The Canadiens received more bad news as Brian Gionta will be sidelined indefinitely after undergoing biceps surgery.
Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara was one of three Bruins named to the 2012 All-Star Game.Bruins (27-11-1) vs. Montreal (16-19-7)
Bruins' last 10: 8-2-0
Canadiens' last 10: 3-7-0
Game time: 7 p.m.
TV: NESN
Radio stream: 98.5 The Sports Hub
This is the fifth of six meetings as each team has a pair of wins.
After being swept in a home-and-home series in October, the Bruins have won the last two games by a goal, 1-0 on Nov. 21 and 3-2 on Dec. 19.
Tim Thomas was the winning goalie and finished with 33 saves in both games.
Benoit Pouliot, David Krejci, Brad Marchand and Andrew Ference all scored for Boston.
It's been somewhat of a lost season for Montreal who qualified in last year's playoffs as the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Head coach Jacques Martin Head was fired in December and replaced with Randy Cunneyworth after the team suffered its 12th loss of the season against Philadelphia to drop to 13-12-7.
It did get much better as injuries have plagued the club.
Earlier this week the club found out that Brian Gionta will be sidelined after undergoing biceps surgery. He joins Scott Gomez (groin), Andrei Markov (knee) and Ryan White (sports hernia) on injured reserve.
Carey Price was the first goalie off the ice for the Canadiens in their morning skate. Price is 15-15-7 with a 2.46 goals against average and .914 save percentage.
Thomas was the first goalie off the ice at morning skate, which indicates he'll start.
The Bruins recalled Jordan Caron from Providence Thursday morning. He's likely to be a healthy scratch and will join the team on its trip three-game road trip according to The Boston Globe's Fluto Shinzawa.
Here's a possible lineup:
Forwards
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton
Benoit Pouliot-Patrice Bergeron-Tyler Seguin
Chris Kelly-Zach Hamill-Rich Peverley
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Defensemen
Zdeno Chara-Johnny Boychuk
Dennis Seidenberg-Joe Corvo
Andrew Ference-Adam McQuaid
Goalies
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Healthy scratches: Jordan Caron, Steven Kampfer
B's notes: The Bruins are coming off a 5-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets Tuesday. Boston came to life in the third period with three goals to overcome a one-goal deficit.
Nathan Horton continued his heat streak with a pair of goals while Tyler Seguin, Pouliot, and Shawn Thornton had the other Boston goals.
Thornton scored his on a penalty shot in the second period to tie the game up at 2-all before Eric Fehr put the Jets ahead at 11:11.
Tuukka Rask won his sixth straight game as he turned aside 29 shots to improve to 10-4.
Canadiens' notes: Montreal is coming off a 3-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues Tuesday to snap a brief two-game winning streak.
Price had 22 saves while former Hab Jaroslav Halak had 19 saves for his second shutout of the season. Halak was traded last June to the Blues for Lars Eller and Ian Schultz.
Forward Erik Cole who leads the team with 17 goals and tied with Tomas Plekanec with 30 points, has nine goals in his last 14 games.
Other notes: The NHL announced Thursday that defenseman Zdeno Chara and Seguin will join Thomas and the Bruins coaching staff at the 2012 All-Star Game in Ottawa.