Game 41: Montreal Canadiens @ St. Louis Blues
Start time: **4:00 PM EST / 1:00 PM PST**
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Blues region: FanDuel Sports Network Midwest
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
The Canadiens will bridge the first and second halves of the season this weekend with a back-to-back set to finish off the road trip. Before heading to Dallas tomorrow for the fifth and final game of this post-Christmas journey, and seventh consecutive away from home, they are in St. Louis to take on the Blues.
It has already been a successful trip as the Habs have ensured they’ll take no less than 50% of the available points. Positive results in hostile environments in Tampa, Sunrise, and Raleigh have netted a 2-0-1 record, ended an almost nine-year losing streak in Carolina, and not only held the Canadiens in a playoff spot, but boosted their standing since leaving Montreal.
Of the five opponents the Habs were set to face, the Blues can be considered the weakest, a couple of points out of the Western Conference wild-card race despite playing 42 games already. A season ago, it was the easiest matchup that tripped up the Canadiens, losing to the Chicago Blackhawks in the middle of wins versus the Stanley Cup-champion Panthers, perennial contender Lightning, Vegas Golden Knights, and Colorado Avalanche. The players’ minds could wander to a bigger test versus the Stars on Sunday, so it will be up to Martin St-Louis to keep everyone focused.
Tale of the Tape
| Canadiens | Statistics | Blues |
|---|---|---|
| 22-12-6 | Record | 16-18-8 |
| 48.9% (21st) | Expected-goal share | 48.2% (25th) |
| 3.38 (3rd) | Goals per game | 2.50 (32nd) |
| 3.30 (24th) | Goals against per game | 3.43 (29th) |
| 24.8% (6th) | PP% | 17.6% (23rd) |
| 76.7% (25th) | PK% | 77.6% (23rd) |
| 0-1-0 | Head-to-Head Record | 1-0-0 |
| Cole Caufield (20) | Most goals | Justin Faulk (11) |
| Nick Suzuki (31) | Most assists | Robert Thomas (20) |
| Nick Suzuki (45) | Most points | Robert Thomas (29) |
The Canadiens have already taken the Blues too lightly once this season. On December 7, the Habs had a commanding opening period on home ice to hold a 2-1 lead, then weren’t ready to start the second period as the Blues scored two goals in the opening 1:05. They picked back up by dominating after the outburst, but couldn’t overcome the damage and ended up losing 4-3, tossing away two points that they should hold today.
St-Louis will therefore have that as one motivating factor for this game, but the players only need to look back to Thursday’s game versus the Hurricanes to find another example of squandering a great start and needing to attempt a comeback. The Habs are proving that they have the talent to score plenty of goals — up to third in the league now with 3.38 per game — but they don’t need to turn every game into a nail-biter.
The schedule-makers actually did the Canadiens a favour on this road trip by having them play an opponent on a back-to-back in the first four games. The Blues played the Golden Knights yesterday afternoon, and it was a familiar story of two goals early in the second period to take a lead. Las Vegas tied things up, but a late winner from Brayden Schenn helped St. Louis take two points.
The last time the Blues won two in a row? Their comeback effort in Montreal a day after beating the Ottawa Senators. That smallest of streaks is something they have only managed to do three times this season, and the Canadiens’ don’t want to be responsible for two of what would increase to a fourth instance today. The Habs can make it a very successful trip by growing their haul of points to seven in four games. Anything less than that would be a disappointing result for a team on a seven-game point streak.
