The Montreal Canadiens are set to play their final regular season game on Tuesday night against the Philadelphia Flyers. For Montreal, this is a must-win game if they want to have a chance at having home-ice advantage, but they will need some help along the way.
On Monday, the Buffalo Sabres clinched the division with their win over the Chicago Blackhawks. This leaves the Canadiens competing with the Lightning for second place and home-ice advantage in their first-round matchup.
For that to happen, the Canadiens have to get a win over the Flyers while the Lightning have to lose in their final game on Wednesday. If the Lightning were to win, they would jump ahead of Montreal due to the regulation win tiebreaker.
The Canadiens have played the Flyers twice already this season and lost both of those games. However, their first two meetings were back in November and December, with plenty that has changed since then. On top of that, the Flyers have clinched their playoff spot and may be resting a few players as they prepare for their playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
When looking ahead to this game, these are three players in particular worth watching as they not only could factor in the outcome of this game but in the playoffs as well.
Jakub Dobes
While there hasn't been an official announcement made, the Montreal Canadiens almost certainly will have Jakub Dobes in net. They will be looking for him to bounce back after a lackluster performance against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.
Dobes has been almost unbeatable over the past few weeks, but he struggled against the Blue Jackets, where he allowed five goals on 33 shots. It is the first time since January 1st that he has allowed five or more goals in a game, and it was his first loss in eight games.
For a young goalie like Dobes, putting together a solid game heading into the playoffs will be a huge confidence boost. He has a good chance to do that against a Flyers team that ranks in the bottom third of the league in goals scored at 2.93 goals per game.
David Reinbacher
Similar to Dobes, there isn't a guarantee that David Reinbacher is going to play, but it would be smart for Martin St. Louis to get him on the ice. The former first-round pick made his NHL debut on Sunday after Noah Dobson suffered an injury against the Blue Jackets that will keep him out at least two weeks.
The coaching staff needs to figure out what is their best three pairs for the playoffs, and Reinbacher made a strong case to be one of the Top 6 defensemen for Game 1 of the playoffs. He finished the game with over 11 minutes of ice time and secured his first NHL point with an assist on Alex Newhook's goal.
Reinbacher is definitely the least experienced defenseman but another strong performance might be just enough for him to get into the lineup for the playoffs.
Juraj Slafkovsky
Juraj Slafkovsky has had at least one point in four straight games and six points total during that stretch. However, five of those points have been assists as he has struggled as of late to find the back of the net.
On the season, Slafkovsky has had 30 goals but only two of them over the past 11 games with only one in 5v5 situations.
There is no question that Slafkovsky has made a positive impact on the ice as he has been able to set up teammates for goals. However, in this game, it would be great to see him add one more goal to his season total heading into the playoffs when Montreal is going to need all the scoring they can get.
The Montreal Canadiens don't necessarily control their own destiny but need to focus on what they can control. That is with a win against the Flyers and these are three players that can help deliver that.
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