Montreal Canadiens’ fans are crossing their fingers in hopes that their team can stave off elimination in Montreal Monday against a Boston Bruins team that has come from behind to take a three-games-to-two second round series lead.

Fans can expect a new wrinkle to the lineup, as Coach Michel Therrien appears ready to insert Nathan Beaulieu into the sixth-defenceman spot which Douglas Murray and Francis Bouillon have alternated in alongside Mike Weaver.

Beaulieu a smooth-skating, hard-shooting 21-year-old, was chosen 17th overall in the 2011 NHL entry draft.

He appeared to have earned a regular spot on the team prior to the Olympic break, playing 17 games and earning a pair of assists but he was sent down to the minors during the Olympic break and the team chose to eventually recall Jarred Tindordi rather than him.

"It's been good to be around the group," said Beaulieu, who has been practising with the main group in recent days. "Playoff hockey, it doesn't get any bigger than that, and it doesn't get any bigger than Montreal."

Beaulieu is expected to get some time on the powerplay.

It will be the first game since the incident at the end of Game Five in which Bruins forward Shawn Thornton squirted water from the bench onto P.K. Subban's visor. Thornton was fined by the NHL for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Therrien said it may end up helping his team.

"A lack of respect can sometimes serve as motivation," he said.

Subban eads the team and all NHL defenceman with 12 points in 9 playoff games and scored a late goal in Boston Saturday.

Lars Eller ranks second on the team with eight points in nine games, while Tomas Plekanec and Brendan Gallagher have seven points each.

Bruins' top line also in a drought

And while the Canadiens' have had trouble scoring against the defensively-powerful Bruins, the Boston squad has also worried about the offence provided by some of its top players.

David Krejci, the Boston Bruins' top-line centre had no goals and only three assists through the first 10 playoff games. Like Max Pacioretty on the opposing Montreal Canadiens, he is starting to feel some heat for his lack of production.

"It feels like it's right there," Krejci said Monday as the Bruins prepared for a crack at eliminating Montreal in Game 6 of their NHL Eastern Conference semifinal. "We have to start putting the puck in the net more often.

"My linemates (Milan Lucic and Jarome Iginla) have been doing a pretty good job at it. They've been great for me the whole year, so I want to return the favour and try to be better for them."

Krejci led the playoffs in scoring with nine goals and 26 points in 22 games a year ago, when the Bruins lost to Chicago in the Stanley Cup final. He also went on a tear when Boston won the Cup in 2011 with 23 playoff points.

But while Lucic had a decent three goals and four assists and Iginla scored four times and added two helpers, little has been happening for the guy who normally is the playmaker on the top unit. Other than, as usual, winning well over half of his faceoffs.

"I believe my time is about to come and I'm going to be big for my team," he said. "I owe it to these guys.

"I know we don't live in the past. But I've been in the position before were I know I can be 'the' player, so I'm trying to stay positive. Go out and work hard. My teammates have been doing a good job of winning hockey games, so I believe my time is just around the corner."

Second-line centre Patrice Bergeron and the third line centred by Carl Soderberg were the main offensive threats for the Bruins.

-with a file from The Canadian Press