Oilers at Canadiens
After a season in which no Canadian team reached the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in 46 years, two clubs that appear to be in good shape to reach the 2016-17 postseason meet Sunday when the Montreal Canadiens host the Edmonton Oilers. The Canadiens lead the Atlantic Division while the Oilers are starting to leak a bit with a three-game losing streak but still hold a six-point advantage over Los Angeles for third place in the Pacific.
"In an 82-game schedule, the top teams go through spells where it doesn't go your way," Edmonton coach Todd McLellan told reporters after Friday's 2-1 loss at Carolina. "We were winning the games three weeks ago, and now we're finding a way to be one goal short. So we'll fix it." Oilers captain Connor McDavid continued pursuit of his first Hart Trophy as NHL MVP with a pretty backhand goal Friday to avoid the first three-game pointless streak of his career and leads the league with 60 points and 42 assists. Montreal lost its last two games and three of the last four after Saturday's 3-2 setback to Washington. Saturday began a stretch of six games in nine days for Montreal, which could turn to backup goaltender Al Montoya (7-4-2, 2.72 goals-against average, .909 save percentage) against Edmonton after Carey Price stopped 27 shots against Washington.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, Sportsnet, RDS
ABOUT THE OILERS (28-18-8): Leon Draisaitl (team-high 20 goals, 47 points) and Patrick Maroon (18 goals) - McDavid's linemates - are enjoying career-best seasons, although Maroon hasn't scored in nine games. The offseason acquisition of Adam Larsson (plus-11) from New Jersey and the steady play of fellow blueliner Andrej Sekera (plus-10) give Edmonton a defense capable of delivering the team its first playoff berth since 2006. Cam Talbot (26-15-7, 2.37, .920) is expected to make his NHL-leading 49th start Sunday and is 2-1-1, 2.16, .914 versus Montreal in four career starts.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (30-16-7): Max Pacioretty scored his team-high 25th goal Saturday and fourth in three games as he moves toward his fourth straight 30-goal season and fifth in the last six campaigns. Alexander Radulov - like Pacioretty - recorded a goal (his 13th) and an assist Saturday, and his 41 points trail only Pacioretty's 44 for the club lead. Shea Weber, whose 12 goals ranked second among NHL defenseman entering Saturday, is third on the team with 31 points but hasn't recorded one in three games since the All-Star break while Paul Byron (14 goals, 29 points) scored only twice since the calendar flipped to 2017.
OVERTIME
1. Montreal D Andrei Markov moved past Guy Lafleur and into eighth on the Canadiens' all-time list Saturday after playing his 962nd game.
2. Edmonton D Matt Benning was placed on injured reserve Saturday with an undisclosed injury after leaving Friday's contest in the first period following a collision with Carolina's Viktor Stalberg.
3. The Canadiens snapped a four-game slide in the series with a 5-1 victory in the last meeting of 2015-16 behind a goal and three assists from Tomas Plekanec.