For the first time in 2015-16, the Bruins head north to take on the Atlantic division leading Montreal Canadiens. Despite the loss of the reining MVP and Vezina winning goalie, Carey Price, the Canadiens sit atop the National Hockey League standings with 25 points.

Two Massachusetts natives will make their Bruins/Habs debut tonight as Montreal’s Mike Condon will be between the pipes while Boston’s Frank Vatrano makes his NHL debut. Condon (Needham, MA) and Vatrano (East Longmeadow, MA) will both look to make an impact tonight in what should be an exciting game for both.

After winning four in a row, the Bruins have dropped their last two and have looked like the team we saw in the season’s first week. Montreal on the other hand enter’s Saturday’s contest with wins in three of their last four.

Montreal defeated the Bruins in Boston on October 10, 4-2. The Bruins have lost six straight against the Habs and have not won at the Bell Centre since March of 2014.

Gametime: 7:00PM
TV/Radio: NESN/98.5 The Sports Hub
Location: Bell Centre
Records: Boston 6-5-1, 13 points Montreal 12-2-1, 25 points

Bruins projected lines: 

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Brett Connolly
Loui Eriksson-David Krejci-Frank Vatrano
Matt Beleskey-Ryan Spooner-Jimmy Hayes
Max Talbot-Joonas Kemppainen-Tyler Randell

Zdeno Chara-Colin Miller
Torey Krug-Adam McQuaid
Joe Morrow-Kevan Miller

Jonas Gustavsson
Tuukka Rask

Canadiens projected lines:

Max Pacioretty-Tomas Plekanec-Brandon Gallagher
Lars Eller-Alex Galchenyuk-Paul Byron
Tomas Fleischmann-David Desharnais-Dale Weise
Brian Flynn-Torrey Mitchell-Devante Smith-Pelly

Andrei Markov-P.K. Subban
Alexi Emelin-Jeff Petry
Nathan Beaulieu- Tom Gilbert

Mike Condon
Dustin Tokarski

Matchup to watch: Max Pacioretty vs. Bruins

Max Pacioretty (left) has been a thorn in the Bruins side since coming into the league (Photo credit: Joe Makarski/Bruins Daily)

In 27 career games against the Bruins, Pacioretty has scored 12 times and has added 11 assists. The Connecticut native has had his fair share of success against the Bruins and will will look to continue that success Saturday night. With 13 points, (7 goals, 6 assists) Pacioretty is tied with Andrei Markov, David Desharnais, and P.K. Subban for second on the team in points. Pacioretty should see Zdeno Chara for most of the night, something the Habs’ captain is use to.

Storyline to watch: Frank Vatrano makes NHL debut

Frank Vatrano will make his NHL debut Saturday night in Montreal against the Canadiens (Photo credit: Angela Spagna/Bruins Daily)

Growing up in Longmeadow Massachusetts and playing college hockey at UMASS Amherst, Frank Vatrano is very well aware of the Bruins/Canadiens rivalry. Making his NHL debut at the Bell Centre, Saturday night, Vatrano will get his first taste of the rivalry as a Bruin. Vatrano was called up from Providence on Friday. Leading the Providence Bruins with 10 goals and 10 assists, Vatrano comes into Saturday playing very good hockey. Whether he can carry that to the NHL level remains to be seen.