The Montreal Canadiens preseason schedule is half over, and they are yet to come out on top in any of their games.
The Habs opened their exhibition slate of games last Monday with a 2-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils and followed that up with a 3-0 shutout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Since then, they have blown late leads to lose to the Winnipeg Jets and Ottawa Senators which drops them to zero wins in four games played. Of course, the preseason isn’t all about wins and losses, it is about the process, but the Habs have only scored eight goals in those four games which isn’t all that encouraging either.
Canadiens to face tough Maple Leafs lineup
Tomorrow night, they will face their toughest test yet. While those first four games often featured minor league goaltenders and some longshot hopefuls on the opposition, the Maple Leafs appear to have their regular season lineup pretty much ready to go for tomorrow’s game.
The Maple Leafs released their lineup this evening, and displayed lines in practice that appear to be what they would use if the game really mattered tomorrow night. Their lineup will look like this when they face the Canadiens:
Bunting – Matthews – Marner
Robertson – Kerfoot – Nylander
Aston-Reese – Holmberg – Aube-Kubel
Abruzzese – Gaudette – Malgin
Rielly – Brodie
Giordano – Holl
Mete – Kral
Murray
Samsonov
That is a pretty stacked lineup for the Habs to face in Game 5 of an eight game preseason. With the exception of third line forwards Calle Jarnkrok and David Kampf, as well as the defence pairing of Jake Muzzin and Rasmus Sandin, that could be the Leafs opening night lineup.
The Canadiens still have over 40 players remaining in training camp. They will be playing four games in the next six days and may not want to ice a regular season lineup quite yet. If not, it could be a lopsided affair tomorrow night.
Even if the Habs do ice something close to an opening night lineup, this is going to be their toughest preseason test yet. It will be a great opportunity for those on the bubble to prove whether they are ready to face NHL competition when the games begin for real next week.
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