Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Predators region: FanDuel Sports Network South
Saturday started off well for Montreal when the New York Rangers looked disinterested while falling 4-0 to the New Jersey Devils, then the Columbus Blue Jackets appeared destined for a loss when they were down 2-0 after 40 minutes in Toronto. But Montreal had also failed score a goal through two periods versus the Philadelphia Flyers, and weren’t in a position to take advantage of the struggles of the two teams following them the closest.
That all changed in the third period when the work of Brendan Gallagher tied the game early, then a minute later Lane Hutson displayed another bit of magic in an end-to-end rush and scored a goal from an impossible angle to put his team in the lead. Midway through the period, Nick Suzuki scored on an individual short-handed effort, and that goal stood as the game-winner, his ninth of the season, to really give the Habs a stranglehold on the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot.
- (8) Montreal Canadiens: 2-3-1 (83 pts., 6 GR)
- (9) New York Rangers: 4-1-1 (79 pts., 6 GR)
- (10) Detroit Red Wings: 5-1-1 (77 pts., 7 GR)
- (11) Columbus Blue Jackets: 5-1-1 (77 pts., 7 GR)
- (12) New York Islanders: 5-0-2 (76 pts., 7 GR)
At this point, none of their competitors can afford more than one regulation loss the rest of the way — maybe none depending on what Montreal accomplishes — while the Habs have some wiggle room in that category with six games to play. That doesn’t mean they can dawdle through the next week of games, because they do still need points. Right back in action on Sunday night after travelling to Nashville, they look at another excellent opportunity to grab two points versus a Predators squad that just wants a disastrous season to end.
Canadiens Statistics Predators 37-30-9 Record 27-41-8 47.8% (24th) Scoring-chances-for % 50.3% (14th) 3.00 (15th) Goals per game 2.50 (32nd) 3.26 (24th) Goals against per game 3.29 (26th0 20.9% (20th) PP% 21.0% (19th) 80.3% (13th) PK% 80.9% (11th) 1-0-0 Head-to-Head Record 0-1-0 At a couple of points this season the Predators have had stretches where they seemed to put everything together. They have matched Montreal with two winning streaks of at least four games, most recently having one from March 4 to 11 versus a group of non-playoff teams. Since then they’ve lost 10 of 12, including their last five matches. Going back to their annual road trip to California that began on March 11 with the final win of that four-game streak, they’ve scored one goal or less eight times in 13 games.
It’s a team that shouldn’t offer much resistance to the Canadiens today, but the Habs have had a bad habit of expecting the two points to just fall into their lap, not coming out of the gate working to grab them on their own. It took them a period to find their game versus Boston on Thursday and two to get going versus Philadelphia. The players know they can ramp up their level and turn a game around with a few good shifts in a row, but that’s not a good pattern for the team to fall in while they still need some wins in the final six games.
You have to wonder what Jonathan Marchessault is thinking as the Canadiens come to town looking to improve their odds of making the post-season. He whittled his options down to two teams in free agency last summer: the Predators and the Canadiens, saying afterward it was a close decision on which team to sign with. As he now works on his summer vacation plans, the only post-season travel arrangements on Canadiens players’ minds are what they would take to Washington, D.C. for an opening round matchup with the Washington Capitals.
When he signed his contract, he surely believed that Nashville gave him the better shot at a Stanley Cup, especially since he was 33 at the time he signed the five-year contract on July 1. He had one point in his last 10 games before exiting the lineup for the match on March 31, and it appears the centreman will have a bird’s-eye view of today’s game as arguably the most promising team in the NHL comes to Bridgestone Arena for a visit.
