Canadiens Preview And Lines: Savard Returns, Barron Sits

The Montreal Canadiens (6-10-2) are set to host the Edmonton Oilers (9-7-2) on Monday night, with the puck drop scheduled for 7:30 pm ET.

Martin St-Louis’ team is coming off their best outing of the season, a highly-entertaining 5-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. As per usual, Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki drove the offensive charge, defenceman Arber Xhekaj was involved in a heavyweight tilt with Jackets forward Mathieu Olivier, and the team received important contributions from players in the bottom six.

David Savard will return to the lineup after missing Saturday night’s matchup, which means blueliner Justin Barron will once again be relegated to the press box as a healthy scratch. With all due respect to Barron, who certainly brings an important element of production from the blue line to the table, his underlying numbers pale in comparison to the stats produced by Xhekaj and Jayden Struble on the third pairing.

Goaltender Samuel Montembeault will get the start.

It should be noted that forward Patrik Laine has been spotted skating with regularity in the last week, a very encouraging sign for the 26-year-old sniper. He’s not quite ready to return to play, but the Habs do have to start planning for his eventual return. Much like Kirby Dach, it will take Laine numerous games, weeks, or perhaps months to find his rhythm, which means an extra dose of patience is in order.

Patrik Laine fait grimper le niveau de difficulté de son entraînement sur glace ce matin 👀 pic.twitter.com/mQFbRA6Ixg

— TVA Sports (@TVASports) November 18, 2024

MUST READ: Potential Impact Of Patrik Laine’s Return To Canadiens Lineup

As for the Oilers, they’re currently fifth in the Pacific Division, but any team featuring one of the best players in NHL history should never be taken lightly.

Connor McDavid reached 1000 career points in the NHL last week, making him one of the fastest forwards to reach that impressive benchmark. Only Wayne Gretzky (424 games), Mario Lemieux (513 games), and Mike Bossy (656 games) made it to 1000 faster than McDavid (659 game). To be accurate, Gretzky reached 1000 points twice during his career, with the second time taking just 433 games, which means he’s the fastest player to reach 1000 points, and he did it twice over.

Ah, the 80s.

McDavid was forced to miss a few games this year, which means Leon Draisaitl currently leads the team in scoring, with 13 goals and 11 assists in 18 games. Following the dynamic duo in team scoring is a trio of defencemen: Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, and Darnell Nurse. The latter was subject to a very violent hit by Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ryan Reaves, which resulted in a well-deserved five-game suspension for Ryan Reaves.

Projected Montreal Canadiens Lineup

Projected Edmonton Oilers Lineup

Nugent-Hopkins – McDavid – Hyman

Podkolzin – Draisaitl – Perry

Janmark – Henrique – Brown

Skinner – Ryan – Stetcher

Ekholm – Bouchard

Nurse* – Dermott

Kulak – Emberson

Skinner

How to Watch The Montreal Canadiens vs. The Edmonton Oilers on Monday, November 18, 2024.

Game 19 of the regular season will be aired on RDS and Amazon Prime. Once the game is over, an instant recap complete with highlights will be available on Montreal Hockey Now.