Canadiens at Oilers
After coming up short in their bid to match the best record in league history, the Montreal Canadiens will continue their three-game road trip through Western Canada with a visit to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night. The Canadiens saw their perfect 9-0-0 start come to a halt with a 5-1 setback at the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night.
While Montreal captain Max Pacioretty said the team was not feeling the pressure of tying the record, forward Brendan Gallagher said positives could come out of the loss. "I think this is maybe what we needed," Gallagher told the team's official website. "We need to get better. We took a step back, but it doesn't mean that we'll have any trouble re-focusing and getting ready for the next one." The Oilers tumbled to their third straight defeat, failing to hold a third-period lead in a 4-3 loss at Minnesota on Tuesday. No. 1 overall draft pick Connor McDavid is the leading scorer for Edmonton, which has won the past three meetings.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, RDS (Montreal), RSN (Edmonton)
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (9-1-0): After yielding only six goals in his first six starts, goaltender Carey Price has been beaten eight times in his last two outings and could give way to rookie Mike Condon with Montreal facing a back-to-back against Edmonton and Calgary. Defenseman Jeff Petry, who played his first 4 1/2 seasons with Edmonton before he was dealt to the Canadiens at the trade deadline last season, will be facing his former team for the first time. "It's going to be good to go back into that building, but I'm going to approach it like any other game," Petry said.
ABOUT THE OILERS (3-7-0): McDavid collected an assist in Tuesday's loss to extend his point streak to six games and give him a team-high 10 points while another rookie, defenseman Darnell Nurse, registered his first career goal while subbing for an injured Justin Schultz. Nail Yakupov also ran his point streak to a career-best six games, but Edmonton coach Todd McLellan is more concerned with his team's play at the other end of the ice after the Oilers allowed 14 goals in the last three games. "The real preventable (goals) are the ones that are killing us right now," McLellan said.
OVERTIME
1. Pacioretty has scored five goals in eight games versus the Oilers.
2. Edmonton placed Schultz and F Rob Klinkhammer on injured reserve and recalled D Joey LaLeggia and F Tyler Pitlick from Bakersfield of the American Hockey League.
3. Condon has allowed three goals in winning both of his starts - each on the road.