If anyone told you last year that just after the All-Star break that the Montreal Canadiens have just four more wins than the Buffalo Sabres, what would you have said to them?
As the primary object of the Montreal Canadiens organization at the moment appears to be getting its fanbase to swallow such a reality, what happens on the ice seems to be losing its importance.
We have been told time and time again that there is no way to fix this, and that with better execution, this team would be successful. So what happens in games is not a product of the perfect preparation and planning done behind the scenes, it is, an anomaly repeated over several games for over two months. As a result, the games themselves seem less important than what is going to be done to right this ship.
Regardless, the Montreal Canadiens have one of the most dedicated fanbases in sports. There will be over twenty thousand people on hand tonight to watch the Habs try to get in the win column for just the seventh time in twenty-seven games.
I’m not normally a negative person, which is why I’m perplexed with this situation. I’m a dedicated Habs fan, who has gone down with the ship many times. It’s just a lot harder to go down when the ship is sinking this slowly.
The puck drops at 7:00 PM EST.
How To Watch:
In Canada (French): RDS
In Canada (English): Sportsnet
In the Sabres region: MSG
Elsewhere: NHL GameCenter, NHL Center Ice
| Left Wing |
Center |
Right Wing |
| Max Pacioretty | David Desharnais | Dale Weise |
| Alex Galchenyuk | Tomas Plekanec | Brendan Gallagher |
| Tomas Fleischmann | Lars Eller | Devante Smith-Pelly |
| Sven Andrighetto | Torrey Mitchell | Brian Flynn |
| Left Defense |
Right Defense |
| Andrei Markov | P.K. Subban |
| Tom Gilbert | Jeff Petry |
| Nathan Beaulieu | Alexei Emelin |
| Goaltenders |
| Ben Scrivens |
| Mike Condon |
Scratched: Greg Pateryn, Mark Barberio
Injuries: Carey Price (lower body) Paul Byron (upper body), Daniel Carr (lower body), Lucas Lessio (lower body)
| Left Wing |
Center |
Right Wing |
| Jamie McGinn | Ryan O’Reilly | Sam Reinhart |
| Marcus Foligno | Jack Eichel | Zemgus Girgensons |
| Evander Kane | Johan Larsson | Brian Gionta |
| Matt Moulson | David Legwand | Nicolas Deslauriers |
| Left Defense |
Right Defense |
| Josh Gorges | Rasmus Ristolainen |
| Mark Pysyk | Zach Bogosian |
| Cody Franson | Jake McCabe |
| Goaltenders |
| Robin Lehner |
| Chad Johnson |
Scratched: Mike Weber, Carlo Colaiacavo
Injuries: Tyler Ennis (upper body), Cody McCormick (blood clots)
Check out the enemy over at Die by the Blade.
