The Montreal Canadiens might be feeling roughed up after their 0-4 start to the season, but tonight the determination has to be in play as they face their new rival the Carolina Hurricanes. In the words of our contributor Emmanuel “Grosse game à soir” (Big game tonight).
Grosse game à soir. #GoHabsGo
— Emmanuel (@iTheHabsGuy) October 21, 2021
The Canadiens are going to play the line shuffle as head coach Dominique Ducharme mixed up his lines again in an attempt to find the winning combination. Joel Edmundson who was reported to be close to returning to play will be out indefinitely as he flew out of Montreal to be at the side of his father who is in terminal stage of cancer. The team needs to rally together and produce more offense and really tighten down defensively in order to give Jake Allen a chance. Montreal has been outscored 15-3 so far this season, while never scoring more than 1 goal in a game.
For the Hurricanes the big story of course is the return of Jesperi Kotkaniemi to the Bell Center. Carolina social media accounts and fans alike have had a field day trolling the woes of the Canadiens, as the Hurricanes enter the Bell Center with a 2-0 record to start the year. The team boasts some of the best young firepower in the league led by one of the game’s best coaches in former Hurricane Captain and Stanley Cup winner Rod Brind’Amour.
Here are the projected lines for tonight’s game:
Montreal Canadiens
2021-22 Season Record: 0-4-0 8th in Atlantic Division
Captain: Shea Weber
Head Coach: Dominique Ducharme
Injuries: Shea Weber (undisclosed – indefinite), Joel Edmundson (personal – indefinite), Paul Byron (hip – December), Carey Price (personal – indefinite), Sami Niku (concussion – day-to-day)
Forwards
Mike Hoffman – Nick Suzuki – Brendan Gallagher
Jonathan Drouin – Christian Dvorak – Josh Anderson
Tyler Toffoli – Mathieu Perreault – Cole Caufield
Artturi Lehkonen – Jake Evans – Joel Armia
Defence
Brett Kulak – Jeff Petry
Alexander Romanov – David Savard
Ben Chiarot – Chris Wideman
Goalies
Jake Allen
Samuel Montembeault
Carolina Hurricanes
2021-22 Season Record: 2-0-0 5th in Metropolitan Division
Captain: Jordan Staal
Head Coach: Rod Brind’Amour
Injuries: None
Forwards
Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Sebastian Aho – Teuvo Teravainen
Andrei Svechnikov – Vincent Trocheck – Martin Necak
Nino Niederreiter – Jordan Staal – Jesper Fast
Jordan Martinook – Derek Stepan – Steven Lorentz
Defense
Jacob Slavin – Ethan Bear
Brady Skjei – Brett Pesce
Ian Cole – Tony DeAngelo
Goalies
Frederik Andersen
Antti Raanta