The greatest week for the Montreal Canadiens kicks off against the Tampa Bay Lightning that will see the return of Paul Byron to the lineup.
This is it, and here we are. The Montreal Canadiens have a big task ahead of them as they’ll need to win every game this week to give themselves the best chance to make the playoffs. Columbus is red-hot making the loss to them even more dreadful even though the Habs had a big win over the Winnipeg Jets on the weekend. But the final push starts tonight, and the league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning are the challengers.
What makes tonight all the more exciting is that the Habs are getting reinforcements from the injury table. Paul Byron is returning after missing the last two games with an upper-body injury (likely a concussion). He answered the call and stood with the code and it, unfortunately, took him out.
Claude Julien made use of Nicolas Deslauriers and Matthew Peca in his absence, but it’s good to have the speedster back in the lineup. He was on a line with Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who has moved to the wing after being scratched against the Jets, and Nate Thompson.
It’s good to see Kotkaniemi and Byron reunited as the two have generated a good deal of offence off each other. The clear downside is that it comes with both having to play on the fourth line and with the 2018 third-overall pick away from his natural position. But Julien has made it clear through his actions that he trusts Jordan Weal in the three-hole over Kotkaniemi and if he believes that’s the best chance the Montreal Canadiens have to win then we’ll have to trust in that.
According to Julien, there is less responsibility on the wing which could make things easier for him.
Montreal Canadiens
Forward Lines
Tomas Tatar – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher
Artturi Lehkonen – Max Domi – Andrew Shaw
Jonathan Drouin – Jordan Weal – Joel Armia
Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Nate Thompson – Paul Byron
Defence Pairs
Victor Mete – Shea Weber
Brett Kulak – Jeff Petry
Jordie Benn – Christian Folin
Goaltenders
The Lightning earned their 60th win of the season last night against the Ottawa Senators. Nikita Kucherov added to his ridiculous year with three assists bringing his total to 125 points.
Tampa has had some injuries along the blueline though. Victor Hedman, Anton Stralman, and Dan Girardi are all out while Eddie Pasquale was recalled from the AHL to replace backup goaltender Louis Domingue. The rookie goaltender likely gets the start as Andrei Vasilevskiy got the start in Ottawa. He’s played only one game this season earning a win while allowing five goals on 24 shots.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Forward Lines
Ondrej Palat – Steven Stamkos – Mathieu Joseph
Yanni Gourde – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov
Tyler Johnson – Anthony Cirelli– Alex Killorn
J.T. Miller – Cedric Paquette – Adam Erne
Defence Pairs
Ryan McDonagh – Erik Cernak
Braydon Coburn – Mikhail Sergachev
Cameron Gaunce – Jan Rutta
Goaltenders
Eddie Pasquale
Andrei Vasilevskiy
The Montreal Canadiens clearly need this win more than Tampa does. It also won’t be surprising to see the spotlight on Sergachev given the optics of that trade nearly two years ago. The young defenceman has seen more responsibility with the injuries on the blueline and was even on the top pair for a number of games before Hedman fell.
But what the focus should be on is the Habs’ will to win. Getting Byron back is huge, and it’ll take everyone coming together to ensure success. Tampa is a team who will make you pay when given the opportunity, and if Montreal allows them to run amock in the offensive zone, the game will be over quicker than they know it.