The Montreal Canadiens visit the Carolina Hurricanes Friday night in the first of back to back games this weekend. Following the game they will return home immediately to host the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday night at the Bell Centre. Despite having lost consecutive games for the first time this year, the Canadiens are still in first place in the NHL, leading the league with a 13-2-2 record and 28 points. The Hurricanes are coming off of a big win as they last defeated the San Jose Sharks 1-0 but sit seventh in the Metropolitan division with a record of 5-6-4.
The Canadiens will once again be without the services of forward Alexander Radulov. On Thursday they called up Charles Hudon from the St. John’s Ice Caps who was leading the AHL with nine goals. Should he dress for the game, expect Sven Andrighetto to sit this one out in the press box. Al Montoya will get the start in goal but this time around he should have better support from his teammates who will not be skating on tired legs. In his last two starts, Montoya played the second of back to back games which involved traveling immediately following the first game. His teammates owe him a solid as they say and it starts with being ready to play right from when the puck is dropped.
With the Canadiens having to return home after the game to host their division rivals tomorrow night, the coaches will need to monitor everyone’s ice time carefully, especially the top four defencemen. They have been pacing Andrei Markov well for the most part but I still feel that he is seeing a little too much time on the penalty kill.
Despite the difference in the standings, the Canadiens cannot afford to take tonight’s game lightly. The Hurricanes will be playing with confidence having won consecutive games for the first time this season. The line of Sebastian Aho, Jordan Staal and Teuro Teravainen have been clicking quite nicely and Cam Ward has played like the Ward of old lately. The full lineup should be:
Skinner-Rask-Lindholm Teravainen-Staal-Aho Stempniak-Ryan-McGinn Nordstrom-McClement-Stalberg
Hainsey-Faulk Slavin-Pesce Hanifin-Tennyson
Ward Lack
I will confirm any Canadiens lineup changes as they are announced.
Five questions for tonight’s game:
1) Will the Canadiens show up for Al Montoya tonight and get him a well-deserved win?
2) If Charles Hudon plays, does he get over or under ten minutes of ice time?
3) Will it be a goalies duel between Ward and Montoya or a high scoring game?
4) Can the Canadiens powerplay continue its strong play or are they due for an off night?
5) What will be the final score of the game?
Puck drops at 7:30pm.
Cheers & follow along! Follow @Jenbcutler