Canadiens Game 31: Allen To Start, Heineman Won’t Play

The Montreal Canadiens (13-13-4) face the Winnipeg Jets (18-9-2) at the Canada Life Centre on Monday night. The puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 pm ET.

The Habs are coming off an emotional 5-3 win over the New York Islanders in which forward Josh Anderson scored his first two goals of the season against a goaltender, leading to an emotional interview by the veteran winger.

19-year-old winger Juraj Slafkovsky also registered his first point in eight games while playing on the team’s top line. The results haven’t been great from an offensive standpoint, but there has been clear chemistry between Slafkovsky, Cole Caufield, and Nick Suzuki.

The trio is poised for an offensive surge, and will once again be featured on the Canadiens’ top line.

Jake Allen will be the starter for the Canadiens, his first start since December 10 against the Nashville Predators. As a reminder, several NHL teams are still interested in acquiring a goaltender, but with the NHL’s holiday roster freeze kicking in shortly, time is running out to make a trade this week.

The rest of the lineup will remain unchanged, which means forward Emil Heineman will have to wait before making his NHL debut.

MUST READ: NHL Holiday Roster Freeze Could Impact Canadiens Trade Options

As for the Winnipeg Jets, they’ll have to do without one of their best forwards for the foreseeable future.

The team announced Kyle Connor had been placed on the injured reserve with a knee injury. Connor was injured when Anaheim Ducks forward Ryan Strome kneed him last week. Strome received a game misconduct but escaped any further punishment.

Connor is the team’s best goal-scorer this season, with 17 goals in 26 games. Mark Scheifele currently leads the team in overall scoring, with 11 goals and 22 assists in just 29 games.

Despite lots of chaos this summer, the Jets have done quite well in 2023-24. They’re currently second in the Central Division with 38 points. They’ve won their last two games, including a 6-2 win against the Cup-contending Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night.

On that note, The Jets have controlled slightly less than 50 percent of the expected goals this year, which means they’re overachieving to a certain extent.

Montreal Canadiens Injuries

• Carey Price (IR)
• Chris Wideman (IR)
• Kirby Dach (out indefinitely, ACL/MCL)
• Rafael Harvey-Pinard (IR)
• Jordan Harris (10-14 days)
• Alex Newhook (out 10-12 weeks)
• Tanner Pearson (IR)

Winnipeg Jets Injuries

• Kyle Connor (IR)
• Ville Heinola (IR)
• Rutger McGroarty (IR)
• Rasmus Kupari (IR)

Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup

Winnipeg Jets Projected Lineup

Ehlers  – Scheifele – Vilardi

Perfetti – Namestnikov – Iafallo

Neiderreiter – Lowry – Appleton

Barron – Gustafsson – Jonsson-Fjallby

Defence

Morrissey – Demelo

Dillon – Pionk

Samberg – Schmidt

Goalie

Hellebuyck

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