Habs at Bruins: Matheson Back, Engström Out, Fowler Starts

The Canadiens visit the Boston Bruins on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. ET at TD Garden, and it is a fight at the top of the Atlantic Division. Boston is 13-4-1 with 27 points and has won four straight. Montréal is 11-3-4 with 26 points and is 7-0-3 in its last 10 games, but the Habs come in off a 2-1 overtime loss to the Wild on Tuesday.

The Canadiens make one change, and it is on the back end. Mike Matheson returns to the lineup and Adam Engström is out. The forward lines are the same, and Jacob Fowler gets the net again. Fowler is 8-1-2 with a .925 save percentage, a 2.14 goals-against average and two shutouts, and the Canadiens are not going to change a goalie who keeps winning them points.

Canadiens Lineup Status

Item	Players
Line 1	Slafkovský – Suzuki – Caufield
Line 2	Kreider – Evans – Anderson
Line 3	Texier – Danault – Bolduc
Line 4	Newhook – Kapanen – Dach
Defense pair	Hutson – Dobson
Defense pair	Matheson – Guhle
Defense pair	A. Xhekaj – Carrier
Goalies	Fowler starts, Dobeš backup
Power play	Caufield, Slafkovský, Suzuki, Hutson, Bolduc / Kreider, Newhook, Dobson, Texier, Dach
Out of the lineup	Beck, F. Xhekaj, Engström

The forward lines are unchanged from the win in Toronto and the loss to the Wild. Jake Evans plays with Chris Kreider and Josh Anderson on the second line, while Alex Newhook, Oliver Kapanen and Kirby Dach make up the fourth line, and Owen Beck and Florian Xhekaj stay out. On defense, the Canadiens go with Lane Hutson and Noah Dobson, Matheson and Kaiden Guhle, and Arber Xhekaj and Alexandre Carrier. Hutson leads the Canadiens with 18 points in 18 games. The full lines are on our Lineup Tonight page.

Matheson has been out since the October 27 game in St. Louis, so he returns after missing six straight games. In eight games this season he has a goal and three assists, he is +1, and he averages 23:45 of ice time, behind only Hutson among Canadiens defensemen. Carrier moves off Guhle’s side to play with Xhekaj, Hutson and Dobson stay together, and Engström, who had played 12 games with a goal, an assist and a +6, comes out of the lineup.

The Goalies

Fowler made 22 saves on 24 shots in the overtime loss to the Wild on Tuesday, and that kept his save percentage at .925. Jakub Dobeš is the backup. Boston has not confirmed its starter. Jeremy Swayman is 9-3-1 with a .920 save percentage and a 2.21 goals-against average, and Michael DiPietro is 4-1-0 with a .925 and a 2.20. Both have been good, so this should be a tight game for the goalies.

Know Your Opponent: The Bruins

Boston is for real. The Bruins are fifth in the league in goals per game (3.72) and second in goals against per game (2.28), which is how a team gets to 13 wins in 18 games. Their win streak includes an overtime win over Chicago, a shootout win over Vegas, a 6-2 win over Pittsburgh and a 4-1 win over Florida on Sunday. They have not played since then, so they come in rested.

David Pastrnak leads them with 8 goals, 16 assists and 24 points in 18 games. Elias Lindholm has 15 points, and Pavel Zacha, Morgan Geekie and JJ Peterka have 14 each. On defense, Will Borgen leads the team at plus-18, Nikita Zadorov has 52 hits, and Charlie McAvoy averages 24:25 of ice time, even though he has missed six games.

Season So Far: Bruins vs Canadiens

Special Teams: Two Power Plays Looking for Answers

Neither team has a strong power play. Boston is at 18.3%, 23rd in the league, and the Canadiens are at 14.8%, 29th. The penalty kills are almost the same: Montréal is at 77.8% and Boston is at 77.0%. The first unit for the Habs is Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovský, Nick Suzuki, Hutson and Zachary Bolduc, and the second unit is Kreider, Newhook, Dobson, Alexandre Texier and Dach. A power-play goal could decide this one.

What to Watch

Something has to give. The Canadiens have taken at least a point in each of their last 10 games, and they score 3.33 goals per game, 12th in the league. Boston allows 2.28, second best. Caufield has 11 goals, and Suzuki has 16 points in 12 games, so the top line will decide whether Montréal can get to a goalie who has been good all season. At the other end, Boston scores in bunches, with 6, 4, 5 and 3 goals in its last four wins, so Fowler and the defense need a clean start in front of a loud TD Garden crowd. Discipline matters too, because Boston has the better power play.

Injury Updates

Mike Matheson is back in the lineup against Boston after missing the last six games, and Adam Engström is out of the lineup. Samuel Montembeault is also ready, which brings back the goalie logjam we covered in Habs News. Ivan Demidov has still not returned from his foot injury. Our injury report has the latest.

History and What Comes Next

Boston has had the better of this matchup. Since 2021-22, the Canadiens are 4-12-2 in 18 regular-season meetings, with 51 goals for and 73 against. Montréal has won three of the last five, though, including a 3-2 overtime win at the Bell Centre on March 17, 2026 and a 6-2 win in Boston on December 23, 2025.

After Boston, the Canadiens host the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, November 14 and visit the New York Rangers on Monday, November 16.

Sources: official NHL statistics and game data, NHL.com.

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