Sergei Gonchar, acquired from Dallas on Tuesday, will make his Montreal debut tonight when the Habs host the Bruins at the Bell Centre.
“It’s a good group,” Gonchar said, per the team Twitter account. “I’m happy to be a part of it.”
The 40-year-old looks as though he’ll be paired with Tom Gilbert, and practiced alongside fellow Russian d-man Andrei Markov on the power play. It makes sense that head coach Michel Therrien would quickly implement Gonchar with the man advantage; Montreal’s power play is in desperate need of improvement (third-worst in the NHL at 7.1 percent.)
Tonight’s game is also something of a reunion for Gonchar, as he’ll be taking on his former club -- the Bruins acquired Gonchar at the 2004 trade deadline, and he went on to appear in 15 regular season and seven playoff games for the B’s.