UPDATE (2:23pm ET)
According to head coach Michel Therrien, Brendan Gallagher is inching more and more closer to a return sooner than we might all expect:
Therrien says Gallagher won't play tonight or on Thursday, but is getting very close to a return. #GoHabsGo
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) February 7, 2017
UPDATE (1:55pm ET)
It appears as though Alex Galchenyuk is back at the center position and will be flanked by Artturi Lehkonen and Paul Byron, while Jacob de La Rose will sit tonight's matchup out:
#Habs: les trios ce matin à Denver.
— J-F Chaumont (@JFChaumontJDM) February 7, 2017
Pacioretty-Danault-Radulov
Lehkonen-Galchenyuk-Byron
Andrighetto-Plekanec-Shaw
Mitchell-Desharnais-Flynn
Meanwhile, no changes will be made to the defensive pairings:
#Habs: Pas de changement à la ligne bleue.
— J-F Chaumont (@JFChaumontJDM) February 7, 2017
Emelin-Weber
Beaulieu-Petry
Markov-Nesterov
Nearly five years into his young career, Alex Galchenyuk is still unsure whether he is a center or a left wing.
The seemingly endless debate has resurfaced in Montreal as Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien is desperately trying to help the 22-year-old find his groove. In the eight games since his return from a long-term knee injury, Galchenyuk has managed only two goals and five points. While this may not seem to be cause for concern considering he re-aggravated his injury upon first returning to game action, it is the manner in which he is performing that leaves Habs fans scratching their heads.
He has looked exhausted and at times, lost on the ice especially on back-checking mandates. Though his defensive game has certainly never been his forte, he is lagging behind his teammates regularly and sheepishly giving the puck away to opponents.
But Galchenyuk is arguably the most talented player on the Habs' roster, and as I wrote nearly two years ago, the team has to live and die with his mistakes. Mistakes, mind you, that are meant to be made in the role of the team's number one center.
The very turnovers and defensive lapses mentioned earlier could potentially lead to goals against or even the occasional loss, and the Habs have certainly been piling them on recently as their 3-5-2 record in their last 10 games indicates. However, Galchenyuk has proven time and time again that he is without a doubt the team's number one center as he was amongst the NHL's top-10 league leaders in points before paying a six-week visit to the infirmary. You will recall that he was averaging five minutes less of ice-time during that time, not to mention the absolute tear he went on in the last 22 games of the 2015-2016 season alongside captain Max Pacioretty.
Finally, Galchenyuk needs to improve his faceoff skills. Yet, unless he is placed in a role allowing him to continuously learn- at center - the odds of him getting better are virtually nonexistent. For now, it would be best to avoid turning him into a scapegoat...
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Tonight, the Habs are in Denver, Colorado to take on the league's most disappointing team in the Avalanche. Bagging two points should be the only acceptable result for Therrien's troops, as the Avs are an abysmal 6-18-1 at home at the Pepsi Center and have recently snapped a nine-game losing streak by defeating the Winnipeg Jets by a score of 5-2 on Saturday.
A familiar face awaits the visiting Habs as recently-waived defenseman Mark Barberio will line up against his former team.
Is he excited?
"As soon as I got picked up by Colorado, I checked the schedule," Barberio told HockeyBuzz.com's very own Rick Sadowski. "Go figure, you're playing Montreal now; it's funny how things work out like that, but I won't be surprised by any of their players, that's for sure. I know them pretty well."
Today's poll asks: