The Montreal Canadiens will host the Columbus Blue Jackets for the last regular-season game at the Bell Center on Saturday night. Here's what you need to know ahead of the game.
While the Montreal Canadiens booked their playoff spot nearly a week ago, Saturday night’s visitors at the Bell Centre are on the verge of elimination. The Columbus Blue Jackets currently have 90 points with just three games left to play, and the eighth-place Ottawa Senators already have 94 points. In other words, the Jackets have to win and hope the Sens drop some points, but they are playing the New York Islanders, who are just as desperate as they are and have 91 points themselves.
Meanwhile, the Canadiens are trailing the Buffalo Sabres by two points for the divisional lead, but Montreal has a game in hand. The Sabres aren’t playing this weekend, so by Monday, they will have a game in hand over the Habs, who are playing in a back-to-back this weekend.
Saturday night’s match-up will be the last regular-season game at the Bell Centre and the last of three duels between the Habs and the Jackets. Each team has won a game so far, with Montreal winning 2-1 in the latest one at the end of March. Montreal has won eight of the last 10 duels and is 9-1-0 in its last 10 games, while Columbus is 2-7-1 and has lost its last game 5-0 to the Sabres.
Neither team has confirmed who will start the game in net, but both Canadiens’ netminders should see some action this weekend. It remains to be seen who will play which game. Jakub Dobes has a 1-0-1 record against the visitors with a 1.93 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage. Meanwhile, Jacob Fowler has never faced them.
Meanwhile, Jet Greaves, who has taken over as Columbus’ number one this season and was in the net for both games against Montreal, has a 2-1-0 record against Martin St-Louis’ men with a 2.94 GAA and a .892 SV. As for Elvis Merzlikins, he has a 3-3-3 record with a 3.44 GAA and a .880 SV.
Up front, Nick Suzuki is the Canadiens’ most productive player against the visitors with 18 points in just 17 games, followed by Mike Matheson with 17 points in 24 games and Brendan Gallagher, who has 16 points in 33 games. However, the veteran has been a healthy scratch for the last two games, and given that the Habs have won both, Martin St-Louis may not want to change his lineup too much. On the blueline, Kaiden Guhle also missed a second game in a row on Thursday night, and it remains to be seen if he will be ready to return on Saturday.
Captain Nick Suzuki now has 98 points on the season, and with three games remaining on the schedule, it still appears likely that he’ll reach the milestone. Cole Caufield, who scored his 50th goal of the season on Tuesday, has 13 points in just 12 games against the visitors, a good omen for Suzuki.
Meanwhile, Sean Monahan is the Jackets’ highest scorer against the Habs with 22 points in 30 games, followed by Charlie Coyle with 21 points in 30 games and Zach Werenski with 18 points in 23 games. However, Monahan has been held off the scoresheet against Montreal this season, with a minus-four rating. If the Jackets want to stay alive in the playoff race, they’ll need him to step up.
The game is set for 7:00 PM, and you can catch it on TVAS, CITY, SNE, and FDSNOH. Pierre Lambert and Garrett Rank are set to officiate, while Shandor Alphonso and Jeremy Faucher will be the linemen. The Habs are set to depart for New York at 11:15 PM in readiness for their 6:00 PM tilt on Sunday with Patrick Roy’s former team.
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