All eyes will be on the Montreal Canadiens versus the New Jersey Devils on Monday night as they attempt to break out of their rut and win a second consecutive game for the first time since early January. The Canadiens play as of late has been inconsistent to say the least and the results under new head coach have been disappointing to some who expected an overnight miracle to occur. Tonight the Canadiens are hoping to finally carry over the momentum from their big 3-2 overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs and stay atop the Atlantic division as the Ottawa Senators are knocking on the door, just two points behind the Canadiens while holding three games in hand. The Senators defeated the Dallas Stars on Sunday and visit the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight.
Al Montoya will get the start in net tonight for the Canadiens as the team will head back to Montreal to host the Columbus Blue Jackets in what will be a true marquee matchup. Undoubtedly Carey Price will get the start on Tuesday. No other lineup changes are expected as Julien will stick with a winning lineup. That means that Andrei Markov will stay on the team’s top defensive pairing alongside Shea Weber. However, the coaching staff will need to carefully monitor the duo’s minutes since they will need them with fresh legs against the Blue Jackets tomorrow night. David Desharnais and Sven Andrighetto will also keep their spots on the fourth line despite the duo doing little to stand out positively in the team’s win over the Maple Leafs.
#Habs: à la ligne bleue face aux Devils
— J-F Chaumont (@JFChaumontJDM) February 27, 2017
Markov-Weber
Emelin-Petry
Beaulieu-Nesterov
Montoya obtiendra le départ.
#Habs: les mêmes trios.
— J-F Chaumont (@JFChaumontJDM) February 27, 2017
Pacioretty-Danault-Radulov
Lehkonen-Galchenyuk-Gallagher
Byron-Plekanec-Shaw
Andrighetto-Desharnais-Mitchell
So far this season when the Canadiens have needed a big win they have been able to dig deep against the Devils and come out victorious, having won their previous meetings 5-2 in December and 3-1 in January. If the Canadiens are unable to come out with a strong performance against the Devils this evening than the alarm bells surrounding the team will surely ring. The Devils will be without the services of P.A. Parenteau who may have suffered a hand injury over the weekend. It remains to be seen if that will impact his trade chances before Wednesday. Cory Schneider will start in net for the Devils while defenseman Kyle Quincey will be a healthy scratch in anticipation of him being moved by the trade deadline. The rest of the lines will be:
Forwards:
Taylor Hall-Travis Zajac-Kyle Palmieri Beau Bennett-Adam Henrique-Joseph Blandisi Michael Cammalleri-Jacob Josefson-Stefan Noesen Miles Wood-Blake Coleman-Devante Smith-Pelly
Defense:
Andy Greene-Ben Lovejoy Jon Merrill-Steven Santini John Moore-Damon Severson
Goaltender:
Cory Schneider
How the Canadiens fare over the next two games could very well dictate how general manager Marc Bergevin will treat the upcoming trade deadline. With center Martin Hanzal off the trade bait board having been dealt from the Arizona Coyotes to the Minnesota Wild last night, everyone is wondering what cards Bergevin might be hiding in his sleeve and if he will make a move by 3pm March 1st. Time and time again Bergevin has refused to overpay to acquire a player, sticking to his guns and only acquiring a player or asset on his terms. While Hanzal would have addressed some of the concerns down the middle for the Canadiens, the team was not willing to deal their top draft picks for a player who has never recorded more than 41 points in an NHL season. There are few other potentially impact centers available this year at the trade deadline and so Bergevin may decide to focus on adding some offense or shoring up the defense, at a reasonable cost that is. Unless that is the price starts to fall for a Matt Duchene or similar player...
In other news:
The Governor General will honour @PKSubban1 for his hospital pledge and charitable work. https://t.co/qBJQrVpmhz pic.twitter.com/xGDVClrJQS
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 27, 2017
No matter what happens, it is sure to be an exciting week in Montreal with two games back to back today and tomorrow, the trade deadline on Wednesday and the return of P.K. Subban on Thursday with the Nashville Predators…
Puck drops at 7pm.
Cheers and enjoy the game! Follow @Jenbcutler