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Edit: Fleury starts, Penguins at Canadiens, by Andrew Saadalla
October 18, 2016, 12:06 PM ET [1926 Comments]
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Edit: Marc-Antoine Godin of le Journal de Montreal has confirmed that Marc-Andre Fleury will get the nod tonight against the Habs.







The Montreal Canadiens host the Pittsburgh Penguins ahead of their 2016-2017 regular season home opener tonight at the Bell Centre. Lineup changes are to be expected, and it appears that there is good news out of practice this morning.

- Carey Price took part of the entire team practice earlier today, and seems to be in good shape. Unfortunately for Habs fans and those present at the Bell Centre, he will not play as Al Montoya has already been announced as the starter, with AHL call-up Charlie Lindgren playing backup.







- There is still no word on whether Price will definitely start on Thursday night (as per Brian Wilde of CTV), which leads me to believe that the number one goaltender is not fully recovered from his sickness:








- Sidney Crosby will also not feature in tonight’s game, as he has been diagnosed with a concussion before the start of the season.


- Daniel Carr will sit out the home opener and Brian Flynn will be inserted into the lineup. Paul Byron, David Desharnais and Andrew Shaw will be on the third line together, while the fourth line will consist of Philip Danault, Torrey Mitchell and Brian Flynn in what should provide head coach Michel Therrien a fast, checking line with the potential to put home a goal tonight.

Here is the forward group:







- Therrien hinted that Flynn should be taking faceoffs tonight, and is confident he could help the team win a few after an abysmal display where no centers reached the 40% win mark.







- Greg Pateryn’s poor outing on Saturday night against the Ottawa Senators (12:19 TOI, 20 shifts, -1 rating, one hit and one shot on goal) means that Mikhail Sergachev will be inserted into the lineup.

I find it a bit hasty to not dress a player who was consistently excellent throughout the course of the preseason and demonstrated (surprising and much-needed) offensive upside, but I can understand wanting to play Sergachev against strong competition.

I still can’t comprehend why Sergachev was scratched (despite a certain nonchalance against the Buffalo Sabres)- general manager Marc Bergevin publicly stated that the 18-year-old is in Montreal to play, yet he did not feature immediately after a shaky start to the regular season. I also have questions regarding just how comfortable Sergachev is on the right side of the ice. My guess is that if the Habs fall behind early, Therrien will shuffle the lines and defensive pairings once again, and I would not be surprised to see Sergachev play next to Petry at some point tonight.

Here are the pairings from practice, which are expected to hit the ice together:







- Zach Redmond sang Shea Weber’s praises, saying he “…just does everything right.”









Finally, it appears that Mike Condon will start for the Pittsburgh Penguins. What a showdown it will be, as Condon will face off against the goalie who essentially made him expendable during the preseason.

Moreover, hockey fans will be treated to what should be a high-flying game of speed and skill, as both organizations recognize the evolving reality of the National Hockey League heading further away from physicality and towards fast-paced, entertaining hockey.
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