Montreal Canadiens Game Preview: Putting Out the Cannons
The Montreal Canadiens are back in action Tuesday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets but will be without top-line winger Artturi Lehkonen.
The Montreal Canadiens are in the second half of their six-game homestand. They’ve managed to pick up four out of six points by defeating the Vegas Golden Knights and the Buffalo Sabres, but there are another six up for grabs.
Fans had a lot of news to deal with Tuesday morning, and there are going to be some changes to the lineup accordingly. Artturi Lehkonen will be missing the game with a lower-body injury. When that happened or how long he will be out is still a mystery, but got Paul Byron will be taking his spot on that top line for the time being. Jonathan Drouin and Alex Galchenyuk may be losing some shooting power, but Byron will add more speed.
Charles Hudon will move back up to the Plekanec line while Torrey Mitchel will draw back into after being scratched in Thursday’s game against Minnesota.
#Habs lineup vs #CBJ:
— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNWpg) November 14, 2017
Pacioretty - Danault - Shaw
Galchenyuk - Drouin - Byron
Hudon - Plekanec - Gallagher
De La Rose - Mitchell -Froese
Benn - Weber
Alzner - Petry
Mete - Morrow
Lindgren starting
Injured: Lehkonen (LBI)
The Habs goaltending situation is going to look different, which speaks to the news we got earlier. Charlie Lindgren will be getting his fifth consecutive start, but Antti Niemi may be backing him up.
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Montreal claimed the veteran goaltender earlier in the day off of waivers from the Florida Panthers. Marc Bergevin told media the reasoning behind it was to provide Lindgren with a seasoned NHL backup instead of Zachary Fucale who has yet to play an NHL game before.
Columbus has been on a bit of a slump as they just ended their four-game losing streak on Saturday. The Habs may find themselves in a similar situation to when they took on the Wild in that it’ll be a desperate team they’ll be playing. The Blue Jackets are going to come out flying to start, and Montreal has to make sure they take the game to them instead of the other way around.
This game may be the biggest test Lindgren will face so far. Not only will it be a heavy hitting 60 minutes considering how hard on the forecheck both teams are, but he’ll also have Sergei Bobrovsky watching from the other end of the ice. The two-time Vezina winner can steal a game for his team, so everyone on the team has to play responsibly. Scoring the first goal is usually the top priority in any game, but it will be important for the Habs to strike first in case Bobrovsky decides to transform into a wall.
If the Montreal Canadiens do that, they have a good chance of walking out with two points.