After a resounding defeat against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday evening, the Montreal Canadiens will try to bounce back on Thursday night when they take on the Dallas Stars at the Bell Centre. If the Habs have struggled against the Kings for the last few years, they’ve not done much better against the Texans, only winning three of the last 10 duels. They were victorious in the previous game, a 3-1 win last January.
Tonight’s tilt will be the first of two meetings between the two sides; the second will take place in Dallas on January 4. The Stars are currently second in the Central Division and fourth in the league with 23 points, just one point ahead of the Sainte-Flanelle, but they have played one more game. The visitors are currently enjoying a three-game winning streak and are flying high after winning their first game in Ottawa in nearly a decade.
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After sitting out the last two games, Jakub Dobes will be back in the net for the first time since his emotional reaction to the 4-3 overtime defeat against the New Jersey Devils. The rookie goaltender has faced the Stars only once in his young career, in the win mentioned above. He had stopped 32 of the 33 shots he faced and was named the second star of the tilt behind Alex Newhook, who had scored the game-winning goal. Historically, Samuel Montembeault has also had success against the visitors with a 2-2-1 record with a 2.58 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage.
The Stars’ starter has not been announced yet, but Jake Oettinger has played 12 of their 17 games. The netminder is expected to be named to Team USA for the upcoming Olympics, even though his stats have not been as good as they usually are. Against Montreal, he’s got a 5-2-0 record, with a 2.48 GAA and a .907 GAA. As for backup Casey DeSmith, he’s 3-2-2 with a 2.38 GAA and a .921 SV.
While captain Nick Suzuki wasn’t at practice yesterday, he’s expected to play tonight, which is good news for the Canadiens since he’s got 14 points in 10 games against the visitors. Brendan Gallagher is the Habs’ second most productive player with seven points in 17 games, while Noah Dobson completes the top three with six points in eight games.
Tyler Seguin is the Stars’ most productive forward against the Tricolore with 31 points in 35 games, but he has slowed down considerably in the last few years and only has seven points in 17 games this season. Matt Duchene comes in second place with 22 points in 27 games, but an upper-body injury currently sidelines him, and he has only played four games this season. Top scorer Mikko Rantanen has 14 points in 15 duels with the Canadiens and is having a great season so far with 23 points in 17 games. Montreal will also want to keep a close eye on Jason Robertson, who has seven points in eight games against the Habs.
This game will be a good measuring stick for the Canadiens, given the Stars’ ranking and the fact that they’ve made the Western Conference final for the last three seasons. The Canadiens will also need to be disciplined, as the visitors have the second-best power play in the league, with a 32.8% success rate. Their penalty killing unit is nowhere near as good as they’ve got the seventh-worst success rate in the league at just 73.6%.
This could be just what the doctor ordered for the Habs’ man-advantage since it hasn’t produced a single goal in the last three games. While the top unit can move the puck with ease, lately, they’ve tended to pass the puck too much for too long instead of just shooting the puck. A goal doesn’t always have to come from a spectacular build-up, and the young Habs would do well to keep it simple at times.
Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM, and you can catch the game in French on RDS and in English on TSN2 and Victory +.
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The Columbus Blue Jackets are at home tonight to face the Edmonton Oilers at Nationwide Arena.
The Blue Jackets will have one thing on their mind tonight - Revenge. The good news for Columbus is that they have played Edmonton very tough at home in their history, going 18-13-3-1 inside the friendly confines of Nationwide Arena. The other good news is that Edmonton played last night in Philadelphia and had to go to overtime, so hopefully they're nice and worn out.
The bad news? The Jackets lost their Captain, Boone Jenner, to an upper-body injury against Seattle on Tuesday night, and his status is uncertain. The fact that the PR team announced that he wouldn't return just a few minutes after he left the game is not a good sign. The Cleveland Monsters also called up forward Chongmin Lee from the ECHL's Bloomington Bison on Wednesday night, which means the CBJ might call up an extra forward before tonight's game.
The Blue Jackets currently sit 8th in the Metro, 14th in the East, and 26th in the league.
Blue Jackets Stats
Oilers Stats
Series History vs. Oilers
Who To Watch For The Oilers
CBJ Player Notes vs. Oilers
Injuries - Gudbranson on IR
TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 20
How to Watch & Listen: Tonight's game will be on ESPN+ & HULU. John Buccigross will be on the play-by-play. The radio broadcast will be on 97.1 The Fan, with Bob McElligott behind the mic doing the play-by-play.
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