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Montreal Canadiens: Game-day Preview vs Winnipeg

By Matthew Candy |
MONTREAL, QC - APRIL 14: Jesperi Kotkaniemi #15 of the Montreal Canadiens skates during the warm-up against the Calgary Flames at the Bell Centre on April 14, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. The Calgary Flames defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-1. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - APRIL 14: Jesperi Kotkaniemi #15 of the Montreal Canadiens skates during the warm-up against the Calgary Flames at the Bell Centre on April 14, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. The Calgary Flames defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-1. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

The Winnipeg Jets have had the Montreal Canadiens number this season. The third place Jets own a 6-2-0 record over the Habs, while outscoring them 29-21 in those eight games.

Winnipeg comes into town having lost their last two contests versus the Oilers. Montreal dropped their most recent contest to the Leafs on Wednesday night and will be looking for a bounce back performance tonight.

Montreal is six points back of the Jets in the North division with a game in hand. The Habs will need to have an impressive record in their remaining eight games to have a chance at over taking Winnipeg in the standings.

Montreal’s penalty kill has struggled mightily this season, boasting just a 77.1% on the kill. They will need to keep a watchful eye on the Jets’ power play, as Winnipeg is fourth in the league on the man advantage at 25.4%.

The Canadiens come into Friday’s game with a 21-18-9 record, while the Jets are 27-19-3.

Player to watch:  Nick Suzuki  

Suzuki comes into Friday’s game riding a three game point streak. Without the likes of Drouin, Gallagher, and Tatar in the Canadiens’ lineup, Suzuki has had to elevate his game offensively and will need to continue to do so down the stretch.

The young centerman had the lone Montreal goal on Wednesday night and was flanked by the Canadiens’ leading scorer in Tyler Toffoli and rookie sniper Cole Caufield. The trio of highly skilled forwards was impressive against the Leafs, posting a 76.92 CF% with a total of 8:37 ice time together.

With the injuries mentioned above, Dom Ducharme will most likely lean on Suzuki’s line to create offence and take the majority of offensive zone starts. Most recently at practice, Joel Armia was featured on Suzuki’s line with Toffoli on the other wing.

Suzuki has had an up and down season overall, but will need to be a consistent producer to finish the regular season and in the playoffs if the Canadiens want to make some noise.

Lineup

The Canadiens’ lines at practice on Thursday were as follows:

*Tatar and Byron may be game time decisions

Kotkaniemi-Danualt-Anderson

Toffoli-Suzuki-Armia

Lehkonen-Evans-Caufield

Frolik-Staal-Perry

Chiarot-Weber

Edmundson-Petry

Romanov-Merrill

Allen

Primeau

 Projected Starting Goaltenders:

Jake Allen

2020-2021 Stats: 23 GP, 9-10-4, 0.991 SV%, 2.56 GAA

Allen will make his third consecutive start in the absence of Carey Price. Allen is 0-2-2 against the Jets this season.

Connor Hellebuyck

2021-2021 Stats: 40 GP, 21-15-3, 0.913 SV%, 2.68 GAA

Hellebuyck is 0-5-0 in his last five starts. The Michigan native is 6-2-0 against the Habs this season.

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