Canadiens Take On The Red Wings For The First Time This Season

After beating the ailing Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday, the Montreal Canadiens are playing the first part of a back-to-back against the Detroit Red Wings tonight.

It's been a while since the Montreal Canadiens took on the Detroit Red Wings, it was actually at the very end of last season when the two teams played a back-to-back series. While the Habs lost both meetings, fans loved those games as they were the first two of Lane Hutson's career and they gave us a glimpse of things to come. 

Fast forward eight months later and the young blueliner has now played 33 NHL games and picked up 24 points in the process, making him the feel good story of this campaign in Montreal, at least until Patrik Laine's fantastic return. 

The Canadiens will try to build off the momentum they got from their obliteration of the Buffalo Sabres 6-1 on Tuesday night, but they'll be taking on a Red Wings team that has won it's last two tilts, not one that has lost 10 in a row. 

In their last 10 matches, the Wings have got a 4-4-2 record while the Canadiens are 5-5. Both outfits have played the same number of games, but Detroit has got 30 points, while Montreal has only got 27. Detroit is therefore 13th in the conference while Montreal is 15th, needless to say, they are both out of the playoffs picture as things stand. 

The Canadiens have a 294-209-96-9 record in 608 games played against the Michigan side, and they've only won three of the last 10 duels. Keep an eye on Brendan Gallagher who's the team's most productive forward against the wings with 17 goals and 11 assists in 33 games. He's followed by Suzuki who has 12 points in 15 games and veteran blueliner David Savard who has 12 points as well but in 38 games. 

As for the hosts, Patrick Kane leads the way against the Canadiens with 21 points in 24 games, followed by Dylan Larkin with 19 points in 30 games and Alex DeBrincat wraps up the top three with 17 points in 15 games. 

In net, Martin St-Louis has already confirmed that Samuel Montembeault would be starting an eight consecutive game and added that he had not made a decision for Saturday night's game. He's played Detroit three times so far and has a 1-0-2 record with a 3.24 goals-against average and a .888 save percentage. 

There's no word yet on who he'll be facing out of Alex Lyon and Ville Husso. The former has faced the Canadiens five times and has a 4-0-1 record with a 2.78 GAA and a .895 SP while the latter has played them six times and compiled a 4-0-2 record, a 1.95 GAA and a .929 SP. They'll likely get a game each as this is a back-to-back series.

In other lineup news, St-Louis confirmed he wanted to use newly acquired Alexandre Carrier tomorrow night. The new member of the Canadiens defense corps was cleared to play prior to the trade after missing some games with an upper-body ailment. 

Team captain Suzuki was asked how he felt about the trade after practice yesterday and had this to say:

Sad to see JB [Justin Barron] go he's a really good guy in the room and a good young player, but getting Alex [Carrier] in is exciting, I know a little bit about him. I Played in that 3-on-3 league in the Summer with him so, he's a good guy and I think he'll fit in right away. I think he's a steady defenseman, and playing against him he plays hard, battles in front of the net, moves the puck well, skates well, so you know, I'm looking forward to getting him in the lineup.

Meanwhile, Mike Matheson said he hopes his former teammate can get a new beginning in Nashville and build up his confidence to be able to show the kind of special player he knows he can be. As for St-Louis, he explained that you can't buy experience and he was glad to get a veteran like Carrier. He praised his compete level and the way he plays bigger than his frame might suggest. The coach was pleased about the depth it added on his bench and the fact he'll be able to play the penalty kill. He further mentioned he wouldn't have to worry about matchups as much, knowing what Carrier can do.

The game is set for 7:00 PM and it will be interesting to see who the bench boss decides to pair up with his newcomer defender. 

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