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Boston Bruins Heading To Quebec City To Play Montreal

By Andrew Thompson |
Jan 1, 2016; Foxborough, MA, USA; The Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens walk past the Boston Pops Orchestra towards the ice before the start of the Winter Classic hockey game at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 1, 2016; Foxborough, MA, USA; The Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens walk past the Boston Pops Orchestra towards the ice before the start of the Winter Classic hockey game at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports

Nothing says ‘hockey rivalry’ like a match between the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens.

The Boston Bruins are heading up to Quebec City tonight to take on the Montreal Canadiens in their fifth game of the preseason. The Bruins are currently 2-1-1 this preseason, and they’ve been learning from their earlier mistakes. They’ve made some cuts to the roster, and they’re looking to trim the squad down a little more in preperation for opening night next week.

Here are the members of the squad that are heading up to Quebec City to play at the Videotron Centre, the arena that will likely be home to the future Quebec Nordiques (If NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman ever gets over his fascination about hockey in the desert.).

FORWARDS:Noel Acciari, David Backes, Matt Beleskey, Patrice Bergeron, Austin Czarnik, Jake DeBrusk, Jimmy Hayes, David Krejci, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Tyler Randell, Tim Schaller, and Ryan Spooner.

Tonight’s game marks the preseason debut of Bergeron and Marchand, who helped Team Canada win the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Both of them had an outstanding tournament, finishing among the top scorers at the World Cup.

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Nothing says ‘interesting game’ like putting Brad Marchand on the same ice with the Canadiens. Boston’s ‘Little Ball of Hate’ has certainly become an elite player, but we should expect a little bit of the old agitator coming out tonight.

Some of the young forwards are on the cusp of making the team this year. Austin Czarnik and Jake DeBrusk could find themselves on the opening night roster with a strong game tonight. Tyler Randell will be playing for his career as well, and the gritty forward will have to have a great game as well.

DEFENSEMAN: Zdeno Chara, Christian Ehrhoff, Torey Krug, Adam McQuaid, Colin Miller, Kevan Miller, and Rob O’Gara.

Zdeno Chara will also be making his preseason debut with the Boston Bruins. The Slovak captain had a strong tournament at the World Cup as well, helping to lead Team Europe to a surprising World Cup final against Team Canada.

Colin Miller will hopefully be paired with Chara. Those two blueliners could make a solid pairing this season for the Black and Gold. Ehrhoff and O’Gara have an outside chance of making the team, and either one of them could play spoiler with a strong game tonight.

GOALIES: Tuukka Rask and Malcolm Subban.

Rask will likely play all sixty minutes between the pipes tonight. It will be his first preseason game since coming back from the World Cup.  If the Bruins are playing very well (or very badly), then Subban could be put in for a period.

Subban wasn’t terrible in the B’s 5-1 loss to Detroit earlier in the preseason. The defense left the Providence goaltender out to dry throughout most of the game. Subban is still battling Anton Khudobin for the number two spot in Boston (although it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that the Khazak netminder has got the job).

Next: David Backes Will Be An Important Piece To The Boston Bruins

The Bruins will likely be trimming the roster again after tonight’s game. While most of these players are a lock for opening night, this could be the last chance for a few of them to prove to the front office they’ve got what it takes to wear the spoked ‘B’ on opening night.

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