Game 77: Montreal Canadiens vs. New Jersey Devils
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Devils region: MSGSN
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
The Montreal Canadiens sent Jacob Fowler back to Montreal before yesterday’s game in New Jersey so he could sleep in his own bed before playing the Devils in today’s rematch. Fowler’s contributions to the current eight-game winning streak have been three wins including the one versus the New York Islanders that began it, and a .914 save percentage. At a time in the season when a lot of teams around the league are struggling to push themselves over the finish line, the Canadiens are experiencing their greatest success, and stabilization of the goaltending position is the biggest reason for that current form.
Alternatively, goaltending is one of the issues that cost the Devils a return to the playoffs. Jacob Markstrom was supposed to be the solution to a decades-long search for a goaltender following Martin Brodeur’s tenure, but in 41 starts this season he’s posted an .883 save percentage, not much better than the .872 mark that cost Samuel Montembeault a spot in Montreal’s lineup. The Devils have just 22 wins from his games, unable to outproduce the 3.12 goals he allows as a nightly average.
Last night’s shootout win was the closest the Canadiens came to having their winning streak ended. The Devils won’t be a playoff team, but they proved that they’re still dangerous enough to pose a challenge even to a top team like Montreal. They have some dangerous forwards who can score, and will be looking to make up for last night’s loss. If the Habs are as serious about winning the Eastern Conference as Dobeš was in last night’s post-game comments, they will need to be better defensively after seeing a 3-0 lead slip away 24 hours ago.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #13 Cole Caufield |
#14 Nick Suzuki |
#20 Juraj Slafkovský |
| #15 Alex Newhook |
#91 Oliver Kapanen |
#93 Ivan Demidov |
| #76 Zachary Bolduc |
#71 Jake Evans |
#17 Josh Anderson |
| #90 Joe Veleno |
#24 Phillip Danault |
#11 Brendan Gallagher |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #8 Mike Matheson |
#53 Noah Dobson |
| #47 Jayden Struble |
#48 Lane Hutson |
| #21 Kaiden Guhle |
#72 Arber Xhekaj |
| Starter |
Backup |
| #32 Jacob Fowler |
#75 Jakub Dobeš |
Injured: Alexandre Carrier, Kirby Dach, Alexandre Texier
Scratched: Adam Engström, Patrik Laine, Samuel Montembeault
New Jersey Devils projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| Jesper Bratt |
Jack Hughes |
Connor Brown |
| Timo Meier |
Nico Hischier |
Dawson Mercer |
| Lenni Hameenaho |
Cody Glass |
Nick Bjugstad |
| Marc McLaughlin |
Paul Cotter |
Brian Halonen |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| Jonas Siegenthaler |
Dougie Hamilton |
| Luke Hughes |
Johnny Kovacevic |
| Brenden Dillon |
Simon Nemec |
| Starter |
Backup |
| Jacob Markstrom |
Jake Allen |
