The Boston Bruins couldn’t have played much worse during Wednesday’s 6-1 debacle to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. Don’t believe me? Just ask Chris Kelly.

“That’s the only thing we did as a team,” the veteran forward told reporters postgame, “we all played poorly.”

The blessing in disguise after Wednesday’s game is this: the Bruins have a quick turnaround as they play their second of a back-to-back. But this time, they’ll be going up against the hated Montreal Canadiens, who always seem to get under their skin, on Thursday night in front of a hostile Bell Centre crowd.

On Boston.com: Maple Leafs turn tables on Bruins

The Bruins and Habs will face off for the second time this season. In their first meeting back on October 16th, Tuukka Rask was pulled during the B’s 6-4 loss to Les Habitants. That game also saw Milan Lucic take a penalty late in the third period – on a questionable call. During his time in the box, the first line winger, who was already under fire after his less than cordial handshake to Alexei Emelin and Dale Weise after the end of last year’s second round series, made an obscene gesture to the Bell Centre crowd. Lucic was given a game misconduct in the final seconds of play.

Will Lucic be able to keep his cool against the hated Habs on Thursday night? Can the Bruins shake off the cobwebs from their performance in Toronto and come away with two points to split the two-game Canadian road trip?

Here is your complete Bruins-Canadiens preview

Gametime: 7:30 PM
TV/Radio: NESN, 98.5 The Sports Hub
Records: Bruins – 10-7-0, 20 points/Canadiens – 11-4-1, 23 points
Location: Bell Centre

Bruins projected lines

Milan Lucic-Alex Khokhlachev-Seth Griffith
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Reilly Smith
Chris Kelly-Carl Soderberg-Loui Eriksson
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Simon Gagne

Dennis Seidenberg-Dougie Hamilton
Adam McQuaid-Joe Morrow
Torey Krug-Zach Trotman

Tuukka Rask -or-
Niklas Svedberg

Canadiens projected lines

Max Pacioretty-David Desharnais-P.A. Parentau
Alex Galchenyuk-Tomas Plekanec-Brendan Gallagher
Brandon Prust-Lars Eller-Jiri Sekac
Drayson Bowman-Manny Malhotra-Dale Weise

Andrei Markov-P.K. Subban
Alexei Emelin-Mike Weaver
Sergei Gonchar-Tom Gilbert

Carey Price
Dustin Tokarski

Who to watch for Bruins: Alex Khokhlachev

Had this preview been published yesterday, Milan Lucic would’ve been tonight’s Bruin to watch. But things change quickly in this industry, and Alex Khokhlachev, who was called up from Providence this morning (as reported by Mark Divver of The Providence Journal), will be one to watch for in the latest installment of Bruins-Habs:

Alex Khokhlachev has been recalled by Boston from @AHLBruins

— Mark Divver (@MarkDivver) November 13, 2014

 

Khokhlachev will likely suit up for the second game of his NHL career. He’ll probably be thrust right into action on the first line with Milan Lucic and Seth Griffith, but that’s not a bad thing. Down in Providence, the Russian forward developed good chemistry with Griffith, and the Bruins are hoping that the duo can provide a spark against a Habs team who are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games.

The Russian forward has been a prospect to watch for quite some time now, and he’ll get his first opportunity to showcase his game in hockey’s most hated rivalry.

Who to watch for Canadiens: Brendan Gallagher

He may have gotten off to a slow start, but Habs forward Brendan Gallagher has been playing pretty well lately with two points in his last two games (one goal, one assist). Gallagher’s game is similar to Brad Marchand’s. Both like to play with an edge and that can be both a good and a bad thing.

In the first meeting between the two teams, Gallagher tallied three points (two goals, one assist) in nearly 15 minutes of ice time. With a depleted blue-line, Gallagher could provide some matchup problems for the Bruins’ D. If he does, then the Black and Gold will be in for another long night.

Game day edge: Play tight defensively and quiet Bell Centre crowd

The holes in the Bruins’ defense were evident in last night’s loss to the Leafs. That sore spot was shown a few weeks ago as well, when the Habs – much like the Leafs did less than 24 hours ago – put up a six spot on the B’s (with a healthy Zdeno Chara).

During their five-game winning streak, the Bruins took advantage of their soft schedule and kept their head above water. All the things they did well during that span, however, were quickly erased in Toronto.

The Bruins hope to shake off their poor defensive effort against a team that has already lit them up. They don’t have the skill to get in another track meet with the Canadiens, so in order to get two points tonight, they’ll have to play a tight game on the back end. That may result in a low scoring game, but, at this rate, they should do whatever it takes to get out of the Bell Centre with two points.

Game day video: Hear what the Bruins had to say following their below subpar performance against the Leafs