It's hard to believe the NHL season is five weeks old and the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins are meeting for the first time.
But that's the case -- the Northeast Division rivals have gone more than a month without crossing paths. However, that will all change on Thursday night, when the Canadiens come to TD Garden for the first of six meetings this season.
The game will be shown on TSN and RDS in Canada and is one of 10 games on Thursday's schedule. It's also one of five scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET.
That group also includes the Buffalo Sabres looking for their second win in as many nights when they visit the New York Rangers -- the Sabres won 5-4 in a shootout at New Jersey on Wednesday. Tampa Bay comes to Washington for a Southeast Conference battle that will be shown on the NHL Network in the U.S. Both teams are coming off victories on Tuesday -- Tampa Bay beat Toronto 4-0, while the Caps topped the Rangers 5-3. Philadelphia, which lost 3-2 in OT at Washington on Sunday, visits Carolina, which walloped Edmonton 7-1 on Tuesday, and Minnesota travels to Atlanta.
At 7:30 p.m. ET, Edmonton visits Detroit, coming off a 3-2 OT win against Phoenix on Monday, and Vancouver will try to cool off Ottawa as it continues a swing through Eastern Canada. A half-hour later, St. Louis will try to start a new winning streak when it hosts Nashville. The Blues had their six-game streak shattered on Wednesday in an 8-1 loss at Columbus.
The last two games of the night begin at 10:30 p.m. ET. Dallas will try to become the first visiting team to win at Los Angeles when it visits the Kings in a game that can be seen on the NHL Network in Canada. The San Jose Sharks will try to rebound from a 3-2 OT loss to Anaheim on Tuesday when they host the struggling New York Islanders.