Montreal Canadiens (17-36-9, eighth in the Atlantic) vs. Boston Bruins (38-19-5, fourth in the Atlantic)
Boston; Monday, 7 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Boston and Montreal meet in Eastern Conference play.
The Bruins are 12-3-1 against division opponents. Boston is eighth in the Eastern Conference averaging 5.2 assists per game, led by Brad Marchand with 0.7.
The Canadiens are 6-8-2 against the rest of their division. Montreal scores 2.5 goals per game, the least in the NHL. Nick Suzuki leads the team with 17 total goals.
In their last meeting on Jan. 12, Boston won 5-1. Marchand recorded three goals for the Bruins.
TOP PERFORMERS: Marchand leads the Bruins with 35 assists and has 60 points this season. Craig Smith has eight goals and three assists over the last 10 games for Boston.
Suzuki has 46 total points while scoring 17 goals and totaling 29 assists for the Canadiens. Rem Pitlick has seven assists over the last 10 games for Montreal.
LAST 10 GAMES: Bruins: 7-2-1, averaging 3.6 goals, 6.7 assists, 3.5 penalties and 7.9 penalty minutes while giving up 2.4 goals per game with a .916 save percentage.
Canadiens: 5-3-2, averaging 3.7 goals, 6.1 assists, 4.1 penalties and 8.5 penalty minutes while allowing 3.5 goals per game with an .883 save percentage.
INJURIES: Bruins: Patrice Bergeron: out (arm).
Canadiens: Josh Anderson: day to day (lower body), David Savard: out (ankle).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by
