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Canadiens vs Blues game thread & lineups

The Blues are an odd team. While Vladimir Tarasenko took a massive step forward, Alexander Steen (whose 2013-14 offensive pace could not be maintained) took a bit of a step back towards Earth. As much as Jori Lehtera and Jaden Schwartz have exceeded expectations, Paul Stastny and Steve Ott have not met them. One consistent is that Brian Elliot and Jake Allen have formed a dynamite combination in net giving the Blues a 1A/1B goaltending duo.

Almost 50% of the Blues offense has come from three players (Lehtera, Schwartz, and Tarasenko) with Berglund, Stastny, and Oshie all off to slow starts. The feeling is that the Blues are too good to not be a powerhouse and that while the Blues are a very good team right now, this should be a much better team once all the lines start contributing.

Despite their 29 points, the Habs have not been very good against well-coached, well-prepared contending teams. Losses against the Blackhawks, the Penguins, and the Lightning all made this abundantly clear. A win against the Ken Hitchcock coached Blues would help dispel the idea that the Habs have been more lucky than good.

Michael Bournival has resumed skating, but is doubtful for tonight. Mike Weaver is a game time decision, so there’s a good chance we will see the same lineup against St. Louis that we saw in Montreal on Tuesday.

Jake Allen gets the start in nets for the Blues and Carey Price starts for the Habs.

Puck drop is at 7:30 PM EST (9:00 PM In Newfoundland!)

In the Habs region (English): City-Montreal

In Quebec (French): RDS

In the Blues region: FS-MW

Elsewhere: NHL Gamcenter Live or NHL Center Ice

Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup
Left Wing
Center
Right Wing
Max Pacioretty David Desharnais PA Parenteau
Alex Galchenyuk Tomas Plekanec Brendan Gallagher
Brandon Prust Lars Eller Jiri Sekac
Drayson Bowman Manny Malhotra Dale Weise

Left Defense
Right Defense
Andrei Markov P.K. Subban
Alexei Emelin Sergei Gonchar
Nathan Beaulieu Tom Gilbert

Goaltenders
Carey Price
Dustin Tokarski

Injured: Michael Bournival, Mike Weaver

As for the St. Louis Blues, here’s how they’ll look tonight:

St. Louis Blues Projected Lineup
Left Wing
Center
Right Wing
Patrik Berglund David Backes T.J. Oshie
Alex Steen Paul Stastny Joakim Lindstrom
Jaden Schwartz Jori Lehtera Vladimir Tarasenko
Steve Ott Maxim Lapierre Ryan Reaves

Left Defense
Right Defense
Jay Bouwmeester Alex Pietrangelo
Carl Gunnarsson Kevin Shattenkirk
Ian Cole Barret Jackman

Goaltenders
Jake Allen
Brian Elliott

Scratched: Chris Porter, Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson

Check out the opposing side at St. Louis Game Time

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