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Weber out 2 games & Lindgren to start for Habs vs. Panthers |
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With the Atlantic division all but locked up for the Montreal Canadiens as they need just one win in their remaining four games to clinch first place, the team has decided to err on the side of caution as they visit the Florida Panthers Monday night. Although Al Montoya returned to practice this morning, Charlie Lindgren will get his second career NHL start against the Panthers while defenseman Shea Weber will sit out with a lower body injury. While perhaps it is possible that if it were a playoff game Weber would be in the lineup, there is hopefully little cause for concern as the Canadiens announced that he will also miss the game against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday and is returning to Montreal for further evaluation.
For now it sounds as though the Canadiens are shutting him down for the short term as a preventative measure. Many remember the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs when Weber was worn down with the Nashville Predators and unable to compete up to his typical standards against the San Jose Sharks. Since the next couple of games are essentially meaningless, the Canadiens are doing the right thing in resting their All-Star defenseman. If the injury lingers into the playoffs though there will absolutely be some worry as the Canadiens have not played a game without Weber all season. His minutes on the right side are essentially irreplaceable as the lack of depth is a weakness in the organization. For now, Nikita Nesterov will play his first game since February 27th while Steve Ott will also get back into the lineup in place of Michael McCarron.
The lines at practice this morning were:
Carey Price will get a well deserved night off as he has started the past five consecutive games for the Canadiens. With the playoffs around the corner and little left for the Canadiens to prove or play for, it makes sense to give him a little extra rest. Especially considering that he was supposed to have a day off last Tuesday against the Dallas Stars but was pressed into action when Montoya got hurt.
Lindgren was signed towards the end of the 2015-2016 as a free agent out of St. Cloud State and played admirably in his NHL debut, a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. In his first professional season with the St. John’s Ice Caps, Lindgren’s strong play in net has allowed the team to remain in the hunt for a playoff spot. With Montoya back at practice it is likely that Lindgren will be shortly returned to the Ice Caps. It is a good opportunity for the Canadiens to see how Lindgren has progressed from a year ago at the NHL level as he will be a restricted free agent this Summer, having burned the first year of his contract while playing in the NHL at the end of last season.
While tonight will be an opportunity for Nesterov to get his feet again having missed so much time with injury and then being unable to crack the lineup, it will be more interesting to see how Nathan Beaulieu and Alexei Emelin fare together for the third consecutive game. The duo have surprised in their ability to complement one another as they are often the most polarizing if not inconsistent of all Canadiens defensemen. However, if they are able to continue to play good hockey at both ends of the ice with one another, it opens up the possibility of putting Jordie Benn on the left side of Jeff Petry once he returns to full health. Petry is guilty of not playing consistent hockey, especially in the back half of the season. Much of the attention has been focused on his former partners Beaulieu and Emelin but perhaps the common denominator was Petry. When he is on his game Petry is a very complete player capable of playing big minutes. Case in point through the first 33 games of the season Petry scored eight goals, a career high. He has not scored since recording that eighth goal. Benn is capable of playing top four minutes and might just be the right partner to help stabilize and ground Petry, allowing him to play the way he is capable of.
The Panthers lineup tonight will be:
Shawn Thornton is conspicuously absent from their lineup. Is it a coincidence considering since his tasteless comments regarding Emelin following the Panthers loss to the Canadiens last Thursday? Reto Berra will start for the Panthers and Panthers head coach Tom Rowe announced that it is unlikely that defenseman Aaron Ekblad will play another game this season. The Panthers should have shut Ekblad down the moment he suffered his concussion. This was truly a poor judgement call from Rowe and the Panthers organization who did not do right by their player, especially considering this was Ekblad’s fourth concussion in three NHL seasons...
Puck drops at 7:30pm.
Cheers and enjoy the game!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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