Bruins at Canadiens preview

BRUINS (11-1-2) at CANADIENS (7-5-2)
7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV

Chara, the Bruins captain, will become the third player born outside of North America to reach the milestone, joining Jaromir Jagr (1,733 games) and Nicklas Lidstrom (1,564).
Boston, which is coming off a 6-4 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday, has outscored its opponents 30-13 during its winning streak and is 8-0-2 in its past 10 games.
Bruins forward Brad Marchand will look to extend his NHL career-high point streak to 14 games (10 goals, 18 assists), and linemate David Pastrnak will try to stretch his point streak to 13 games (14 goals, 15 assists), which would be an NHL career-best.
Montreal's Claude Julien will become the 19th coach in NHL history to coach 1,200 games. He was coach of the Bruins when they won the Stanley Cup in 2011.
The Canadiens are 3-1-0 in their past four games but are coming off a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Saturday.

Players to watch

Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, who is 7-0-1 with a 1.49 goals-against average, .949 save percentage and two shutouts in his first eight starts, can tie Gerry Cheevers (7-0 with two ties in 1978-79) for the second-longest season-opening point streak by a goalie in Boston history. Ross Brooks was 8-0 with three ties through his first 11 games in 1972-73.
Canadiens goalie Carey Price is 4-2-0 with a 2.03 GAA, .932 save percentage and one shutout in his past six starts.

They said it

"They've got a lot of pace, so protecting the middle of the ice in the neutral zone, similar to what Pittsburgh did to us a little bit last night. … So that's a little bit of how you beat those faster skilled teams, you force them to defend, get them frustrated in their own end." -- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy about facing Montreal
"It's going to be a big challenge for us tonight. They are three guys who know each other well, who have played together for several years and are able to find each other everywhere on the rink." -- Canadiens coach Claude Julien on defending against Boston's top line

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk -- David Krejci -- Danton Heinen
Anders Bjork -- Charlie Coyle -- Brett Ritchie
Zach Senyshyn
-- Sean Kuraly -- Chris Wagner
Zdeno Chara -- Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug -- Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk -- Connor Clifton
Tuukka Rask
Jaroslav Halak
Scratched: Steven Kampfer, Cameron Hughes
Injured: Joakim Nordstrom (infection), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia), Kevan Miller (knee), Anton Blidh (shoulder), John Moore (shoulder), Par Lindholm (upper body), David Backes (upper body)

Canadiens projected lineup

Tomas Tatar -- Phillip Danault -- Brendan Gallagher
Jonathan Drouin -- Max Domi -- Joel Armia
Artturi Lehkonen -- Ryan Poehling -- Paul Byron
Nick Cousins -- Nate Thompson - Nick Suzuki
Victor Mete -- Shea Weber
Ben Chiarot -- Jeff Petry
Mike Reilly -- Cale Fleury
Carey Price
Keith Kinkaid
Scratched: Jordan Weal, Brett Kulak, Christian Folin
Injured: Jesperi Kotkaniemi (groin)

Status report

Lindholm was placed on injured reserve. … Poehling will make his season debut after he was recalled from Laval of the American Hockey League on Sunday.

Stat pack

Chara will become the 21st player to skate in 1,500 games and will join Lidstrom, Chris Chelios, Scott Stevens, Larry Murphy and Ray Bourque, who are each a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, as the only defensemen to so. … The only point streaks by a Bruins player longer than Marchand's since 1994-95 are a 20-game point streak by Adam Oates in 1996-97, and an 18-game point streak by Phil Kessel in 2008-09. … Drouin has scored four goals in his past four games.