Canadiens at Jets
The Montreal Canadiens attempt to maintain their lead in the race for the Presidents' Trophy when they visit the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. The first team in the NHL to reach 100 points this season, Montreal enters the matchup one ahead of the quartet of Anaheim, St. Louis, Tampa Bay and the New York Rangers in the tightly contested battle for the top overall seed. The Canadiens dropped a 3-2 decision in overtime at Nashville on Tuesday as their lead over the Lightning in the Atlantic Division dwindled to a single point.
Winnipeg is looking to keep its hold on the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, as it is only two points ahead of reigning Stanley Cup-champion Los Angeles. The Jets, who trail Minnesota by three points for the first wild card, had their chances to close the gap thwarted with a 5-2 loss at Vancouver on Tuesday that snapped their five-game winning streak. Montreal won the first meeting of the season at home on Nov. 11 as Carey Price made 29 saves in a 3-0 triumph.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, RSN, RDS (Montreal), TSN3 (Winnipeg)
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (46-20-8): Winnipeg will not have to contend with Price this time around as coach Michel Therrien announced Dustin Tokarski will start Thursday's contest. Price, who leads the league in victories (40), goals-against average (1.88) and save percentage (.937) while co-leading in shutouts (nine), posted back-to-back blankings over Carolina and San Jose before falling to the Predators. The 27-year-old had his career-best shutout streak end at 166 minutes, 10 seconds on Tuesday, when he yielded a goal at 9:10 of the first period.
ABOUT THE JETS (38-24-12): Winnipeg has managed to post a 6-3-0 record over its last nine games despite being without Bryan Little and Dustin Byfuglien, who are dealing with upper-body injuries. The Jets are in the middle of the pack this season in regard to penalty-killing but have superb of late, going 15-for-15 over their previous four games before the Canucks cashed in on their only power-play opportunity on Tuesday. Drew Stafford is riding a seven-game point streak during which he has collected four goals and five assists.
OVERTIME
1. Therrien will coach his 395th game for Montreal on Thursday, moving him ahead of Cecil Hart for fourth place on the franchise list.
2. Winnipeg captain Andrew Ladd leads the team with 58 points and is tied with Little for first on the club with 24 goals.
3. Montreal has reached the 100-point plateau 17 times since 1967.