Canadiens: Clipping The Wings

The Montreal Canadiens started to turn their season around when they beat the Detroit Red Wings in a back to back with Samuel Montembeault in net, and tonight, they'll hope to win the third match up against the two sides.

After signing a spectacular comeback win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night, the Montreal Canadiens headed to Detroit to take on the Red Wings tonight. The last time the two teams met was in a back-to-back shortly before the Christmas break, and those 4-3 and 5-1 win could be seen as the turning point of the Canadiens' season. 

If the Wings were ahead of the Habs back then, it's not the case anymore. Both teams have played 47 games but the Canadiens currently have 52 points in the standings and are occupying the second Wild Card spot while the Wings have 47 points and are 25th in the league. 

Yesterday, after practice, Martin St-Louis confirmed Samuel Montembeault would be getting a second start in a row, which is fully deserved after his stellar play against the Lightning. The Becancour native has got a 3-0-2 record against the Detroit outfit with a .899 save percentage and a 2.73 goals-against average.

There's no word yet as to who will man the net for the Wings between Alex Lyon or Cam Talbot. They split the duty during the back-to-back, Lyon had given up five goals while Talbot surrendered four.  The former has a 4-2-0 record against Montreal with a .879 SP and a 3.15 GAA. As for Talbot, he's 8-3-1 with a .941 save percentage and a 1.58 GAA. Lyon was in net for the Wings' last game and so far this season, Talbot has seen most of the action, it would therefore make sense for him to be in the crease. 

Brendan Gallagher, who will play his 800th game tonight, is the most productive forward against the Wings he has 29 points in 35 games, closely followed by Patrik Laine who's on 20 points in 22 games. Nick Suzuki wraps up the top three with 14 points in 17 games. The Canadiens sent Owen Beck back to the Laval Rocket, which means Michael Pezzetta will be back in the line-up tonight. 

On the other side, Patrick Kane leads the way with 22 points in 26 games, followed by Dylan Larkin with 19 points in 34 games and Alex DeBrincat wraps up the top three with 18 points in 17 games. 

Montreal has only won four of the last 10 duels between the two sides, but it includes the last 2. Tonight's tilt will be the third of four between the two sides this season and the puck is set to drop at 7:00 PM.