For the first time in a long time, a game between the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres actually means something to both teams involved. Sure, that thing isn’t playoff related at all, but is instead related to a race to the bottom of the NHL standings. The Sabres sit last with 58 points, while Montreal isn’t far off, with 64 points to their credit.
Buffalo as a whole has been a discombobulated mess of a franchise this year, with starting goaltending failing them, a patchwork defence not generating much, and one of their star players in Jack Eichel missing a portion of the year due to an ankle injury.
The same could be said for Montreal, just replace Jack Eichel with any number of different players and the results are the same. The only difference is that Montreal was expected to be at least slightly competitive this year, while Buffalo was just supposed to make improvements on their dreadful run of losing seasons.
At stake are two valuable points in a race to last place for the best chance at Swedish wunderkind Rasmus Dahlin in the draft, and needless to say, with Montreal’s lethargic play of late, there’s a good chance they get a positive result while also still losing the game.
Puck drop is at 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT
How to watch
In Canada: TSN2, TSNGO (English), RDS(French)
In the Sabres region: MSG-Buffalo
Elsewhere: NHL.tv/NHL GameCentre Live, NHL Center Ice
Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Paul Byron | Jonathan Drouin | Brendan Gallagher |
| Alex Galchenyuk | Jacob de la Rose | Artturi Lehkonen |
| Nikita Scherbak | Logan Shaw | Charles Hudon |
| Nicolas Deslauriers | Michael McCarron | Byron Froese |
Defence
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| Jordie Benn | Jeff Petry |
| Karl Alzner | Noah Juulsen |
| Mike Reilly | Brett Lernout |
Goaltenders
| Goaltenders |
|---|
| Carey Price |
| Antti Niemi |
