After pulling off a great team effort to win their first game in the regular season over the Toronto Maple Leafs in their home barn since February 2021, the Montreal Canadiens didn’t have time to rest on their laurels; they got right back on the plane to head home. Martin St-Louis’ men will wrap up their weekend with a home game against the St. Louis Blues tonight at the Bell Centre.

Just like the Habs, the Blues were playing last night and scored a 2-1 win against the Ottawa Senators. Unfortunately for Jim Montgomery’s men, however, they lost right winger Jordan Kyron in the process. He was hit by Stephan Halliday and appeared to suffer a lower-body injury. He needed assistance leaving the ice, and after the game, the coach labelled him day-to-day, saying an MRI would be necessary to assess the seriousness of the injury. While Kyrou is not having a great season (he has 16 points in 28 games), he’s still the Missouri outfit’s second scorer, a single point behind Robert Thomas.

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The starting goaltenders for the game have yet to be confirmed, and since both teams played last night, it would be logical that the goaltenders who didn’t play yesterday will play today. Still, I wouldn’t be shocked if Jakub Dobes was in the net again, given the current state of goaltending in Montreal. The Czech rookie has never started a game against the Blues and has never been involved in a decision against them. The one time he came in relief, he saw 9:27 of action and gave one goal on five shots, leaving him with a 6.35 goals-against average and an .800 save percentage. Meanwhile, Samuel Montembeault has a 2-2-0 record against St. Louis, with a 3.64 GAA and a .887 SV.

For the Blues, Joel Hofer, who was in the net on Saturday, has won the only game he has played against the Habs, posting a 3.00 GAA and a .909 SV%. As for Jordan Binnington, who’s struggling this season, he’s 3-4-0 with a 3.30 GAA and a .874 SV. Team Canada’s starter at the 4 Nations Face-Off has a 6-7-5 record this season, a 3.30 GAA, and a .874 SV%. Right now, it’s far from guaranteed that he’ll be in the Canadian net at the Olympics.

Up front, veteran Brayden Schenn is St. Louis’ most productive player against the Habs with 28 points in 31 games, defenseman Cam Fowler comes in second place with 17 points in 23 games, and Robert Thomas wraps up the top three with 13 points, but he got them all in just eight games, making him the man to watch tonight.

For the Canadiens, Patrik Laine is the top scorer against the Blues with 22 points in just 19 games, but he’s still sidelined following core muscle surgery. Brendan Gallagher comes in second place with 15 points in 18 games, and captain Nick Suzuki has 11 points in just 10 games, just ahead of Cole Caufield, who has nine points, including six goals, in just eight games. The sniper has a 25% shooting percentage against Binnington and certainly won’t complain if he’s in the net, as he’ll be attempting to extend his point streak to 11 games. He only needs one goal to tie Martin Rucinsky as the franchise's 43rd-best goal scorer with 134. Interestingly, he only trails linemate Suzuki by 13 goals, even though he’s played 168 fewer games.

Sunday night’s tilt will be the first of two duels between the two teams this season, with the return game being scheduled for January 3 in St. Louis. The last time the two teams met, the Blues obliterated the Canadiens 6-1 as the Habs received 30 penalty minutes, including misconducts for Arber Xhekaj and Josh Anderson. Thomas had a four-point night, just like Philip Broberg. However, the Canadiens have won six of the last 10 duels between the two teams.

It will be interesting to see what kind of welcome Logan Mailloux receives from the Habs’ faithful. The blueliner was traded to the Blues this Summer in return for Zachary Bolduc. While fans had moved on from the events that landed him in trouble in Sweden before he was drafted, protests were widespread when the Habs picked him. The crowd can sometimes be hostile to players who have left the organization, regardless of the circumstances.

The match against his former team may be what Bolduc needs to open his scoring account at the Bell Centre. The forward has yet to find the back of the net at home and would certainly like to break the ice.

The game is set for 7:00 PM, and you can catch it on RDS, TSN 2 and FDSNMW. The Canadiens will have a day off tomorrow before taking on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.

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