MONTREAL – The Canadiens held an optional morning skate ahead of their matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Bell Centre on Thursday.
The Habs are looking to close out their season series with Tampa Bay on a high note after suffering three losses to the Lightning so far.
Montreal has been on a roll of late, however, winning four of its last five games, including a high-scoring 5-3 victory over the Lightning’s cross-state rivals, the Florida Panthers, two nights ago.
As Alex Newhook pointed out following morning skate, the Habs may be out of playoff position at the moment, but they’re still taking the opportunity to see how they measure up against the better clubs in the NHL. Wins against the likes of the Panthers and, hopefully, the Lightning will serve as a confidence boost heading into next season.
“It’s still important. If you look further than this year, just to set up for what we’re looking to do in the future here: proving to ourselves that we’re right there with the top teams in the League night in, night out – especially at this time of the year when teams are pushing to make the playoffs,” shared Newhook, who has five points (2G, 3A) in his last five games. “I think a lot of them are bringing their best. If we bring our best and we’re competing with these top teams, it instills some confidence in us that we’re right there and come next year, we can be a playoff team.”
Head coach Martin St-Louis confirmed there would be no lineup changes against Tampa Bay other than Cayden Primeau getting the start between the pipes.
