The Montreal Canadiens are starting earlier than usual with an afternoon game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena.
It fits that the Montreal Canadiens would play a game six hours earlier than usual this weekend. With Daylight Savings Time set to hit many people overnight, the Habs are hoping the only loss they experience is the extra hour of sleep. The Habs have struggled with starting on the time these last two games, and it’s resulted in two high-scoring games and 11 goals against. Additionally, their 5-0 loss to the Florida Panthers was the 10th time this season the team was shutout.
Claude Julien went back to the whiteboard at practice mixing the lines up again. Jonathan Drouin had Paul Byron and Brendan Gallagher on his wings leaving Alex Galchenyuk with Jacob de La Rose and Charles Hudon. Based on that, it looks like Hudon will be making his return to the lineup after missing the last three games with an injury.
Galchenyuk with de La Rose has been a duo the Habs have tried in the past with little success. There could be a belief that with de La Rose’s latest improvement in play, that he can be a solid insulator for the skill that Galchenyuk and Hudon bring to the table. As for Drouin’s new linemates, both are players who give it their all every shift and know how to finish when given the opportunity.
Unfortunately, Nikita Scherbak may be made a healthy scratch as he was taking turns with Artturi Lehkonen playing next to Phillip Danault. Julien could pull a fast one choose to scratch Lehkonen, but it looks like the 22-year-old will be the one to see the press box. As far as the defence goes, the top two pairings remain the same highlighted, but there will be a new face manning the bottom pair in Brett Lernout.
The Habs recalled the defenceman from the Laval Rocket on an emergency basis in place of Rinat Valiev who was injured in the team’s last game. Lernout will be paired up with Jordie Benn and is looking for this call-up help make a statement. Based on his comments after yesterday’s comments, Lernout sounded more determined and focused on making the most out of his time with the Habs in these remaining games.
The Lightning has been involved in some high-scoring games as well. Lately, the only difference is that they’re winning them. Tampa has won their last four games after a less than ideal loss to the Buffalo Sabres in overtime. Ryan McDonagh had his first full practice without the red non-contact jersey and may get into the lineup, but it’s just as likely that Jon Cooper chooses to keep him out longer.
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The two-headed beast in Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos are continuing to lead the Lightning on all fronts while Brayden Point‘s emergence has been something else to pay attention to. One thing to track will be Andrei Vasilevsky who has been revealed to be suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome similarly to what Carey Price was going through at the beginning of the season. The 23-year-old has 55 starts so far with an incredible record of 40-12-3 with a .925 save percentage.
Vasilevsky is definitely at the top of the Vezina conversation, but it would make sense for the Lightning to give Louis Domingue the start.
Although the playoffs are in their grasp, Tampa is still playing for the top spot in the NHL with the Nashville Predators on their heels. With that, you can expect the team to come out hard against a Habs team who they feel they should beat.
Next: Protecting Lindgren's Confidence
What are your expectations for the game? Will Julien’s new line combinations work? Let us know in the comments below.