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At the Rink blog

At the Rink: Bruins at Canadiens

Tuesday, 01.19.2016 / 7:21 PM

By Sean Farrell - NHL.com Correspondent / 2015-16 At the Rink blog

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2015-16 At the Rink blog
At the Rink: Bruins at Canadiens

MONTREAL -- Boston Bruins center David Krejci will not be back in the lineup against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; NESN, RDS, SNE), but forward David Pastrnak will return after missing three games because of an upper-body injury.

Bruins coach Claude Julien ruled out Krejci, who will miss his 10th game since he sustained an upper-body injury on Dec. 27.

"No chance for Krejci, he's only had one practice," Julien said after the Bruins' optional morning skate.

Pastrnak skated on a line with Krejci and Tyler Randell on Tuesday; he took line rushes during warm-ups with Zac Rinaldo and Max Talbot.

"It's getting better every day," Pastrnak said. "I can shoot, finally. It's good."

Julien said he still had lineup decisions to make.

Pastrnak, who played for the Czech Republic during the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship, has three goals and two assists in 13 games in a season that has been interrupted by injuries.

"I missed a lot of hockey. That's frustrating for every player," Pastrnak said. "Nothing I can do (about) that. There's still a lot of hockey left, and I have to get back and help the team get better every day."

The Bruins and Canadiens will play their 911th game, including the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the most games between any NHL teams, and their first since the 2016 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., on Jan. 1, which the Canadiens won 5-1.

Bruins left wing Brad Marchand missed the Winter Classic because of a suspension.

"It's easy for our team to get going every night right now with how close the standings are and knowing that each game matters, every point's going to matter at the end of the year," Marchand said. "Right now we have a pretty good focus, so we have to make sure we're prepared [Tuesday]."

Montreal, which is on a four-game losing streak, has nine points in its past 20 games (4-15-1). Julien can relate to Canadiens coach Michel Therrien facing blame for Montreal's struggles.

"I'm in that situation every year," Julien said.

Therrien brushed aside a question about his job security.

"I really appreciate your concern, honestly, but I'm only thinking about the game [Tuesday]."

The Canadiens, who started 19-4-3, have 50 points and are tied for fifth in the Atlantic Divison with the Ottawa Senators, one point behind Boston.

"As a group, we're confident in our group in here," Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban said. "We know that we have the guys in here to win hockey games, it's just a matter of getting it done. And it's tough, when guys are getting the same questions over and over again of, 'What's the issue? What's the issue?' sometimes it's tough to find that result. But I know that we believe the results are in this room so I think for us the answers are here. We have to look at each other and just be better for each other."

Therrien said he is not stressed about Montreal fighting to stay in postseason contention. The Canadiens hold the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference ahead of the Senators.

"No, no, you know what, it's not the stress, it's more the excitement about playing [Tuesday] against the Boston Bruins," Therrien said. "That's the way I see it. It's going to be a fun game and we've got a big week ahead of us, and this is a division game and I'm more excited than anything."

Here are the projected lineups:

BRUINS

Brad MarchandPatrice BergeronBrett Connolly

Matt BeleskeyRyan SpoonerLoui Eriksson

Frank VatranoJoonas KemppainenJimmy Hayes

Zac RinaldoMax TalbotDavid Pastrnak

Zdeno CharaZach Trotman

Dennis SeidenbergJoe Morrow

Torey KrugKevan Miller

Tuukka Rask

Jonas Gustavsson

Injured: David Krejci (upper body), Adam McQuaid (upper body), Chris Kelly (leg)

Scratched: Landon Ferraro, Colin Miller

CANADIENS

Max Pacioretty - Tomas Plekanec - Brendan Gallagher

Alex Galchenyuk - David Desharnais - Dale Weise

Tomas Fleischmann - Lars Eller - Paul Byron

Brian Flynn - Torrey Mitchell - Devante Smith-Pelly

Andrei Markov - P.K. Subban

Alexei Emelin - Jeff Petry

Nathan Beaulieu - Mark Barberio

Mike Condon

Ben Scrivens

Injured: Carey Price (lower body), Tom Gilbert (lower body)

Scratched: Greg Pateryn, Victor Bartley, Jacob De La Rose

Status report: Price skated on his own Tuesday. He has been skating regularly for the past week without his goalie equipment. "I guess he's getting closer and closer to start [practicing] with his gear," Therrien said. "I've heard a lot of good things about his recovery so we're excited about that." … Marchand is looking forward to Krejci's return. "I think we've done a pretty good without him, but having him back will add a lot to the team," Marchand said. "He's obviously a huge part of this group and adds a lot of depth to this team and obviously a lot of scoring. It will be great to have him back."

Who's hot: Spooner has 11 points in his past nine games (two goals, nine assists). … Kevan Miller has a goal and two assists during a three-game point streak. … Bergeron scored twice Saturday. … Chara has a goal and four assists in his past six games. … Subban has scored twice during a five-game point streak. He has eight points (two goals, six assists) in his past nine games. … Pacioretty has nine points (five goals, four assists) in his past nine games. … Plekanec has a goal and three assists in his past five games. … Gallagher has assists in consecutive games.

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