Bruins at Canadiens preview

BRUINS (17-12-4) at CANADIENS (17-11-5)
7:30 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, NESN, NHL.TV

Price, who is 299-209-66, all with Montreal, is 5-0-0 with a 2.30 goals-against-average in his past six games (five starts).
Montreal has won two straight and is 5-1-0 in its past six games. The Canadiens have scored at least four goals in four of their past six games.
Jaroslav Halak will start the second of back-to-back games for Boston, which is trying to avoid a third consecutive loss after winning three in a row.
Tuukka Rask made 23 saves in a 4-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.
The Bruins, who are 3-5-0 in their past eight games, have scored two goals or fewer in 11 of the past 15.

Players to watch

Bruins forward Brad Marchand has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past five games
Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry has seven points (four goals, three games) during a five-game point streak

They said it

"His individual preparation and knowledge of the League and skillset has allowed him to be solid. We're going to need him tonight." -- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy on goalie Jaroslav Halak
"We're playing the Bruins, who are one point behind us right now, so it'd be nice to get a nice gap in between us and start climbing the standings as well." -- Canadiens forward Andrew Shaw

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- David Krejci -- David Pastrnak
Joakim Nordstrom -- Colby Cave -- David Backes
Ryan Donato -- Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson -- Danton Heinen
Sean Kuraly -- Noel Acciari -- Chris Wagner
Torey Krug -- Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk -- Charlie McAvoy
John Moore -- Steven Kampfer
Jaroslav Halak
Tuukka Rask
Scratched: Gemel Smith, Jeremy Lauzon
Injured: Kevan Miller (throat), Zdeno Chara (knee), Patrice Bergeron (ribs/collarbone), Urho Vaakanainen (concussion), Jake DeBrusk (upper body)

Canadiens projected lineup

Tomas Tatar -- Phillip Danault -- Brendan Gallagher
Jonathan Drouin -- Max Domi -- Andrew Shaw
Paul Byron -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Artturi Lehkonen
Matthew Peca -- Michael Chaput -- Kenny Agostino
Brett Kulak -- Shea Weber
Mike Reilly -- Jeff Petry
David Schlemko -- Noah Juulsen
Carey Price
Antti Niemi
Scratched: Jordie Benn, Charles Hudon, Nicolas Deslauriers
Injured: Joel Armia (knee)

Status report

The Bruins did not hold a morning skate. … Aside from starting Halak in place of Rask, Cassidy will use the same lineup from Sunday. … Schlemko returns after being a healthy scratch the past two games. ... Benn will be left out of the lineup for the first time this season.

Stat pack

Pastrnak has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in his past six games. … Krejci has nine points (three goals, six assists) during a six-game point streak. He needs two points for 600 in the NHL … Drouin has eight points (two goals, six assists) in his past eight games. … Shaw has seven points (two goals, five assists) during a seven-game point streak.