Sports
LAS VEGAS — The Canadiens skated at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday morning ahead of their matchup against the Golden Knights.
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Here are the lines and defense pairings featured by head coach Dominique Ducharme:
| Thursday, January 20 Morning skate |
||
|---|---|---|
| LW | C | RW |
| 73 – Tyler Toffoli | 14 – Nick Suzuki | 71 – Jake Evans |
| 92 – Jonathan Drouin | 32 – Rem Pitlick | 17 – Josh Anderson |
| 45 – Laurent Dauphin | 28 – Christian Dvorak | 68 – Mike Hoffman |
| 55 – Michael Pezzetta | 25 – Ryan Poehling | 62 – Artturi Lehkonen |
| 13 – Cedric Paquette | 42 – Lukas Vejdemo | |
| LD | RD | G |
| 8 – Ben Chiarot | 58 – David Savard | 35 – Sam Montembeault |
| 43 – Kale Clague | 26 – Jeff Petry | 30 – Cayden Primeau |
| 27 – Alexander Romanov | 20 – Chris Wideman | 70 – Michael McNiven |
| 15 – Sami Niku | 77 – Brett Kulak | |
| 64 – Corey Schueneman | ||
Forwards Joel Armia and Cole Caufield are unavailable for the second straight game after entering the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol on January 18.
During his pregame press conference, Ducharme confirmed that he’d be sticking with the same lineup that posted a 5-3 win over the Stars on Tuesday night.
That means that goaltender Sam Montembeault can build on his spectacular 48-save performance in Dallas.
“Monty played unbelievable. He was definitely our backbone in net. He made some outstanding saves, so he was the first star in that game,” praised right-winger Josh Anderson. “That’s why we got the win, because of him.”
Video: MTL@DAL: Montembeault does the splits to stop Seguin
Anderson on Hughes: ‘He has a passion for the game’
Ducharme’s troops will meet newly appointed general manager Kent Hughes at some point today.
Admittedly, Anderson did some homework on the now former player agent who will be working alongside Jeff Gorton to run the Canadiens’ hockey operations department.
“Just reading up about him last night, he has a passion for the game, loves hockey, brings a lot of energy and knows a lot of people in the game,” noted Anderson. “It’s going to be a great addition to our organization.”
Video: Josh Anderson on the arrival of Kent Hughes
Like Anderson, Jake Evans is pleased that the front-office vacancy has been officially filled.
“It’s nice getting it settled and knowing who you’re going to be working with and working for over the next few years,” said Evans. “I’m looking forward to getting to work and helping this team win some more games.”
Tweet from @CanadiensMTL: Kent Hughes’ first day in photos 👀#GoHabsGo
Anderson on Drouin: ‘He’s very intelligent on the ice’
Jonathan Drouin is looking to extend his point streak to three straight games tonight.
After collecting a pair of assists against Arizona on Monday, Drouin added another versus Dallas.
The 26-year-old ranks second on the roster in scoring with 20 points (6 goals, 14 assists), just one point behind Nick Suzuki.
Anderson couldn’t be happier to see Drouin enjoy some well-deserved success.
“He’s been very consistent. He’s very intelligent on the ice, very smart, and he knows where his linemates are at all times. He plays that 200-foot game that people don’t realize, and he had a lot of confidence going into this year. He’s producing and he’s feeling pretty good, so it’s great to see after what he went through last year,” mentioned Anderson. “It’s exciting because we all know that Drou loves the game of hockey. You can see it, you can see what he brings to our hockey team. It’s really good to see.”