Struble (upper-body) will make his season debut on Saturday vs. New York.
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Montreal Canadiens News
Line Change
Xhekaj will be a healthy scratch on Saturday vs. New York.
Mailloux will make his season debut on Saturday vs. New York.
Matheson (undisclosed) will play on Saturday after originally being a game-time decision.
Slafkovsky (shoulder) will play on Saturday after originally being a game-time decision.
Goalie Start
Primeau will start on Saturday in New York.
Slafkovsky (shoulder) will be a game-time decision on Saturday vs. the Islanders.
Slafkovsky suffered a shoulder injury at practice on Friday but will still travel with the team to New York for the Saturday matchup against the Islanders. The 20-year-old Slovak is off to a strong start to the 2024-25 campaign, with four points (1G / 3A) in five contests.
Guhle is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Guhle played 23:09 time-on-ice in Thursday's 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings but suffered a lower-body injury at some point. The 22-year-old defenseman has had a strong start to the 2024-25 season, tallying four points (1G / 3A), 20 blocks, seven hits, and a +4 plus/minus rating in five games.
Mailloux has been recalled from Laval (AHL).
Mailloux was the 31st overall pick of the Canadiens in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. The 21-year-old played one game with the Canadiens last season, his NHL debut, and recorded one assist. He has four points (2G / 2A) in two games this season with the Laval Rocket (AHL).
Goalie Start
Montembeault will start on Thursday vs. Los Angeles.
The Canadiens will turn to Montembeault in the crease for the third straight time and the fourth time in five games to start the season. Montembeault will attempt to erase his previous effort from his memory when he allowed five goals on 30 shots (.833 SV%) in a 6-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, his first loss of the season. The Canadiens enter action on Thursday as +120 home underdogs against a Los Angeles Kings team that lost 6-2 last night to the Toronto Maple Leafs and has allowed an absurd 14 goals in their last two games (0-1-1).
Struble (upper-body) is healthy and ready to return to the Canadiens.
Struble missed the first four games of the season due to an upper-body injury but is ready to return the lineup. The 23-year-old defenseman was impressive in his inaugural NHL season, tallying 10 points (3G / 7A), 53 blocks, and 121 hits while averaging 16:07 time-on-ice in 56 games.
Barre-Boulet has cleared waivers and been assigned to Laval (AHL).
Barré-Boulet failed to record a point and recorded a -2 plus/minus rating in the first two games of the season and was subsequently placed on waivers on Sunday. He will report to the Laval Rocket (AHL) after clearing waivers on Monday.
Goalie Start
Montembeault will start on Monday vs. Pittsburgh.
Montembeault has been a pleasant surprise for the Canadiens early in the 2023-24 campaign and will start for the third time in their first four games on Monday against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The 28-year-old Montembeault has stopped 72 of 73 shots faced this season (.986 SV%) in his first two contests (2-0-0). That said, the Canadiens enter action as +124 home underdogs against the Penguins.
Goalie Start
Montembeault led the Canadiens onto the ice for warmups and will start Saturday vs. Ottawa.
Montembeault stopped all 48 shots that he faced in Canadiens' shutout win over the Maple Leafs on Wednesday. It was an outstanding start to the season for Montembeault, who was fourth in the NHL in QualityStart% (70.0%) a season ago. Tonight, he'll face the Senators as +139 home underdogs.
Goalie Start
Montembeault is expected to start Saturday vs. the Senators.
Montembeault stopped all 48 shots that he faced in Canadiens' shutout win over the Maple Leafs on Wednesday. It was an outstanding start to the season for Montembeault, who was fourth in the NHL in QualityStart% (70.0%) a season ago. Tonight, he'll face the Senators as +139 home underdogs.
Heineman is expected to be back in the Canadiens lineup on Saturday.
Heineman had two SOG and three hits in 9:40 TOI in the Canadiens season opener but was a healthy scratch in their second game. He'll replace Alex Barré-Boulet on the fourth line on Saturday.
Barré-Boulet is expected to be a healthy scratch on Saturday.
Barré-Boulet failed to record a point and was a minus-2 rating in the first two games of the season. He'll be replaced by Emil Heineman on the Canadiens' fourth line.
Lindstrom has cleared waivers and been loaned to the Laval Rocket (AHL).
Lindstrom played for the Canadiens last season before being placed on waivers and being claimed by the Anaheim Ducks. The Canadiens signed him to a one-year, two-way contract on Wednesday and subsequently placed him on waivers. In his first stint with the Canadiens last season, Lindstrom tallied six points (0G / 6A), a +12 plus/minus rating, 40 blocks, and 54 hits in 32 games.
Heineman will be a healthy scratch on Thursday in Boston.
Oliver Kapanen will draw into the Canadiens lineup for his NHL debut on Thursday, resulting in Heineman being a healthy scratch. The 22-year-old Heineman playing 9:40 time-on-ice in his season debut last night, recording two shots and two penalty minutes.
Goalie Start
Primeau will start on Thursday in Boston.
The Canadiens won their season opener 1-0 over the Toronto Maple Leafs last night, courtesy of an outstanding 48-save shutout performance by Sam Montembeault. However, the Canadiens will turn to Primeau between the pipes on Thursday for the tail end of their back-to-back set. The 25-year-old Primeau faced the heaviest workload of his young career last season and was impressive doing so, posting a solid 2.99 GAA and .910 SV% in 23 appearances (8-9-4). The Canadiens enter action on Thursday as sizeable +239 road underdogs against the Boston Bruins.
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