GAME DAY | Canadiens – Bruins: Preview, Lines, Goalies, TV, Fantasy

• Brendan Gallagher: “We understand that when things aren’t going right, people are going to ask questions. But it’s important for us to stick together as a team. That’s what we’re talking about. We’re going to get out of this. It’s taking longer than we would have liked, but we’re going to get out of this. The only way we’re going to do that is by sticking together as a group.”
• Max Pacioretty: “It wasn’t the performance we were looking for after such a hard-fought, emotional game on Saturday night. There were some times in the game where I felt like we weren’t at our best and we were second on the puck, and there were some times in the game where we had a lot of pressure on the puck.
• Claude Julien: “We’ve gotten better, when you’re leading after two periods, you’re doing something good on the road and had we been able to close those two games in the third period [in Philadephia and New York], we would be talking about 11 out of the last 12 points.”
• David Krejci and David Pastrnak both made the trip to Montreal and are currently listed as Day-to-Day, it is unknown if they will be able to participate in Tuesday night’s game.
• Since December 1, 2015 (at which point the Canadiens were atop of the conference in points), the Canadiens have an NHL worst 5-15-1 record. They currently find themselves fighting for a playoff spot.
• While the Canadiens have a 19-8-3 record versus teams in the Eastern Conference this season, the Bruins boast an 18-10-2 record against teams from the East.
• The Canadiens have dipped slightly in their placing for the goals against category, they are currently in 15th in the league in goals against, with 118 in 46 games. The Bruins have allowed 116 goals in 44 games and find themselves in 12th in the league.
• The Canadiens have surprisingly maintained their standing in the goals for category as they are currently in 7th place in the NHL, with 128 over their first 46 games. Surprisingly, the Bruins are 4th in this category with 133 goals scored in 44 games.

• As you may notice below, there is a bit of an unfamiliar name among the top scorers on the road for the Bruins. Ryan Spooner has not only managed to stick with the Bruins this season (something he has failed to do in his three seasons of professional hockey before this season), but his 33 points are currently tied for 3rd for points among the Bruins. I’ve personally gotten to see Spooner on a number of occasions when he visited St. John’s to play the Ice Caps, and although he flashed his skill on many occasions, he just couldn’t manage to stick in the big leagues before this season. Currently, he has 2 goals and 9 assists in his last nine games while putting up a whopping 31 shots on goal over that span. David Krejci is nearing his return (currently listed as day-to-day), which may bump Spooner down to the third line, but he should maintain some powerplay time due to the fact he has 13 PPP this season. With him only being owned in 31% of Yahoo leagues, there is a good chance he is on your waiver wire, so go grab him now.
• Top scorers for the Bruins on the road this season are:

1. Ryan Spooner (with 19 points in 21 games).
2. Zdeno Chara (with 16 points in 21 games)
3. Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand (with 15 points in 21 and 19 games respectively)

• Top scorers for the Canadiens at home this season are:

1. Tomas Plekanec  (with 16 points in 22 games)
2. Max Pacioretty (with 15 points in 22 games)
3. P. K. Subban (with 14 points in 22 games)

Player stats from War-on-Ice, NHL.com and Yahoo Sports.