Montreal Canadiens

Canadiens Game 82: Montembeault Starts, Bruins Ice Full Roster

Published

2 months ago

April 13, 2023

The Montreal Canadiens (31-44-6) get ready to close out their season against the Boston Bruins (64-12-5) at the Bell Centre. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 PM ET.

After a gutsy performance on Wednesday night against a desperate New York Islanders club, the Canadiens close out their season the very next day against their heated rivals.

The Habs have lost six of their last seven to close out the season, and the task of winning their final game will not be easy; even if the Bruins are to rest a few veterans.

Montreal is expected to ice the same roster as last night, which means that callups Fréderic Allard and Joel Teasdale will maintain their spot in the lineup.

Sean Farrell, who was much more noticeable in Wednesday night’s game against the Islanders will look to carry that momentum with him into this game and try to leave general manager Kent Hughes with a solid impression before heading home for a very important summer.

Samuel Montembeault is expected to start again for the Canadiens tonight, as Jake Allen seems to be nursing a minor injury; while Cayden Primeau will need to be rested for the Laval Rocket’s final game of the season on Friday.

The Canadiens currently sit in 28th place in the NHL standings, good for the fifth-best odds in the NHL Draft Lottery. Unless the Arizona Coyotes, who sit one point ahead in 27th place, gain a point of any kind against the Vancouver Canucks, the Canadiens would need a regulation loss to ensure they retain those odds to close out the season.

Shipping Off To Boston

What can you say about the Boston Bruins this season that hasn’t already been said?

They broke the single-season record for wins in NHL history; despite many pundits, including myself, ranking them as a bubble team to start the season due to their many injuries.

Instead, they exploded right out of the gate and David Pastrnak went on to have a Hart Trophy season; a trophy that would surely be his if Connor McDavid didn’t exist.

On the backend, the combo of Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm helped propel the Bruins to another level; and the recent addition of Dimiti Orlov has only made them even more dangerous.

Linus Ullmark, who will likely be the frontrunner for the Vezina Trophy this season, and Jeremy Swayman were easily the best goaltending tandem in the NHL.

Unlike past games this week, it seems the Boston Bruins will be bringing their full roster to Montreal, as there weren’t any members of the Providence Bruins on the ice for the morning skate today.

Montreal Canadiens Injuries

Jake Allen (Day-to-Day)
Kaiden Guhle (Injured)
Jordan Harris (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)

Boston Bruins Injuries

Derek Forbort (Injured Reserve)
Nick Foligno (Injured Reserve)
David Krejci (Day-To-Day)
Linus Ullmark (Day-To Day)

Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup

LW	C	RW
Mike Hoffman	Nick Suzuki	Joel Armia
Sean Farrell	Jonathan Drouin	Denis Gurianov
Rem Pitlick	Jake Evans	Brendan Gallagher
Micheal Pezzetta	Chris Tierney	Joel Teasdale