Montreal Canadiens vs. New Jersey Devils: 3 things to watch

The Canadiens are in New Jersey to play the first of a back-to-back before returning home to face the Devils again tomorrow.

The Habs will test out their depth with recent call-up Bud Holloway playing his first NHL game at 27, and Mike Condon is back in for the injured Carey Price.

Game time: 7 p.m. ET

1. This Bud's for you

Certain storylines just capture your heart.

Bud Holloway finally making his NHL debut at 27 is one of them.

The big winger (6 feet, 200 pounds) was picked 86th overall by the LA Kings back in the 2006 entry draft. 2006!! Since then, he has toiled away in the minors and spent the last four years in Europe.

Then the Habs picked him up, sent him to the farm team in the AHL and watched while he lead the St. John's IceCaps in scoring with five goals and 15 assists in 18 games.

Tonight he will finally get his shot at the bigs. Watch number 52 fulfil a childhood dream that is years overdue.

2. Click, click, click....

That noise you hear is the sweet sound of lines clicking.

In the last game against the Rangers, Devante Smith-Pelly scored two goals playing alongside Tomas Plekanec and Max Pacioretty and made the loss of Brendan Gallagher seem somewhat tolerable.

He also distracted fans from the disappearing act of Carey Price by scoring his second of the night just 17 seconds into the third period.

Sven Andrighetto, meanwhile, seems to be just what Lars Eller and Alex Galchenyuk needed to get that line moving, and Tomas Fleischmann, David Desharnais and Dale Weise continue to be solid.

Time for some creative line names.

3. Devil's in the details

Even with the Canadiens mired in injuries at the moment, the Devils will have their hands full with the league-leading Habs.

New Jersey has struggled to get over 20 shots on goal in their last four games and were 0-5 on the power play on Wednesday in a 2-1 loss to the Blue Jackets.

The Devils get a little thin past the first line which has former Hab Mike Cammalleri, who leads the team in points.

They also lack experience on defence, a weakness that has them bent but not broken.

Cory Schneider has covered up their mistakes with a good start to the season. He doesn't know the Habs well, however.

Tonight will be just the second time he faces Montreal in his seven year NHL career.