Canadiens Have Another Opportunity To Punch Their Playoff Ticket

A scene we should see often on Saturday night – Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

After taking on the Ottawa Senators on Friday, the Montreal Canadiens will jump back into the action on Saturday night when they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. The hosts should be well rested, as they played their last game on Wednesday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. However, they will need all their energy since they may be forced to play with only five defensemen.

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With Jake McCabe already injured, Craig Berube confirmed after practice on Friday that Oliver Ekman-Larsson would miss Saturday night’s game against the Habs. The Toronto outfit will be forced to play a defenseman down, thanks to roster limitations and cap rules.

Saturday night’s duel will be the fourth and final matchup between the two teams; the Canadiens won the first game 1-0 in October, while Toronto won 4-1 in November and 7-3 in January. The Leafs have also won seven of the last ten meetings and three of their previous four games, while the Canadiens are still reeling from their first loss in seven games.

Samuel Montembeault was in the net last night, and Martin St-Louis has already confirmed that Jakub Dobes will be facing the Leafs for the first time in his young career. In 15 games this season, the youngster has a 7-4-2 record with a 2.87 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage.

As for the Leafs, Anthony Stolarz is 3-2-0 in 5 games with a GAA of 2.78 and a .910 SP versus the Canadiens, while Joseph Woll has never lost against the visitors; he’s 3-0-0 with a 1.67 GAA and a .942 SP.

If you were still hoping to see Ivan Demidov take his first strides as a Canadiens against the Leafs, forget it. The coach has already said it’s not happening. It will be interesting to see if St-Louis does make some changes to his lineup, given Friday night’s 5-2 loss and the fact that this is the tail end of a back-to-back. He should, however, put on the Canadiens’ jersey for Saturday morning’s optional skate.

It will be interesting to see if St-Louis tinkers with his lineup. Michael Pezzetta had a tough fight on Friday night and looked worse for wear. Perhaps an opportunity to bring Emil Heineman back in the lineup if he’s ready to go after the injury that made him day-to-day. It could be a good idea for Arber Xhekaj to reintegrate the defense corps. The Leafs aren’t overly physical, and some of their forwards can think twice before engaging in brutal board battles.

The Canadiens will have another opportunity to book their playoffs spot on Saturday night, but if they hope to, they’ll need a better contribution from their top line. In 27 games against the Leafs, captain Nick Suzuki has 22 points to his name, second only to Brendan Gallagher, who has 23 in 46 duels. Josh Anderson takes the third spot with 17 points in 36 tilts, while Cole Caufield and Patrik Laine have 13 points in 15 and 14 games, respectively. Suzuki currently has a seven-game point streak; he’s put up 13 points in that span.

As for the Leafs, John Tavares leads in points production against Montreal with 51 points in 58 games, followed by captain Auston Matthews, who has 46 points in 36 games, Mitch Marner with 38 points in 39 games, and William Nylander, who has 31 in 35 duels. Needless to say, the Canadiens need to stop the big four to win.

Two players to keep in check – Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

Montreal will need to have a good start if they want to prevail. Toronto is quite stingy in the first period, allowing only 68 games this season. Their worst defensively is the third, in which they’ve given up 84 goals on the year, which is good news for Martin St-Louis’ men who usually have a strong third.

The Habs have played 384 games in Toronto and have a 139-194-45-6 record away from home against the old enemy. With an assist tonight, Suzuki could join Chris Chelios as the 36th most prolific passer in franchise history with 237. Speaking of the former blueliner, Lane Hutson remains on the verge of breaking his record for most points by a Canadiens rookie defenseman. Meanwhile, with three games left to play, sniper Cole Caufield is on 37 goals, while the team’s main objective remains to qualify for the playoffs, getting the right winger to 40 lamplighters would be quite the milestone, something Montreal hasn’t seen since Vincent Damphousse did it in 1993-94.

The Canadiens will head back home after the game. They have a date with the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday night for what should be Demidov’s NHL debut. Something tells me the Bell Centre crowd will be deafening for that rookie lap.

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