Game Preview Habs vs. Blue Jackets, Emelin In & 5 Questions (Habs)

Habs

Game Preview Habs vs. Blue Jackets, Emelin In & 5 Questions

By Jennifer B Cutler

Dec 1, 2015 • 4:05 pm

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The Montreal Canadiens will face off against the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight at the Bell Centre for their first meeting of the year. Montreal currently sits 1st in the NHL and Eastern Conference while Columbus is last the Conference and 27th overall in the league. Both teams though are coming off of losses and will be looking to bounce back tonight.

The Price-less Canadiens cannot afford to take the Blue Jackets lightly. While the Canadiens were the hottest team to start the season, Colombus was amongst the worst. Todd Richards was let go after a 0-7-0 start and John Torterella was brought in. Torterella has righted the ship as the team has gone 10-8 since he took over. While it will be incredibly difficult for the Blue Jackets to fully recover this year and make the playoffs, they are for the most part playing much stronger and disciplined hockey. As Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien has matured and adapted in his 2nd stint with Montreal, it appears that Torterella has managed to do the same with his opportunity in Columbus. Torterella even praised Habs forward Dale Weise who he coached in New York and Vancouver but the two never seemed to see eye to eye:

The lineup for the Blue Jackets tonight should look like:

Trade rumours are circling around the Blue Jackets as they are weak in defence. Could they be a possible suitor for the likes of Jarred Tinordi? As of now, a Columbus 2nd round pick would actually be quite high and hold excellent value. It is thought that Ryan Johansen and his cap friendly contract could be available but with the emergence of Alex Galchenyuk as a top 2 centre, there is no longer a real need for the Canadiens to acquire one. Left Winger Boone Jenner would be interesting but the Blue Jackets are less likely to part with their young player.

As for the Canadiens tonight, the only lineup change will be that defenceman Alexei Emelin will draw back in while Greg Pateryn sits. Emeline will most likely be paired with Tom Gilbert on the 3rd defence unit. Although it is old news by now, Dustin Tokarski was sent to Saint-John's to get some starts while Zach Fucale was recalled by the Canadiens to back up Condon. It's a nice reward for Fucale who is off to a good start in his professional career, posting a 7-2-2 record. Tokarski will get the necessary starts to get him back into game shape and hopefully get his confidence back up. The Canadiens will need him to help Condon weather the storm until Price is once again healthy and ready to play. I fully expect a bounce back game from the Canadiens, especially P.K. Subban. When he talks about the need to play better, he seems to always be ready to back it up:

Finally, a shout out to the Canadiens 2015 1st round pick, defenceman Noah Juulsen who has earned an invite to Hockey Canada's World Junior selection camp:

5 Questions for Tonight's Game:

1) Christian Thomas had some nice moments in his 1st NHL game of the season. Will he and the 4th line be able to contribute offensively tonight?

2) P.K. Subban only has 1 goal in 25 games this season. Strange but true. Will he score one tonight? For some reason I have a gut feeling that he does.

3) Is this Smith-Pelly's last chance on the top line? The trio has to better tonight than they were against the Devils...

4) Will Emelin stay with Tom Gilbert on the 3rd pairing or will Therrien be tempted to move him up at some point to play with Jeff Petry?

5) Everyone seems to be waiting for Torterella to lose his cool. What are your odds for it happening tonight? I give it a 25% chance.

Puck drops at 7:30pm.

Cheers and enjoy the game!

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