After a very exciting victory against one of this year’s Stanley Cup contenders on Tuesday night, the Habs move on to Detroit where they have a chance to play the role of spoiler against a team that is in a very tight race for the final playoff spot with the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Red Wings are currently tied with the Flyers with 83 points, but with one more game played, the Red Wings have very little room for missteps. The Wings lost their last outing 5-2 to the lightning after winning twice, with their prior loss coming at the hands of the Flyers. Unlike Tuesday’s game against the Ducks – who are a team that’s a virtual lock for the playoffs and is using these final games for some fine tuning – the opponent the Canadiens are facing tonight is going to be much more desperate.
Tuesday’s game was fun for many reasons, including Mike Brown’s big night, Lucas Lessio’s first goal as a Hab and his subsequent celebration, as well as Joel Hanley registering his first two career NHL points. Here’s hoping the good times for these guys keep coming, as it’s all for fun now with nine games left on the schedule.
Michigan native Michael McCarron will be playing his first NHL game in his home state, so he’ll be pumped to play as a visitor in front of his hometown fans.
Lineup notes: David Desharnais returns from injury after missing 17 games with a broken foot; Jacob de la Rose comes out of the lineup for Desharnais, who will center Stefan Matteau and Michael McCarron. Ben Scrivens gets the start despite Mike Condon getting the win against the Ducks on Tuesday; P.K. Subban remains sidelined despite mixed messages coming from the Canadiens about his status with Michel Therrien saying it was up to P.K. to decide when he was ready, while Subban is saying he’s waiting for medical clearance to play.
NHL Draft Lottery Probability: The Habs sit at 5% chance of drafting first overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft behind seven other teams with the Edmonton Oilers once again having the greatest chance of picking first overall right now at 20%.
The puck drops at 7:30 PM EDT.
How To Watch:
In Canada (French): RDS
In Canada (English): Sportsnet East
In the Red Wings’ region: FS-D
In the United States: NHL Network
Elsewhere: NHL GameCenter, NHL Center Ice, NHL.TV
| Left Wing |
Center |
Right Wing |
| Max Pacioretty | Alex Galchenyuk | Paul Byron |
| Lars Eller | Tomas Plekanec | Torrey Mitchell |
| Stefan Matteau | David Desharnais | Michael McCarron |
| Lucas Lessio | Phillip Danault | Mike Brown |
| Left Defense |
Right Defense |
| Andrei Markov | Alexei Emelin |
| Nathan Beaulieu | Greg Pateryn |
| Joel Hanley |
| Goaltenders |
| Ben Scrivens |
| Mike Condon |
Scratched: Jacob de la Rose
Injuries: Carey Price (lower body), Daniel Carr (lower body), Jeff Petry (lower body), Brian Flynn (lower body), Tom Gilbert (lower body), Brendan Gallagher (lower body), P.K. Subban (neck), Mark Barberio (concussion-like symptoms), Victor Bartley (lower body), Sven Andrighetto (upper body)
| Left Wing |
Center |
Right Wing |
| Justin Abdelkader |
Henrik Zetterberg |
Dylan Larkin |
| Darren Helm | Pavel Datsyuk | Anhtony Mantha |
| Gustav Nyquist | Riley Sheahan | Tomas Tatar |
| Andreas Anthanasiou | Luke Glendening | Brad Richards |
| Left Defense |
Right Defense |
| Niklas Kronwall | Jonathan Ericsson |
| Danny Dekeyser | Kyle Quincey |
| Brendan Smith | Mike Green |
| Goaltenders |
| Petr Mrazek |
| Jimmy Howard |
Scratched: Teemu Pulkkinen, Tomas Jurco, Alexey Marchenko
Injuries: Johan Franzen (concussion), Drew Miller (knee)
Check out the enemy over at Winging It In Motown.
