Storylines Heading Into Tonight’s Leafs vs. Habs Game

Last year, Patrik Laine was taken out long-term when skating into the zone as Leafs prospect Cedric Paré connected with him on a knee-on-knee hit. It may not have been intentional to hurt him the way he did, but it’s clear Paré was looking to lay out Laine in any way possible to make a good impression on the Leafs. Unfortunately, it resulted in Laine blowing out his knee, and the Habs were lucky that the forward got a 2nd opinion, telling him he wouldn’t necessarily need surgery to recover from the injury. This allowed Laine to come back and play a key role in the Canadiens’ push for the playoffs last year. Hopefully, the same situation doesn’t present itself again, and the Canadiens come out of tonight with no major injuries, but tonight’s lineup definitely gives off a little PTSD from last season.

Luckily, there is no Cedric Paré in the lineup, but that wouldn’t stop a big guy like Cade Webber on defense, looking to take a run at the Habs’ top players to make his impression on the Leafs brass.

Looking on the positive side, Habs fans at the Bell Centre tonight will get to see how the real 2nd line performs together in a game tonight, as Kirby Dach makes his preseason debut. While on Monday, Laine and Demidov had their struggles playing alongside Oliver Kapanen, tonight will be a fresh start as the Habs hope their chemistry leads to some scoring tonight. This line will likely be the one to watch tonight for Habs fans.

The Canadiens’ top line of Juraj Slafkovsky-Nick Suzuki-Cole Caufield will be back in the lineup for the 2nd preseason game in a row and will be looking to build off the momentum they created together during the game on Tuesday against the Philadelphia Flyers. It’s honestly surprising that these players will play again tonight, as they definitely showed how preseason hockey was a little too simple for one of the top 10 lines in the entire NHL. The only reason they should be there tonight is to put on another offensive clinic. If there are players who could use more preseason action tonight, it would have been the Zachary Bolduc-Alex Newhook duo alongside a prospect like Owen Beck or Joshua Roy. Anyways, hopefully all goes well tonight for the Habs top line.

A notable fact for tonight’s game, following getting hit by a skate to the face on Tuesday, Slafkovsky will be wearing a full cage against the Leafs.

On defense, the Habs will be giving a chance to David Reinbacher to show what he can do with Kaiden Guhle tonight, giving Lane Hutson a night off. This will be a great test for the 20-year-old Austrian defenseman to show what he can do when paired alongside legitimate NHL talent.

The Canadiens will also be putting the Mike Matheson-Noah Dobson pairing back in the lineup tonight as the two are looking to gain more chemistry for the regular season. In nets, it’s likely that Samuel Montembeault and Jacob Fowler, who both had a great night on Monday, will split the net again tonight. 

On paper, the Canadiens should win this game easily, but depending on how the Maple Leafs’ prospects and fringe players play this game, it could come at a cost that may not be worth paying in the end. These preseason games can often be seen as trap games for top players.

What do you think of the Habs playing all their top 6 forwards and 3 of their top 4 defensemen tonight?