Canadiens Game 78: Primeau Starts, Lines Shuffled, Farrell

The Montreal Canadiens (30-41-6) will look to break their losing streak against the Detroit Red Wings (34-33-9) on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre. The puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET.

The Canadiens have somehow been further decimated by injury, with David Savard and Alex Belzile now being ruled out for the remainder of the season.

It’s not a joke. Canadiens’ VP of Communications, Chantal Machabée has to have daily meetings with club physicians to get a read on the health of players.

Jasette quotidienne (et longue) entre Graham et Chantal pour la mise à jour des blessés 🔵⚪️🔴 pic.twitter.com/eFFn2fR3P9

— Marc-André Perreault (@MA_PerreaultTVA) April 4, 2023

What’s more is that Jordan Harris, Jake Evans and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard are all banged up, forcing the Canadiens to make some last-minute call-ups from the Laval Rocket.

Thankfully, it appears that Jake Evans will be good to go for tonight’s game, after missing practice on Monday, but Harvey-Pinard and Harris were not.

Corey Schueneman was called up to replace the ailing Harris on Monday evening.

The loss of Harvey-Pinard and Belzile to the forward lineup forced head coach Martin St-Louis to shuffle his lines yet again.

But one man’s misery is another man’s gain; as Sean Farrell saw himself promoted to the top line with Nick Suzuki and Jesse Ylönen.

It’ll be a nice boost of confidence for the youngster and an excellent opportunity for him to show more of what he can do at the NHL level.

With Jake Allen also nursing a nagging injury and Samuel Montembeault playing a great deal down the stretch, the Canadiens chose to recall Cayden Primeau for tonight’s game and insert him as the starter.

The Canadiens want to evaluate where their youngster is in his development at this point, as decisions for this summer loom.

A Sign Of Life

The Detroit Red Wings seem to be in the same seat they were last year; not at the bottom, but not in playoff contention.

Despite a strong start to the season, Detroit seemed to fizzle out as the season went on and lost some key players to injury.

That being said, they also secured their future by signing captain Dylan Larkin to an eight-year deal, and the captain has returned that confidence in kind with five goals and eight points in his last five games.

Youngsters Moritz Seider, Simon Edvinsson, Marco Kasper and Lucas Ryamond, all top-10 picks for the Red Wings over the last four years, all suited up for the Red Wings last game, giving Red Wings fans a glimpse of a very promising future.

The young Red Wings will have to duel with the Canadiens without their No.1 goaltender, Ville Husso, who is out with injury.

It’s Alex Nedeljkovic, who was waived earlier this season that has been starting in goal for the Red Wings, and he

Here’s everything you need to know about tonight’s game:

Montreal Canadiens Injuries

• Kaiden Guhle (Injured)
• Alex Belzile (Injured Reserve)
• David Savard (Injured Reserve)
• 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)

Carolina Hurricanes Injuries

• Michael Rasmussen (Injured Reserve)
• Mark Pysyk (Injured)
• Robby Fabbri (Injured)
• Ville Husso (Injured)
• Filip Zadina (Injured)

Montreal Canadiens Previous Lineup

Carolina Hurricanes Projected Lineup

Kubalik-Larkin-Perron

Copp-Kasper-Raymond

Berggren-Veleno-Luff

Erne-Suter-Chiasson

Defence:

Walman-Seider

Edvinsson-Chiarot

Maatta-Hagg

Goalies:

Nedeljkovic

Hellberg

Special Teams

How to Watch Or Listen