Bruins look to Run Winning Streak to 13
The Boston Bruins host the Montreal Canadians looking for their 13th consecutive win. The Bruins sit in first place in the Eastern Conference playoff race with a record of 49-17-5 for 103 points, with just 11 games to play.
Montreal is in third place in the conference with a record 39-26-7 for 85 points. The Canadians trail the Tampa Bay Lightning by one point for second place, but have played one more game than the Lightning.
Over their past 10 games, the Bruins are 10-0-0 and the Canadians 5-5-0.
The teams have played head to head on three occasions, with this game being the fourth and last one between the two for the regular season. Montreal won the first to encounters, but Boston won the third 4-1 March 12.
Boston is riding a winning streak of 12 games, which is the third longest in the history of the franchise.
Montreal defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on Saturday and look to ride that momentum to victory tonight against the Bruins. The Canadians are not sure who will start between the pipes as Carey Price has started the past five games, but Peter Budaj the backup needs times since he has not played since losing to Boston March 12.
However, the Canadians have played well of late with Price starting in goal, and he defeated the Bruins on December 5 by the score of 2-1. For his career, Price is 17-8-3 with a goals against average of 2.50 against the Bruins.
Boston trailed in a game for the first time in over seven games on Saturday prior to rallying to beat Phoenix 4-2. Jarome Iginla has played a huge role in the winning streak the Bruins have pieced together. He continued his torrid pace for March, when he scored two goals against the Coyotes giving him 11 in the current 12-game winning streak.
With his last two goals, Iginla passed former Boston great Johnny Bucyk to move into 25th place in the all time NHL goal scoring list netting his 557th and 558th.
Iginla said the winning streak has been fun and the team looks at each game with the same idea in mind. The players, said Iginla know teams are out to stop the streak, but the team has worked hard to keep it alive.
P.K. Subban, a defenseman with the Canadians has scored 11 points – 2 goals and 9 assists – over his past 11 games. Max Pacioretty a left wing has five points over his last five games. David Desharnais has scored 6 points in his past five games.
Tuukka Rask the starting goalie for Boston has given up 11 goals over his seven game win streak for an average of 1.55 per game. Dougie Hamilton a Boston defenseman has scored 4 points and has a rating of plus-6 in his last five games.
Canadians Lars Eller who plays forward is day to day. Josh Gorges a defenseman and Brandon Prust a forward are out. Adam McQuiad and Dennis Seidenberg are both out for Boston.
Pick: Boston 3-1
