The Ottawa Senators return to Canadian soil with one final road game in this 4 game trip, a stop at the Bell Centre to face the Habs.
Montreal is in the midst of their toughest stretch of the season so far, having lost their last 4 games and what was once the most potent offense in the league has been held to less than 3 goals in each of its last 6.
The Habs and Sens have split a pair of meetings this season, with both games seeing the road team come out on top.
Montreal's losing skid has made the Atlantic Division very interesting, as the top 6 teams are separated by just 10 points now after Montreal got off to such a hot start and ran away and hid for a while. They are now just 3 points up on Detroit and an Ottawa win tonight (in regulation) would draw them within 4 points of the Habs.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau is a player to watch, and he always seems to bring his best game when the Canadiens are across the ice. He has a goal in each of the two games this season (both of them coming shorthanded), and has 6 points in 8 career regular season games vs Montreal. And that doesn't include his infamous hat trick that spawned a chant in the playoffs 3 seasons ago. He will be looking to shake off a mental mistake near the end of the first period of Thursday's game that allowed Tampa to get on the board and take a lead that they would never give up.
For the Habs, who are still without Carey Price, the bloom has faded from the rose of Mike Condon in recent games. Despite not allowing more than 30 shots in any of his past 3 starts, he has allowed 3 goals in each one, and hasn't had a .900 SP game since a Dec 1 win over the Blue Jackets. Not having the same level of goal support he has had for much of the season also contributes to the growing number in the "L" column.
Montreal has led in each of their last three games but have found a way to lose in dramatic fashion, especially in the last two contests. Ahead 2-1, the Red Wings scored twice in the span of 1:11 in the third period to take the game 3-2, and they carried a 1-0 lead into the third against the Bruins before allowing two goals in 48 seconds and eventually losing 3-1 to the Bruins.
Ottawa needs Erik Karlsson to contribute offensively, as his personal "skid" reached a season-high 3 games in the loss to Tampa. The same can be said of P.K. Subban on the Montreal side. His 4 game pointless streak co-insides with his team's struggles, and Subban has just 1 point in his last 7 games, has contributed to the Habs' shriveling offense.
Craig Anderson will make his 15th consecutive start, as Andrew Hammond was sent to Binghamton for a conditioning stint and allowed 4 goals on 28 shots for a 4-3 loss in his return to action last night in Springfield.
Neither team took to the ice on Friday, so I wouldn't expect any big lineup changes for the Senators, who have a quirky travel week ahead of themselves with alternating home and road games before they head back to Florida next weekend for another tour of the Sunshine State.