Gameday 25: Canadiens vs Avalanche – Lines, Notes, Betting Odds

Never a dull moment with the Montreal Canadiens…

Montreal got word last night that Brendan Gallagher and Sami Niku have entered the NHL covid-19 protocol. The players will be monitored close by team doctors and following the guidelines and protocols set by the NHL.

“We’re waiting for the tests results from this morning, but they’ll be out tonight,” said head coach Dominique Ducharme.

Neither player is feeling any symptoms. It’s possible that their test results were false positives.

Gallagher has four goals and 10 points in 29 games this season.

Niku has just three assists in nine games.

Reinforcements on the way

The Cananadiens will get some healthy bodies back in their lineup. Mathieu Perreault, Brett Kulak and Chris Wideman will all return from injury against the Colorado Avalanche.

Here’s how the Montreal Canadiens are expected to line up against the Colorado Avalanche tonight at the Bell Centre

Forwards

Tyler Toffoli – Christian Dvorak – Josh Anderson

Arturri Lehkonen – Nick Suzuki  – Jake Evans

Jonathan Drouin – Ryan Poeling – Joel Armia

Michael Pezzetta – Mathieu Perreault – Cole Caufield

Defenceman

Ben Chiarot – David Savard

Brett Kulak – Jeff Petry

Alexander Romanov – Chris Wideman

Goalies

Jake Allen

Samuel Montembeault

Will the Colorado Avalanche be angry?

The Colorado Avalanche were embarrassed in their game last night against the Toronto Maple Leafs.  The Maple Leafs took advantage of some suspect goaltending from Jonas Johansson and questionable defense. Darcy Kuemper was declared out with an upper-body injury right before the game. Not ideal for a team beginning a five game road trip.

Kuemper will remain on the road trip but Colorado will have to once again have to go with Johansson in goal and emergency backup Jeff Alexander.

Nathan Mackinnon returned from injury recording two assists but was overshadowed by Auston Matthews of the Maple Leafs who had a hat-trick.

Forwards

Gabriel Landeskog – Nathan Mackinnon – Miko Rantanen

Valeri Nichushkin – Nazem Kadri – Andre Burakovsky

Nicolas Aube-Kubel – Alex Newhook – Logan O’Connor

Darren Helm – Tyson Jost – Jayson Megna

Defencemen

Devon Toews – Cale Makar

Bowen Byram – Samuel Girard

Jack Johnson – Erik Johnson

Goalies

Jonas Johansson

Jeff Alexander

Betting Odds

It’s hard to see the Colorado Avalanche dropping back to back games regardless of who’s in goal. Not only did they lose last night, but they were awful in just about every aspect of the game.  It’s not happening again. Take the Avs -1.5 for a 2.36 payout at spreads.ca.

NOTES

• Best player on a bad team: Canadiens’ Forward Nick Suzuki is the Molson Cup recipient for the month of November. In 14 games last month, he led the Canadiens with four goals and added six assists for 10-points.
• Punch from the backend: Avs’ defenceman Cale Maker was the third star for two straight weeks. He leads all NHL defenseman in goals (nine) and point per game (1.18) while ranking third in points with 20. Makar scored in five straight games from Nov.17-26… So watch out.