The Bruins were set to see their 11th different defenseman for Tuesday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens. This time it they weren’t quite forced into it.

In a significant game against the B’s ancient rivals, Vladislav Kolyachonok was thrust into the lineup on a third pairing with Mason Lohrei. Victor Soderstrom was the odd-man out against the Montreal Canadiens.

Coach Marco Sturm said the foot speed was part of the decision with the B’s taking on the speedy Habs.

“Yes and no. I thought Soderstrom struggled a little bit the other night. Why did he struggle? Probably with speed. If you noticed the teams like Ottawa, Montreal that have speed, certain guys struggle more. So yeah, that’s part of it,” said Sturm after the morning skate.

The B’s also just needed to take a look at Kolyachonok. They claimed the him off waivers last week form Dallas. The 24-year-old Mink, Belarus native is now on his fifth organization, having been drafted by Florida in the second round (52nd overall) and played for Arizona/Utah, Pittsburgh and the Stars. In 85 NHL games, he has 5-12-17 totals, including a pretty rush goal against the B’s last season when he was playing in Utah.

But Sturm was more concerned with him taking care of his own end in his Bruin debut.

“Today I just want him to be himself. I want him to defend well. He doesn’t have to be a different player. We got him off waivers for a reason and we just want him to fit into the group right away, to compete,” said Sturm.

“We think he can close with his feet. He has good positioning. He has good sticks and just being a pain in the butt a little bit to play against. He’s done it in the past and hopefully he can do it today.”

Kolyachonok has gotten a couple of team sessions under his belt before making his debut.

“I know the system and everything is fine. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before, so we’ll be good,” said Kolyachonok….

It appeared as though the B’s would be getting some help up front with the return of Viktor Arvidsson. He was officially termed a game-time decision but he took a regular shift on his old line with Casey Mittelstadt and Pavel Zacha and was on the second power-play unit, usually a tell-tale sign a player is ready to return.

On Monday, it sounded as if the B’s were going to sit him out for the last game before the break with his lower body soft tissue injury, a recurrence of an earlier injury that kept him out seven games. He re-injured it in the Winnipeg game on December 11 and missed five games.

“Muscle injuries are tricky. You can feel good and then stretch it out again and you get a setback. But I feel ready,” said Arvidsson after the morning skate.

The loss of the Arvidsson has upset the apple cart for the B’s up front. His line with Mittelstadt and Zacha had been playing well in both chipping in with scoring and taking on the tough checking assignments. Since he went out of the lineup, the B’s are 1-3-1. His return would also allow the B’s to put David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie back together with center Elias Lindholm.

With Arvidsson’s expected return, Mikey Eyssimont and Jeffrey Viel were the scratches up front….

The last time the B’s met the Habs in Montreal on November 15, they took seven minor penalties and gave the Canadiens a couple of 5-on-3s. The B’s were able to kill them all off, but Sturm most definitely did not want to see a repeat parade to the box. The Habs are ranked sixth on power play with a success rate of 25.8%, a hair above the seventh-ranked B’s 25.7%.

“We watched (the Montreal power play) this morning. They have those weapons who can make those small area plays, especially down low. And with (Lane) Hutson on top, you just never know where he is. That’s why they became so dangerous,” said Sturm. “I remember the last time we were in their building, we got lucky because we were in the box a lot and they didn’t use it to their advantage. We just have to be careful because they’re power play has been really good.”…

Jonathan Aspirot participated in the morning skate, the first time he’s joined the team since suffering in upper body injury in that same Winnipeg game.

“He’s not close right now, but I can tell you with the break, that really helps him,” said Sturm. “Can he play the first game (in Buffalo) right away? No. Can he play the second or third, I don’t know. It’s a tough one to answer. Yes he was out there with us today but my message was that he was not that close.”