After a much welcome four-day break, the Canadiens are back on the ice tonight to face one of the best and hottest teams in the NHL, the Chicago Blackhawks, who come into Montreal tonight on an eight-game winning streak.
The Canadiens have gone 3-3-0 over their past six, winning a game, then losing – so if you think this pattern will continue, the Habs are going to win tonight. The Habs are either building their way back to life – after having flat-lined for the month of December – or they are a couple of losses away from complete cardiac arrest. It depends on how you look at it right now.
In a very disappointing loss to the Penguins on Saturday, the Canadiens showed their weakness of being unable to score, and were unable to play perfect defense. As a result, the Habs couldn’t come away with consecutive wins (having won their previous game against the Devils) for the first time since the end of November.
Blackhawks’ coach, Joel Quenneville will be looking for a historic win tonight. The three-time Stanley Cup wining coach is seeking his 783rd win, which will put him ahead of Al Arbour for second most coaching wins in NHL history.
The Blackhawks last loss came at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes two days after Christmas, which happened to be at the tail end of a three game pointless streak for Patrick Kane. Since that defeat nine games ago, Kane has racked up thirteen points (4G, 9A). On the opposite wing, rookie, Artemi Panarin has put up 39 points, including 15 goals in his first 45 games in the NHL.
Fortunately for the Canadiens, Jeff Petry will be back in the lineup to help the Canadiens defend against the NHL’s best player. Mike Condon will get the start after another strong outing Saturday. Previous to Saturday’s loss, Condon had won his previous three starts. Condon has not allowed more than three goals in a game 26 of 28 starts this season.
The puck drops at 7:30 PM EST.
How To Watch:
In Canada (French): RDS
In Canada (English): Sportsnet East
In the Blackhawks region: CSN-CH
In the United States: NBC-SN
Elsewhere: NHL GameCenter, NHL Center Ice
| Left Wing |
Center |
Right Wing |
| Max Pacioretty | Tomas Plekanec | Brendan Gallagher |
| Lars Eller | Alex Galchenyuk | Sven Andrighetto |
| Tomas Fleischmann | David Desharnais | Paul Byron |
| Daniel Carr | Torrey Mitchell | Brian Flynn |
| Left Defense |
Right Defense |
| Andrei Markov | P.K. Subban |
| Nathan Beaulieu | Jeff Petry |
| Alexei Emelin | Mark Barberio |
| Goaltenders |
| Mike Condon |
| Ben Scrivens |
Scratched: , Jarred Tinordi, Greg Pateryn, Devante Smith-Pelly
Injuries: Carey Price (lower body) Tom Gilbert (lower body), Dale Weise (upper body)
| Left Wing |
Center |
Right Wing |
| Andrew Shaw | Jonathan Toews | Marian Hossa |
| Artemi Panarin | Artem Anisimov | Patrick Kane |
| Andrew Desjardins | Philip Danault | Teuvo Teravainen |
| Richard Panik | Dennis Rasmussen | Ryan Garbutt |
| Left Defense |
Right Defense |
| Duncan Keith | Niklas Hjalmarsson |
| Michal Rozsival | Brent Seabrook |
| Trevor van Riemsdyk | Rob Scuderi |
| Goaltenders |
| Corey Crawford |
| Scott Darling |
Scratched: Bryan Bickell, Brandon Mashinter
Injuries: Marcus Kruger (left wrist fracture), Erik Gustafsson (lower body)
Check out the enemy over at Second City Hockey.
