The NHL has postponed Saturday's marquee matchup between the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins, the league announced Friday.

A makeup date hasn't been confirmed, but the Canadiens are scheduled to play on Dec. 20 versus the New York Islanders. Montreal played at home Thursday without fans due to rising COVID-19 cases.

The Bruins are dealing with an ongoing outbreak that's sidelined superstars Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, among others. Boston could only dress 17 skaters in its loss to the Isles on Thursday.

The NHL has postponed several games in recent weeks as there has been an increase in players landing in COVID-19 protocol.

The Bruins haven't visited Montreal since November 2019. The longtime archrivals met once this season in Boston, with the home side taking a 5-2 victory.

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Warning: Story contains coarse language.

Vegas Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault believes the New Jersey Devils could've avoided the brouhaha that occurred between the two clubs at the end of Thursday night's game.

With 25 seconds left in the game and the Golden Knights leading 5-3, Devils head coach Lindy Ruff lined up 6-foot-4, 227-pound defenseman Mason Geertsen at forward for the ensuing faceoff.

Here's what went down:

Geertsen and Vegas captain Alex Pietrangelo started the skirmish, leading to lots of pushing, shoving, and grabbing. Golden Knights goalie Robin Lehner swung his stick at a New Jersey player who appeared ready to scrap. Lehner, Pietrangelo, and Geertsen were all handed 10-minute misconducts.

"I think it was some bullshit. (Ruff) was probably just mad that Jack Hughes got hit there and nothing happened in the moment," Marchessault said, referring to Zach Whitecloud's open-ice hit on the Devils phenom earlier in the contest:

"At the end of the day (Geertsen) is the one who gave up that fourth goal, so I think it's kind of gutless," Marchessault said. "You put a defenseman, a tough guy, to line up at forward when there's 25 seconds left. That's shitty, but that's what those older, veteran coaches do sometimes."

Geersten took himself out of position to make a hit on Pietrangelo earlier in the game, leading to Nicolas Roy's game-winning goal.

The blue-liner entered Thursday with zero points and 41 PIMs in nine career NHL games. Geersten's recorded three AHL seasons of 100-plus PIMs and only one with double-digit points.

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Even at just 29 years old, Tyler Seguin is aware he isn't the same player he used to be.

The Dallas Stars center was limited to just three games last season after undergoing a hip arthroscopy and labral repair in November 2020 and a knee scope one month later. He said in May that he basically had to rebuild his entire quad muscle.

The injuries appear to have caught up to Seguin, as he's recorded just seven goals and four assists in 26 games this year. The 34-point pace would mark his worst NHL campaign since he was a 19-year-old rookie with the Boston Bruins in 2010-11.

"Sometimes, you get a little frustrated not having the same kind of game I have in the past," Seguin said, according to The Dallas Morning News' Matthew DeFranks. "Some things that used to click in my head and the opportunities I would get, I haven’t really seen this year."

Seguin isn't generating the chances he used to, with his shots and individual expected goals per 60 minutes at five-on-five both plummeting to career lows, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Knowing his limitations, the veteran forward is trying to find new ways to be productive.

"That’s all I know how to do, is when things aren’t going a certain way, it’s 'Okay, let’s grease it up. Let things go off you. Go to those dirty areas,'" he said. "I’m still trying to find that balance of muck-and-grinder and finding that fluid style to my game that I’ve had."

The grind mentality should be music to the ears of head coach Rick Bowness, who was highly critical of some of his players during Tuesday's loss to the St. Louis Blues.

Bowness understands Seguin is still getting back up to speed.

"Through time, it’ll come back to where it was," Bowness said. "It’s not there yet. He just has to keep working hard in the gym and he has to keep pushing his pace in practice."

The injuries' impact has served as a harsh reality check for Seguin.

"I’ve had people close to me tell me it could take a little bit just to get it all back," he said. "I didn’t believe them, and I still haven’t fully until the last week or two."

Seguin is Dallas' highest-paid player, and he's signed through 2026-27 with an annual cap hit of $9.85 million, according to CapFriendly.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning are trying out a new moniker in the locker room.

"We kinda joke, you know, 'we're the Tampa Bay Find-A-Ways,'" captain Steven Stamkos said after Thursday's 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators. "We just find a way to win and find a way to get points. Just munch them away until we can get healthy. It's certainly been a great run."

The start of the 2021-22 season hasn't been smooth sailing for Stamkos' squad. Nikita Kucherov played just three regular-season games before being dealt another long-term injury; young phenom Brayden Point played in 16 contests before being sidelined by an upper-body ailment.

Despite all of that, the Lightning sit at the top of their division with a record of 19-6-4. Since Nov. 21, the first game the Lightning were without both Kucherov and Point, the team has gone 10-2-1.

Stamkos said the Bolts miss Kucherov and Point the most on the power play.

"We have guys that are capable of making plays, but we have to be realistic here. You're talking about probably the best power-play guy in the world in (Kucherov) and one of the best shooters from the hole ... in (Point)," he said. "No one's gonna replace those guys. It's gotta be by committee. It's gotta be guys willing to get out of their comfort zone a little bit."

The 31-year-old pointed to defenseman Victor Hedman as someone who has stepped up on the man advantage. The Swede scored the game-winner on the power play against the Senators on Thursday night.

The Lightning will take on the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.

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The Montreal Canadiens announced that their game between the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night will be played behind closed doors.

The announcement came just two hours before puck drop.

The Canadiens said they received a request from Quebec public health officials to host Thursday's contest without fans due to the rise of COVID-19 cases in the province. The organization will provide an update Friday on the status of Saturday's game against the Boston Bruins.

The organization is planning to return to partial capacity beginning in January.

"Playing tonight's game in a closed setting is obviously disappointing for our fans," the team wrote in a statement that was released during the game.

"We moved forward with the measure following a request from Public Health ... something we accepted in order to help ensure the safety and security of our fans and our communities."

The Bell Centre was granted to operate at full capacity before the start of the regular season.

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Count Nashville Predators forward Nick Cousins among those in favor of pausing the NHL season until after Christmas amid a league-wide COVID-19 outbreak.

Over 65 NHL players are currently in COVID protocol. The Calgary Flames have been hit the hardest, with 18 players and multiple staff members currently on the COVID list. The league has postponed all of Calgary's games through Saturday.

Cousins is one of seven Predators players in protocol. The team also has five members of its coaching staff on the COVID list. The NHL has not postponed any of Nashville's games as of yet.

The league reintroduced enhanced COVID-19 protocols on Wednesday to help combat the spread of the virus.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors will prioritize season-ticket holders as they reduce capacity to comply with the Ontario government's new restrictions, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment announced Thursday.

All non-season tickets for games through mid-January will be refunded, and people will be notified of refund details in the coming days. People with Raptors season seats will be informed of ticket allocation details Thursday, while those with Leafs season seats will find out by Tuesday.

Each team's season-ticket holders will be divided into two groups and will receive tickets for alternating games, starting with the Raptors' matchup against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday.

The Maple Leafs' next home game is Thursday against the St. Louis Blues.

MLSE said that ticket allocation for season seats will be determined randomly and that members will be contacted again in January with allocation details for upcoming games based on public health restrictions.

The move comes one day after the province announced that sports venues with capacity for 1,000 or more people would be limited to 50% capacity starting Saturday due to rising COVID-19 cases.

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We have a full slate of games on the docket Thursday and you know what that means: shot props!

We're 75-60 on the year for +14.01 units. Let's comb through the value and try to build on that with today's best bets.

Joel Eriksson Ek over 2.5 shots on goal (-135)

Joel Eriksson Ek is scorching hot. The Minnesota Wild forward has recorded at least three shots on goal in eight consecutive games and is averaging 4.2 shots on target over his last five.

He draws a mouth-watering matchup Thursday against the Buffalo Sabres, who have struggled to limit shots all season, especially on the road. The Sabres are allowing 35.09 shots on goal per 60 minutes of five-on-five play away from home. That ranks them last in the NHL.

Look for Eriksson Ek to stay hot and capitalize on an advantageous matchup.

Max Pacioretty over 3.5 shots on goal (-145)

This might seem like a hefty price to lay for over 3.5 shots. For a lot of guys, I'd agree. However, Max Pacioretty is definitely an exception.

Pacioretty is off to an absolutely insane start to the campaign with the Vegas Golden Knights. He's recorded 62 shots through just 11 contests, good for an average of 5.6 per game.

Unsurprisingly, he has been a god when it comes to going over the number, with at least four shots in nine of his 11 appearances. He ended up at three the two times he failed to go over the number.

That means he's hit the over 82% of the time and was just one shot away when he fell short.

Pacioretty is a legitimate threat to hit four each and every night. I don't think the New Jersey Devils - losers in 12 of their last 15 games - are going to change that.

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.

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