As for Gudas, the hard-hitting defenseman missed 10 games after entering the NHL's concussion protocol following an upper-body injury he sustained on Dec. 3 at Seattle.
Additionally, Aaron Ekblad, who averages 24:03 of ice time per game on the blue line, will be back on the ice after working his way back quickly from an upper-body injury that he suffered during the first period of a 5-1 loss on Long Island in the last game before the break on Dec. 23.
"My trainer came in and said nothing to report this morning," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice smiled when asked about things starting to get back to normal after a long battle with the injury bug. "I haven't heard that in two and a half months. We're pretty happy and pretty excited here."
Recalled from the AHL on Tuesday, Anton Levtchi is also expected to provide the Panthers with a spark as he makes his NHL debut. Earning MVP honors and winning a championship in Liiga in 2021-22, he produced 61 points (26 goals, 35 assists) in 55 games with Tappara Tampere.
Making his long-awaited jump to North America after spending the last six seasons playing professionally in Finland, Levtchi, who turned 27 in November, is also one of Barkov's oldest and best friends.
"I'm really excited for him," Barkov said. "I've known him since I was like three years old. We grew up together and spent so much time together. We played for the same team in junior. It's like your own brother is making his debut, and on the same team, too. It's pretty special for me to see him in the same locker room. It's one of those things where after your career you'll remember you played with the guy you basically grew up with and spent so much time with."
Manning the crease for the ninth time in the last 10 games, Sergei Bobrovsky will get the nod in net against the Canadiens. Over his previous nine appearances, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner has played some of his best hockey of the season while posting a .918 save percentage.
With the Panthers sitting at 15-16-4 and looking to start their climb back up the standings, Matthew Tkachuk said the team's push back into the playoff pictured needs to start tonight.
"Playoffs are now for us," said Tkachuk, who leads the Panthers in scoring with 40 points (15 goals, 25 assists). "We've played a lot of Western Conference teams at the beginning of the year, but now it's getting to a lot of these four-point games. It's teams that are right next to us or above us in the standings that we have to chase down. Very, very important games coming up."
Losing six of their last seven games, the Canadiens suffered a 4-1 loss across the Sunshine State against the Lightning on Wednesday to fall to 15-17-3. Trailing 4-0 late in the third period, Kaiden Guhle scored Montreal's lone goal to spoil Andrei Vasilevskiy's shutout bid.
During that seven-game stretch, the Canadiens has been outscored 25-12.
Nick Suzuki leads Montreal in scoring with 31 points (15 goals, 16 assists), while Cole Caufield is second in points (28) and first in goals (19). Doing a lot of the heavy lifting on offense, those two players have combined for 36.9% of the team's goals so far this season.
Given that Jake Allen went the distance against the Lightning, former Panthers goaltender Sam Montembeault could get the start against his former club tonight. In 11 appearances this season, Montembeault has posted a 6-3-2 record with a .912 save percentage.
"They've got a lot of speed and a lot of skill -- young skill," Maurice said of the Canadiens. "Those guys will make plays if you give them ice to play on. They're always dangerous. I don't think the history of where they've been in the last two weeks has anything to do [with them]. There's a real mental break for hockey teams after Christmas. We're going to come out and try to get back into the game. Sometimes those teams on a back-to-back after Christmas almost have an advantage in getting back up to game-speed, so we've got to get up to game-speed early."
