The Montreal Canadiens finally have their home opener tonight. They started 1-0-2 on the road. Here is your preview, who to watch, start time and how to watch tonight’s contest.
The Montreal Canadiens are off to an exciting start to the 2019-20 season. On opening night, they climbed back from a 2-0 deficit to take a 3-2 lead over the Carolina Hurricanes. The Canes would tied the game in the third period and win it in a shootout.
Two nights later the Habs fell behind 4-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs before storming back to take a 5-4 lead. The Leafs would tie the game and send it to extra time. This time, the Canadiens would get the last laugh in the shootout and came away with a 6-5 victory.
Last night was a bit of a wild game as well with the Buffalo Sabres. The Habs fell behind early but a pair of special teams goals but Joel Armia gave them a lead heading into the first intermission. Jack Eichel responded with a pair of goals of his own in the second period to regain the lead for the Sabres before the third period began.
The Canadiens would once again come back from a two goal deficit in the third period before heading to overtime for the third straight game. They lost on a goal that was not a power play goal but may as well have been a power play goal as Phillip Danault barely had both skates on the ice before Marcus Johansson blasted a one-timer into the Habs net.
Tonight, the Habs will look to get into the win column again against the Detroit Red Wings. The Wings won their first two games, taking out the Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars before losing to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night.
Their top line of Tyler Bertuzzi, Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha has been very dangerous but their depth is definitely an issue. The Canadiens have been getting contributions from all four lines so they will look to take advantage of the Red Wings bottom six to turn the tide in their favour tonight at the Bell Centre.
Having played last night, the Canadiens likely won’t announce their lineup until later today, but their forwards are almost guaranteed to stay the same. They don’t have an extra forward right now as Nick Cousins is injured and he was the only extra forward on the roster.
What will be interesting to keep an eye on is the defense pairings. Brett Kulak and Cale Fleury were healthy scratches last night to make room for Mike Reilly and Christian Folin. Reilly and Folin didn’t exactly dominate and were only counted on to play bottom pairing minutes, but Kulak and Fleury were more effective. I’d expect to see Fleury and Kulak back in the lineup after sitting out for a game, but that remains to be seen.
Here is everything you need to know about tonight’s contest with the Detroit Red Wings: