In the Montreal Canadiens' second back-to-back of the week, they'll take on the New York Rangers this afternoon at MSG.
The Montreal Canadiens practiced yesterday in Newark while the New York Rangers were taking on the Philadelphia Flyers on the road. Peter Laviolette dropped the decision 3-1 to John Tortorella's team, suffering a fifth consecutive loss in the process. Affected by back spasm, Chris Kreider missed the game and it is unclear if he'll be able to play tomorrow. In case you're wondering, there were no overtime or shootout losses in there, New York was outscored 21-10 during that stretch and has a 4-6 record in its last 10 games.
Meanwhile, the Canadiens are coming off a 4-3 overtime win against the Columbus Blue Jackets and are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games. Martin St-Louis' team has actually won three of its last five games and while it hasn't exactly been smooth sailing, the Habs looked much more confident on Wednesday night in Ohio.
The last time the Rangers and Canadiens met, it was champions night at the Bell Centre and in front of a full class of multiple Stanley Cup winners, the hosts looked atrocious and were beaten 7-2. Artemi Panarin was the second star of the game, but in the current Rangers' funk, he has been kept off the scoresheet for four of the five games. What a difference a month makes...
The Big Apple team has won the last three games between the two sides and seven of the last ten.
Samuel Montembeault will be hoping that stays true for him, in that Oct. 22 debacle, the number one goaltender surrendered four goals in just over 11 minutes on the ice. Cayden Primeau, who tendered the net for the rest of the games gave three goals on 35 shots, but St-Louis has elected to give Snacks (as his teammates call Montembeault) a chance to bounce back against the Rangers while Primeau will be on duty in Boston.
Montembeault has played seven games against the Rangers and has a 4-2-1 record, he has a 4.04 goals-against average and a .883 save percentage.
Up front, Christian Dvorak has got 11 points in 11 career games against the Blueshirts, including a 25% shooting rate against Shesterkin. David Savard (14) and Brendan Gallagher (12) lead the teams in points against tonight's rival, but it's because they've played against them so many times. Savard has faced them 37 times, while Gallagher has done it 27 times.
It was Igor Shesterkin who beat the Canadiens last month, but since he was in net yesterday, there's a good change the Habs will be taking on backup Jonathan Quick, even though it hasn't been confirmed by Laviolette yet. The Rangers' uncontested number one has taken on the Canadiens six times and has a 5-1-0 record with a stingy 1.99 GAA and a .931 GAA. Backup Quick has played the Habs 13 times and has an 8-4-1 record, alongside a 2.29 GAA and a .921 SP.
At yesterday's practice, the lines on display against the Jackets were still being used so it's likely they'll also stick for this afternoon's game. However, Mike Matheson was back on the ice practicing on the first pairing with Lane Hutson while Kaiden Guhle skated alongside Justin Barron on, and Arber Xhekaj patrolled the blueline with David Savard as the third pairing. Jayden Struble practiced as the odd-man out and should therefore miss the game, a disappointment for the rearguard who scored in two of his last three games. If you recall, it was the Rangers' Jacob Trouba who concussed Barron earlier this season.
The puck drop is set for 1:00 PM this afternoon and if you are missing Montreal hockey tonight, you can also head to the Place Bell in Laval where the Montreal Victoire will kick off its season against the Ottawa Charge at 5:00 PM. The Canadiens will be flying to Boston after the game in readiness for tomorrow's 3:00 PM tilt with the Bruins, a great way to kick off December.
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