After bouncing back with a solid win over the Utah Mammoth on Saturday night, the Montreal Canadiens will host the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night. Jim Hiller’s team has a 6-2-2 record in its last 10 games, and they’ve won their last match 3-2 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The visitors are currently ninth in the Western Conference with 18 points in 16 games, and they’ve got a .563 points percentage. Captain Anze Kopitar has already announced that this will be his last season, and there’s a new face in LA, former Hab Corey Perry. He has joined the California side this season after making the Stanley Cup Final four times in the last five years. So far, it looks like he’s bet on the wrong horse, but the Kings are far from completely out of the playoff picture.

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The starting goaltenders have yet to be named, but we could see a battle of Team Canada hopefuls if Samuel Montembeault takes on Darcy Kuemper. The Kings’ netminder was not part of the 4 Nations Face-Off roster. Still, with Adin Hill battling an injury and Jordan Binnington struggling (he’s got a 3.34 goals-against average and a .859 save percentage), the door is wide open for other pretenders.

The 35-year-old Kuemper has a 2.52 GAA and a .905 SV this season, with a 5-3-3 record. Against the Canadiens, he has a 6-3-1 record with a 2.68 GAA and a .897 SV, while backup Anton Forsberg has a perfect 6-0-0 record against the Habs, with a 2.62 GAA and a .924 SV. Kuemper was on duty on Sunday in the Kings’ win over the Penguins, and he’s played 11 of LA’s 16 games so far.

Meanwhile, it would be surprising if Montembeault wasn’t in the net for the Canadiens. While he battled the puck early on during Saturday night’s game against the Mammoth, he got better as the game went on and looked like last year’s Montembeault by the end of the game. The Quebecer has a 2-2-0 record against the visitors with a 3.43 GAA and a .897 SV. Meanwhile, Jakub Dobes has lost his only game against LA, giving up five goals and finishing the match with an .861 SV. It’s worth mentioning that he must be looking forward to an opportunity to get back to his winning ways after being very emotional after his first loss of the campaign against the New Jersey Devils. The Canadiens denied the media's request to speak to the netminder after practice on Monday morning.

LA has won the last eight games between the two sides; the Habs’ previous wins against the Kings took place six years ago, a 3-2 triumph in Montreal. To say the Canadiens are overdue for a win would be an understatement. Last season, the Kings outscored them 10-4 in the two duels.

The only Tricolore player who has reached double digits against LA is Patrik Laine, with 10 points in 16 games, but since he’s still on LTIR, he certainly won’t be a threat for the opponent tonight. Josh Anderson, who is struggling to put up points this season, is the team's second-highest scorer with six points in 13 games, while Mike Matheson and Alex Newhook both have five points in 13 games. Montreal’s scoring leader this season, Nick Suzuki, only has two points in nine games against the visitors, while Cole Caufield has three in six games.

On the other side, Kopitar has 24 points in 26 duels with the Habs while Perry has 22 in 28 tilts. Kevin Fiala takes third place with 13 points in 17 games, and Adrian Kempe is just short of a point-per-game player with 12 points in 13 games.

After holding the Hockey Fights Cancer evening on Saturday night, the Canadiens will have their military appreciation night against the LA Kings. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM, and you can catch the game on RDS, TSN2, and FDSNW. The Habs will have two more home games this week, taking on the Dallas Stars on Thursday and the surprising Boston Bruins on Saturday.

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