After a big win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night, the Montreal Canadiens will take on yet another team that’s fighting for its playoff life on Thursday night: the Columbus Blue Jackets. Rick Bowness’men recently overtook the Pittsburgh Penguins in second place of the Metropolitan Division, but they only have a one-point lead over Sidney Crosby and co. Columbus has a 6-3-1 record in its last 10 games and has won its last two duels with the Habs. The two teams still have two games left to play against each other, with their last meeting of the season scheduled for April 11.
Neither coach has confirmed who will get the start in net, but the smart money says we should get a duel between Jakub Dobes and Jet Greaves. The Czech netminder was amazing for the Canadiens on Tuesday night, stopping 41 of the 43 shots he received, and he’s earned this start. He’s only faced the Blue Jackets once in his career and has a 2.79 goals-against average and a .870 save percentage. As for Jacob Fowler, he has never taken them on. Regardless of who mans the net tonight, both goalies should see some action this weekend as the Habs have a back-to-back, facing the Nashville Predators on Saturday and the Hurricanes on Sunday.
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At the other end of the ice, Columbus’s number one goaltender, Jet Greaves, has a 2-0-0 record against the Habs, but his stats aren’t great with a 3.36 GAA and a .889 SV. Meanwhile, Elvis Merzlikins has a 3.44 GAA and an .880 SV.
Up front, the Canadiens’ top line is red hot right now, with Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky being on seven-game point streaks and Cole Caufield being on a six-game point streak. Suzuki is the Habs’ most productive forward against the Jackets with 18 points in just 16 games, followed by Brendan Gallagher and Mike Matheson, who both have 16 points, the former in 32 games and the latter in 23. Caufield comes in fourth place with 13 points, but he only needed 11 games to rack them up. The sniper has seven goals in his last six games, and he’s chasing the 50-goal milestone. He currently has 44 lamplighters with 12 games to go and is on pace for 52 goals on the season. As for Lane Hutson, he has five points in four games against Columbus, including two points in the first duel between the two teams this season.
Former Hab Sean Monahan is the Blue Jackets’ most productive player against the Canadiens with 22 points in 29 games. Charlie Coyle comes in second place with 21 points in 29 games, and defenseman Zach Werenski comes in third place with 18 points in 22 games. Montreal will also need to keep an eye on Kirill Marchenko, who has six points in seven duels with the Habs and is second in scoring for the Ohio outfit this season.
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While Columbus has won the last two games between the two sides, they’ve only won three of the last 10 confrontations, and their last win in Montreal was in February 2022.
The Canadiens are currently hanging on to third place in the Atlantic Division with 88 points, the same total as the Boston Bruins, who are in the first wild card spot, but Montreal has two games in hand. The Habs have a three-point lead over the Ottawa Senators, who currently hold the last playoff spot in the east, and Montreal also has a game in hand on them.
The game is set for 7:00 PM, and you can catch it on RDS, TSN2, and FDSNOH. Graham Skilliter and Jake Brenk will officiate, while Tyson Baker and Kyle Flemington will be the linemen. This will be the Canadiens’ last home game before a five-game road trip that will see them play five times over eight days. They will then have a four-game homestand in the second week of April before ending their season with a short two-game road trip.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
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