There is no denying that the biggest game of the Montreal Canadiens' season comes on Wednesday night when they face the Carolina Hurricanes with their playoff chances on the line. It's a simple formula for the Canadiens, as one point will get them into the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2021. If they fail to get that point, their playoff hopes fall into the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets, who can pass them off with a win on Thursday evening.
Montreal's recent three-game losing streak isn't Oliver Kapanen's fault, but he will be the odd-man out amongst the forward group. He has no points since returning from Europe six games ago, and played just seven minutes on Monday against the Chicago Blackhawks. He will sit in the press box in favor of Emil Heineman, who will get his place back on the fourth-line with Jake Evans and Joel Armia.
The fourth line reuniting for the Canadiens means that Patrik Laine will move up to play with Ivan Demidov and Alex Newhook. The Demidov-Laine pairing might strike fear in some people's minds when it comes to 5-on-5 defense, but it could be a formidable pairing if Demidov starts finding Laine for some scoring opportunities.
Hurricanes are resting their stars
If you look at the Hurricanes' lineup for Wednesday you'll likely wonder how they are even icing a team at all. They'll have six regulars out, including players like Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis, and Jaccob Slavin. Their lineup has Jesperi Kotkaniemi centering the first line with Andrei Svechnikov and Taylor Hall. While the first line looks acceptable, the rest of their lineup falls off drastically.
The Hurricanes will also be rolling with a lineup of 11 forwards and seven defense. This isn't because Rod Brind'Amour believes it's their best chance of winning. The only reason he's running this lineup is because it's the only 18 skaters he has available to him.
The fear for Canadiens fans could be that Pyotr Kochetkov steps up and steals the game. The Russian goaltender is trying to regain his place as the team's starting goalie heading into the playoffs, and this is his last chance to prove to Brind'Amour that he is the man for the job. The good news is that he allowed 24 goals over his last six starts. He won two of those six games, but it was due to the offense, which he doesn't have to back him up in this game.
It'll be painful enough for the Canadiens to lose this game and miss the playoffs. However, the Hurricanes' lineup adds a whole new wrinkle. Blowing this opportunity with the Hurricanes "B" lineup playing would be catastrophic failure, no matter how fans want to spin it that the Habs weren't supposed to be in this position anyway.