Canadiens Pre Game

Canadiens Preseason: Reinbacher Top Pair, Slafkovsky Top Line

Published

7 months ago

September 25, 2023

The Montreal Canadiens (0-0-0) host the New Jersey Devils (0-0-0) on Monday night at the Bell Centre. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST.

It will be the first game of the preseason schedule for the Canadiens, who are fresh off a week-long series of intrasquad scrimmages.

The top line will once again feature Juraj Slafkovsky playing alongside Alex Newhook and Josh Anderson. The second line will give prospect Jesse Ylonen, who flew under the radar last season, an opportunity to produce in a situation conducive to scoring. Ylonen is expected to play with Joshua Roy and Owen Beck, both of whom have fantastic situational awareness, both defensively and offensively.

On the blueline, first-round pick David Reinbacher will play with Kaiden Guhle on the Canadiens’ top pair, whereas Logan Mailloux will play with cerebral defenceman Jordan Harris.

Samuel Montembeault will be given the start for the Habs, backed up by former Ohio State goaltender Jakub Dobes.

New Jersey Devils Lineup

As for their opponents, it should be noted that the Devils are also facing the Flyers tonight, which means they’ll be using split squads.

Goaltender Akira Schmid will be guarding the net for New Jersey.

Check out New Jersey Hockey Now for the latest information regarding the potential Devils lineup.

This likely means Akira Schmid will travel to MTL for tonight's game vs. the Canadiens.#NJDevils https://t.co/UhsEAgKxTr

— James Nichols (@JamesNicholsNHL) September 25, 2023

Montreal Canadiens Injuries

Carey Price

New Jersey Devils injuries

None

Montreal Canadiens Projected Lines

LW	C	RW
Cole Caufield	Nick Suzuki	Juraj Slafkovsky
Brendan Gallagher	Alex Newhook	Joel Armia
Jesse Ylonen	Jake Evans	Josh Anderson
Michael Pezzetta	Christian Dvorak	Rafael Harvey-Pinard

LD	RD
Mike Matheson	Justin Barron
Lane Hutson	David Savard
Jordan Harris	Logan Mailloux

Goalie
Samuel Montembeault
Cayden Primeau

New Jersey Devils Expected Roster

Goalies

Akira Schmid, Keith Kinkaid

Forwards

Graeme Clarke, Kyle Criscuolo, Justin Dowling, Nolan Foote, Joseph Gambardella, Jack Hughes, Curtis Lazar, Dawson Mercer, Tomas Nosek, Chris Tierney, Tyler Toffoli, Max Willman

Defensemen

John Marino, Colin Miller, Simon Nemec, Jonas Siegenthaler, Topias Vieln, Michael Vukojevic

Scratches

Luke Hughes, Tyler Wotherspoon, Tyler Brennan, Nathan Bastian

Game Notes:

The Devils finished the 2022-23 season with the third-most points in the Eastern Conference (112 points).
The Canadiens, on the other hand, only earned 68 points, good for last place in the Atlantic Division.