WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE BELL CENTRE
Days after being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, Shea Weber will be honored at the Bell Centre. Weber, the 61st member of the Canadiens organization to be inducted to hockey’s pantheon, will be celebrated with a pregame ceremony featuring a tribute video, a speech and the unveiling of his plaque on the team’s ring of honor. Fans can tune into a media availability with the defenseman around 4:30 p.m. ET on X, Facebook, and YouTube. In the meantime, think you you’ve got a harder shot than Weber? Test your skills for a chance to win a puck signed by the former Habs captain. Click here to play the game!
Monster Energy guest DJ Truspin will be spinning tunes in bowl prior to and during warmups as part of FANatics Saturdays! Fans at home can catch his set live on Twitch as of 6:20 p.m. ET. Be sure to tune in for the chance to win a prize!
TEAM COMPARISONS
It’s never easy to find positives in a loss—especially a shutout—but Thursday’s game in Minnesota was one of those rare defeats where the Canadiens seemed to have taken a step forward. Against a well-structured Wild team, the Habs delivered a mature, disciplined 60-minute effort. Still, a loss is a loss, and Montreal will aim to bounce back on Saturday against a struggling Blue Jackets team playing the second half of a back-to-back. The Canadiens have dominated Columbus in recent matchups, winning five straight, while outscoring them 22-8. Back on home ice, the Habs look to extend that streak to six in the first of three matchups with the Blue Jackets in the next five weeks.
The start of the 2024-25 season has not been kind to the Blue Jackets, however in the middle of rebuild, that’s mostly to be expected. What’s not, is the six-game losing streak they snapped last night. Before beating Pittsburgh on Friday, Columbus hadn’t won a game since Oct. 30 and were outscored 29-11 during that stretch. Outside of their recent dry spell, filling the net hasn’t been the Jackets’ problem—they rank 14th in the NHL in goals. Their Achilles’ heel has been keeping pucks out of their own, allowing an average of 3.50 goals per game, the fifth most in the league.
While Weber headlines Saturday’s “Bell Centre returns” lineup, we can’t forget about Sean Monahan and Jordan Harris, who are also back in Montreal for the first time since their days as Habs. The duo played 74 and 131 games respectively for the Canadiens and are both expected to take to the ice in a familiar setting tonight.
SEASON SERIES
Nov. 16 vs. CBJ:
Nov. 27 @ CBJ:
Dec. 23 @ CBJ:
PLAYERS TO WATCH FOR
Sometimes the script just writes itself, and it seems set up for Cole Caufield tonight. The Canadiens forward, who switched to No. 13 in honor of Johnny Gaudreau, takes the ice on Saturday with a shot at reaching, you guessed it, 13 goals on the season.
On the Jackets’ side, naturally, it’s Monahan. No matter the situation, players always have a little more bounce in their step when facing their former team. That’ll be the case for Monahan at the Bell Centre, looking to add to his 13 points this season.
BY THE NUMBERS: HABS-JACKETS
Here’s how the Blue Jackets and Canadiens match up by the numbers:
