The Montreal Canadiens will be hoping to avenge their recent 3-2 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres as they host them once again at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night in their first game back from the All-Star break. This time around though the Canadiens will have a different look on the ice as while they are still without the services of Alex Galchenyuk who re-injured his knee in that loss to the Sabres. However, reinforcements from the infirmary have finally arrived and defenseman Nikita Nesterov will also make his debut in the bleu-blanc-rouge jersey.
The Sabres are in the crowded basement of the Eastern Conference as they sit seven points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for the second wild card spot and seven points behind the Boston Bruins for third place in the Atlantic division. They face quite the uphill battle to get back into the playoffs but they have talent on their team as they continue to rebuild their roster. If they are able to get consistent goaltending from Robin Lehner, who stood on his head in their win over the Canadiens, the Sabres will be a competitive team. If not, they will continue to struggle and and have more lows than highs…
Their lineup for tonight will be:
#Habs Trios des Sabres
— Guillaume Lefrançois (@glefrancoisLP) January 31, 2017
Ennis-ROR-Okposo
Foligno-Eichel-Reinhart
Kane-Girgensons-Gionta
Carrier-COR-Moulson
Deslauriers en trop
As for the Canadiens, David Desharnais and Andrei Markov are confirmed to return to the lineup this evening. Greg Pateryn has the green light to also play but he will be a healthy scratch unless defenseman Jeff Petry does not recover from the flu in time for the match. Petry missed the morning skate due to the flu and his status will only be known at gametime. Mark Barberio is confirmed to be a healthy scratch regardless of who is in and out. Carey Price will start for the Canadiens. Their lineup will be:
#Habs practice lines:
— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNMtl) January 30, 2017
Pacioretty - Danault - Radulov
Lehkonen - Plekanec - Byron
Andrighetto-Desharnais-Shaw
Carr-Mitchell-Flynn
De la Rose
#Habs projected D & G if Petry (virus) can't play:
— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNMtl) January 31, 2017
Emelin - Weber
Beaulieu - Pateryn
Markov - Nesterov
Price starting
Montoya
The will be an opportunity for David Desharnais to prove that he belongs in the Canadiens top nine, especially with Galchenyuk out of the lineup. He needs to be contributing on offense in order to keep his spot in the lineup and he will have the opportunity to do so between Sven Andrighetto and Andrew Shaw this evening. The trio must be aggressive on the forecheck and cycle the puck well in order to create scoring chances. Andrighetto also knows that he is likely on the outside looking in once Brendan Gallagher returns to the lineup and so he is under pressure as well to perform. Alex Galchenyuk did practice with the team and while it was previously announced that he would not play until the weekend, Therrien said that there is a possibility that he could be ready to play on Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Andrei Markov’s return to the lineup should help stabilize the defense, even if Petry misses tonight’s game. The coaches are putting Nesterov in a position to succeed as he will play with Markov in his Canadiens debut and playing with his fellow Russian should make the transition slightly easier, even if he is playing on his off side. He has some experience playing on the right side in junior hockey as well as early on with the Tampa Bay Lightning and so hopefully there will not be too many growing pains for him tonight against the Sabres. Nesterov will see some time on the second power play unit and it should be a good opportunity for him to show off his offensive skills.
The temptation to reunite Makov with Petry must have been great for head Michel Therrien but he will be able to ease the veteran rearguard into the game by playing somewhat limited minutes by utilizing him on the third defensive and second powerplay units. It is also a vote of confidence in the play of Nathan Beaulieu that he gets to stay in the top and alongside Shea Weber on the top powerplay unit. However, if Petry does in fact miss the game tonight, everything easily becomes subject to change.
Puck drops at 7:30pm.
Cheers & enjoy the game! Follow @Jenbcutler