Game 68: Montreal Canadiens @ Edmonton Oilers
Start time: **9:00 PM EDT / 6:00 PM PDT**
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Oilers region: Sportsnet West
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
As a team with a 27-year-old Connor McDavid should, the Edmonton Oilers spent the days ahead of the trade deadline adding pieces to their roster. They submitted the best bid to land Adam Henrique, and Sam Carrick, from the Anaheim Ducks in a single trade for two NHL centremen. They also managed to acquire defenceman Troy Stecher from the Arizona Coyotes, one of the few players in that beleaguered franchise to put a good season together. Earlier in the season, they had also signed Corey Perry following his departure from the Chicago Blackhawks.
The new players haven’t really settled in yet, but are combining to stay at an even goal differential in their positions, and that should be all the team really needs with a powerful top six. It’s usually been their lack of depth that let teams focus solely on McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, so this year Ken Holland has made a significant attempt to improve the quality of the play with those two forwards resting on the bench.
That depth might be just as big a challenge for the Habs as the players at the top of the forward lineup. Montreal’s own top six has been matching opponents fairly evenly, but a player of Henrique’s calibre is really going to test lines featuring Josh Anderson and Michael Pezzetta. Perry is sure to be found right around the net making life difficult for the second and third pairings as well.
Samuel Montembeault gets the net, and may for Thursday’s game in Vancouver as well to give Cayden Primeau the Seattle game. In his last start, he helped hold the Boston Bruins to one goal through regulation. A repeat performance is probably too much to ask from him, but hopefully his defence will be much better than it was for Primeau on Saturday in Calgary.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| #22 Cole Caufield | #14 Nick Suzuki | #20 Juraj Slafkovský |
| #89 Joshua Roy | #35 Alex Newhook | #40 Joel Armia |
| #11 Brendan Gallagher | #71 Jake Evans | #17 Josh Anderson |
| #49 Rafaël Harvey-Pinard | #36 Colin White | #55 Michael Pezzetta |
| 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, Chris Wideman
Scratched: Tanner Pearson, Jayden Struble, Jesse Ylönen
Edmonton Oilers projected lineup
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | Connor McDavid | Zach Hyman |
| Ryan McLeod | Leon Draisaitl | Warren Foegele |
| Evander Kane | Adam Henrique | Connor Brown |
| Mattias Janmark | Sam Carrick | Corey Perry |
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| Mattias Ekholm | Evan Bouchard |
| Darnell Nurse | Troy Stecher |
| Brett Kulak | Cody Ceci |
| Starter | Backup |
|---|---|
| Calvin Pickard | Stuart Skinner |
