Game 58 Preview: Montreal Canadiens vs Seattle Kraken

The Montreal Canadiens (15-35-7, 37 pts) return home after a two-week road trip to lock horns with the Seattle Kraken  (17-37-6, 40 pts) in their first-ever visit to the Bell Centre on Saturday night (7:00  PM ET, RDS, SNP, TSN2).

The Montreal Canadiens will be returning home tonight to a full capacity Bell Centre for the first time since December 9, and you can expect emotions to be at an all-time high as the fans return to cheer on their resurgent club. The Canadiens have been a team transformed under new head coach Martin St. Louis, and it’ll be quite the scene tonight leading up to puck drop. Joel Edmundson will also be making his season debut after missing the first 57 games of the season with a nagging back injury. This is undoubtedly a welcome sight for the Canadiens, who view Edmundson as a major leader in the dressing room.

The Canadiens will start Samuel Montembeault, as Jake Allen is not yet ready to return to play. Montembeault has played through a wrist injury over the last month but has still put up respectable performances for the Montreal Canadiens despite a long list of injuries to key players. So far this season, the Montembeault is 6-12-4 with a 3.67 GAA, and a .897 save percentage.

Philipp Grubauer is expected to get the start for the Kraken tonight. Grubauer hasn’t had the same consistency he showed the last couple of years with the Colorado Avalanche, posting a 12-25-5 record, a 3.22 GAA, and a .887 save percentage.

Montreal Canadiens Notes

Artturi Lehkonen has really taken his game to the next level, posting eight points in his last five games.

Cole Caufield continues to collect points for the Canadiens since St. Louis has taken over, posting 15 points in his last 12 games.

Seattle Kraken Notes

Yanni Gourde has been the Kraken’s most consistent offensive player lately, posting five points in his last five games.

Jared McCann will be a player to watch tonight, as the 25-year-old has potted 22 goals this season in just 52 games.

Montreal Canadiens Lines:

Forwards

Cole Caufield-Nick Suzuki-Josh Anderson

Mike Hoffman – Rem Pitlick – Brendan Gallagher

Paul Byron- Jake Evans- Artturi Lehkonen

Micheal Pezzetta- Ryan Poehling-Joel-Armia

Defence:

Alexander Romanov – Ben Chiarot

Joel Edmundson-Jeff Petry

Brett Kulak-Chris Wideman

Goalies:

Sam Montembeault

Cayden Primeau

Seattle Kraken Lines:

Forwards

Jayden Schwartz-Alexander Wennberg-Calle Jarnkrok

Marcuss Johansson-Jared McCann-Jordan Eberle

Mason Appleton-Yanni Gourde-Colin Blackwell

Morgan Geekie-Riley Sheahan-Ryan Donato

Defence

Mark Giordano-Carson Soucy

Jamie Oleksiak-Adam Larsson

Vince Dunn-Haydn Fleury

Goalies

Philipp Grubauer

Chris Driedger