The Montreal Canadiens beat the struggling Nashville Predators on Thursday night even though they played with fire in the second half of the game, but if they do that tonight, the result could be quite different. Tonight’s visitors, the Washington Capitals have for a 7-2-1 record in their last 10 games and have got at least a point in their last six games, on top of having won their last eight games on the road.
With 38 points, the Caps currently sit atop their division and are third in the league. What’s even more impressive is that they’ve been without captain Alexander Ovechkin since November 18. The Great Eight has seen his race to the Great One’s goal scoring record (894) come to a grinding halt when he broke his leg.
The Russian sniper is now just 26 goal behind Wayne Gretzky and even two the injury has left him week-to-week, there seems to be little doubt he’ll accomplish the feat this season. Amazingly, he’s already resumed skating, but in a no-contact jersey. He won’t be there tonight though as the timeline for his return remains four to six weeks.
Tonight will be the second duel between the two sides as the Canadiens lost the first one 6-3. That night, Ovechkin had picked up three points and the goaltenders were Charlie Lindgren and Cayden Primeau. Since the former was on duty last night in the Caps’ 3-1 over the Toronto Maple Leafs, it would be surprising if he got the call tonight as well. Nothing has been confirmed, but logic dictates Logan Thompson should man the net, especially since the two goalies have been alternating since the start of the season and have both played 13 games. If Thompson does indeed get the nod, it will be his first game against the Habs and he might just have a little bit of extra motivation if Samuel Montembeault is at the other end, since the Canadiens goaltender was named to Team Canada and he wasn’t.
Related: Canadiens: Montembeault Gets The Job Done
Considering Primeau’s confidence in is a rough shape right now, it would be surprising not to see Montembeault in net tonight. Since getting Julien BriseBois’ call about making the national team’s, the Becancour native has won his two games including a shutout against the Preds and has a .983 save percentage. The number one has a 2-2-0 record in his five tilts with the Capitals and a 3.34 goals-against average and a .895 save percentage.
Unsurprisingly, the Capitals most productive forward against the Habs is Ovechkin (70 points in 59 games), but as we’ve already said he won’t be there. Veteran defenseman John Carlson has 25 points in 42 games and Quebecer Pierre-Luc Dubois has 21 points in 25 outings. As for the Canadiens, Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield are top of the class against the Washington outfit. The captain has 17 points (eight goals and nine assists) in 13 meetings while the sniper has nine points in as many games (including six goals). As for Patrik Laine, he has eight points in 15 meetings with the Caps.
Related: Canadiens: Il Laine Le Divin Enfant?
Tonight will be the second of three matches between the two sides and the only one in town this season. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM and it will be interesting to see if young blueliner Lane Hutson can keep his five-game point streak going, in the Oct. 31 meeting, he picked up two assists.
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