Less than 24 hours after their defeat in Elmont, the Montreal Canadiens are visiting Broadway, where head coach Martin St-Louis does not intend to see his troops playing tourists against the New York Rangers.
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Hot on their heels after two quick attacks by the Islanders in the first period on Saturday, the Habs were unable to capitalize on their chances in the next 40 minutes, losing 2-1. midday, he will face a formidable team which has just benefited from two days of rest.
The start of the match should this time set the tone for the match for the right reasons.
Third in the Metropolitan Division, the Rangers (24-12-7) have just won their last two games and have amassed 14 points in their last 10 meetings (6-2-2). During this sequence, they defeated the CH 4 to 1 at the Bell Center on January 4, thanks to a brace from Filip Chytil. They thus signed a fifth win in their last seven duels against the Habs.
This time, New Yorkers should miss an important piece. Chris Kreider is sidelined with an upper body injury and his presence is questionable. It was Quebecer Alexis Lafrenière who took his place on the first line with Mika Zibanejad and Kaapo Kakko, in Dallas.
Speaking of cripples, at the Bleu-blanc-Rouge, Jake Evans left the previous day’s game in the last moments of the first period following a strange collision with Brock Nelson in the face-off circle. was seen with a knee brace leaving UBS Arena.
St-Louis, which relied on a formation of seven defenders, therefore imposed short presences on its 10 attackers and Chris Wideman made a few presences up front.
No update on Evans’ condition was offered, nor the length of his absence. No recall from Laval has 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 will be to give the net to Cayden Primeau, called up last week while Jake Allen is nursing an injury. It is not excluded that he will get his first start since February 10, 2022.
Martin St-Louis will provide an update on his training around 3 p.m.
The Canadiens will play a five-game home streak on Tuesday.
