Canadiens Pre Game
Canadiens Preview And Lines: Dobes Set To Face Ovechkin
The Montreal Canadiens (19-18-3) are set to face the Washington Capitals (27-10-4), with the puck drop scheduled for 7 pm ET.
Martin St-Louis’ team is in the midst of the type of stretch that has changed most people’s opinion as to their playoff odds. There’s a lot of work left to do, especially now that teams will probably spend a little more time preparing to face the Habs, but that’s the price a team plays for convincing wins against elite NHL clubs.
Rookie goaltender Jakub Dobes will once again face one of the top teams in the NHL, as he looks to extend his winning streak to three games in a row. Dobes has put together glowing numbers after facing the Florida Panthers and the Colorado Avalanche, two recent Stanley Cup winners. He has a 2-0-0 record and a ridiculous .982 save percentage.
He’s also instilled the type of confidence that you rarely see from a rookie goaltender. In turn, the players skating in front of him are focusing on the task at hand, which makes the entire situation a little easier to navigate for St-Louis, who could only rely on Samuel Montembeault before Dobes’ recall from the Laval Rocket.
Patrik Laine was present at practice on Thursday, but he did not make the trip to Washington, which connotes Michael Pezzetta should play for a third game in a row. The data is a little random due to his usage, but Pezzetta has played quite well when called-up on this season.
Defenceman David Savard also stayed in Montreal, therefore Jayden Struble will once again feature on the third pairing, alongside Arber Xhekaj.
ON TOPIC: Jake Evans Trade & Contract Talk – Finding Comparable Contract
This will be the third and final time these two teams clash this season, with the Capitals emerging from the two first encounters with convincing wins. The first game featured Alex Ovechkin, whose three points helped secure a 6-3 win for Washington. The second did not feature the greatest goalscorer in NHL history, but Washington still managed to win 4-2.
Ovechkin has scored 39 goals and 31 assists in 59 career games against the Canadiens, and if he manages to score against Dobes, he will set the NHL record the most NHL goalies scored against during an NHL career.
Dylan Strome leads the Capitals in scoring this year with 12 goals and 33 assists in 41 games, followed by Aliaksei Protas, who has 18 goals and 18 assists.
The oft-maligned Pierre-Luc Dubois is also another big reason why the Capitals have emerged as one of the top teams in the league this year, thanks to a resurgence in offence that has him on pace to produce 66 points. It’s a good reminder that the situation in which a player is used tends to dictate production.
Former Canadiens goaltender Charlie Lindgren will guard the net for the Capitals.
Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup
| Cole Caufield | Nick Suzuki | Juraj Slafkovsky |
| Alex Newhook | Kirby Dach | Patrik Laine |
| Josh Anderson | Christian Dvorak | Brendan Gallagher |
| Owen Beck | Jake Evans | Joel Armia |
| Lane Hutson | Mike Matheson |
| Kaiden Guhle | Alex Carrier |
| Arber Xhekaj | David Savard |
| Samuel Montembeault |
| Jakub Dobes |
Washington Capitals Projected Lineup
Ovechkin – Strome – Protas
McMichael – Dubois – Wilson
Miroschnichenko- Eller – Raddysh
Duhaime – Dowd – Mangiapane
Sandin – Carlson
Chychrun – van Riemsdyk
Fehervary – Roy
Lindgren
How to Watch The Montreal Canadiens vs. The Washington Capitals, Friday, January 10, 2025.
Game 41 of the regular season will be aired on RDS and TSN2. Once the game is over, an instant recap complete with highlights will be available on Montreal Hockey Now.
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Should be an interesting game. I’m struggling to understand St Louis’ strategy in constantly starting a rookie goalie against the tought opponent in back to back situations. Good to see Dobeš has performed well but these games should go to the starting goalie, not a rookie with 0 then 1, and now just 2 games of NHL experience. It’s only a matter of time before he gets shelled and then I guess we have to hope he manages it better than Primeau has. St Louis has done a lot of things most seasoned coaches wouldn’t, and this is another head scratcher.
Baptism by fire
The 2nd half of a back-to-back is considered the tougher game, especially since we have to travel back home after the game tonight. Playing Dobes after the team having 4 straight days off is about as easy as it’s going to get in this situation. Montembeault, the vet, playing the second half of the back-to-back is standard operating procedure here. Dallas is no slouch of a team either.
Why not drop heiny on 2nd line?
My guess is that MSL really likes what’s happening on the fourth line, and I get it. Of course, the fourth line can’t take precedence in the long term, but Laine seems ready to return in the next few games.
Also, Pezzetta has played surprisingly well despite the lack of chances.