Bruins at Canadiens, April 24, 2022: Five things you should know

The Montreal Canadiens have lost all their games against the Boston Bruins this season.

Author of the article:

Pat Hickey • Montreal Gazette

Publishing date:

Apr 24, 2022 • 13 minutes ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation

Boston Bruins left wing Jake DeBrusk (74) shoots the puck on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault (35) during the third period at TD Garden on Jan. 12, 2022. Photo by Bob DeChiara /USA TODAY Sports

Here are five things you should know about the Canadiens-Bruins game at the Bell Center Sunday (7 pm, TSN2, RDS, TSN-690 Radio, 98.5 FM).

The match-up: This is the last of four games between these Atlantic Division rivals and the Bruins have had the upper hand with three victories. They swept the first two games at TD Garden, defeating the Canadiens 5-2 on Nov. 21 and 5-1 on Jan. 12. The Canadiens fared a little better on March 21 at the Bell Center when they took the Bruins to overtime before lose 3-2. Both teams played Saturday but the Bruins will have a bit more rest because they beat the New York Rangers 3-1 in Boson and arrived in Montreal in time to get a good night’s sleep. The Canadiens traveled by bus from Ottawa after losing 5-4 to the Senators.

We’re No. 32: The loss in Ottawa was the eighth consecutive loss for the Canadiens and dropped them into last place in the overall NHL standings. Montreal is tied on points with the Arizona Coyotes, who rallied from a 4-1 deficit Saturday before losing 5-4 in overtime to the St. Louis Blues. While both teams have 51 points, the Habs are in last place because they have fewer regulation wins. Montreal and Arizona are guaranteed to finish in the two bottom spots in the standings.

The puck stops here — or not: The Bruins would appear to have the edge in goal for this game. Boston, which has employed a two-goalie system this season, welcomed back Linus Ullmark Saturday and that means they’ll go with Jeremy Swayman in Montreal. Swayman has a 2-0-0 record against the Canadiens with a 1.99 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage. With Carey Price getting the start in Ottawa, Sam Montembeault will start in what will likely be his last appearance of the season. He has a 7-17-6 record with a 3.78 GAA and an .892 save percentage.

Caufield reaches 20: Cole Caufield scored his 20th goal of the season Saturday in Ottawa. It’s an impressive achievement because he had scored only one goal before Martin St. Louis took over as head coach in early February. Caufield, who became the first Canadiens rookie to score 20 goals since Chris Higgins notched 23 in the 2005-06 season, is tied with linemate Nick Suzuki for the team lead in goals. Rem Pitlick, who is also a rookie, scored his 14th and 15th goals in Ottawa. Nine of his goals have been scored since the Canadiens claimed him off waivers from the Minnesota Wild.

Pastrnak gets the night off: David Pastrnak, the Bruins’ leading goal-scorer, returned to the lineup Saturday after missing eight games with an undisclosed injury. Pastrnak demonstrated his fitness by scoring his 39th goal but Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said he would not accompany the team to Montreal. Cassidy said earlier in the week that Pastrnak and defenseman Hampus Lindholm, who missed seven games with a lower-body injury, would each play one of the two weekend games and he determined it was more important to have them available against the Rangers.