Canadiens: David Visits Goliath

The Montreal Canadiens have a tall task in front of them. Their hosts tonight, the Winnipeg Jets, are currently first in the league with 43 points in 31 games played. Meanwhile, the Habs sit in 29th place with 25 points and a .431-point percentage.

Worse still, the Jets are nearly unbeatable at home, with a 10-3-1 record, while the Canadiens have a 3-8-1 record on the road. However, three of Winnipeg's adverse home results came since the start of December. They are 2-3-1 this month and have a 4-5-1 record in their last ten games.

The Canadiens looked like they had taken a turn in their five-game homestand, but Thursday night's humiliating 9-2 defeat against the Pittsburgh Penguins whipped off the optimism the team had been feeling of late.

During the defeat, coach Martin St-Louis finally put Juraj Slafkovsky back on the first line with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki. He also put Alex Newhook on the second line with Kirby Dach and Patrik Laine in a corresponding move. While the changes failed to produce the desired result, the same lines were used at yesterday’s practice, meaning the bench boss has decided to stick with those, at least for now.

Samuel Montembeault (who has started the last five games) and David Savard (upper-body injury) were absent from practice yesterday as they received treatments. As for the blueliners, they were all alternating in Savard's absence, making it impossible to work out the pairings.

After practice, players and coaches had a meeting behind closed doors. According to St-Louis, his men's reaction to Thursday's implosion will tell us if the counter-performance was a one-off. Even though they've already had eight defeats in which they gave up more than six goals, the bench boss believes this one was the first one since his team had turned a corner.

Related: Canadiens: Too Many Lopsided Losses

It's been a while since the two sides met, the last tilt took place on Dec. 18, 2023, it was in Winnipeg and the Canadiens prevailed 3-2 on an overtime goal from Justin Barron (it was his sixth of the season - a year later, he's only played 15 games and scored a single goal (and point) on the season). In fact, the Canadiens have won the last three games against the Manitoba outfit, but only four of the last 10 meetings.

Brendan Gallagher is the most productive forward for the Canadiens against Winnipeg. In 26 games, he has 18 points. Suzuki comes in second with 15 points in 17 games while Josh Anderson rounds up the top three with 13 points in 21 games.

On the other side, Mark Scheifele has been a thorn in the Canadiens' side scoring 22 points in 28 games (and obliterating Jake Evans in the 2021 playoffs, who could forget that awful hit). Nikolaj Ehlers comes in second with 18 points in 20 games, but he is currently on injured reserved, although he was at practice yesterday in a no contact jersey. Nino Niederreiter rounds up the top three with 17 points in 27 games.

In net, Samuel Montembeault has a 1-2-1 record against the Jets with a 3.70 goals-against average and a .882 save percentage. As for Cayden Primeau, he has never played against them.

Related: Penguins Crush Canadiens

As for the Jets' number one goaltender, Connor Hellebuyck he's 11-6-2 against Montreal with a 2.96 GAA and a .909 SP. Meanwhile, backup Eric Comrie, who has only played seven games this season, has a 0-2-1 record against the Habs with a 2.98 GAA and a .912 SP, but he was playing for the Buffalo Sabres every time he took them on.

The game is set for 7:00 PM and the Canadiens will be flying back to Montreal afterwards as their next game will be at home against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night when it will be Youppi!'s mascot party at the Bell Centre.

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