into the organization.
Boston has beaten Montreal the two times they faced each other this year: in Montreal’s second and 24th game of the season. The Habs haven’t seen their rival in its current form, so while the players may think this is the same potent club they’ve struggled against for a decade, is a declawed Bruins team that has sauntered into the Bell Centre this evening. If Montreal can come out with a quick start, score a few goals, and stay committed to their defensive and transition play for the full 60 minutes, they should be able to quash any fight the Bruins had for this contest, grab the two points being served up to them, and maintain their position as the second wild-card for another day.
The New York Rangers traded leads with the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night, but took the last one for good in overtime to tie Montreal at 79 points, though they’ve needed an extra game to do so. New York still needs to at least match Montreal’s point total over the remainder of the season, and every win Montreal amasses makes that task progressively more difficult.
- (8) Montreal Canadiens: 4-3-1 (79 pts., 8 GR)
- (9) New York Rangers: 4-2-1 (79 pts., 7 GR)
- (10) Columbus Blue Jackets: 5-3-1 (77 pts., 9 GR)
- (11) Detroit Red Wings: 6-1-1 (75 pts., 8 GR)
- (12) New York Islanders: 6-0-2 (74 pts., 8 GR)
