Montreal Canadiens: A night of scoreboard watching with Columbus at home
By Omar L
The Montreal Canadiens are in need of a response against the Columbus Blue Jackets as they hope to hang on to their playoff spot.
Max Domi said it best after Saturday’s loss: the next game will be the biggest of the season. Not necessarily for the season as while, but considering where they are and the recent events, tonight is a must-win for the Montreal Canadiens.
Why? There a few reasons. At the forefront is the fact that the Habs have lost four games in-a-row managing to gain a point at home against the Leafs. They’re also winless on their road trip so far being outscored 12-4. The last time the Montreal Canadiens had a losing streak this badly was back in November when they dropped five games around US Thanksgiving.
Winning tonight isn’t only a way to shake off the dark aura around the team and gain confidence, but there are also playoff implications in play here.
I identified two teams that are going to be an issue for the Habs until the end of the season and both are in action tonight. Pittsburgh is taking on the New Jersey Devils while the Carolina Hurricanes are hosting the New York Rangers. Another game to pay attention is between the Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers.
The Sabres aren’t too far from the Habs and could cut into that separation with a win over the Panthers.
Returning to the initial question, is this a must-win? Absolutely. The Montreal Canadiens need to break out of this funk and get back to playing the style that’s made them a dominant figure in the Eastern Conference. Additionally, a possibly the most concerning point, a Carolina win with a Montreal loss will push them out of a playoff spot. Urgency, hi, meet our friend the Habs.
Carey Price likely gets the start for this game despite playing in back-to-back games over the weekend. It wasn’t the plan, but Antti Niemi getting the pink slip after allowing three goals on nine shots pushed Price into the crease.
Domi and Brendan Gallagher were on top of the Habs offence last game, but they’ll need more from the rest of their forward group.
As far as the lines and pairings, we can base this off the team’s morning skate. Phillip Danault wasn’t on the ice due to personal reasons and could miss the game while Jeff Petry took a maintenance day. Claude Julien made some alterations and we’ll know what the true lineup is closer to puck drop.
Montreal Canadiens
Forward Lines
Tomas Tatar – Nate Thompson – Brendan Gallagher
Jonathan Drouin – Max Domi – Joel Armia
Artturi Lehkonen – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Andrew Shaw
Charles Hudon – Matthew Peca – Dale Weise
Defence Pairs
Victor Mete – Shea Weber
Mike Rielly – Jordie Benn
Brett Kulak – Christian Folin
Goaltenders
Carey Price
Antti Niemi
The Columbus Blue Jackets are 5-5-0 in their last ten after losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Nikita Kucherov had a lot of fun that night putting up five points including a hat-trick.
The team is currently third in the Metropolitan Division but are tied with the Montreal Canadiens and Pittsburgh Penguins with 69 points. They’ll be pushing for the win to keep their spot in the standings as scoreboard watching will be a part of the agenda as well.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Forward Lines
Artemi Panarin – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Cam Atkinson
Nick Foligno – Boone Jenner – Josh Anderson
Anthony Duclair – Alexander Wennberg – Oliver Bjorkstrand
Lukas Sedlak – Riley Nash – Markus Hannikainen
Defence Pairs
Zach Werenski – Seth Jones
Markus Nutivaara – David Savard
Scott Harrington – Dean Kukan
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo
dark. Next. Drouin isn't the problem
Montreal needs this win and Columbus needs this win. It’ll be interesting to see who needs it more.
Columbus Blue Jackets at Montreal Canadiens
Location: Bell Centre at 7:30 PM EST
Broadcast: TSN2, RDS, FS-O