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Pregame: Canadiens vs Coyotes |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
To say things are not going well for the Habs right now would be kind of an understatement. Martin St-Louis’ men have dropped their last 3 games and there are plenty of injuries affecting the squad. Habs’ spark plug Brendan Gallagher is still out of commission, shot-blocking machine and veteran presence David Savard has been MIA since December 4th and today news came out that Mike Matheson didn’t make the trip, he stayed in Montreal to be reevaluated for a lower-body injury and will be out indefinitely. This is bad news for the Canadiens’ who’s very young blue line could sure use a steadying presence at the back, with just Edmundson and Wideman left to mentor their young teammates.
Meanwhile, Anthony Richard, no relation to either to the Rocket or the Pocket Rocket, was freshly recalled from the AHL and will be making his NHL debut tonight on the 4th line on the left of Jake Evans while Joel Armia will patrol the right side. In 27 games with the Rocket so far this season, the left winger has notched 31 points (18 goals and 13 assists) and has fully deserved a chance with the big club. Coach St-Louis should be particularly receptive to Richard, having been in his situation during his own career.
As expected, the Coyotes are not setting the league alight this season, they’ve got 24 points and are currently 29th in the league, if things go according to plan in the desert the Coyotes are likely to be competing for Connor Bedard come draft lottery time. In net, Karel Vejmelka will be getting the start for Arizona. The last time the 2 teams met, Connor Ingram was in net and the Canadiens had won 6-2, with Juraj Slafkosky scoring his first career goal. As this one is out west, the puck will only drop at 10:00 PM and you can catch the game on RDS and TSN 2.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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