Here are five things you should know about Thursday’s game between the Canadiens (26-33-5) and New York Rangers (35-19-9) at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).
Habs are struggling: The Canadiens, with a lengthy injury list, are on a four-game winless streak (0-3-1) with all four losses by one goal, including Tuesday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at the Bell Centre. The Canadiens’ longest winless streak this season is seven games, when they went 0-5-2 between Dec. 21 and Jan. 5. For those focusing on the NHL draft lottery, the Canadiens sit in 27th place in the overall NHL standings and are 10 points ahead of the last-place Columbus Blue Jackets. Defenceman Kaiden Guhle, who missed the last two games with an upper-body injury, will return to the Canadiens’ lineup against the Rangers, taking the spot of Jordan Harris, who is now sidelined with a lower-body injury. Forward Christian Dvorak (lower-body injury) will also miss the game and will be replaced by Anthony Richard, who was called up from the AHL’s Laval Rocket. Samuel Montembeault will start in goal for the Canadiens, who now have 11 players on the injured list.
The Shootout King: Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki is 5-for-5 in shootouts after scoring with another spectacular move during Tuesday’s loss to the Hurricanes. The only player in the NHL with more shootout goals this season is the Minnesota Wild’s Frédérick Gaudreau, who is 7-for-11. Suzuki has 4-3-7 totals in the last eight games and leads the Canadiens in scoring with 21-28-49 totals. Cole Caufield, who has missed the last 18 games following season-ending shoulder surgery, still ranks second in team scoring with 26-10-36 totals.
Drouin producing: If there was any interest from other teams in Jonathan Drouin, you’d have to think Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes would have dealt him before last Friday’s NHL trade deadline. Drouin, who is earning US$5.5 million and is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, is playing for his future and he has been producing. The 27-year-old is on a three-game points streak with 1-3-4 totals over that span and has 1-13-14 totals in the last 16 games. While Drouin only has one goal this season, he ranks third on the Canadiens in assists with 21, trailing only Suzuki (28) and Kirby Dach (23). Drouin has missed 23 games because of injuries.
New stars on Broadway: The Rangers are 0-2 since acquiring Patrick Kane from the Chicago Blackhawks ahead of the trade deadline and are coming off a 4-2 loss to the Bruins Saturday in Boston. Kane was held pointless in his first two games with the Rangers and was a combined minus-4. In 54 games with the Blackhawks, the 34-year-old had 16-29-45 totals and was minus-23. The Rangers also acquired Vladimir Tarasenko from the St. Louis Blues last month. In 12 games with the Rangers, the 31-year-old has 4-5-9 totals.
The No. 1 pick: Alexis Lafrenière, the No. 1 overall pick by the Rangers at the 2020 NHL Draft, scored both goals in Saturday’s loss to the Bruins, giving him 13-18-31 totals in 62 games. The 21-year-old was made a healthy scratch for one game in late December and has 44-39-83 totals in 197 career games with the Rangers. Tim Stützle, selected third overall by Ottawa at the 2020 draft, has 65-88-153 totals in 191 games with the Senators. Artemi Panarin leads the Rangers in scoring this season with 19-50-69 totals, followed by Mika Zibanejad (32-35-67) and Adam Fox (10-47-57).
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