The Habs Looking To Bounce Back Against Ducks

The Montreal Canadiens announced that Samuel Montembeault will get the start in tonight’s game against the Ducks, which is the first of a back-to-back as they take on the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday at 7:00 pm ET. Montembeault’s last start came against the New York Islanders, where he played well the majority of the night but failed to make big saves late, which cost the Canadiens a win in their first game back from the Olympic break. The Habs netminder has continued to be very inconsistent, but they will need him to want to prove himself tonight if the Canadiens want to stand a chance of winning tonight.

We won’t know which version of Montembeault we will have until the puck drops. Unfortunately the version of him that has struggled seems to show up more often than not, but he’s only played two games since Eric Raymond was fired as goalie coach, so that could play a factor. Hopefully, they can get the version of him that played really well in the final game before the Olympic break against the Winnipeg Jets. One thing is clear: his performance tonight will surely dictate how things play out for the Habs tonight.

Aside from Montembeault getting the start, the Habs will likely be rolling three different lines that were used at practice on Thursday, which includes Juraj Slafkovsky back with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki. Alex Newhook should be playing with Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov on the 2nd line. The 3rd line is expected to be Jake Evans between Zack Bolduc and Kirby Dach. While the veteran line of Josh Anderson-Phillip Danault-Brendan Gallagher will stay the same.

The Canadiens have struggled in Anaheim, as they have only won once in their last 9 visits to the Honda Centre, including last year, when they lost 3-2. The Habs will be looking to prevent their struggles from getting worse in Anaheim by coming up with a big victory. However, it certainly won’t be easy, as both teams have entered the next steps in their rebuild where they are now playoff contenders. Both teams will be hungry to win tonight, and it could come down to how good the goaltending can be.

In nets for the Ducks, it will be Lukas Dostal, who is coming off a rough performance of his own on Tuesday, where the Ducks lost 5-1 to the Colorado Avalanche. However, he had won 4 straight games before his last start. Dostal has a 24-14-2 record on the season with an .894 save percentage and 3.02 GAA. With that being said, he has been getting wins for the Ducks, but his play hasn’t necessarily stood out as great this season, which could lead to a high-scoring game between the Habs and Ducks tonight. In 4 career starts against the Habs, Dostal has a 2-1-1 record with a .897 save percentage and a 2.69 GAA.

Given recent trends for both Montembeault and Dostal, betting the Over 6.5 Goal Total seems like a solid wager for tonight’s matchup. The over has paid out in the last 3 Habs games. On the money line, the bookmakers have listed the game as a -110 pick’em on both sides, which shows that they expect it to be a close game tonight.

Since coming back from injury, Newhook has been on a 3-game point streak as he continues to play some of the best hockey of his NHL career. His odds to record at least 1 point in tonight’s game are set at +135. Are you backing Newhook to produce offensively again tonight?

Will the Canadiens bounce back and get a win tonight in Anaheim?