Need to Know: Bruins vs. Canadiens 

BOSTON –– An Original Six matchup will take center stage at TD Garden on Saturday night.

The Boston Bruins will host the Montreal Canadiens at 7 p.m. for the third of four regular-season meetings between the divisional rivals.

“We’re three points behind them, so it’s a four-point game for sure. Saturday night in our building, it should be fun for sure," Nikita Zadorov said. “There’s a lot of history between these teams; it’s nice to be part of it.”

The B’s are coming off a 4-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday; they have won seven of their last eight games. The team will look to build off that momentum against the Canadiens.

“It’s always a special game playing against these guys,” head coach Marco Sturm said. “We feel pretty good about our game. I think that’s the most important thing.”

Zadorov is on the second pair with Andrew Peeke, a combination Sturm has used for the past two games. Hampus Lindholm, accordingly, is on the third pair with Mason Lohrei, and Henri Jokiharju is out of the lineup.​

“We can play with anybody on this team. We have seven good defensemen in here; anybody can play,” Zadorov said. “Me and [Peeke] have a lot of chemistry from last year. We haven’t played much this year, but he’s a good player. He’s playing really simple defensively and he gives me a lot of chances to create offensively.”

Wait, There’s More

• Jeremy Swayman will start in net for Boston. The goaltender last played on Tuesday against the Dallas Stars and made 28 saves. Swayman has a 2.88 goals against average and a .903 save percentage through 34 games this season.
• David Pastrnak is on a five-game point streak; he has eight points through that stretch. The 29-year-old forward posted three points (one goal, two assists) in Thursday’s win over Vegas. Pastrnak remains on the first line with Marat Khusnutdinov and Elias Lindholm.
• Quebec native Jonathan Aspirot will skate on the first pair with Charlie McAvoy against Montreal. The 26-year-old defenseman signed a two-year extension with Boston on Jan. 11. Aspirot has three points (two goals, one assist) through 31 games while averaging 16:31 of ice time per night.

Opposing View

• The Canadiens most recently fell 4-2 to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday at Bell Centre. Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki scored in the loss, and Sam Montembeault made 13 saves on 16 shots. Montreal has dropped three of its last five games.
• Lane Hutson leads all Canadiens defensemen with 52 points (nine goals, 43 assists) through 51 games; that is second most of all players on the team, trailing Suzuki by five points. The 21-year-old defenseman – who played two years of NCAA hockey at Boston University – is projected to skate on the second pair with Arber Xhekaj. He is also on the first power-play unit.
• Caufield enters Saturday’s matchup on a four-game point streak; he has five goals and two assists through that stretch. The 25-year-old forward has been on the first line with Suzuki and Kirby Dach, and is averaging 18:22 of ice time per night.