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A Classic Saturday Night Match Up |
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The Leafs were in action in Toronto last night and newly acquired goaltender Jack Campbell got his first win in the blue and white. It wasn't by any means a perfect performance but he will have to do while Freddie Andersen nurses a neck issue. That win allowed Toronto to overtake the Panthers in third place of the Atlantic division, they are one point clear of the Cats but Florida does have 2 games in hand. A win tonight is mandatory for the Leafs, in such a tight battle, they cannot afford to be dropping points. Last night, Auston "Pornstache" Matthews also got his 40th goal of the season which ties his career high set in 82 games in his rookie season. With 27 games left to play, it will be interesting to see how many he can rack up. He's currently tied with Ovechkin for the league lead in goal but the Russian does have one more game to play.
Will the Leafs have to face a complete Habs line-up tonight? Are the Canadiens done with the flu yet? And THE question that is on everyone's lips, will Jonathan Drouin be back in the line-up? Awkward moment at the post practice presser yesterday when Claude Julien said that Drouin had been cleared and that they are just waiting for him to say he's ready to play. It's quite rare that a coach will say that about a player, to me, that indicates that he is losing patience and wants his winger back. Yesterday at practice, Tatar was still MIA because of the flu and so Drouin practiced on the first line alongside Danault and Gallagher. When asked by journalists whether he'd play or not on Saturday, he only answer that he felt good on the day but couldn't confirm if he'd play or not. One thing is for sure, the Habs could definitely use him and his teammates are ready to get him back. Kovalchuk made the reporters covering the team chuckle when he said he thought Drouin was ready when he got to Montreal:
If Tomas Tatar is in the line-up tonight, he'll try to keep his point streak going, he's been on the score sheet for the last 6 games notching 8 points in that span. That's one more than everyone's favorite rookie, Nick Suzuki who's got 7 in those 6 games. One thing is for sure though, Shea Weber will still be out of the line-up and the Habs will hope that Jeff Petry can keep on carrying the extra load. There was an optional skate in Brossard this morning and the following players were present:
The puck drops at 19:00 tonight and should the Habs fail to win, the playoffs dream will be all but dead...According to sportsclubstats, the Habs now stand a 3.6% chance of making the Spring dance and we've got to admit that the odds have raised lately. Winning 8 out of the last 11 will do that to your chances. At the same time, the odds of landing the first pick at the draft in June remain at 6%, this just goes to show how far behind the other teams the Canadiens still are. So, until the puck drops on the rivalry match-up, enjoy your Saturday and if you feel so inclined, you could catch the Sens vs Jets at 2:00 PM, it's so cold that staying in seems like the best choice today.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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