Canadiens Game 76: Montembeault Starts, Dach Out, Savard GTD

The Montreal Canadiens (30-39-6) face the desperate Florida Panthers (37-31-7) on Thursday night at the Bell Centre. The puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET.

The two teams sit at the opposite end of the spectrum; as the Canadiens have a significant NHL Draft Lottery stake in this game, while the Panthers desperately try to claw their way into the playoffs.

Revenge Is In The Air

The last meeting between these two teams was an absolute blowout, 9-5 victory for the Cats in Florida; and you can bet the Canadiens remember it well.

Head coach Martin St-Louis will look to shore up his defensive structure ahead of tonight’s game, but he may have to do it without one of his major pillars on defence.

Veteran David Savard was not at practice today.

Kirby Dach, who missed their last game with an upper-body injury, also did not participate in practice today.

The Canadiens announced that Dach would miss the next week of action due to the injury.

After taking a hard bump in Monday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres, Dach was a last-minute scratch against the Flyers.

Rookie Sean Farrell, who made his NHL debut against the Flyers on Tuesday, will be suiting up again tonight for the Montreal Canadiens.

He’s expected to play on a line with Jake Evans and Brendan Gallagher; a strong duo of veteran players that could properly insulate the youngster in his first few steps in the NHL.

On a positive note, Joel Armia, who has been listed as being out with an injury on a day-to-day basis for the last five weeks, joined the Canadiens for practice today.

He was sporting a non-contact jersey in today’s practice, but seemed to be moving well on the ice.

Joel Armia en bleu (sans contact), à l’entraînement avec ses coéquipiers ce matin.

Alors que Sean Farrell participe à sa première séance d’entraînement avec le Canadien

⁦@RDSca⁩ pic.twitter.com/g0HuP2kcJv

— Patrick Friolet (@PFrioletRDS) March 30, 2023

Race To The Finish

The Florida Panthers are in a rabid race to the finish for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, chasing the slumping Pittsburgh Penguins with an opportunity to surpass them with a win against the Canadiens.

After an impressive comeback on Wednesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Panthers will be coming into Montreal with wind in their sails.

Despite losing Sergei Bobrovsky to a last-minute injury, Alex Lyon was able to come in and backstop the Panthers to victory; pushing back an impressive 38 of 40 shots against one of the better offensive teams in the league.

In the victory, Brandon Montour scored the winning goal in overtime and added an assist, bringing his season totals to a career-high 63 points in 73 games this season.

.Not only is that a personal best for the 28-year-old defenceman, but it’s also a franchise record for the Panthers, as he edged out Keith Yandles’ 62-point performance during the 2018-2019 season.

Oh and Matthew Tkachuk is having another incredible season; to the surprise of no one.

The 25-year-old winger is just three points away from hitting 100 points for the second consecutive season and has been the MVP for the Panthers during the whole season.

It’s set to be a very interesting game, with both teams having quite a bit of vested interest in this game; albeit for varying reasons.

You pre-rame report below:

Montreal Canadiens Injuries

• Kaiden Guhle (Injured Reserve)
• Joel Armia (Day-To-Day)
• Kirby Dach (Injured)
• Christian Dvorak (Injured Reserve)
• Josh Anderson (Injured Reserve)
• Arber Xhekaj (Injured Reserve)
• Juraj Slafkovsky (Injured Reserve)
• Cole Caufield (Injured Reserve)
• Sean Monahan (LTIR)
• Carey Price (LTIR)
• Paul Byron (LTIR)

Florida Panthers Injuries

• Patric Hornqvist (LTIR)
• Sam Bennet (Day-To-Day)

Montreal Canadiens Previous Lineup

Florida Panthers Projected Lineup

Verhaeghe-Barkov-Duclair

Luostarinen-Lundell-Tkachuk

Lomberg-Staal-Reinhart

Cousins-White-Smith

Defence:

Forsling-Ekblad

Staal-Montour

Mahura-Gudas

Goalies:

Lyon

Guzda

Special Teams

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