Canadiens vs. Devils: Game Thread, roster, lines, and how to watch

Last season, the Montreal Canadiens were the least injured team in the NHL, putting up the lowest Man-Games-Lost-to-Injury (MGLI) number in the league by a wide margin (88 MGLI compared to the next closest team, the New York Rangers, who had 126. The most MGLIs sustained last year was 508 by the Columbus Blue Jackets). With only 23 games played, the Habs have 41 MGLIs, and that number will likely surpass the amount they put up last season before this season is half over.

The good news is, last year at this point, the Canadiens had 61 goals for, averaging 2.65 GF-per game. This year, with 23 games played, the Canadiens boast the most goals-for in the league with 83 goals-for, averaging 3.61 GF-per game. And it's not like the Habs are getting scoring from just a couple of players. The Canadiens have eight players with five or more goals, and ten players with ten or more points.

New Jersey Devils fans would be hard pressed to empathize with Habs fans bemoaning injuries. The Devils have had a rough year in that regard, posting the seventh most MGLIs in the league with 72. Despite this, the Devils sit two points back of a wildcard spot, and are 11-9-1. Former Hab Mike Cammalleri leads the way for the Devils with 22 points, and goaltender Corey Schneider has been outstanding again this season and is among the leaders in goals-against-average with 2.05 goals-against-average.

With Carey Price sidelined for at least a week, Mike Condon has been thrust back into the starting role, and looked sharp in the 20 minutes he played Wednesday night in New York. Before a stretch of three games in which Condon appeared to be showing signs of fatigue, he had a record of 4-1-1, a .934 save percentage and 1.79 goals against average.

This is the first of back-to-back games between these teams, as they will meet again tomorrow night in Montreal.

The puck drops at 7:00 PM EST.

How To Watch:
In Canada (French): RDS
In Canada (English): Sportsnet East
In the Rangers' region: MSG+
Elsewhere: NHL GameCenter, NHL Center Ice

Scratched: Alexei Emelin, Jarred Tinordi, Bud Holloway
Injuries: Carey Price (lower body) Brendan Gallagher (broken fingers), Torrey Mitchell (lower body), Alexander Semin (lower body)Michael Bournival (post-concussion syndrome)

Scratched: Brian O'Neill, David Schlemko, Jiri Tlusty
Injuries: David Schlemko (lower body), Tuomo Ruutu (fractured right foot), Ryane Clowe (concussion)

Check out the enemy over at All About the Jersey.

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