A Winning Habit
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Montreal Canadiens: Making a statement against the Leafs

By Omar L

MONTREAL, QC - OCTOBER 29: = multiple players looking at the puck away from them, Toronto Maple Leafs Right Wing Connor Brown (12), Toronto Maple Leafs Left Wing Leo Komarov (47), Montreal Canadiens Defenceman Jeff Petry (26) and Montreal Canadiens Center Torrey Mitchell (17) all in the frame during the Toronto Maple Leafs versus the Montreal Canadiens game on October 29, 2016 at Bell Centre in Montreal, QC (Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - OCTOBER 29: = multiple players looking at the puck away from them, Toronto Maple Leafs Right Wing Connor Brown (12), Toronto Maple Leafs Left Wing Leo Komarov (47), Montreal Canadiens Defenceman Jeff Petry (26) and Montreal Canadiens Center Torrey Mitchell (17) all in the frame during the Toronto Maple Leafs versus the Montreal Canadiens game on October 29, 2016 at Bell Centre in Montreal, QC (Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Montreal Canadiens
MONTREAL, QC – OCTOBER 29: Montreal Canadiens (Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

The Montreal Canadiens will be looking to come back from their tough loss to the Arizona Coyotes as the Toronto Maple Leafs come to town.

Saturday night, Hockey Night in Canada. There’s no better way to spend a Saturday than to watch a game between two Original Six rivals in the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs. However, the dynamic of both teams are different than what they were in previous years.

The Leafs have been trending upwards as of late without their best playing in Auston Matthews, while the Habs have struggled to put together a full 60-minute effort. Montreal hit their lowest point Thursday night as they squandered several leads against the Coyotes and lost the game.

Head coach Claude Julien was visually upset during the post-media scrums, and he had every right to be, saying:

"We didn’t respect our gameplan. I’m not saying we didn’t respect our opponent, but we didn’t respect our gameplan because we thought it was going to be easy… Unacceptable, embarassaing, that’s what we were tonight."

Despite that, the next day at practice wasn’t the infamous bag skate we all expected. The goal was to get the players back into check and prepare them for a highly offensive team in the Maple Leafs.

Unfortunately, Max Pacioretty, Jonathan Drouin, and Jordie Benn were absent from practice on Friday with a flu virus. It looks like whatever Torrey Mitchell is fighting off is starting to spread throughout the locker room. So we have an injury bug and an actual bug active in Habs land.

We won’t have to worry about them though; all three will be in tonight’s game. Pacioretty told media that his flu symptoms started to develop before the game, which could’ve been a factor in his performance. That could be an easy excuse for a poorly played night, but hopefully, the team captain will have nothing that will hold him back.

Brendan Gallagher and Andrew Shaw will also be in the lineup. Gallagher was forced to go to the dark room on Thursday after taking a blindside hit to the head but returned later on in the game. The same goes for Shaw who left momentarily when a shot hit his wrist in the final minutes of the third period.

The Montreal Canadiens previously had a 14-game winning streak against the Leafs, but that ended after they lost to them in October. They may be able to get that back. However, it’ll be far from easy.

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