Canadiens @ Blues: Game preview, start time, Tale of the Tape, and how to watch

Montreal Canadiens @ St. Louis Blues

How to watch

Start time: 3:00 PM EDT / 12:00 PM PDT
In Canada: TSN2, TSN Direct (English), RDS, RDS Direct (French)
In the Blues region: Fox Sports Midwest
Streaming: NHL.tv / NHL Live

The Canadiens have had a difficult time generating any sort of momentum this season. Despite points in their first three game, they’ve yet to put two wins together, usually following up a victory with a disappointing loss.

Some inconsistency should be expected with a few new players on the roster, especially the group of youngsters in either thier first or second year. Claude Julien has shifted all of Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Nick Suzuki, and Cale Fleury either around the lineup or out of it entirely at points in the first seven games.

In Thursday’s game — a win in the Habs’ alternating pattern of results — Suzuki got his first goal, while Fleury drew back in for his third NHL game after sitting out the previous four, looking confident in his puck-moving duties.

It definitely helped that the opposing team was one of the worst in the NHL; the loss held the Minnesota Wild at a measly two points on the season. This afternoon’s hosts can be found much higher in the Western Conference standings.

The St. Louis Blues haven’t had much luck in games going beyond the regulation 60 minutes lately, but they have received at least a point in six of their seven games to date. The one game they didn’t get a positive result happens to be their earlier meeting with the Canadiens.

Last Saturday, the Blues visited the Bell Centre and participated in close-fought, back-and-forth contest — at least for two periods. Montreal stood with one of the league’s best team through 40 minutes, then put the hammer down for the final frame. Tied at three when the third began, the Canadiens were in full control the rest of the way, outchancing the Blues 15-5, and outscoring them 3-0 for a runaway 6-3 victory.

It was Jordan Binnington’s least effective game of the season )the only one under a .900 save percentage on the year) and his first time allowing five goals in a regular-season game. The goalie will want a bit of retribution this afternoon on home ice, eager to break a streak of allowing at least three goals at three starts.

View from the Other Side

St. Louis Blues blog St. Louis Game Time

It’s not going to be an easy task for the goaltender and his team. Montreal has been held to fewer than three goals on just two occasions this season, and 13 of their skaters have at least one goal. There are no lines incapable of netting a goal on a given night, and Suzuki adding his name to the list of goal-scorers will only have him playing more relaxed as he looks to build on his total.

Carey Price was dealing with his own stretch of allowing an abnormally high number of goals going into Thursday night’s contest. He had allowed three in his first four games of the season, but brought that to a halt with a shutout performance. He surely thanked his team (and probably the lacklustre effort of the Wild as well) for limiting the work he had in front of him, as he dealt with just 17 shots on the night.

It was some of the Blues’ top scorers who got on the board a week ago. Brayden Schenn’s fourth of five goals on the year opened the scoring for his team, and Sammy Blais got the second. That’s without Vladimir Tarasenko finding his scoring touch yet in 2019-20. It’s safe to say there will be a lot more time spent in the Canadiens’ end today, so the goaltender and his defencemen will need a solid performance if they’re going to string wins together for the first time.

Montreal Canadiens projected lineup

Scratched: Mikey Reilly
Injured: Joel Armia, Cale Fleury

St. Louis Blues projected lineup