For the first time ever, the Montreal Canadiens-affiliated St. John’s IceCaps will host the Providence Bruins at Mile One Centre.
The IceCaps return home after a six-game road trip, in which the team posted three wins and three loses. St. John’s now sits fourth in the North Division with a record of 9-8-1-0 (19 pts), while Providence sits in sixth place in the Atlantic Division, with a record of 6-6-3-2 (17 pts).
Previous Meeting
The last time the two teams faced off, St. John’s had the upper hand, winning 4-1. The scoreline that day was misleading, however. Charlie Lindgren made 50 saves on the night; 20 in the third period alone. Nikita Scherbak, Charles Hudon, Markus Eisenschmid, and Sven Andrighetto had the goals for the IceCaps on the day.
Players to Watch
The IceCaps will be without a few key players this weekend. Chris Terry and Charles Hudon (the team’s top point producers) and defenceman Mark Barberio are all with the Canadiens. So Michael McCarron, Andrighetto, and Scherbak will be heavily relied upon to produce this weekend, though the return of Artturi Lehkonen to the Canadiens lineup may make on of Hudon or Terry available.
The team will get a boost on the back end, as it was announced on Thursday night that Zach Redmond would be joining the team on a conditioning stint, and should be in the lineup for both games of the weekend set. They will be his first games of action this season after being injured in pre-season play.
As for the Bruins, they are loaded with former NHL players. The likes of Chris Porter, Zac Rinaldo, Matt Bartkowski, and Peter Mueller have all played a number of years at the highest level. Their roster also includes three rookie forwards who could pose a threat to the IceCaps: Peter Cehlarik, Jake DeBrusk, and Danton Heinen.
On defence, rookies Matt Grzelcyk and Rob O’Gara both look capable of joining Boston within the next few years. In goal, Malcolm Subban has played the most this season, but with Anton Khudobin with the team on a conditioning stint, it would be no surprise to see the tandem split the two games.
