The Montreal Canadiens close out their road season tonight, as they visit Kirk Muller’s Carolina Hurricanes.
Kirk Muller, remember him? Stanley Cup winner with the Habs, later named captain, traded, returned as assistant coach, then left again as a shot as a head coach wasn’t going to pan out in Montreal?
Well since getting the call from the Hurricanes earlier this season, Muller has racked up a 24-19-12 record (60 points). It’s a small sample that projected out works out to 88 points, but given the record the Canadiens had with their interim coach, one has to wonder. It will be interesting to see Captain Kirk with full season under his belt next year.
“You’re always being judged every day in this business,” Muller said following Carolina’s 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators. “It’s the way you play the game. What I want to see is guys fight through this and have pride and finish up the right way so we can feel good about a lot things with where we’re at.
The Hurricanes have been playing strong, despite out of a playoff spot, going 6-3-1 in their last 10 games. They have lost their last two home games however, and with tonight’s game being their last at home, they’ll want to give their fans something positive to close out the season.
Eric Staal continues to lead his team in scoring, albeit a tad off his pace from last season (insert Erik Cole comment here). Nonetheless, the Hurricanes captain is 21st in the league in scoring, headed into tonight’s game, and has three points in three meetings with the Habs.
P.K. Subban leads the Canadiens in scoring against Carolina this season, with a goal and three assists. Tomas Plekanec and David Desharnais each have three points. Erik Cole has seven points in his last six games on the season.
Cam Ward is expected to get the start in goal for Carolina.
MONTREAL CANADIENS PROJECTED LINEUP
Forwards
Max Pacioretty – David Desharnais – Erik Cole
Rene Bourque – Tomas Plekanec – Louis Leblanc
Blake Geoffrion – Lars Eller – Mike Blunden
Brad Staubitz – Gabriel Dumont – Aaron Palushaj
Defensemen
Josh Gorges – P.K. Subban
Chris Campoli – Frederic St-Denis
Goalies
CAROLINA HURRICANES PROJECTED LINEUP
Forwards
Jiri Tlusty – Eric Staal – Chad LaRose
Jeff Skinner – Jussi Jokinen – Tuomo Ruutu
Drayson Bowman – Brandon Sutter – Patrick Dwyer
Derek Joslin – Tim Brent – Anthony Stewart
Defensemen
Goalies
Cam Ward – Brian Boucher
SBN Hurricanes coverage from Canes Country
