2. The depleted Devils are going through a nasty injury bug near the midway point of the season. On Monday in Boston, they were without the services of Jack Hughes, Dougie Hamilton, Nolan Foote, Timo Meier, Ondrej Palat and Jonas Siegenthaler in a 3-0 shutout loss to the Bruins. To add insult to injury, defenseman Brendan Smith left the game and did not return. Nonetheless, the undermanned Devils (22-16-3) have held their own, despite being on the outside looking in in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Hughes’ absence has made way for Jesper Bratt to climb atop the table on New Jersey’s points list with 46 (16 G, 30 A) in 41 games. Jack’s brother and first-year defenseman, Luke Hughes, is in the midst of an impressive rookie campaign with 23 points (7 G, 16 A) in 41 appearances. Speaking of the back end, that’s where the Devils have been most vulnerable this year. The duo of Vitek Vanecek and Nico Daws have combined to allow 3.49 goals per game, ranking them near the bottom of the League in that department.
3. The Canadiens will turn to Samuel Montembeault in the crease at Prudential Center, St-Louis confirmed on Tuesday. The 27-year-old netminder is slated to make his sixth start in the team’s last nine games, and with the increased workload has come results. Montembeault is 2-1-1 in 2024 with a .929 save percentage. The Becancour, QC native has made at least 30 saves in each of those four games, in which his save percentage has not dipped under .909. Montreal will need to rely on their shot stopper against a Devils squad that ranks 7th in the NHL in goals per game.
4. Speaking of goals per game, the Slafkovsky-Suzuki-Cuafield line has done their fair share of that of late. The Canadiens’ top line has combined for three goals and four assists in their last two games, all the while focusing on shutting down Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon’s lines, respectively. Caufield has goals in consectuive games for Montreal; Slafkovsky has eight points in his last 12 outings; and Suzuki has three points in his last two contests following a four-game pointless drought.
5. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET. Fans can watch the game on Sportsnet or RDS, or listen in on the radio on TSN 690 or 98.5 fm.