After traveling north of the border for three skates out in Western Canada, the Bruins returned home Monday evening to host the Nashville Predators. In a game that saw the Bruins look like a team who traveled from coast to coast the day prior, the Black and Gold were extremely lackluster in a 3-2 loss.

Wednesday the Bruins once again return to Canada, this time, to take on the Montreal Canadiens. The Bruins have dropped both contests against the Habs this season including their lone trip to the Bell Centre this season on November 7. Boston held a 2-1 lead over Montreal until the 18:52 mark of the third period when David Desharnais tied the game at 2-2 while on the power play. Less than a minute later, Max Pacioretty would strike to the give the Canadiens their only lead of the game and their seventh straight regular season win against the Bruins.

The Canadiens are still without star goalie Carey Price and pesky, but talented forward Brandon Gallagher. The Bruins will be without Joonas Kemppainen.

Montreal enters tonight with two straight losses and has also dropped three of its last four. The Habs are well rested, though, as they last played Saturday night in a 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Gametime: 7:30 P.M.
TV/Radio: NBCSN/98.5 The Sports Hub
Records: Boston 14-9-3 (31 points) Montreal 19-6-3 (41 points)
Location: Bell Centre

Bruins projected lines:

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Brett Connolly
Matt Beleskey-David Krejci-Loui Eriksson
Vatrano-Spooner-Hayes
Rinaldo-Ferraro-Randell

Zdeno Chara-Zach Trotman
Tore Krug-Adam McQuaid
Joe Morrow-Kevan Miller

Tuukka Rask
Jonas Gustavsson

Canadiens projected lines:

Max Pacioretty-Alex Galchenyuk-Sven Andrighetto
Lars Eller-Tomas Plekanec-Paul Byron
Tomas Fleischmann-David Desharnais-Dale Weise
Daniel Carr-Brian Flynn-Christian Thomas

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

Mike Condon
Dustin Tokarski

Matchup to watch: Max Pacioretty against the Bruins defense

Max Pacioretty has enjoyed much success in his career against the Boston Bruins (Photo credit: Joe Makarski/Bruins Daily)

Max Pacioretty and the Boston Bruins know each other all too well. Skating in his eighth season with the Canadiens, Pacioretty has suited up against the Bruins 28 times and a handful more in the playoffs. In those 28 games against the Bruins, the New Canaan, Connecticut native has scored 13 times and has added 11 assists, good for 24 points. The Habs’ captain has a goal and an assist in two games against the Bruins this season.

Pacioretty is by the far the Canadiens’ most dangerous weapon on offense and as is always the case, will see a lot of Bruins’ captain Zdeno Chara. Pacioretty can hurt you in more ways than one. From his speed all the way to his precise shooting, Pacioretty is more than a one-trick pony.

As the Bruins continue to struggle defensively in their own end, things won’t get any easier for them tonight. If the Black and Gold allow Pacioretty to continue his success against the Bruins, they very easily will be heading towards another loss inside the Bell Centre.

Storyline to watch: Who’s in and who’s out?

Dennis Seidenberg has been a healthy scratch for the Bruins in their last two games. (Photo credit: Joe Makarski/Bruins Daily)

With Kevan Miller back in the lineup and things still shaky on the Bruins’ blue line, head coach Claude Julien has mixed things up a bit on the back end. Scratching Dennis Seidenberg and Colin Miller for the team’s previous two games, the Bruins blue line looked a bit different.

After a poor performance on Monday, the Bruins’ blue line may look a bit different again tonight. Despite the pairings remaining the same at the morning skate, changes can occur between now and puck drop and Seidenberg and Miller can be reinserted into the lineup. Regardless of which six Bruins defensemen are in tonight, they’re going to have to be much better than they were on Monday night.