The Montreal Canadiens are in for an excellent test Monday night as they prepare to face the Washington Capitals at the Bell Centre. Both teams are playing well as of late as they have matching 6-2-2 records in their last ten games. The Capitals are on a five game winning streak while the Canadiens have won three in a row. In their respective divisions though, the Capitals have the dubious pleasure of being in the ultra competitive Metropolitan and sit fourth with 55 points, thus they currently hold the first wild card spot. The Canadiens continue to comfortably lead the Atlantic division with 56 points, nine ahead of the Boston Bruins. If the playoffs started today, the Canadiens would be playing the Capitals in the first round which would make for an exciting matchup. However it would also be an unfortunate one as it would mean that one of the two very good teams would not advance, a victim of the current playoff format.
After a string of bad news and injuries, the Canadiens finally got some news as Paul Byron will return to the lineup against the Capitals this evening. Byron only needed to miss one game after suffering an upper body injury last week against the Dallas Stars and there is little doubt that the team would have missed his speed and versatility had he been out long term. Alex Galchenyuk, Andrei Markov and Andrew Shaw all practiced as well on Monday morning in regular jerseys and so it seems as though the infirmary is slowly emptying out and the Canadiens will be getting back some key contributors to the lineup in just a matter of time.
«Paul Byron jouera ce soir. Les autres sont proches» / "Paul Byron will play tonight. The others are close to a return." - Michel Therrien
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) January 9, 2017
The powerplay units at practice this morning were:
#Habs power play units:
— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNMtl) January 9, 2017
PP1:
Pacioretty - McCarron - Radulov
Weber - Beaulieu
PP2:
Scherbak - Danault- Byron
Petry - Barberio
#Habs also practising with third power-play unit this morning: Lehkonen-Plekanec-Andrighetto up front.
— Stu Cowan (@StuCowan1) January 9, 2017
It is a big vote of confidence from the coaching staff for Michael McCarron as he continues to center the number one powerplay unit between Alexander Radulov and Max Pacioretty. McCarron has been using his big frame successfully to screen goaltenders and also chases pucks along the boards, helping the Canadiens keep possession of the play in their opponent’s zone. It is hard to imagine that McCarron might lose his place in the lineup once the Canadiens get healthier. Artturi Lehkonen played well against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night and gets bumped off of the second powerplay unit with Byron’s return to the lineup. However, it is hard to argue with Byron getting time with the man advantage as he has stepped up and performed well just about every time that Michel Therrien has given him an opportunity.
Daniel Carr will be a healthy scratch against the Capitals as the Canadiens prefer to have Bobby Farnham’s grit and physicality in the lineup. Carey Price gets the start in net while Zach Redmond continues to sit in favour of Ryan Johnston. With Byron’s return, expect the forward lines to look like:
Pacioretty-Danault-Radulov Lehkonen-Plekanec-Andrighetto Byron-Mitchell-Flynn Farnham-McCarron-Scherbak
It would not be surprising though that if Nikita Scherbak picks up where he left off against the Maple Leafs, he will get promoted to the second or third line before the night is over.
At the post practice press conference this morning, Therrien was asked to comment on how the AHL players that have been called up have seamlessly fit into the Canadiens lineup:
Therrien on how #Habs have been able to incorporate so many AHL players into lineup. "The leadership group this year has been fantastic."
— Dan Robertson (@DRTSN690) January 9, 2017
The leadership core of the players have certainly aided the incoming players however the coaching staff have also learned from their experiences last season as well. The Canadiens are supporting each other from top to bottom on and off the ice. As well, the players that are coming up from the minor league are all one year older and more mature than the previous year. They have applied whatever hardships they had previously gone through and are ready to play consistent hockey to contribute in any way shape and form that they possibly can. The bigger question will be how will the coaching staff incorporate the healthy players once they are ready to play? My proposed lines are:
Pacioretty-Galchenyuk-Radulov Lehkonen-Danault-Shaw Byron-Plekanec-Mitchell Carr-McCarron-Scherbak/Flynn
Emelin-Weber Beaulieu-Petry Markov-Barberio
Former Canadiens forward Lars Eller makes his return to the Bell Centre this evening. While I wish Eller well, it is safe to say that the trade has worked out well for the Canadiens as though second round picks should come in handy be it at the draft or through trade. Marc Bergevin certainly knew what he was saying when he mentioned that the play of Phillip Danault had made Eller expendable...
For the Capitals, T.J Oshie will not play tonight as he suffered an injury against the Ottawa Senators over the weekend. Tom Wilson is healthy though and will be in the lineup. Braden Holtby, who is playing some excellent hockey in net will start for the Capitals and was named the NHL’s third star of the week:
Braden Holtby (@Holts170) of the @Capitals went 2-0-0 in three games last week, compiling a 1.29 GAA, .955 SV% and two shutouts. pic.twitter.com/nwLTiMnrq0
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 9, 2017
Alex Ovechkin will have an opportunity to tie Maurice (Rocket) Richard in career goals as he is only one behind of Richard's 543 career total. It would certainly be memorable should Ovechkin achieve or surpass this feat in Montreal this evening...
Puck drops at 7:30pm.
Cheers and follow along! Follow @jenbcutler