Game 71: Montreal Canadiens @ Colorado Avalanche
Start time: **9:00 PM EDT / 6:00 PM PDT**
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Avalanche region: Altitude
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
The Canadiens have a chance to sweep the season series with the Colorado Avalanche, but the Avalanche at home aren’t the same as the squad you face on the road. On home ice at Ball arena, Colorado has put together a 28-6 record, the best of any team in the NHL. Already with the best goals-per-game mark overall at 3.76, they average nearly four-and-a-half in front of their own fans.
If Martin St-Louis was looking for a challenge for his young team in the final dozen chances to measure itself versus opposing clubs, he found it in his return behind the bench. You could argue this will be he toughest test the defence has faced yet, going up against Nathan MacKinnon and his 34-game home point streak.
Samuel Montembeault will face his third playoff team on this trip, and it’s his last chance to get a win. Even his very best may not be enough in this one, unless his teammates can have another uncharacteristic offensive explosion as they did in Seattle on Sunday.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #22 Cole Caufield |
#14 Nick Suzuki |
#20 Juraj Slafkovský |
| #11 Brendan Gallagher |
#35 Alex Newhook |
#40 Joel Armia |
| #17 Josh Anderson |
#71 Jake Evans |
#56 Jesse Ylönen |
| #55 Michael Pezzetta |
#36 Colin White |
#49 Rafaël Harvey-Pinard |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #8 Mike Matheson |
#21 Kaiden Guhle |
| #72 Arber Xhekaj |
#58 David Savard |
| #47 Jayden Struble |
$54 Jordan Harris |
| Starter |
Backup |
| #35 Samuel Montembeault |
#30 Cayden Primeau |
Injured: Kirby Dach, Christian Dvorak, Joshua Roy, Chris Wideman
Scratched: Johnny Kovacevic, Tanner Pearson
Colorado Avalanche projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| Artturi Lehkonen |
Nathan MacKinnon |
Jonathan Drouin |
| Valeri Nichushkin |
Casey Mittelstadt |
Mikko Rantanen |
| Miles Wood |
Ross Colton |
Zach Parise |
| Brandon Duhaime |
Yakov Trenin |
Andrew Cogliano |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| Devon Toews |
Cale Makar |
| Samuel Girard |
Josh Manson |
| Jack Johnson |
Sean Walker |
| Starter |
Backup |
| Justus Annunen |
Alexandar Georgiev |
