Puck drop is at 7:30pm EST (RDS, TSN-HABS)
PK Subban who signed a contract to return to the Montreal Canadiens will not be in the lineup tonight as the Habs play host to the Winnipeg Jets. Subban instead will join the team tomorrow in Ottawa, not likely to play before this weekend at the earliest.
Yannick Weber looked like a player who hadn't played in awhile against the New Jersey Devils on Sunday, and with 4 games for the Habs over the next 6 days it will be interesting to see how head coach Michel Therrien juggles his defensemen. I would expect Francis Bouillon to get at least one night off, and I don't expect Thomas Kaberle to stay in the press box.
Peter Budaj will start one of the next four games between the pipes for Montreal, but Carey Price will get the nod in goal tonight. Price is off to a terrific start this season with a .936 Save Percentage and a minute 1.73 Goals against through 4 games. Historically he has done well against then Winnipeg (Atlanta) franchise racking up 19 of a possible 28 points.
I expect Al Montoya to get his second start in goal tonight for the Jets, who like Montreal are riding a three game win streak. Montoya is 1-1 lifetime against the Canadiens with a 2.88 Goals against and an .897 Save Percentage. He stopped 21 of the 25 shots he faced en route to a victory in his only other start of this season.
Onndrej Pavelec had the night off for the last Jets' game on Sunday, but has not played well against Montreal historically. In his last 5 games against the Canadiens, Pavelec has just one victory for his efforts. He has lost his last 3 starts at the Bell Centre going 0-3-0 with a 4.01 GAA.
Former Hab Ron Hainsey will face his former club for the 18th time in his career. He has done well against the club that drafted him, scoring twice and adding 7 assists. Olli Jokinen is a new face for the Jets this season, but he has performed well against Montreal over his career scoring 11 times en route to 29 points in 41 contests.
Andrei Markov is off to a torrid start with 4 goals already, he has yet to play the Jets since their move from Atlanta but he has put up 19 points, including 6 goals in 31 contests with the franchise. Erik Cole is still looking for his first goal this season, but the notoriously slow starter has played well against this franchise. Cole has scored 18 goals and put up 39 points in 47 games against them.
After being told by team officials that they would be here in Montreal for the season, tonight becomes an interesting test for the two Gally's - Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher - to see how they respond. As the game is being played in Montreal, expect Michel Therrien to once again get the kids on against a favourable matchup.
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