It’s game day in St. Louis. Canadiens vs Blues drops the puck tonight at 8 p.m. Montreal time (7 p.m. local) at Enterprise Center, the third stop on a four-game road trip that has gone perfectly so far. The Habs arrive with back-to-back wins in Chicago and at the Heritage Classic in Winnipeg, while the Blues are looking to bounce back from a shutout loss. In Canada, the game airs on TSN2 and RDS. All stats below are as of Oct. 26.
Canadiens vs Blues: how they come in
Montreal is 6-3-2 with 14 points, fifth in the Atlantic Division and eighth in the Eastern Conference. The Habs beat Chicago 4-1 on Friday, then edged Winnipeg 2-1 outdoors on Sunday behind a 33-save performance from Jacob Fowler, who, according to the Canadiens’ recap, became the youngest goalie in NHL history to start an outdoor game.
St. Louis is 5-5-1 with 11 points, sixth in the Central Division. The Blues have been streaky: road losses in Minnesota (5-4) and Nashville (5-2) were followed by home wins over Winnipeg (2-1) and Vegas (6-2), before the Carolina Hurricanes shut them out 4-0 on Saturday.
Special teams and faceoffs
As of Oct. 26, per NHL.com’s game centre, Montreal’s power play was clicking at just 12.5 per cent, 28th in the league, while the Blues’ was at 24.1 per cent, 10th. The penalty kills are nearly identical, and the Habs win 53.4 per cent of faceoffs, sixth-best in the NHL.
There’s a fun subplot behind the bench, too: Martin St. Louis brings his Canadiens to, yes, St. Louis. This is the first of two meetings this season; the Blues visit the Bell Centre on Jan. 21.
Habs to watch
- Jacob Fowler: 5-1-0 with a 1.79 goals-against average, a .924 save percentage and one shutout in six games.
- Jake Evans: Scored twice, including a shorthanded goal, and added an assist in Chicago, per the NHL.com recap.
- Lane Hutson: 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in 11 games, including the opening goal at the Heritage Classic.
- Cole Caufield: Leads the team with six goals and picked up two assists in Winnipeg.
- Kaiden Guhle: Has goals in each of the last two games, including Sunday’s winner.
Blues to watch
- Dylan Holloway: 10 points (three goals, seven assists).
- Mason McTavish: 10 points, with a team-high-tying six goals.
- Jimmy Snuggerud: Six goals and eight points.
- Joel Hofer: The Blues’ busiest goalie, 4-3-1 with a 2.40 GAA and .917 save percentage in eight games. Jordan Binnington is 1-2-0 with a 4.68 GAA.
Three keys to the game
1. Keep the depth scoring coming
Captain Nick Suzuki, who still leads the team with 12 points in nine games, is out two to four weeks with an upper-body injury announced Oct. 22. Since then, the goals have come from all over the lineup: Evans, Guhle, Hutson and Mike Matheson all scored on this trip. Owen Beck, recalled from the Laval Rocket on Oct. 22, picked up an assist on Evans’s first goal in Chicago.
At the Oct. 22 practice after Suzuki got hurt, Oliver Kapanen centred Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky. “It’s a huge loss. Nobody can really fill Suzy’s shoes,” Caufield said. That matters against a Blues team that ranked 22nd on draws as of Oct. 26.
2. Ride the hot goalie
Fowler has allowed just two goals on 55 shots over the two weekend wins. Whether he starts again or Jakub Dobes (1-2-2) gets the call on this trip, the Habs have been at their best when they keep games low-event.
3. Win the first period
The Blues were held scoreless in their last game as of Oct. 26, and an early Montreal goal would put pressure on a team that had lost three of its last five. A fast start would also help the Habs protect energy, with another road game in Dallas on Thursday.
For the full weekend story, read our Heritage Classic weekend recap. The last time the Habs played at home, they fell 4-3 in overtime to San Jose, a game we previewed in our Sharks preview.
Where to watch and what’s next
Watching from home base? Our guide to the best bars to watch the Canadiens lists spots across the city. If you missed how the season started, our Habs Watch from mid-October is a good refresher.
After St. Louis, the Canadiens visit the Dallas Stars on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, then return to the Bell Centre on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 7 p.m. to host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Halloween. For all our coverage, head to the MTL365 sports page. Allez les Habs!
More on MTL365
- Hot, Cold, Repeat: 6 Nordic Spas in and Around Montreal for the First Cold Nights of November
- Beyond Schwartz’s: 8 Spots for the Best Smoked Meat in Montreal
- Winter Tires in Quebec: The Dec. 1 Deadline, the Fines and What Actually Counts
- More Montreal sports on MTL365
Photo: Chris Yunker / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Sources: NHL.com (Canadiens), NHL.com, NHL.com, NHL.com, NHL.com (practice)
