Blues at Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens look to tighten up their defense when they return home to host the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday. The Canadiens absorbed a pair of defeats on a brief two-game road trip to Minnesota and Colorado, giving up four goals in each loss and surrendering a combined five tallies in the third period alone. Montreal had won three of its previous four games before the setbacks and permitted a total of only four goals in that span.
The Blues have had their way with the Canadiens, going 4-0-1 in the last five matchups and winning each of their last three trips to Montreal. Jaroslav Halak will be making his second appearance at Bell Centre since he was traded by the Canadiens to St. Louis in 2010, but he'll have a hard time matching his last visit - a 19-save shutout in January 2012. “It was my first game back after I got traded,” Halak said. “It’s always nice to remind myself that it was a great game, but it’s the past."
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, TSN, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), RSN (Montreal)
ABOUT THE BLUES (8-2-2): After St. Louis had its three-game winning streak snapped in a 4-2 loss at Tampa Bay, coach Ken Hitchcock decided to juggle his lines at Monday's practice. The trio of Alex Steen, David Backes and T.J. Oshie has combined for 43 points, but in an effort to get more balance, Hitchcock put Oshie on the second line and elevated Chris Stewart to the No. 1 unit. “I liked what I saw at practice, but I have to sleep on it," Hitchcock said. "We need more people playing better.”
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (8-7-0): Coach Michel Therrien also is tinkering with his lineup, moving Alex Galchenyuk between Max Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher in the latter stages of Saturday's game in Colorado. “It’s something we’ve been thinking about and we decided to do it in the third period, and I was really pleased," Therrien said. "This is an experiment that we’re going to repeat again.” Pacioretty had a team-high six shots on goal in his first game since missing eight with a hamstring strain.
OVERTIME
1. The Blues own the league's best power play with a 26.1 percent success rate, while the Canadiens are ranked No. 3 (24.1).
2. Montreal G Carey Price is 1-2-1 with a 2.90 goals-against average in four starts versus St. Louis.
3. Hitchcock needs one victory to move past former Blues coach Jacques Martin (613) and into sole possession of third place on the all-time list.