Canadiens vs Jets: Game Thread, Lines, & TV Schedule

Dustin Tokarski gets his 15th start of the season tonight when the Habs take on the Winnipeg Jets for the second and final time this season.  The last time these two teams met in November, both teams were in similar positions: the Habs fighting for top spot in the Eastern Conference, and the Jets battling to be among the crop of Western Conference teams to make the playoffs. 58 games played later, the Habs hope to repeat their 3-0 performance from November, and take a couple more points with them in their race for not only top spot in the East, but top spot in the NHL.

Fans are usually wary of regular season success. Habs' fans are no exception. With 72 games palyed the Habs have demonstrated their ability to remain competitive with the league's best teams, and despite the fact we lament their ability to score, the Habs are one of the best defensive teams in the league and as a result have made themselves into one of this year's contenders for a run at the Stanley Cup (thank you Carey Price).

With Carey Price on the bench tonight, Dustin Tokarski will be facing a Jets team that is clinging to the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference, 2 points up on the LA Kings with one more game played. The points on the table tonight are food for the starving Jets, who need these points to keep control of their playoff-bound destiny which is a destination the city of Winnipeg has been waiting to get back to since April 1996, four months before the team was moved to Phoenix.

The Habs will be facing another hot goalie tonight in Ondrej Pavelec who has won his last 5 starts, posting a 0.98 GAA and .966 sv %. Despite injuries to key players, the Jets are are on a run of  7-4-0 for the month of March with a 2.27 monthly GAA and are scoring at a rate of 3 goals per game since March 2.

The puck drops at 8:00 PM EST. Dustin Byfuglien will be back in the lineup for the Jets after missing 9 games.

Scratched: Mike Weaver, Sergei Gonchar, Manny Malholtra, Brian Flynn
Injuries: Tom Gilbert (upper body)

Scratched: Keaton Ellerby, TJ Galiardi, Anthony Peluso, Jay Harrison
Injuries: Ben Chiarot (upper body), Grant Clitsome (back),  Bryan Little (upper body), Mathieu Perreault (lower body), Paul Postma (lower body)

Check out the enemy over at Arctic Ice Hockey.

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