When the Habs opened their season by winning nine games in a row, we were all pretty impressed. Tonight the Canadiens will be facing yet another team trying to accomplish the feat of winning nine games in a row when they hit the ice against the Anaheim Ducks, a team that started its season on the opposite spectrum of the Canadiens and is now one of the hottest playoff-bound teams in the league.
If there was a shred of hope left in Canadiens’ fans that they could make the playoffs, it was all but eliminated Monday in San Jose when the Canadiens were completely dismantled in the third period after hanging in with the Sharks over the first two periods of the game. With 19 games remaining, the Habs are a team in self-evaluation mode. Marc Bergevin has stated he is taking this time to evaluate his team in order to prepare for next season.
The Ducks, on the other hand, have fully recovered from their poor start to the season that saw them win just one of their first ten games. The Ducks now sit in fifth place in the Western Conference with 76 points, and are just two points back of the Los Angeles Kings for the Division lead. The Habs will be in tough tonight against another rough and tumble, yet highly skilled Western Conference team.
Lineup Notes: A number of changes to the lineup tonight including the Habs’ debut for Stefan Matteau, as well as a move to the second line for Michael McCarron; Mike Brown will sit tonight as will Victor Bartley, thus giving a chance to Morgan Ellis to play his first NHL game; Mike Condon gets the start in the first game of a back-to-back as the Habs play in Los Angeles tomorrow night.
The puck drops at 10:00 PM EST.
How To Watch:
In Canada (French): RDS
In Canada (English): Sportsnet East
In the Ducks region: FS-W
Elsewhere: NHL GameCenter, NHL Center Ice, NHL.TV
| Left Wing |
Center |
Right Wing |
| Max Pacioretty | Tomas Plekanec | Brendan Gallagher |
| Alex Galchenyuk | Lars Eller | Michael McCarron |
| Torrey Mitchell | Phillip Danault | Paul Byron |
| Stefan Matteau | Jacob de le Rose | Sven Andrighetto |
| Left Defense |
Right Defense |
| Andrei Markov | P.K. Subban |
| Alexei Emelin | Greg Pateryn |
| Morgan Ellis | Mark Barberio |
| Goaltenders |
| Mike Condon |
| Ben Scrivens |
Scratched: Lucas Lessio, Victor Bartley, Mike Brown
Injuries: Carey Price (lower body), Daniel Carr (lower body), Jeff Petry (lower body), Brian Flynn (lower body), David Desharnais (broken foot), Tom Gilbert (lower body), Nathan Beaulieu (lower body)
| Left Wing |
Center |
Right Wing |
| David Perron | Ryan Getzlaf | Mike Santorelli |
| Jamie McGinn | Rickard Rakell | Corey Perry |
| Andrew Cogliano | Ryan Kesler | Jakob Silferberg |
| Nick Ritchie | Nate Thompson | Ryan Garbutt |
| Left Defense |
Right Defense |
| Cam Fowler | Kevin Bieksa |
| Hampus Lindholm | Josh Manson |
| Clayton Stoner | Sami Vatanen |
| Goaltenders |
| John Gibson |
| Frederik Andersen |
Scratched: Korbinian Holzer, Harry Zolnierczyk
Injuries: Brandon Pirri (ankle) , Chris Stewart (jaw), Simon Despres (illness)
Check out the enemy over at Anaheim Calling.
