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Pregame: Canadiens vs Avalanche |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
In the first game of a back-to-back, the Habs will take on the Colorado Avalanche tonight. The game will mark Arturri Lehkonen's return to the Bell Centre after he was traded at the trade deadling last season. The 27-year-old Finn played in Montreal for the best part of 6 seasons after being drafted by the Habs in the 2nd round at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. During his stay in Montreal, he was seen first and foremost as a defensive forward and lacked offensive opportunities. With Colorado, he got his fair share of opportunities and he's made the most of it, scoring the Stanley Cup winning goal for the Avs. Expect a warm welcome from the Habs' faithful tonight.
While there won't be any line-up changes for the Canadiens tonight, Martin St-Louis has decided to shuffle his lines. Nick Suzuki will be flanked by Rem Pitlick and Denis Gurianov, Jonathan Drouin will find himself in between Mike Hoffman and Josh Anderson, Chris Tierney will skate with Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Jesse Ylonen while the 4th line of Pezzetta, Belzile and Richard remains intact.
Justin Barron was back on the ice in a regular jersey this morning but Martin St-Louis has confirmed that the young defenseman will not be back in the line-up yet. If he's nursing a concussion as suspected, that's the best course of action.
The Canadiens progressed in the Connor Bedard derby last night through no fault of their own as the Coyotes edged the Wild in OT, earning 2 well-derved points and overtaking the Canadiens in the standings. Montreal now sits 28th in the standings and has an 8.5% chance of winning the lottery. Those are not big odds, but they are 1% better than they were yesterday.
The puck drop is set for 7:30 PM tonight, Jake Allen will man the net and it will be country night at the Bell Centre. Hopefully the boys will give it their whole to get that barn rocking.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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