Zdeno Chara and the Boston Bruins host the rival Montreal Canadiens at 7:00 p.m. EDT on Monday night at TD Garden in Boston, MA (TV/Radio: NESN/WBZ-FM 98.5 The Sports Hub).
Boston (21-9-1) has only lost twice in eight games in the month of December. The B's have won four in a row and are 8-2-0 in their last 10 games. Boston is coming off of a 6-0 thrashing of the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon. Benoit Pouliot, Daniel Paille, Chara, Milan Lucic, Nathan Horton and Tyler Seguin all scored goals and Tim Thomas had 31 saves.
Seguin leads the team in points with 28 and has scored a team-best 14 goals. Lucic has 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists), Rich Peverley (six goals, 18 assists) and Patrice Bergeron (six goals, 18 assists) all have 24 points. Thomas has 625 saves on 663 shot attempts (38 goals allowed) and has a GAA of 1.83 while Tuukka Rask has 293 saves and a 1.82 GAA.
Montreal (13-13-7) is 3-2-3 in the month of December and is riding a two-game losing streak. The Habs most recently lost to the New Jersey Devils, 5-3, on Saturday. P.K. Subban, Chris Campoli and Lars Eller all scored for the Canadiens while Carey Price had 30 saves on 35 shots.
Tomas Plekanec has a team high 25 points (6+19=25) and is followed by Max Pacioretty, who has 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists). Erik Cole leads the team in goals with 12 and also has 10 assists for the Canadiens. Price has 751 saves on 821 shot attempts (70 goals against) and has a 2.38 GAA. Peter Budaj has 106 saves and a 2.50 GAA in four games.
The Bruins and Canadiens have met three times this season, with the Bruins losing twice. In the most recent meeting on November 21, the Bruins escaped with a 1-0 victory on an Andrew Ference goal at 15:41 of the first period, pushing the Bruins winning streak to nine games. Tim Thomas had 33 saves in the shutout victory for Boston.
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