Montreal Canadiens: An Arizona Coyotes team ripe for the picking

Who to Lookout For

Charlie Lindgren

The Wall of Charlie Lindgren is going to get another day of defending the cage. This game will be his sixth consecutive start, and he’s earned every single one of them. What made the Blue Jackets loss so frustrating was how well Lindgren played to give the Habs a chance to win.

Ironically, this may need to be one of his better starts. As I mentioned before, Thursday night has ‘trap game’ game written all over it. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Montreal have another moderately slow start with a desperate team in Arizona walking into the Bell Center, and if that happens, Lindgren will have to be ready right from puck drop.

Paul Byron

There’s no way you can rewatch that Columbus game and not mention the impact that Paul Byron had. His shorthanded breakaway opportunity didn’t result in a goal, but it sparked the Habs. It was only fitting that he would score in the third off a Shea Weber rebound. Only fitting that you’d have a quality performance in your 300th career NHL game.

Byron will stay on the top line with Alex Galchenyuk and Jonathan Drouin. With speed between the three of them, hopefully, they can generate a majority of the Habs scoring chances.

Clayton Keller

The 2016 1st round pick has been one of the shining lights to Arizona’s poor season. Clayton Keller‘s been at the top of Calder conversations as he leads all rookies in points with 11 goals and 6 assists. He along with Derek Stepan and Max Domi has been the only line of the team to not be changed. Makes sense, why mess with a good thing right?

Keeping that forward group is going to be key for this game. Bad things happen to teams who give Keller time and space to work in the offensive zone.