Canadiens, Bruins look to put handshake incident behind them
The Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins aren't exactly friendly, so perhaps it wasn't surprising that Milan Lucic used a handshake to send a message after the last meeting.
The bitter Original Six rivals will meet for the first time since that incident as the Canadiens play their home opener against Lucic and the Bruins on Thursday night.
Montreal outscored Boston 7-1 to win the final two games of their second-round playoff series last season.
The Bruins' frustration at being eliminated in Game 7 was evident during the customary post-series handshake line, as Lucic had words for forward Dale Weise and defenseman Alexei Emelin, reportedly telling them, "I'm going to (expletive) kill you next year."
Weise isn't interested in discussing the incident.
"What incident are you talking about? I think it was blown out of proportion," he told the team's official website. "I really don't feel like spending any time talking about it.
"It's all in the past. We're starting a new season, and we're trying to get back to playing the style that brought us success last season. As cliche as it sounds, we're focusing on taking things one game at a time."
The last one certainly didn't go well Monday, when the Canadiens (3-1-0) were thumped 7-1 at Tampa Bay. They went 0 for 4 on the power play and went scoreless on 14 opportunities during their season-opening road trip.
"We don't have a lot of time to work on our power play on the road," said Max Pacioretty, who hasn't scored since a 4-3 win at Toronto in the season opener Oct. 8.
Pacioretty has two goals and one assist in the last two games against the Bruins, including the eventual game-winner in Game 7.
Carey Price stopped 55 of 56 shots in the final two games of the Boston series and is 7-2-1 with a 1.69 goals-against average over his past 10 regular-season home meetings against the Bruins.
However, he was pulled after allowing four goals on 23 shots through two periods against the Lightning, and he has a 3.66 GAA through three games.
The Bruins (2-3-0) will try to spoil Montreal's home opener after winning 3-2 in a shootout at Detroit on Wednesday, snapping a three-game slide. They had a season-high 39 shots while limiting the Red Wings to 20 before Tuukka Rask stopped both shootout attempts.
"That was a pretty solid 65 minutes to snap the streak," Rask said. "We skated really hard and made some sweet passes."
Rask is 2-2-0 with a 2.22 GAA this season, but it's unclear if he'll get the nod in Montreal. He's 3-10-3 with a 2.63 GAA in 17 career regular-season matchups and compiled a 2.58 mark in last season's playoff series.
Boston could turn to rookie Niklas Svedberg, who made 28 saves in a 2-1 loss to Colorado on Monday in just his second NHL appearance in two seasons.
It's offense and not goaltending that has been the Bruins' biggest issue thus far. They've scored only six non-shootout goals in five games, with Reilly Smith accounting for two.
Lucic is still in search of his first point of the season after he had three against the Canadiens in the playoffs.
