MTL@EDM: What you need to know

EDMONTON – The back end of the “Alberta Double” unfolds in Edmonton when the Canadiens and Oilers go head-to-head at Rogers Place on Tuesday.

Here’s what you need to know heading into the game:

1. The Canadiens suffered a 5-2 setback at the hands of the Calgary Flames last time out, but the scoreline barely tells the story of Saturday’s game. Montreal outshot their opponents 38-28, and, one would argue, outplayed Calgary for the majority of the outing at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Nonetheless, it was the home side who left the building with the two points. Cole Caufield, who recorded his third 20-goal season, and David Savard found the back of the net, and Cayden Primeau made 23 saves for the bleu-blanc-rouge.

Nick Suzuki and Caufield connected for the Canadiens’ opening goal in Calgary, and also combined to score the Habs’ lone goal against the Oilers in a 2-1 overtime loss on Jan. 13. Samuel Montembeault stopped 39 shots in the Montreal net in the teams’ only other meeting this season that night at the Bell Centre.

2. Edmonton, for their part, were on the losing side of a buzzer beater against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. Former Hab, Artturi Lehkonen, emerged as the overtime hero, netting the winning goal with half a second remaining on the clock to send the Avs rejoicing. The defeat marked only the 11^th home loss – regulation and overtime combined – for the Oilers this season, and only their sixth loss at Rogers Place in 24 games since Nov. 23. The Oilers have registered separate eight- and 16-game winning streaks since that date, the latter which was a franchise record. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, and Evan Bouchard, among others have propelled the Oilers to second place in the Pacific Division, and eight points behind the Vancouver Canucks with three games in hand ahead of Tuesday’s contest.

3. Kaiden Guhle is set to face his hometown team in Edmonton for the second time in his young career, but the 22-year-old is no stranger to Rogers Place. Guhle played for the Edmonton Oil Kings in the Western Hockey League, where he won a WHL Championship in 2022. Meanwhile, Brendan Gallagher, another Edmonton, AB native, is set to face the Oilers for the 21^sttime in the NHL. The forward has collected 13 points in 20 games against the Oil in his 11-year career.

“You know what you’re up against on the other side,” Gallagher said. “Obviously, two of, arguably, the best players in the world and then they have a lot of supporting talent around them. It’s going to be a tough game. They’re up in the standings where they are for a reason, but we’ve had a couple of days off here, so we should be well rested.”

4. Alex Newhook is poised to play his 200^th career NHL game on Tuesday. The 23-year-old forward, in his first year with the Habs, has recorded 88 points (37G, 51A) over parts of four seasons with the Avalanche and Canadiens since being drafted 16^th overall (one pick after Caufield) in the 2019 NHL Draft. Currently, Newhook is 13^th on the all-time games played list for NHL players born in Newfoundland, behind notable names like long-time Hab Michael Ryder, Stanley Cup champion Daniel Cleary, and current Canadiens pro scout Teddy Purcell.

5. Trevor Letowski confirmed on Monday that Montembeault will start against the Oilers. As of Tuesday morning, no other lineup changes are known but the Canadiens’ assistant coach will address the media from Rogers Place live on the team’s X, Facebook and YouTube accounts around 2:00 p.m. ET. Game time is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. ET, and can be viewed on TSN2, Sportsnet West and RDS, or fans can listen in on TSN 690 and 98.5 fm.