HabsWorld.net -- 

Many people would argue that the Canadiens and Leafs are hockey’s biggest rivals, but just as many people would argue that it is the Canadiens and Bruins that have met almost 30 times in the playoffs and 678 times during the regular season. Last season the Canadiens won 7 of 8 meetings with the Bruins outscoring them 23-13. Cristobal Huet has had spectacular success against the Bruins in 6 meetings with the Bears has a record of 5-1-0, posting a 1.17 goals against average a .964 save percentage and three shutouts.

In their previous meeting this season Andrei Markov scored with 1.2 seconds remaining in the third period to provide the Canadiens with a 3-2 win. Bruins head coach Dave Lewis was very upset after the game as he believed the penalty to rookie Bruins defenseman Matt Lashoff was a weak call at best and that Radek Bonk was guilty of holding his stick on the very same play.

Prior to tonight’s game the Canadiens will honour the long rivalry with the Bruins brining ex-players from both teams on the ice.

Craig Rivet who left early in the third period of Saturday nights win over the Toronto Maple Leafs due to a wrist injury he suffered will dress for the Canadiens tonight continuing his streak as the Canadiens most recent iron man. This will be his 133rd consecutive game.

Fun Facts

1. After 678 meetings the Canadiens hold a tight grasp on the all time series record with a 321-250-103-4 and have scored 2050 goals against the Bears.

2. After bobbing up and down between 2nd and 5th overall on the penalty kill for most of the season the Canadiens have now risen to the top of the category, the Bruins on the other hand are 26th.

3. Alex Kovalev who took an unsportsmanlike penalty against the Leafs on Saturday was thrown out of the last meeting with the Bruins picking up 22 penalty minutes