Game 44: Montreal Canadiens vs. Florida Panthers
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Panthers region: Scripps
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
Back from his conditioning loan, Samuel Montembeault’s first game action since early December was a start versus the Florida Panthers in Sunrise. He just focused on playing a simple game to get in front of the shots that came his way and not trying anything fancy, and it led to a great result, a 3-2 overtime win. He has now won five games in a row versus Florida, and the Habs as a team are on a six-game winning streak versus the two-time defending champions.
With that personal streak in mind, you would expect Martin St-Louis to go back to Montembeault for another match versus the Panthers tonight. That would mean Jakub Dobeš misses another start, not playing since January 1 when he was the slightly better goalie in Carolina as the Habs took a 7-5 win. In his recent press conference, Kent Hughes said the three-goalie rotation would be ending soon, and it could be that Dobeš has already been tabbed as the one head to Laval (he’s still waivers-exempt) and work on his game in the minors.
Tale of the Tape
| Canadiens | Statistics | Panthers |
|---|---|---|
| 24-13-6 | Record | 18-20-4 |
| 49.3% (22nd) | Expected-goal share | 51.5% (9th) |
| 3.33 (6th) | Goals per game | 3.05 (17th) |
| 3.21 (22nd) | Goals against per game | 3.17 (21st) |
| 23.4% (8th) | PP% | 17.8% (22nd) |
| 78.3% (20th) | PK% | 82.5% (6th) |
| 1-0-0 | Head-to-Head Record | 0-0-1 |
| Cole Caufield (21) | Most goals | Brad Marchand (23) |
| Nick Suzuki (33) | Most assists | Brad Marchand (23) |
| Nick Suzuki (47) | Most points | Brad Marchand (46) |
The Panthers have seen mixed results since Montembeault claimed the win on November 30. They handed the Colorado Avalanche a rare regulation loss with a 2-1 win at home on Sunday, but that was sandwiched between losses to the New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs, dropping those two Eastern Conference battles by a combined score of 9-2. They’ve begun a six-game road trip with a loss, and now play a Habs team that has gone 9-2-3 since December 11.
Goal-scoring remains an issue for the Panthers, and Brad Marchand still leads in both goals and assists as he did when the two teams met nine days ago. However, Matthew Tkachuk is reportedly due to return to the lineup at some point on this road trip, and a game like this one versus a division rival that the Panthers may need to catch for a playoff spot would be the one to have him back for. The Panthers will be playing brother Brady and the Ottawa Senators two days from now, so it’s possible that that is the game that has been targeted for his first game of the season.
The Canadiens have their own player due to return. Kaiden Guhle is recovered from his lower-body injury, and could be a fresh addition to tonight’s lineup after the Habs played last night — not that Montreal was overly taxed in a game spent largely in the offensive zone. It will likely be one of Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble who comes out of the lineup to make room, even if they both played well together last night.
The Habs have a couple of big games to end this week, first with this matchup versus a Panthers team seven points back in the division standings then versus the Detroit Red Wings that they sit tied with in points. The way the Habs played last night indicated that they realize the importance of continuing to play well during this stretch, and no less should be expected versus a team that they’ve enjoyed a great deal of success against in recent history.
