Canadiens Game 44: Lineup Questions Loom With Evans Injury

The Montreal Canadiens (17-23-3) play the second leg of their back-to-back games this weekend, facing the New York Rangers (24-12-7) at the most famous arena in the world, Madison Square Garden.

The puck drop is scheduled for 5 PM ET.

Big Picture

New York has only lost two of their last 10 games in regulation and will look to make it three wins in a row by beating the Habs.

Adam Fox, the 2020-21 Norris Trophy winner, leads all Rangers in scoring recently, with an impressive seven points in his last five games. In total, Fox has hit the scoresheet 44 times in just 43 games this season.

It’s also worth noting that, unlike the Canadiens, the Rangers are well rested, with their last game taking place on Thursday, a 2-1 shootout win over the Dallas Stars.

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The Canadiens’ lineup is yet to be unveiled, but given the recent injury to Jake Evans, it could end up being an interesting experiment in desperation due to the lack of centres available to head coach Martin St-Louis.

Following Evans’ injury, Kirby Dach was removed from the first line to fill the centre gap, which led to a Jesse Ylonen audition on the first line.

Ylonen has been nothing short of excellent since joining the Canadiens two games ago, displaying the type of much-needed intensity, vision, and offensive instinct the roster lacks.

As it stands, the health status of Canadiens starter Jake Allen is still in doubt, which means we’re unsure who will make the start against the Rangers.

Martin St. Louis couldn't say whether Jake Allen will be ready for Sunday's game against the Rangers. Allen worked out with goalie coach Eric Raymond for a long time after the skate. He will not dress tonight, Cayden Primeau is the backup.

— Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) January 14, 2023

If Allen is not deemed healthy enough to start, expect Cayden Primeau to guard the Canadiens’ net, seeing as Samuel Montembeault earned the start on Saturday against the Islanders.

Montreal Canadiens Injuries

• Kaiden Guhle (Injured Reserve)
• Brendan Gallagher (Injured Reserve)
• Mike Matheson (Injured Reserve)
• Sean Monahan (Injured Reserve)
• Carey Price (LTIR)
• Paul Byron (LTIR)

New York Rangers Injuries

• Julien Gauthier (day-to-day)
• Chris Kreider (day-to-day)

Montreal Canadiens Previous Lineup

New York Rangers Projected Lineup

Lafreniere – Zibanejad – Kakko

Panarin – Trocheck – Kravtsov

Vesey – Chytil – Goodrow

Blais – Brodzinski – Gauthier

Defence:

Lindgren – Fox

Miller – Trouba

Harpur – Schneider

Goalies:

Shesterkin

Halak

Special Teams

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