Montreal Canadiens: Classy Gesture to Get Mathieu Perreault in Lineup Tonight

The Montreal Canadiens season comes to a close tonight with a matchup against the President’s Trophy winning Florida Panthers.

While the Habs are already locked into the last place in the NHL standings for the season, they had to ice a lineup for a game that ultimately means nothing in the grand picture.

Of course, for a couple of players, this game could be a big one in the grand scheme of their careers.

Carey Price battled back once again to get into the net as the team’s starter. He has played just five of the team’s 82 games this season and will once again battle in the offseason to see if he can get into shape for the grind of a full 82 game schedule in 2022-23. You would hope he gets back to full health for the next couple of years, but there is no denying the possibility this could be the final game Price plays for the Canadiens, either because of a trade or injuries taking their toll.

It could also be the last game of Mathieu Perreault’s career. The 34 year old winger signed a one year contract with the Canadiens this season, and it really hasn’t gone great. He did score a hat trick early in the season at the Bell Centre which was a special moment, but he hasn’t scored again since.

He has played 24 games this season, partly due to injuries but he has also been made a healthy scratch on numerous occasions as well. The Habs most recent game before tonight was a win over the New York Rangers on Wednesday night. Perreault was scratched for that contest.

The Drummondville, Quebec native was obviously motivated to sign with the Canadiens to play in front of his home fans for a season. With just three goals and seven points in 24 games, it could be his last season.

So, to see him penciled back into the lineup to play one last game in front of those home fans this season was a classy gesture from head coach Martin St. Louis.

Want your voice heard? Join the A Winning Habit team!

Write for us!