The Montreal Canadiens have gotten off to a 1-1 start on their road trip, after two very different games in Ottawa and Minnesota.
After running away with an 8-3 victory over the Senators, the Habs never recovered from a poor start against the Wild and fell by a 6-3 score.
They face a tough test tonight as they head to Bell MTS Place to battle Mark Scheifele and the Winnipeg Jets. Not only have the Jets been scoring at a high rate while allowing very few goals against, they have also been a more disciplined team this season.
Winnipeg sits in the middle of the pack in terms of average time spent short-handed, at around 9:30 of penalty-kill time per contest, and didn’t allow a single man advantage opportunity for the Dallas Stars on Thursday night. It seems bringing in a former NHL referee to help them out in that department is paying dividends.
Whether a lack of power-play chances is a bad thing for the Canadiens is debatable, seeing as how Montreal is one of the worst special-teams clubs in the league this season, with a 29th-ranked power play. The refs forgetting their whistles in the dressing room would probably be a welcome mistake, as the penalty kill, ranked 27th, hasn’t been much better.
There are some changes to the Habs’ lines from Thursday’s game, most notably with Alex Galchenyuk being placed on Jonathan Drouin’s line with Artturi Lehkonen on the opposite side. The move will give Galchenyuk better offensive options than he ever had playing on the fourth line, so he may be able to get his five-on-five production going.
In net, it’s Al Montoya getting the call for the Canadiens with Carey Price day-to-day with a lower-body injury. At the opposite end of the ice is Connor Hellebuyck, who is having a tremendous start to the season.
Important note: Brendan Lemieux has already scored his first NHL goal this season.
Puck drop is at 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
How to watch
In Canada: Sportsnet, Sportsnet Now (English), TVA Sports (French)
Elsewhere: NHL.tv/NHL GameCentre Live, NHL Center Ice
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Nikita Scherbak | Phillip Danault | Artturi Lehkonen |
| Alex Galchenyuk | Jonathan Drouin | Brendan Gallagher |
| Paul Byron | Jacob de la Rose | Logan Shaw |
| Nicolas Deslauriers | Byron Froese | Andrew Shaw |
Defence
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| Jordie Benn | Jeff Petry |
| Karl Alzner | Noah Juulsen |
| Mike Reilly | David Schlemko |
Goaltenders
| Goaltenders |
|---|
| Antti Niemi |
| Charlie Lindgren |
Scratched: Brandon Davidson, Jacob de la Rose
Injured: Ales Hemsky (concussion), Carey Price (lower body), Nikita Scherbak (knee), David Schlemko (hand)
Winnipeg Jets projected lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Brad Marchand | Riley Nash | David Pastrnak |
| Jake DeBrusk | David Krejci | Rick Nash |
| Tommy Wingels | David Backes | Brian Gionta |
| Tim Schaller | Sean Kuraly | Noel Acciari |
Defence
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| Zdeno Chara | Charlie McAvoy |
| Torey Krug | Kevan Miller |
| Nick Holden | Brandon Carlo |
Goaltenders
| Goaltenders |
|---|
| Tuukka Rask |
| Anton Khudobin |
Scratched: Ben Chiarot, Marko Dano
Injured: Adam Lowry (upper body), Mathieu Perreault (lower body)
