Canadiens Game 6: Lines, Notes & What to Watch vs. Stars

The Montreal Canadiens are looking to make it three wins in a row tonight, as they face the potent Dallas Stars. The Canadiens (3-2-0) host the Stars (3-0-1) Saturday  night at the Bell Centre in what will likely be their toughest test yet. The Canadiens’ lineup figures to be the same as the last two games, a lineup which thumped the Arizona Coyotes 6-2 on Thursday night.

The puck drops just after 7 p.m.

After failing to score more than a goal per game in their back-to-back games against the Detroit Red Wings and Washington Capitals, the Canadiens’ offence has come to life this week, with nine goals in their last two games.

Head coach Martin St. Louis has been pleased with the effort as of late, contributing the rapid success of the club’s talented youngsters to getting back to having fun on the ice.

As an organization, as we deal with players, we’re very process-focused, but the result is important for the confidence of the group as a team. Winning has to be part of the process,” said St. Louis when juxtaposing development with winning.

https://montreal.nationalhockeynow.com/2022/10/20/slafkovsky-scores-xhekaj-smashes-in-montreal-canadiens-6-2-win/

Unfortunately,  Juraj Slafkovsky, who scored his first NHL goal in the Canadiens’ last tilt against the Coyotes, suffered an upper-body injury that will keep him out of the lineup on a day-to-day basis. Rem Pitlick, who has been a healthy scratch for the last few games, will draw in on the fourth line in his place.

Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki continue to lead the team in scoring, just as they have since St. Louis took over as coach. Caufield is currently one of the league’s most efficient goal scorers, notching four goals in just five games.

Potent Dallas Stars 

The Dallas Stars have jumped right out of the gate to be one of the more impactful teams in this young season, and a lot of that has to do with the return to health of Tyler Seguin. The veetran centre has tallied five points in the club’s four games and has alleviated much of the offensive pressure off of Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski, helping to better balance their offensive lines.

Miro Hesikanen continued to look like a top defenceman in this league so far this season, notching two goals and an assists so far, while logging almost 25 minutes of ice time per game for the Stars.

Goaltender Jake Oettinger has seemingly pick up right where he left off last season, posting a an average goals against of 1 and a 0.966 save percentage. The 23-year old has looked brilliant in his starts for the Stars so far and will look to continue his winning ways and attempt to stonewall the Canadiens revived offence.

Canadiens defencemen Joel Edmundson and Mike Matheson, along with forward Joel Armia, remain on IR.

Montreal Canadiens Lines

Dallas Stars Lines, per Puckpedia.com:

Robertson-Hintz-Pavelski

Marchment-Seguin-Dellandrea

Benn-Johnston-Gurianov

Faksa-Glendening-Kirivanta

Defense:

Heiskanen-Miller

Suter-Hakanpaa

Lindell-Lundkvist

Goalies:

Oettinger

Wedgewood

Special Teams

Montreal Canadiens Game Notes:

How to Watch: