The Montreal Canadiens take on the Nashville Predators on Saturday night in yet another crucial game for the playoff race.
The Montreal Canadiens will take on the Nashville Predators tonight in the first match of a five-game road trip. This will be the second and last duel between the two sides this season. The Habs had won the first meeting 3-2 in overtime in October, with Jakub Dobes in net, and Cole Caufield had scored two goals, including the game-winner.
While the Canadiens will hold a morning skate at 10:30 CT, recent history has shown that Martin St-Louis will not let anything about his lineup be revealed. Since the Habs are playing a back-to-back this weekend, both goaltenders should see some action. Dobes has taken on the Predators twice in his young career and has great stats against them. He’s 2-0-0 with a 1.46 goals-against average and a .946 save percentage. As for Jacob Fowler, he has never taken them on. It will be interesting to see if the coach decides to give Fowler this game against a Nashville team that isn’t performing as well as the Carolina Hurricanes this season.
Meanwhile, the Preds’ number one, Juuse Saros, has a 5-2-2 record against Montreal with a 2.79 GAA and a .902 SV. He was in the net for the first duel this season. As for backup Justus Annunen, he’s 0-2-0 with a 2.04 GAA and a 2.04 GAA. The latter was in net for the Preds’ last game, a 4-2 defeat against the New Jersey Devils, but the Predators are also playing a back-to-back this weekend, meaning both goaltenders should see some action. On Sunday, they’ll face the Tampa Bay Lightning, and given the fact that the Preds are in a tight playoff race, they might use their number one against Montreal, seeing the game as the one they have the best odds of winning.
The Canadiens have won six of the last 10 games between the two teams, including the last four duels. While Montreal may be seen as an easier duel than Tampa Bay, they have given the Predators headaches lately.
Cole Caufield, who has 44 goals on the season and is chasing the 50-goal mark, is the Habs’ most productive player against Carolina with 10 points (including six goals) in just nine games. Brendan Gallagher comes in second place with nine points in 10 games, while Nick Suzuki wraps up the top three with eight points in 10 games. As for blueliner Lane Hutson, he has four points in just three games, and after recording his 70th point on Thursday, he is on pace for 81 points, which would be the third-highest total by a Canadiens’ defenseman in a single season.
Meanwhile, Steven Stamkos is the Predators' most productive player against Montreal with 52 points in 54 games. While the veteran had a rough first season with Nashville, with just 53 points in 82 games, he has bounced back nicely this season with 58 points in 72 games. Veteran Ryan O’Reilly comes in second place with 27 points in 32 games, followed by Jonathan Marchessault with 17 points in 22 games and Filip Forsberg with 16 points in 19 games.
We’ll probably know at warm-up if Alexandre Texier, who is listed day-to-day with a lower-body injury, will be back in the lineup or if Joe Veleno will be staying in the lineup. Whichever of the two ends up playing, they should be on the fourth line with Phillip Danault and Brenda Gallagher, since the line formed by Zach Bolduc, Jake Evans, and Josh Anderson had an excellent game on Thursday.
The game is set for 7:00 PM, and you can catch it on FDSNSO, SNE, CITY, and TVAS. Brandon Blandina and Jon McIsaac are set to officiate, while Steve Barton and Andrew Smith will be the linemen.
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