Canadiens at Red Wings
The Montreal Canadiens are holding down the pole position in the Eastern Conference but there are five teams sitting within five points of the top spot. One of those pursuers, the Detroit Red Wings, will play host to the Canadiens on Monday night in a matchup of Atlantic Division heavyweights. Montreal, which is riding a five-game point streak (4-0-1), has won four in a row against the Red Wings - including a 4-1 victory at Detroit on Nov. 16 in the last meeting.
While the Canadiens squeezed out a 2-1 shootout victory over Toronto on Saturday, the Red Wings squandered a two-goal lead and fell in a shootout to visiting Winnipeg - their second straight defeat following a sizzling 9-1-0 stretch. All-Star Jimmy Howard was a bit shaky in his first start since Jan. 10 but will be in net again Monday. "I'm not going to get too down on myself," Howard said. "I'm just going to watch the video tomorrow and try to learn from my mistakes."
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, RDS (Montreal), FSN Detroit
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (36-15-4): Veteran Sergei Gonchar was knocked out of Saturday's game when Toronto's David Clarkson drove his face into the boards and he will not travel with the team to the Motor City. With Gonchar sidelined and fellow blue-liner Nathan Beaulieu serving 17 minutes of penalties, former Norris Trophy winner P.K. Subban logged 35:21 of ice time - the most by any player this season. Goaltender Carey Price has surrendered only five goals during a four-start winning streak and is 9-1-0 in his last 10.
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (31-13-10): Darren Helm, who has played fewer than one-third of Detroit's games over the previous two seasons, has scored four goals in the past six games to match his career high of 12. Helm has registered a goal and an assist in two of the past three games while also seeing time on the NHL's top-ranked power play. “Confidence is probably a little bit more of a factor in my game lately and when pucks are going in, you get confidence - and when you’re playing well, you have confidence," Helm said. "And when you’re healthy, too.”
OVERTIME
1. Price beat the Red Wings 2-1 on Oct. 21 to improve to 5-3-1 with a 2.64 goals-against average versus Detroit.
2. The Red Wings have converted on 7-of-18 power-play chances in the last five games.
3. The Canadiens have snuffed out all 10 short-handed situations over the past six games.
OVERTIME: Red Wings 3, Canadiens 2