Canadiens: Last Chance Saloon

Yahoo

16-04-2025

Nick Suzuki never has it easy against the Hurricanes. Photo credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images
This is it—the last chance saloon for the Montreal Canadiens. They have had three opportunities to secure a playoff berth so far and failed each time. On Tuesday night, the Columbus Blue Jackets continued their splendid form, beating the Philadelphia Flyers in regulation to keep their slim hope of making the Spring dance alive. On Wednesday night on the Bell Centre ice, the Habs must secure a single point against the Carolina Hurricanes to return to the Stanley Cup playoffs.
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Thankfully for Montreal, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind ' Amour has already confirmed that he won't be dressing all his regulars for the first game of a back-to-back, which will see them face the Ottawa Senators on Thursday. The Canes can't move up or down in the standings regardless of what happens in their last two matchups, and it makes sense for them to rest some players.
Even though that means a more straightforward task on paper for the Canadiens, this team lost at home to the second-to-last team in the league. There is no such thing as an easy win right now.
The Habs and Canes battled a little over two weeks ago, and the Carolina outfit won the game 4-1. Montreal did, however, come out on top 4-0 in the first game after the Four Nations Face-Off break. Still, the Canes have won nine of the last 10 games between the two sides, and this is probably the team against which Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield struggle the most. The Habs captain is minus-17 against them and has just four points in 14 games.
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Samuel Montembeault was in the net for both duels so far this season, and he's likely to be once again, even if he has a 1-6-1 record against the visitors. He also has a 3.02 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage. As for Jakub Dobes, he's never played them.
No word yet on who will be manning the net for the visitors. Pyotr Kochetkov has taken on the Canadiens only once and came out on top; he pitched a perfect game, and nobody could score on him. As for Frederik Andersen, he is 15-5-2 against the hosts with a 2.29 GAA and a .924. In other words, whoever is in the net will pose a significant challenge for the Habs.
Up front, the Canadiens' most productive player against the Canes is Patrik Laine, who has 22 points in 25 games. After a tough game against the Chicago Blackhawks, he will be looking to bounce back in a big way. Alternate captain Brendan Gallagher is second with 15 points in 30 games, while David Savard completes the top three with 11 points in 46 games.
As for Carolina, Sebastian Aho leads the way with 24 points in 22 games, followed by Jordan Staal with 23 points in 54 games and Taylor Hall with 22 points in 26 matches.
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It will be interesting to see how Martin St-Louis decides to deploy Ivan Demidov, especially considering his team has always struggled to score on the Canes. Every time the rookie was on the ice on Monday night, he impacted the game and created chances, something the coach should consider.
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