After a productive trip west where the Canadiens picked up five points out of a possible eight, Martin St-Louis’ troops are back at the Bell Center on Saturday night to face the Los Angeles Kings.
Anze Kopitar opened the scoring at 9:34 of the first period by taking a pass from Kevin Fiala from behind the net, while Victor Arvidsson doubled the lead just 19 seconds later.
It is with remodeled lines that Montreal will try to obtain a second victory in a row. Due to the lack of Sean Monahan, it is Kirby Dach who finds himself at the center of the second line. The 21-year-old great completes a line with Juraj Slafkovsky and Mike Hoffman, who is returning to action following a three-week absence.
Josh Anderson finds himself on the right of Cole Caufiled and Nick Suzuki on the first line. The Habs No. 17 is familiar with this role, having completed the youth line for the majority of games over the past year.
On his side, Mike Matheson took part in training following missing Thursday’s session due to treatment. However, the Pointe-Claire native will not be in tonight’s game.
With the absence of another veteran on the blue line in David Savard, St-Louis also had to form new defensive pairs.
For their part, the Kings and the striker Phillip Danault will look to bounce back from a 5-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.
The Canadian is playing a second game this season wearing his jersey Reverse Retro powder blue.
He’s the veteran Jake Allen who defends the Montreal cage.
For the Kings, it’s Phoenix Copley who sits in front of the net. The 30-year-old goaltender will get his second start this season, following a strong 31-save performance in a win over the Senators last Tuesday.
Formation du CH :
Caufield-Suzuki-Anderson
Dadonov-Dvorak-Armia
Slafkovsky-Dach-Hoffman
Pezzetta-Evans-Pitlick
Edmundson-Guhle
Harris-Kovacevic
Xhekaj-Wideman
Allen
Montembeault
Formation des Kings :
Fiala-Kopitar-Kaliyev
Moore – Danault – Arvidsson
Iafallo–Kempe–Vilardi
Ground Current – Lizotte – Anderson-Dolan
Anderson – Doughty
Durzi-Roy
Noble—Walker
Phoenix Copley
Jonathan Quick