Need to Know: Bruins vs. Canadiens

BOSTON – Not one, not two, not three….

Yes, the Bruins will have four regulars returning to the lineup on Saturday night as they host the rival Montreal Canadiens at TD Garden for ‘New Blood, New Beginnings’ Era Night.

After missing the last 10 days with a lower-body injury, Linus Ullmark will be back between the pipes for Boston, while Brandon Carlo and Matt Poitras – both of whom were also injured on the B’s last road trip – will return as well. Blue liner Derek Forbort, who has not played since Dec. 3 due to a nagging lower-body injury, is also back in for the Black & Gold.

“Lots and lots of tweets today,” coach Jim Montgomery joked as he referenced the media’s injury updates.

With those players returning to the lineup, Parker Wotherspoon, Mason Lohrei, and Oskar Steen will draw out. Montgomery did not yet know what corresponding roster moves would be made to comply with the 23-player roster limit.

Given how serious the injury looked in Arizona back on Jan. 9, the Bruins are quite pleased that Ullmark is back in action so quickly.

“Incredibly thankful that he’s back this quick,” said Montgomery. “He looked really good in practice the last two practices. He’s 100 percent.”

Ullmark, likewise, was relieved to avoid any serious injury.

“Well, I had a similar injury in Buffalo, and I felt the same at the initial happening, so I thought it was a lot more severe at the time,” said Ullmark. “But then in the days right after, it felt way better than it did last time I did that, so I was very positive and in a good mood, basically, because I knew it was not going to be four to six weeks or anything like that.

“It was all coming down to how it would feel [at morning skate] in St Louis. And then we had a good couple of practices here in Boston as well…no setbacks or anything, so I'm very thankful for that.”

Carlo revealed that he suffered a concussion on Jan. 8 in Colorado that left him feeling nauseous and throwing up in the immediate aftermath of the injury.

“Obviously I've been through this before, so something that I take seriously,” said Carlo, who has suffered several head injuries at the NHL level. “It's hard at times because in the moment you can start to feel really good, but you still got to pay attention to the little things and the little symptoms that are still lingering. And from there, I got to focus also a lot with my history with concussions, just the future of it.”

The blue liner said that he is confident he is in a strong position to return to game action.

“I wouldn’t put myself in this position if I didn't feel fully confident to be out there and playing to my abilities,” said Carlo. “So, I still feel very comfortable playing this game and joining it to the best of my ability. And that helps me recognize even more that each game, each day is a blessing. I'm just grateful to be here.”

Carlo added that since the concussions he suffered early on in his career he has made significant strides in better protecting himself.

“I feel like even within my game, I haven't been taking as big of hits or putting myself in vulnerable positions,” said Carlo. “This one was fluky. I kind of just ran into an elbow and then from there I got nauseous after I ended up going back to the locker room and I threw up.

“So, that kind of helped me out of the game, for sure, just based on those symptoms. But I feel happy with where my game has been, especially with taking hits and riding guys into the wall and not creating that separation where it allows them to get the perfect hit, so I feel like I've done a good job of that.

“Like I said, this one was just a little bit fluky. Not as bad as my other ones by any means, so I'm happy with that.”

Forbort, meanwhile, will provide a boost on the back end, particularly when shorthanded, where he has become a stalwart for Boston’s top-end penalty kill.

“It's great. And hopefully we have a lot of blocked shots tonight,” said Carlo. “That's what I was joking with him about earlier, lots of blocked shots. But, no, he brings a different presence to our lineup, especially on the penalty kill. These past couple of years, we've definitely gained a comfort and a certain communication level on the penalty kill that I feel like it's been working well for us.

“We're going to go back out there and just do our jobs to our best of our ability and hopefully pull out another win tonight.”

Wait, There’s More

• Ullmark has created special masks for each Era Night this season, though he has yet to take the crease for one of the Centennial celebrations – outside of Opening Night. That will finally change on Saturday. “It's been a long time,” he said. “We joke around about it a lot that. I get all these new assets that come out that I never get to wear them in action. But it's fun. It's a new era tonight, we're celebrating a couple of legends from a different era, so it's nice and hopefully it can make it memorable for them as well.”
• The Canadiens, coming off a 6-2 loss to Ottawa on Thursday, are closing out a three-game road trip. It is the final matchup between the rivals in Boston this season. They’ll play once more at Bell Centre on March 14. “I am thankful that we’re able to play the Canadiens four times this year,” said Montgomery. “Last year, we only played them three times. It’s a rivalry game. Doesn’t matter…it’s steep history here between the Bruins and Montreal for decades.”
• Montreal is 19-19-7 (45 points) and sixth in the Atlantic Division, six points back of Detroit and Tampa for an Eastern Conference Wild Card spot. Nick Suzuki paces Montreal with 37 points in 45 games, while Cole Caufield leads the club with 15 goals.