Canadiens Game 53: Jake Allen Set To Face Connor McDavid

The Montreal Canadiens (21-27-4) host the high-flying Edmonton Oilers(30-18-5) at the Bell Centre on Sunday afternoon. The puck drop is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET.

The Oilers are fresh off a 6-3 victory against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, their eighth win in the last 10 games.

As is tradition, Connor McDavid led the charge by earning a goal and two assists, pushing his season totals to an impressive 42 goals and 55 assists in just 53 games. McDavid’s only competition for the team’s lead in scoring is Leon Draisaitl, who has scored 29 goals and 49 assists in 51 games.

Seeing as Jack Campbell played the previous night, Stuart Skinner is expected to make the start for the Oilers, which is bad news for the Canadiens since Skinner has outplayed Campbell by a rather wide margin this season.

Jake Allen will be sacrificed at the altar of McDavid on Superbowl Sunday and will look to earn his 11th win in his 30th start of the season.

Allen was given the start the last time these two teams met on December 3rd, saving just 17 of the 22 shots he faced in Edmonton’s 5-3 win over the Habs.

With almost half the lineup on the mend, the Canadiens will look to Rafael Harvey-Pinard, who has five goals in the last six games, as more than just a much-needed dose of intensity.

The sample size may be limited, but Harvey-Pinard has shown he can produce in almost every situation, including his recent audition on the top line, which led to some of the best games of the season for players such as Nick Suzuki and Josh Anderson.

His presence even managed to help the team put an end to the Retro Reverse jersey curse when they squeaked out a 4-3 overtime win over the New York Islanders on Saturday.

Montreal Canadiens Injuries

• Kaiden Guhle (Injured Reserve)
• Joel Edmundson (Day-to-Day)
• Brendan Gallagher (Injured Reserve)
• Joel Armia (Injured Reserve)
• Jake Evans (Injured Reserve)
• Juraj Slafkovsky (Injured Reserve)
• Cole Caufield (Injured Reserve)
• Sean Monahan (LTIR)
• Carey Price (LTIR)
• Paul Byron (LTIR)

Edmonton Oilers

• Ryan Murray (IR)
• Kailer Yamamoto (IR)
• Mike Smith (IR)
• Oscar Klefbomb

Montreal Canadiens Previous Lineup

Edmonton Oilers Projected Lineup

Kane – McDavid – Ryan

McLeod – Draisaitl – Hyman

Kostin – Nugent-Hopkins – Janmark

Desharnais – Holloway – Puljujarvi

Defence:

Nurse – Ceci

Kulak – Barrie

Broberg – Bouchard

Goalies:

Skinner

Campbell

Special Teams

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