This week, “Rivalry Week” doesn’t just exist on the gridiron of college campuses. On Thursday night, two divisional foes residing in two different North American countries will meet for the 892nd time in the NHL’s most prolific rivalry.

Unfortunately, I’m not referring to Thursday night’s highly anticipated bout between the Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning.

For the first time this season, the Boston Bruins travel north of the border to the Canadian province of Quebec to take on the Montreal Canadiens in front of an anticipated sellout crowd at the Bell Centre.

So, to get you ready for tonight’s showdown, here’s a look at the top 10 moments from this historic rivalry.

Boston Bruins(18-7-2 | 1st in Atlantic Division | 2nd in Eastern Conference) at Montreal Canadiens(17-9-3 | 2nd in Atlantic Division | 3rd in Eastern Conference)

Start: 7:30pm EST

TV Broadcast: NESN, RDS

Radio Broadcast: 98.5 The Sports Hub

Team	GF/G	GA/G	PP%	PK%	5-on-5 GF/GA Ratio	vs. Atlantic Division
Boston	11th	1st	17th	6th	6th	8-3-0
Montreal	14th	2nd	4th	3rd	9th	2-2-1

*Based off NHL Rankings

Last 10 Games Played:

Boston: 7-2-1

Montreal: 8-1-1

Top Scorers

Boston Bruins	Goals	Assists	Points	+/-	Special Teams Points
David Krejci	4	17	21	+9	6
Milan Lucic	11	9	20	+10	5
Reilly Smith	5	12	17	+3	4
Torey Krug	7	9	16	+5	8

 

Montreal Canadiens	Goals	Assists	Points	+/-	Special Teams Points
P.K. Subban	4	20	24	+9	12
Tomas Plekanec	9	10	19	+9	8
Alex Galchenyuk	7	12	19	0	6
Andrei Markov	2	16	18	+13	11

Goaltending Matchup

	W/L/OTL	GAA	Save %	Shutouts
Tuukka Rask	14-6-2	1.90	.935%	2
Carey Price	12-8-2	2.00	.937%	1

 

Player to watch

BOS: Brad Marchand

– After a slow start to the 2013-14 campaign, the “Little Ball of Hate” has excelled in the month of November, tallying eight points in 15 games, including four points over his last four games.

MTL: Max Pacioretty

– Montreal generates a lot of scoring from their defensemen, but there’s no denying the importance of Pacioretty to a forward group that lacks a consistent scoring threat. Since returning from injury at the beginning of November, the Team USA Olympic roster candidate netted eight goals during 15 games played which saw the Canadiens rocket up the Atlantic Division to second overall.

 

Stats, Not Opinion

206– The amount of victories attained by the Canadiens over the Bruins during the regular season all time(348-263-103).

24- The total number of times the Bruins have been sent home by the Habitants during a playoff series.

18- Montreal’s dominance over the Bruins peaked from 1946-1987 which included 18 straight playoff series victories against the Bruins.

1- After knocking off the Canadiens in their first meeting of the season, the Bruins dropped the remaining three games against Montreal last season.

6– Since 2003-04, only one goal has decided the outcome of the first regular season match up between the Canadiens and Bruins six times.

2- The number of victories achieved by the Bruins in their first regular season game against the Canadiens since 2003-04..

 

Vegas Line

BOS (-125) at MTL (+105) | OU 5

(Via: Bovada.lv)

Odds-on favorite?

 

 

 

 

 

– Using SportsInsights.com’s Bet Labs Software, we discover that history may not be in favor of the black and gold on Thursday night.