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The Montreal Canadiens (6-3-2) will face the St. Louis Blues (5-5-1) on Tuesday night, with puck drop set for 8 p.m. ET.
The Habs are coming off a 2-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets at the Heritage Classic, their second straight victory without captain Nick Suzuki.
Suzuki’s absence is notable given his central role in nearly every key aspect of the game, both offensively and defensively. Yet the Canadiens have received timely contributions from secondary and tertiary sources over the past two games. Defenceman Kaiden Guhle has scored in consecutive contests and posted a clear uptick in underlying numbers since returning from off-season surgery. He is not alone: Lane Hutson and Mike Matheson have also found the scoresheet recently.
Up front, Jake Evans has rediscovered his scoring touch, notching a pair of goals against the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday. The Canadiens cannot rely on bottom-six players to produce every night, but with Suzuki sidelined they will need role players to elevate their offensive game. Suzuki’s value remains unmistakable, he still leads the team in scoring with five goals and seven assists in 12 games despite missing the last two.
Jacob Fowler will start again in net for Montreal, backed by strong numbers through six games: a 1.79 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage. There is little debate that Fowler has clearly outplayed Jakub Dobes this season.
On the roster front, the Canadiens will sit Arber Xhekaj and insert Adam Engstrom. The move makes statistical sense, as Engstrom has posted impressive numbers so far this year. Engstrom doesn’t hold the same pedigree as other prospects, but his actual results have eclipsed most young blueliners in the Canadiens system over the course of the last two seasons.
Cole Caufield – Oliver Kapanen – Juraj Slafkovsky
Chris Kreider- Alex Newhook – Josh Anderson
Zach Bolduc – Phillip Danault – Alexandre Texier
Kirby Dach – Jake Evans – Florian Xhekaj
Lane Hutson – Noah Dobson
Kaiden Guhle – Alexandre Carrier
Mike Matheson – Adam Engstrom*
Jacob Fowler
Dylan Holloway – Robert Thomas – Jimmy Snuggerud
Connor McMichael – Mason McTavish – Jonatan Berggren
Jake Neighbours – Dalibor Dvorsky – Pavel Buchnevich
Aleksanteri Kaskimaki – Pius Suter – Otto Stenberg
Philip Broberg – Justin Barron
Adam Jiricek – Colton Parayko
Cam Fowler – Brandon Carlo
Jordan Binnington
The Montreal Canadiens versus the St. Louis Blues, Tuesday, October 27, will be aired on TSN2 and RDS. An instant recap complete with highlights will be immediately available on Sportsnaut once the final whistle blows.