Monday morning, CH trained leaving Michael Pezzetta and Oliver Kapanen out of the top-12. One had to wonder if that meant these guys were going to skip their turn on Wednesday night. And obviously, the answer is yes.
At practice this morning, the lines were the same as Monday. What that means is that this is surely the team that will face the Maple Leafs this evening at the Bell Centre.
Note that it is Samuel Montembeault who will be in front of the net.
Can we understand that CH wants to wait before starting Kapanen against Toronto because it will be confusing? We can think that this is part of the answer.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Kapanen play his first NHL game tomorrow night. Emil Heineman, even if he is on the four, will have to play a big one this evening.
Alex Barré-Boulet, as we saw coming in the last few days, managed to break into the top-9. It was with Christian Dvorak and Josh Anderson that he lined up to play his first match with the Canadian.
Note that he will obviously be the only player who will make his debut with CH. Every other player on the roster has played at least one game in a Flannel uniform before. Heineman and Lane Hutson don’t have much experience under the tie, however.
Defensively, no debate: Jayden Struble’s injury, which is visibly day to day, forces Martin St-Louis to use his six healthy defenders. That was expected.
And the guys were also motivated by Stéphane Robidas, who asked them “why not us” during practice.
Remember that this week, the Canadian will host the Maple Leafs (tonight, obviously) before facing the Bruins in Boston tomorrow evening. And on Saturday, Ottawa will be in town.
How many points will the CH get out of six?
In burst
– Oui.
– Du grand Manny Machado.
– Read about the captain.
– Nice contract.
– Joseph Woll is injured.
