Red Wings at Canadiens
Two storied franchises that have combined for 35 Stanley Cup championships face off Monday with nothing but pride on the line as the Detroit Red Wings visit the Original Six-rival Montreal Canadiens. Detroit will miss the playoffs for the second straight campaign following a 25-season participation streak while Montreal will be a postseason spectator for second time in three seasons and ninth since winning its last title in 1993.
The Red Wings have lost 10 straight on the road and 12 of 13 overall (1-11-1) following Saturday's 4-3 setback in Toronto. Dylan Larkin scored in the defeat to increase his team-leading point total to 54 for Detroit, which has allowed at least four goals in 10 of its 12 contests this month. Montreal dropped a 6-4 decision to Washington at home on Saturday for its fifth loss in six games. Charles Hudon scored twice to become the ninth player to reach double digits in goals for the Canadiens, who own a 17-13-8 record at home despite being 10 games under .500 overall.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Detroit Plus, TSN2, RDS (Montreal)
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (27-37-11): Anthony Mantha leads the team with 23 goals but is mired in a nine-game drought, recording just two assists in that stretch. The 23-year-old right wing has not recorded a goal since scoring twice during a four-point performance on March 6 at Boston. Gustav Nyquist has been kept off the scoresheet for four straight contests, keeping him one tally away from the third 20-goal season of his career.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (27-37-12): Brendan Gallagher celebrated his 400th NHL game on Saturday by scoring a goal to remain one point ahead of Alex Galchenyuk (46) for the team lead. The 25-year-old Gallagher has landed on the scoresheet in six of his last eight games and is one point away from eclipsing the career high of 47 he set in 2014-15. Galchenyuk also tallied on Saturday, ending his seven-game drought and giving him six points in his last seven contests.
OVERTIME
1. Red Wings LW Justin Abdelkader is one goal shy of 100 for his career while D Niklas Kronwall's next point will be his 400th in the NHL.
2. Hudon's two-goal performance on Saturday - his third of the season - ended his 13-game drought and gave him four points over his last three contests.
3. Detroit has converted only one of its last 11 regular-season penalty shots after RW Martin Frk failed to cash in Saturday.