With little left to play for in the regular season, the Montreal Canadiens will attempt to simply build on their strong play as of late as they conclude their three game road trip in Buffalo on Wednesday night. The Canadiens are currently on a five game winning streak and have already clinched their spot in the postseason as well the Atlantic division title. They will attempt to straddle that fine line of competing and playing hard without overdoing it and expunging unnecessary energy. Or worse yet, losing a player to injury.
Carey Price will get the start in net while Charlie Lindgren will back him up. With regular backup Al Montoya practicing and getting back into game shape, the likelihood is that Price will also start the final Bell Centre regular season game on Friday night. Should Montoya get the green light and is ready to go, he will get the honor of closing out the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit on Saturday night. Monday spent three years playing at the University of Michigan and while it would certainly be an honor for him to play in that game, it would also be an opportunity to get into game action before the playoffs begin.
As Shea Weber is in Montreal recovering from his lower body injury and Jordie Benn is still day to day, the defense will remain the same against the Sabres:
Markov-Petry Beaulieu-Emelin Davidson-Nesterov
Fortunately it appears as though neither Weber or Benn’s injury appears serious and they should be ready to play once the playoffs start.
Julien didn't have much of an update on Weber with the team still on the road but he reiterated intently that "it's not a serious injury"
— Kyle Bukauskas (@SNkylebukauskas) April 5, 2017
Claude Julien said today that Jordie Benn is day-to-day and believes he'll be good to go for the playoffs.
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) April 5, 2017
Up front former Sabres Brian Flynn (remember him?) will get into his first game since March 7th while Torrey Mitchell will also dress. The lines will be:
Pacioretty-Danault-Radulov Byron-Plekanec-Gallagher Galchenyuk-Shaw-Lehkonen King-Mitchell-Flynn
The Buffalo Sabres season has once again been disappointing. They have underperformed and head coach Dan Bylsma’s future with the club is being questioned. The team has lost three games in a row and will attempt to put on a brave face for their fans on fan appreciation night. However, fans may just prefer for the team to pack it in in order to help their draft position... For the Sabres though when it rains it pours as their big free agent acquisition from July 1st Kyle Okposo will likely miss their final three games of the regular season.
Forwards:
Evander Kane - Ryan O'Reilly - Brian Gionta Marcus Foligno - Jack Eichel - Sam Reinhart Alexander Nylander - Evan Rodrigues - Tyler Ennis Nicolas Deslauriers - Zemgus Girgensons - Matt Moulson
Defense:
Josh Gorges - Rasmus Ristolainen Dmitry Kulikov - Zach Bogosian Justin Falk - Cody Franson
Starter
Robin Lehner
Puck drops at 7:30pm
Cheers & enjoy the game!