The Habs are home after a two-week roadtrip that saw them accumulate half the available potential points with a record of 2-2-1.
Not too bad when you consider the historical context of their annual western road-trip, however, the biggest losses for the Canadiens came Sunday afternoon and Tuesday night with Alex Galchenyuk and David Desharnais both injured. With a timeline of 6-8 weeks for both of them to return, the Canadiens are in tough to make due without their best offensive producer in Galchenyuk, and a useful though often maligned centerman in Desharnais.
A few former Habs make their return to the Bell Centre tonight. A quick glance at the Devils’ lineup and you’ll recognize the likes of Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau, Mike Cammalleri and Devante-Smith Pelly. Smith-Pelly has a point-per-game against the Habs, albeit he’s only played three games against his former team in his career, while Parenteau has seven points in thirteen games, and Mike Cammalleri has six in twelve games.
Michel Therrien has the challenge of putting together a coherent lineup tonight, and he has not revealed what the will be yet. Zach Redmond make his Canadiens debut tonight, with Greg Pateryn removed from the lineup. Nathan Beaulieu also returns to the lineup after missing six games with a throat injury.
The rest remains a mystery until close to game-time. Andrew Shaw, Artturi Lehkonen and Paul Byron were practicing faceoffs this morning, suggesting they could be used at center at some point tonight.
Puck Drop is 7:30 PM EST / 10:30 PM PST
How to watch:
Canada (English): Sportsnet 360
Canada (French): RDS
Devils Region: MSG+ 2
Elsewhere: NHL.tv/NHL Gamecentre Live, NHL Centre Ice
*Projected lines subject to change
| Left Wing |
Center |
Right Wing |
| Max Pacioretty | Tomas Plekanec | Alex Radulov |
| Artturi Lehkonen | Phillip Danault | Andrew Shaw |
| Paul Byron | Torrey Mitchell | Brendan Gallagher |
| Daniel Carr | Brian Flynn | Sven Andrighetto |
| Left Defense |
Right Defense |
| Alexei Emelin | Shea Weber |
| Andrei Markov | Jeff Petry |
| Nathan Beaulieu | Zach Redmond |
| Goaltenders |
| Carey Price |
| Al Montoya |
Scratched: Greg Pateryn
Injured: Alex Galchenyuk (knee), David Desharnais (knee)
| Left Wing |
Center |
Right Wing |
| Taylor Hall | Adam Henrique | Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau |
| Mike Cammalleri | Travis Zajac | Kyle Palmieri |
| Beau Bennett | Sergey Kalinin | Devante Smith-Pelly |
| Miles Wood | Vernon Fiddler | Nick Lappin |
| Left Defense |
Right Defense |
| Andy Greene | Damon Severson |
| Yohann Auvitu | Ben Lovejoy |
| John Moore | Kyle Quincey |
| Goaltenders |
| Corey Schneider |
| Keith Kinkaid |
Scratched:
Injured: Pavel Zacha (facial laceration)
