Canadiens Preview & Lines: Montembeault Starts, Offence Wanted

The Montreal Canadiens (25-24-5) are set to face the New Jersey Devils (30-20-6), with the puck drop scheduled for 1 pm ET.

If you’re wondering why it’s such an early start, the NHL is avoiding going head-to-head with the Super Bowl, which, frankly, makes a lot of sense.

Personally, I can’t stand the NFL, but it has nothing to do with the actual game play. I love the game play. It’s exciting, violent, and intense, a lot like hockey. But I can’t sit down for hours to watch just a few minutes of gameplay. On average, there’s a little less than 20 minutes of actual action during an NFL game. It’s a giant commercial that will take a break every once in a while to feature a little game play.

Of course, the NFL’s incredible popularity shows that my lowly opinion is far from the norm, and we all know the league won’t lose any sleep over my comments.

Alright, back to hockey.

The Habs are coming off a disheartening effort versus the Los Angeles Kings. The 6-3 scoreline was flattering toward Martin St-Louis’ troops, as they could have easily been shutout if not for a pair of lucky goals from defencemen, and a legitimate goal by rookie Logan Mailloux.

I’ve been told by many that I’m either too harsh, or too soft toward Mailloux. That leads me to believe I’m probably doing something right when I say he still has a lot of work left to do, particularly in the defensive zone. However, I’m also quick to point out he does a great job when it comes to shot selection in the offensive zone. We saw it in the OHL and the AHL, and now we’re seeing it in the NHL.

Logan Mailloux scores his second NHL goal to cut the Kings lead to just one. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/Df3A9bphZX

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) February 6, 2025

Even though the forwards struggled to produce any semblance of sustained offence on Thursday, there was a silver lining. The well-rounded play from another rookie reminded fans that the organization has a player who seems poised to take the next step in his career. As expected, Owen Beck has looked quite good while dipping his toes in the icy waters of NHL hockey. His versatility and elevated work ethic is exactly what the Canadiens need in this lineup as it starts to lose momentum down the final stretch of the season.

As for the lines versus the Devils, the Canadiens will not hold a practice due to the early start time. Therefore, our projected lineups are based off the last game.

Goaltender Samuel Montembeault will be given the start on Saturday, while rookie netminder Jakub Dobes will take the reins on Sunday. Now that we have enough games in the bank to judge Dobes’ play, we can safely say he’s been the better goaltender, but there are many factors to consider when evaluating both players.

ON TOPIC: Montreal Canadiens Analysis: Evaluating Dobes And Montembeault

This is the third and final time the two teams will meet this season, and the final chance for the Canadiens to emerge from one of those meetings with a win. For the view from the other side of the rink, make sure to visit our sister site, New Jersey Hockey Now.

Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup

New Jersey Devils Projected Lineup

Palat – Hughes – Bratt

Meier – Haula – Mercer

Cotter – Dowling – Noesen

Tatar – Lazar – Bastian

Dillon – Hamilton

Pesce – Kovacevic

Hughes – Nemec

How to Watch the Montreal Canadiens vs. the New Jersey Devils, Saturday, February 8, 2025.

Game 55 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.