The Montreal Canadiens will be hoping to put an end to their three-game losing streak tonight as they host the Calgary Flames.
The Montreal Canadiens will be hoping to put an end to their three-game losing streak tonight as they host the Calgary Flames.
The Montreal Canadiens are once again on a losing streak and will hope to end it when they host the Calgary Flames tonight. After a 6-3 crushing in Washington, the Habs suffered through a punishing practice on Friday before once again losing, this time 3-1, on Saturday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
While one might have hoped they would have come out strong against Sidney Crosby and co., the Canadiens looked afraid to make mistakes on their own end, so much so that they seemed to forget how to attack.
Still, Martin St-Louis thought the display was a step in the right direction. After a day off on Sunday, it was back to practice in Brossard yesterday. Before the actual practice, defensemen put in some extra work with skills coach Adam Nicholas, while centers took part in a faceoff clinic with alumni and draw expert Marc Bureau.
It will be interesting to see if the extra work paid off tonight as St-Louis is once again expected to deploy some new lines, which he tested yesterday at practice:
Cole Caufield-Nick Suzuki-Kirby Dach
Alex Newhook-Jake Evans-Juraj Slafkovsky
Josh Anderson-Christian Dvorak-Brendan Gallagher
Emil Heineman-Oliver Kapanen-Joel Armia
Considering how well Jake Evans has played so far this season, a promotion to the second line seems like a fitting reward. Meanwhile, Newhook and Dach, who are still struggling to find their game, won't have to worry about the responsibilities of playing center.
It may be good for Kapanen and Heineman to get away from Dvorak, who has struggled since the start of the year. While rewarding Evans is understandable, St-Louis does run the risk of missing the efficiency of the Anderson, Evans, and Gallagher combo.
Tonight's visitors are currently 15th in the league and have a minus-three differential, which puts Montreal's minus-17 to shame. Calgary has only scored 38 goals so far this season, only three more than their host, but unlike the Canadiens' they've been stingy in net, allowing 38 goals while the Habs have given up 50.
Dan Vladar and Dustin Wolf have been splitting the workload in net, with the former featuring in seven games thus far and the latter appearing in five. Ryan Huska has yet to confirm who will be on duty, but both of his goaltenders have a .907 save percentage.
Montreal and Calgary have played each other 134 times so far, and the Canadiens have a 71-46-15-2 record. However, the Flames won the last meeting by a score of 5-2. The outfit from Alberta won four of the last 10 duels, while the Canadiens claimed the other six.
Cayden Primeau and Samuel Montembeault have each played two games against the Flames in the past and lost both. The former has a 4.53 goals-against average and a .852 SP, while the latter has a 2.53 GAA and a .912 SP. Up front, none of the Canadiens skaters have a particularly good record against the Flames. Suzuki (13 points in 17 games) and Dvorak (10 in 16) are the only two players to have reached double digits.
On the other side, Vladar has never faced the Canadiens while Wolf has won his only start and has a 2.01 GAA and a .947 SP to show for it. Up front, Quebecer Jonathan Huberdeau leads the way against Montreal; he's picked up 32 points in 34 games, while Nazem Kadri has 23 in 40, and Anthony Mantha has 19 in 23 duels, and he's also on a three-game point streak,
Tonight's game, which starts at 7:00 PM, will be the first of two meetings between the two sides this season.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains
Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens