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NHL on NBCSN: Bruins go for third win in a row against slumping Canadiens

Vancouver Canucks v Boston Bruins

BOSTON, MA - FEBRUARY 11: David Pastrnak #88 of the Boston Bruins celebrates with Brandon Carlo #25 and Zdeno Chara #33 after scoring against the Vancouver Canucks during the third period at TD Garden on February 11, 2017 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Bruins defeat the Canucks 4-3. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

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NBCSN’s coverage of the NHL continues on Sunday night when the Montreal Canadiens visit the Boston Bruins. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET and you can catch all of the action on NBCSN or right here via our Live Stream.

Just one day after getting a rare win from one of their backup goaltenders the Boston Bruins are back in action on Sunday night when they host a Montreal Canadiens team that is trying to get back on track having lost five of its past six games, including a 4-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.

It is also the second Star Sunday feature on the NBC Networks with the focus in this game going to Montreal defenseman Shea Weber and Boston forward Brad Marchand.

With wins in each of Bruce Cassidy’s first two games behind the bench, including Saturday’s win over Vancouver thanks to a late David Pastrnak goal, the Bruins might be starting to get back on track. But before you rush and give all of the credit to the coaching change keep in mind that this is a team that has won five of its past seven overall, a stretch that has seen the team score 30 goals.

Offensively, it is their best seven-game stretch of the season and it was probably long overdue.

All season long the Bruins have been a team that has done a lot of the correct things that should lead to offense (most shots on goal per game in the NHL, one of the best possession teams) but have simply been unable to put the puck in the net. There were two very different opinions as to what this meant. On one hand, there was the shots and Corsi don’t matter argument that said the Bruins weren’t getting the “right” shots. On the other hand, there was the argument that said they were probably a little unlucky and that if they kept doing what they were doing the results would soon follow.

It seems the results are starting to arrive a little bit, at least offensively.

The thing about this Bruins team is that it was always a team that should have been better than it was offensively because of the talent it has up top with Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak.

Even right now, for as disappointing as the season has been offensively on a team-wide level, they still have two of the top-11 goal scorers in the NHL in Pastrnak and Marchand, while Bergeron has 23 points in his past 20 games. There is talent here.

They look to keep this recent strong play going on Sunday night against a Canadiens team that is having the exact opposite problem lately -- they can’t score, averaging just a little more than two goals per game over their past 15. That lackluster offensive performance, combined with a down year from Carey Price in net (and what has been an extended slump over the past month)has resulted in just five wins during that stretch.