The Los Angeles Kings and Philip Danault will be the visitors at the Bell Centre tonight.
The Montreal Canadiens will try to bounce back from their 6-3 defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins when they host the Los Angeles Kings tonight at the Bell Centre. Energy should be on the Habs' side, as they last played on Monday night, while the visitors were in Toronto last night to take on the Maple Leafs.
When the team practiced in Brossard yesterday, Kirby Dach wasn’t on the ice as he benefited from a treatment day. Martin St-Louis was asked after practice if his center could potentially miss today’s tilt, and his only answer was, “I don’t know.” Jeff Gorton told TSN 690 that he expected him to play, but the morning skater should let us know if he was in the lineup.
However, St-Louis did say yesterday that Jayden Struble was ready to play, so he may get to play his first game of the season tonight. If that is the case, look for Arber Xhekaj or Justin Barron to skip a turn. In the last match, the former was the least used blueliner, only spending a little over 14 minutes on the ice.
Tonight's game will be a milestone for rugged veteran defenseman David Savard, who will be playing his 800th NHL game.
Los Angeles comes to town after losing 6-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs, with four points to its name thanks to a single win, a loss, and two overtime losses in four games. The Kings had a tough pre-season, losing Drew Doughty to a fractured ankle after a knee-on-knee hit during a game against the Vegas Golden Knights. The alternate captain had surgery to repair the damage, which is considered month-to-month.
As always, captain Anze Kopitar leads the way for the LA outfit with six points in three games. Former Canadiens player Philip Danault had only got an assist to his name since the start of the campaign but leads all centers on the team in faceoff efficiency with a 48.4% success rate. He currently patrols the ice on the second line, pivoting Tanner Jeannot and Trevor Moore.
The Kings will, however, be without another former Hab. Joel Edmundson, who they signed to a four-year contract as a free agent this Summer, has been designated as a non-roster player since his wife is in the very last miles of her pregnancy, and he's, therefore, on baby watch.
The Canadiens currently lead all NHL teams in scoring by rookies, with the Habs' three first-year players having cumulated seven points or 20.6% of the points Montreal has put on the boards. Impressive, especially considering Emil Heineman and Oliver Kapanen only see fourth-line minutes.
Samuel Montembeault will get the nod for tonight's game. He has faced the Kings three times so far in his career and has a 2-1-0 record with a 3.54 goals-against average and a .895 save percentage.
Los Angeles has yet to confirm who will tend their net, and it's not easy to guess. Starting goalie Darcy Kuemper is still considered day-to-day; David Rittich started the game yesterday but gave up four goals on 14 shots before being replaced a little over 32 minutes in by Phoenix Copley. The 32-year-old backup has played in 77 games throughout his NHL career, which started in the 2015-16 season with the St-Louis Blues, even though the Washington Capitals signed him as an undrafted free agent back in 2014.
The Canadiens' top line hasn't played much against the LA outfit. Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield have a single point in seven games for the former and four meetings for the latter. Meanwhile, Juraj Slafkovsky has been kept off the scoresheet in his three games against Danault and co.
Christian Dvorak is actually the Canadiens' top point-getter against the Kings, with 14 points in 28 games, while milestone guy Savard has nine points in 20 tilts. As for the visitors, their top players have been great against Montreal. Kopitar has 22 points in 24 games, Kevin Fiala has 11 points in 15 meetings, and Adrian Kempe has 10 points in 11 games.
Tonight's game will be the 155th against the two sides in the regular season, and the Canadiens have the edge with a 93-39-20-2. The Kings have won eight of the last 10 battles between the two sides, including the previous six.
St-Louis has confirmed he won't change his lineup tonight, meaning Dach is ready to go. While Struble is ready, he must bide his time a bit longer. The coach mentioned he would be in the lineup if he hadn't missed some time, meaning the third-pairing defensemen should watch their back.
The bench boss took some time to speak to Arber Xhekaj today and mentioned he asked him to stay engaged for 60 minutes, which is not always the case. However, he feels he has raised his ceiling, and he wants him to stay on high alert as much as possible when he's on the ice.
The game will start at 7:00 PM, and if the Canadiens want to avoid a second defeat in as many games as possible, they would do well to be ready from the start and, to quote the coach, stay on high alert the whole way through.
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