Jonathan Aspirot grew up in Mascouche, Quebec, just a little over an hour from Bell Centre in downtown Montreal, where he, of course, was raised as a fan of the Canadiens.

Tonight, the defenseman will play his first ever NHL game in the storied rink. Only it won’t be for the Habs, but rather the arch rival Boston Bruins.

“Super excited,” Aspirot told reporters in Montreal of his emotions leading into the matchup. “I’ve heard some great stories about playing here. The guys have talked to me about how great an atmosphere it is to play in. It’s going to be a great night with a lot of memories to be made.”

After toiling in the minor leagues for the first six years of his professional career, Aspirot has found a bit of a foot hole with the Bruins this season by playing a brand of simple yet intelligent hockey.

“Just keep it simple,” said Aspirot. “Keep using my feet, close the gaps hard, and some right plays defensively. I try to do that every night.” 

Aspirot is yet to record his first NHL point through six games. He sat out Boston’s last contest on Thursday, a 5-3 defeat at the hands of the Ottawa Senators that ended the team’s seven-game winning streak, and re-enters the lineup on the third defense pairing next to Mason Lohrei.

Montreal is also coming off a loss after falling 7-0 to the Dallas Stars on home ice on Thursday. The fact that both teams are in need of a bounce back win should only add to the intensity of the rivalry matchup. For the first time in a long time, a Bruins-Canadiens clash seems to mean actually mean something, as they occupy two of the top spots in the Atlantic Division standings.

“I think every game is going to be a battle,” Bruins coach Marco Sturm said. “You’re right, though. When I saw a few nights ago that they were losing 7-0, I thought, ‘Oh, that’s not a good sign.’ But no, for us, it’s a rivalry game. We talked about it yesterday. It’s great to be here. Either way, they’re going to be ready, so we got to make sure we match that.”

Projected Bruins Lines:

Geekie – Khusnutdinov – Pastrnak

Steeves – Zacha – Arvidsson

Jeannot – Minten – Kastelic

Viel – Kuraly – Eyssimont

Zadorov – McAvoy

H. Lindholm – Peeke

Lohrei – Aspirot

Swayman

Korpisalo

Last Time Out:

Ottawa has not been a kind place to the Boston Bruins this year.

When they visited the Ottawa Senators on Oct. 27, the Bruins suffered an embarrassing 7-2 loss. But what at first seemed like rock bottom turned out to be a launching point for Boston, sparking a seven-game winning streak.

As the Bruins returned to Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday, they saw that winning streak come to an end and left at least a point on the table, falling 5-3 after battling back from a two-goal deficit in the third period.

Bruins See Winning Streak Snapped In Loss To Senators

The Opponent:

The rebuild is over for the Bleu, Blanc, and Rouge.

After making the playoffs for the first time in three years last season, the Canadiens are ready to compete with a young core of dynamic players. None more so than last year’s Calder Trophy winner, defenseman Lane Hutson. The Boston University product highlights a highly skilled and mobile blue line for the Habs, that also features the likes of Mike Matheson, Noah Dobson, and Alexandre Carrier.

Up front, captain Nick Suzuki leads the Canadiens with 20 points through 17 games. Cole Caulfield’s 12 goals places him among the leaders in the league.

Montreal enters action tonight missing three key regulars in their lineup in forwards Patrik Laine (lower-body) and Alex Newhook (ankle), and defenseman Kaiden Ghule (lower-body).

Samuel Montembeault is expected to start in goal for the Canadiens. He holds a record of 4-4-1, with a 3.61 goals-against average and a .857 save-percentage.

Not only are the Bruins and Canadiens neck and neck in the standings early on — both have 22 points–but in virtually every major statistical category as well.

While Boston ranks seventh in goals for per game (3.37), Montreal is sixth (3.41). On defense, the Bruins are allowing the ninth-most goals of any team in the league (3.37), which is only slightly better than the Habs, who’ve allowed the eighth-most (3.41).

Special teams are no different. Both sides are in the top 10 of the league on the man-advantage, as Boston ranks sixth (25.8) and Montreal eighth (24.5). The teams are average when it comes to the penalty kill, with the Bruins being 16th (80.3) and the Canadiens 17th (79.3).

Follow Marc Dumont of Montreal Hockey Now for more Canadiens coverage

How To Watch:

Puck drop between the Bruins and Canadiens from Bell Centre is set for just after 7 p.m. EST. The game can be seen on NESN and streamed on NESN 360 or ESPN + for out-of-market viewers. 98.5 The Sports Hub will carry the radio broadcast of the game.