Boston Bruins: 5 Keys to Monday's Matchup with the Montreal Canadiens

The Boston Bruins can return to the scene of their most recent loss with all of the conviction that comes with an eight-game winning streak when they visit Montreal’s Bell Centre Monday night.

The host Canadiens, on the other hand, can enter with the self-assurance that no hot team should be too hot to handle, having just halted the New York Rangers’ seven-game tear with a 4-0 triumph on Saturday.

With those two agendas converging, this particular card could be one of the better installments in the recent history of the Boston-Montreal rivalry.

The Bruins, in particular, will want to put a stamp on their refined status of this month by putting forth a more convincingly competitive game than in their previous two meetings with the Habs. Better yet, if only for one night, they want to turn the clock back to 2008-09 by formulating their first nine-game winning streak since December 2008 and snapping their five-game regular-season winless skid in Montreal.

The five most critical steps to achieving that are as follows.

Stepping In On The Right Foot

In four of their last six regular-season visits to the Bell Centre, the Bruins have entered the first intermission with a two-goal deficit glowering down at them. All four of those, naturally, ended in regulation defeat.

The two exceptions in that span have been a 3-0 victory on Feb. 7, 2010 and a fall-from-ahead, 3-2 overtime loss on Jan. 8 of last season. In other words, when they stay with the Habs and get the upper hand, the Bruins usually whittle off at least one point.

In visits to Montreal dating back to the 2008-09 season, the Bruins are 2-0-1 when they keep the Canadiens off the board through the first 20 minutes.

Doing that again on Monday would guarantee nothing, but conceding another early lead would guarantee an unwanted uphill battle.

For what it’s worth, the Habs are 5-0-0 when leading after the first period and 7-0-1 when ahead after two.

Looking For Price Guns

Presumptive Montreal starter Carey Price has not allowed a goal in any of his last 127 minutes of crease time. And before posting back-to-back shutouts against Carolina and the Rangers, he allowed two goals―no more, no less―in each of his previous three appearances. In nine of his last 10 starts, Price has allowed two goals or fewer, the lone exception being a 5-3 loss to the Rangers Nov. 5.

For a Boston strike force that has mustered at least four legitimate (i.e. non-empty net) goals in seven of its last eight outings and six goals in five of its last seven, this may be the toughest test since, well, the last time they visited Price and Co.

Keeping Their Balance

Over their last five outings, the Canadiens have had input from 10 different goal-scorers, including nine forwards and defenseman PK Subban.

In the same time frame, 14 different Bruins have tuned the opposing mesh, including 10 forwards and four blueliners. And most recently, top guns Tyler Seguin and Milan Lucic have gone three and four games, respectively, without a single goal.

Meanwhile, David Krejci has been pointless his last four games and has only one assist in the last five outings after back-to-back three-point nights earlier this month.

As beneficial as it has been to have the likes of Chris Kelly filling in the gaps, some of Boston’s usual suspects are getting increasingly due for a second wind. If they along with the lower six and the rearguards all continue to attack consistently, they should improve their chances against Montreal by exceeding the Habs’ depth.

Pestering Plekanec

Montreal’s top producer, Tomas Plekanec, has recently swollen his output in the playmaking department. Pitching in a pair of assists on back-to-back nights against Carolina and the New York Islanders and following up with a goal-assist value pack against the Rangers, he has had a hand in six of the Canadiens’ last 11 goals.

Dating back to his playmaker hat trick on Nov. 5, Plekanec has 10 helpers in the last eight games, giving him a hand in half of his team’s last 22 strikes.

Whoever is assigned to cover Plekanec at any given time will need to make a point of flustering his focus on handling the puck so as to reduce his odds of doling out a crisp, homeward-bound pass.

Avoiding Extracurriculars

There will be no place in this matchup for Brad Marchand to take three coincidental penalties with Subban as he did in the first installment of this 2011-12 season series. Nor can the Bruins afford to spill their energy and momentum on five unanswered penalty killing segments like they did through the first 40 minutes of their last trip to Montreal.

Surprising as it may seem, the Canadiens have actually logged a slightly dirtier disciplinary record than the Bruins. Only five NHL teams have gone shorthanded more frequently than Montreal, who averages 4.2 penalty-killing scenarios per night, whereas Boston goes on the kill 3.89 times per game.

The Habs do have the third-best penalty-killing brigade in the league, behind only New Jersey and Buffalo. But, if nothing else, the Bruins can help themselves to kill the clock and drain Montreal’s tanks a little by ignoring their opponent’s “advances” if and when the Canadiens try to pester them.