Less than 24 hours after their loss at Elmont, the Montreal Canadiens visit Broadway, where head coach Martin St-Louis doesn’t want to see his squad play the New York Rangers against tourists.
• Also read: 20-year-old goalies: A rare commodity in the NHL
• Also read: Canadians: lose the match and Evans
Hot on their heels after two quick attacks from the Islanders in the first half on Saturday, the Habs failed to capitalize on their chances over the next 40 minutes, losing 2-1. At midday he meets an impressive side who have just benefited from the two rest days.
The beginning of the game should set the tone for the game this time, for all the right reasons.
Third in the Metropolitan Division, Rangers (24-12-7) have just won their last two games and amassed 14 points in their last 10 games (6-2-2). During that sequence, they defeated the CH 4-1 thanks to a brace from Filip Chytil on January 4 at the Bell Center, signing a fifth win in their last seven duels against the Habs.
This time the New Yorkers are likely to miss an important piece. Chris Kreider is out with an upper body injury and his presence is in doubt. It was Quebec’s Alexis Lafrenière who took his front row seat with Mika Zibanejad and Kaapo Kakko in Dallas.
Speaking of cripples, in the bleu-blanc rouge, Jake Evans left the previous day’s game in the closing moments of the first period after an odd clash with Brock Nelson in the faceoff circle and was spotted wearing a knee brace exiting the UBS Arena.
St-Louis, relying on a formation of seven defenders, therefore forced his 10 attackers to make short presences and Chris Wideman made some presences up front.
No update on Evans’ condition or the length of his absence was offered. No Laval recall had been announced as of Sunday morning.
Samuel Montembeault (7-7-2), author of 36 saves against the Isles, could be back in front of the net. The other option is to give the net to Cayden Primeau, who was called up last week while Jake Allen is nursing an injury. It’s not out of the question that he’ll get his first launch since February 10, 2022.
Martin St-Louis will give an update on his training around 3pm.
The Canadiens are playing a five-game home series Tuesday.