The Habs will play their third and final game of the regular season against the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight, after a solid win Tuesday in St. Louis. The Habs took the one and a half hour flight east to Columbus, and hope to repeat the performance they put on display 670 kilometers away in St. Louis. It was a great game, after Jiri Sekac had been traded earlier in the day, all Habs in the lineup wanted to prove their worth to the organization, and as a result the Habs were able to come away with a 5-2 win (although, they made their shots count, only registering 23 on net while allowing the Blues to fire off 61 attempts at Carey Price who made 27 saves for the win).
The Blue Jackets are currently on a 3 game losing streak. Before this season began, the Jackets seemed like a team that would be capable of breaking through the playoff bubble and make it into the post-season for the third time in franchise history. Now, with a record of 26-29-4, the Jackets’ chances of making the playoffs are reportedly 0.5%, and their latest loss on Tuesday against the Sabres sums up a frustrating season for the Jackets, as they completely dominated the game, recording 49 shots on net, and outshooting the Sabres 18-4 in the third period in which they directed 32 shots at Sabres’ goalie Michal Neuvirth.
The Habs are sitting first in the Eastern Conference, one point up on the New York Islanders with two games at hand, and three points up on the Tampa Bay Lightning with two games at hand. The Habs look poised to take the Eastern Conference, and with the trade deadline looming, every player wearing the fabled Tricolore tonight will be hitting the ice with added purpose, vying to maintain their spot on a roster that is gearing up for a long playoff run.
Newly acquired Devante Smith Pelly will get his start alongside Brandon Prust and Jacob de la Rose. It appears Christian Thomas will be the odd man out tonight.
The puck drops at 7:00 PM EST.
In Canada (English): Sportsnet East
In Canada (French): RDS
In the Blue Jackets Region: Fox Sports Ohio
Elsewhere: NHL Center Ice or NHL Gamecenter Live
| Left Wing |
Center |
Right Wing |
| Max Pacioretty | David Desharnais | Brendan Gallagher |
| Lars Eller | Tomas Plekanec | Alex Galchenyuk |
| Brandon Prust | Jacob de la Rose | Devante Smith-Pelly |
| Michael Bournival | Manny Malholtra | Dale Weise |
| Left Defense |
Right Defense |
| Andrei Markov | P.K. Subban |
| Nathan Bealieu | Tom Gilbert |
| Jarred Tinordi | Greg Pateryn |
| Goaltenders |
| Carey Price |
| Dustin Tokarski |
Scratched: Mike Weaver, Christian Thomas
Injuries: P.A. Parenteau (concussion), Sergei Gonchar (lower-body), Alexei Emelin (upper-body)
| Left Wing |
Center |
Right Wing |
| Alexander Wennberg | Ryan Johansen | Nick Foligno |
| Matt Calvert | Brandon Dubinsky | Cam Atkinson |
| Scott Hartnell | Artem Anisimov | Marko Dano |
| Corey Tropp | Mark Letestu | Jared Boll |
| Left Defense |
Right Defense |
| Jack Johnson | David Savard |
| Fedor Tyutin | Cody Goloubef |
| Jordan Leopold | James Wisniewski |
| Goaltenders |
| Curtis McElhinney |
| Anton Forsberg |
Scratched: Dalton Prout
Injuries: Sergei Brobovsky (groing), Nathan Horton (back), Boone Jenner (back), Jeremy Morin (accelerated heart rate), Ryan Murray (high ankle sprain), Dalton Prout (undisclosed), Jack Skille (shoulder surgery)
Check out the enemy over at The Cannon.
