MTL@PIT: What you need to know

PITTSBURGH – Twenty-four hours after Wednesday night’s game in Montreal, the Canadiens return to the ice at PPG Paints Arena for their season finale with the Penguins.

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

1. The Canadiens outshot the Buffalo Sabres 31-23 but dropped a 3-2 decision at the Bell Center last night. Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble scored, and each delivered four hits in the loss. Joshua Roy recorded the first multi-point game of his career with a pair of assists, and Samuel Montembeault made 20 saves in the Montreal crease. Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky saw their career-high point streaks come to an end at 10 and eight games, respectively.

Montreal heads back on the road, where, since the turn to 2024, they own a respectable 3-3-2 record. During that time, Cole Caufield has been the team’s top scorer with 10 points away from home, followed by Slafkovsky (9) and Suzuki (8).

2. The Penguins’ comeback effort was stifled by the New York Islanders in a high-scoring, overtime affair on Tuesday. Adam Pelech scored the game-deciding goal to send the Pens packing with their fifth loss in their last six games. The offense in particular has run dry for Pittsburgh, who have converted only 14 times during the aforementioned skid.

Sidney Crosby – the Penguins leading scorer – was held off the scoresheet against the Isles, but that’s not necessarily good news for the Canadiens. The future first-ballot Hall of Famer has been held pointless in back-to-back games just three times this season. The Habs will look to push that to four – the same number of points Crosby has in two games against Montreal this year.

Pittsburgh (24-21-8) is eight points back of the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference ahead of Thursday’s contest. It's worth noting that Jake Guentzel, who is second in points on the Pens, is sidelined with an upper-body injury and will not be in the lineup tonight.

3. Brendan Gallagher is in striking distance of tying Serge Savard for 35th on the Canadiens’ all-time points list. The 31-year-old, who’s recorded 411 points (210G, 201A) in 726 career games, is one goal or assist shy of drawing even with the Habs’ legend. Gallagher is also only one helper away from tying Mark Recchi for 42nd on the team’s all-time assists list.

4. Another nailbiter could be in store for Thursday at PPG Paints Arena. Four of the last five games between the Canadiens and Penguins, including both this season, have been decided beyond regulation time. The two most recent have gone in favor of the Pens – one in overtime, the other in shootout – while both of last season’s went to the Habs. Martin St-Louis’ club is 15-9-8 in one-goal games in 2023-24, while Mike Sullivan’s troops are 7-8-7 in games of that nature.

5. Tune in to St-Louis' pregame press conference on X, Facebook and YouTube around 12:00 p.m. ET for news on potential lineup changes and the visitors' starting goalie.Thursday’s game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET and can be viewed on TSN2 or RDS. Habs fans can also listen in on the radio on TSN 690 or 98.5 fm.