Montreal Canadiens Game 9 Preview: Canadiens vs Kings

The Montreal Canadiens are riding high after their decisive 4-0 victory over the Sharks on Thursday. This weekend they play in back-to-back late afternoon games starting today as they head in to La-La-Land and face Phillip Danault and the LA Kings.

Keep note Habs fans, this weekend the games are at 4PM ET and will be broadcast on TSN and RDS because of Halloween weekend. So you’ll have time to watch the game AND pick up some treats. Win-win.

Winner winner, Chicken Dinner will definitely be the goal for our Montreal Canadiens as they steam rolled past the San Jose Sharks on Thursday with Jake Allen punching in one of his better performances since donning the bleu-blanc-rouge. With back-to-back games this weekend, don’t be surprised if backup Samuel Montembeault gets the nod for one of the games, more likely against the Ducks in Anaheim on Sunday. At least, that’s what fans of A Winning Habit voted for on our Twitter page.

Having Montembeault play Sunday against the Ducks makes sense on a logistic point of view, as that would give Allen ample time to rest before the team returns to Montreal on Tuesday for the first of a five game homestand starting against the Detroit Red Wings.

Dominique Ducharme loves to shuffle his lines but rarely does so after a victory. So expect the same combinations to be on the ice as we’ve seen on Thursday against the Sharks.

For the home team, the LA Kings are struggling mightily out of the gate. Prized free agent signature and former Hab Phillip Danault is off to a slow start as he’s registered only a goal and an assist with a -1 rating. His defensive play has been a little erratic since putting on the black and white jersey and his offensive contribution is severely lacking considering he signed in LA in order to get more chances to contribute offensively.

The Kings were also dealt a major blow as Drew Doughty went down after a knee-to-knee collision. A tibial plateau contusion is the official diagnostic and will send Doughty to on the IR for at least 2 months, adding to an already crowded infirmary that includes prospect Quinton Byfield among others.

Also of note, it will be very strange watching Alex Edler play in a uniform other than the Canucks’.

Here’s the tale of the tape for today’s game:

Los Angeles Kings

2021-2022 Season Record: 1-5-1, 8th in Pacific Division

Head Coach: Todd McLellan

Captain: Anze Kopitar

Injuries:  Drew Doughty (tibial plateau contusion – 2 months), Quinton Byfield (ankle fracture – week-to-week), Andreas Athanasiou (undisclosed – indefinite), Lias Andersson (groin – indefinite), Sean Walker (torn MCL and ACL – out for season), Brendan Lemieux (COVID-19 protocol – day-to-day)

Projected Lineup: 

Forwards

Viktor Arvidsson – Anze Kopitar – Dustin Brown

Adrian Kempe – Phillip Danault – Alex Iafallo

Trevor Moore – Blake Lizotte – Arthur Kaliyev

Carl Grundstrom – Rasmus Kupari – Gabriel Vilardi

Defense

Tobias Bjonfort – Matt Roy

Kale Clague – Mikey Anderson

Alexander Edler – Austin Strand

Goalies

Jonathan Quick

Cal Petersen

Montreal Canadiens

2021-2022 Season Record: 2-6-0, 8th in Atlantic Division

Head Coach: Dominique Ducharme

Captain: Shea Weber

Injuries:  Shea Weber (undisclosed – indefinite), Carey Price (personal – indefinite), Joel Edmundson (personal – indefinite), Paul Byron (hip – month-to-month)

Projected Lineup: 

Forwards

Mike Hoffman – Nick Suzuki – Brendan Gallagher

Jonathan Drouin – Christian Dvorak – Josh Anderson

Tyler Toffoli – Mathieu Perreault – Cole Caufield

Artturi Lehkonen – Cedric Paquette – Joel Armia

Defense

Ben Chiarot – Jeff Petry

Alexander Romanov – David Savard

Sami Niku – Brett Kulak

Goalies

Jake Allen

Samuel Montembeault