Canadiens Pre Game
Canadiens Game 28: Dach Reunited With Caufield & Suzuki
The Montreal Canadiens (13-12-2) host the Calgary Flames (13-11-4) on Monday night at the Bell Centre. The puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM ET.
The Flames continue to attempt to find their rhythm following a relatively difficult start to the season.
Their record is similar to the Canadiens’, but the teams entered the season with very different expectations, which places the Canadiens in the surprising category, whereas the Flames’ results can be considered underwhelming.
Elias Lindholm leads all Flames players with nine goals and 14 assists in 28 games, followed by Nazem Kadri, who has 11 goals and 10 assists, and former Canadiens forward Tyler Toffoli, who ranks third with 10 goals and 10 assists.
With just four goals and 13 assists, star winger Jonathan Huberdeau has disappointed since arriving in Calgary, but the Canadiens should guard against a potential offensive explosion from the 29-year-old centre.
Jacob Markstrom is expected to make the start for the Flames, which is good news for Canadiens fans.
Juraj Slafkovsky scores against the Calgary Flames to make it 1-0 #CGYvsMTL #Flames #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/UWh8HKPOHP
— nopClips (@nopClips) December 2, 2022
Not only did he help the Canadiens win the last matchup between these two teams, but his .891 save percentage also ranks well below the .905 save percentage produced by his backup, Daniel Vladar.
Habs Angle
Jonathan Drouin did participate in the Canadiens’ optional skate on Monday morning, but he is not expected to make his return to play against the Flames.
Martin St-Louis stated he expects to run the same lines as he did in the third period of Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings, which means Kirby Dach will play alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield on the Canadiens’ top line.
With Sean Monahan injured, removing Dach from the only line that has found any semblance of consistency this season was a difficult but strategic decision by St-Louis, but the results were awful, which led to a quick reunion and an immediate uptick in puck control.
Jake Allen will make the start against the Flames, and he’ll be looking for a little more support than he received on Dec.1.
The last time these two teams met the Canadiens won the game but were severely outshot and out-chanced, relying on 45 saves from Allen (including 14 high-danger shots) to squeak out a 2-1 win.
Canadiens Injuries
- Sean Monahan (unconfirmed)
- David Savard (day-to-day)
- Brendan Gallagher (2 weeks)
- Jonathan Drouin (upper-body injury, 4-6 weeks)
- Carey Price (LTIR)
- Paul Byron (LTIR)
Calgary Flames Injuries
- Oliver Kylington (IR)
Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup
| Cole Caufield | Nick Suzuki | Juraj Slafkovsky |
| Joshua Roy | Alex Newhook | Patrik Laine |
| Brendan Gallagher | Christian Dvorak | Josh Anderson |
| Emil Heineman | Jake Evans | Joel Armia |
| Mike Matheson | Alexandre Carrier |
| Jayden Struble | Lane Hutson |
| Arber Xhekaj | David Savard |
| Samuel Montembeault |
| Jakub Dobes |
Calgary Flames Projected Lineup
Huberdeau – Lindholm – Toffoli
Dube – Kadri – Mangiapane
Ruzicka – Backlund – Philips
Coleman – Zohora – Lewis
Defence:
Hanifin – Andersson
Weegar – Tanev
Zadorov – Stone
Goalies:
Markstrom
Vladar
Special Teams
[table “18” not found /]Game Notes:
- Nick Suzuki leads all Canadiens players with 14 goals and 15 assists in 27 games.
- Kaiden Guhle continues to enjoy a successful rookie campaign, leading all defencemen in scoring with one goal and 10 assists.
- Jake Allen will attempt to win his 9th game of the season. He currently has an 8-10 record in 18 starts this season.
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