Surging Canadiens return from break to face Lightning
With their return from holiday break not occurring until Sunday's game at the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Montreal Canadiens find themselves in one of their best standings positions.
The Habs entered the break solely in second place in the Eastern Conference's Atlantic Division, but they are now tied for second with the Lightning with 45 points in 37 matches after Tampa Bay's 4-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Saturday night in Sunrise, Fla.
The super-snug Atlantic is a curious division to be competing in this season, as eight points separate the first-place Detroit Red Wings and last-place Toronto Maple Leafs.
Even the Buffalo Sabres, an annual cellar-dwelling bunch, have now reeled off eight straight victories to climb over the Leafs.
Montreal has addressed its situation and not stood pat.
Earning points in seven of the past eight matches (5-1-2), the surging Canadiens reunited with an old friend when they traded for defensive-minded center Phillip Danault recently by sending a second-round pick to the Los Angeles Kings, giving the Western Conference club cap relief and a trade asset.
Danault, 32, has played 742 NHL games and was with Montreal for six seasons his first time around.
His arrival should help a porous penalty-kill unit (77.7%, 23rd in the league) and place an emphasis on the defensive side of the puck, likely centering the third line as the club will attempt to fix its second-line pivot spot.
"We had a lot of success together in the past," said right winger Brendan Gallagher. "I know his playing style. He's a guy who does a lot to help his linemates. ... We just added a very good player who will help us in several facets of the game."
Cole Caufield leads with 18 goals, while Oliver Kapanen, Juraj Slafkovsky and Nick Suzuki (team-high 31 assists) have 11 apiece as the Habs will be skating in the third match of a season-long seven-game road trip.
The Lightning will be playing on the second half of a back-to-back set, and it was a doozy Saturday against their down-state foe in a typically fist-filled match: 136 combined penalty minutes, with 87 meted out to the visitors.
Tampa Bay killed eight of nine Florida power plays but went 0-for-6 on the man advantage. However, Jake Guentzel scored short-handed for the team's first tally.
Nikita Kucherov ran his season total to 15 goals with a pair, including an empty-netter as the Lightning won their third straight and are 5-2-1 in the past eight matches.
"I mean, yeah, we know the rivalry here," said forward Yanni Gourde, who had an assist and six penalty minutes. "We know what to expect. We were ready to meet those challenges."
Injured winger Brandon Hagel participated in morning skate but missed his fourth consecutive match after a high hit from Florida defenseman Seth Jones and leaving the champs' 5-2 triumph in Tampa.
"He's getting close," coach Jon Cooper said of Hagel, who has 18 goals and 13 assists in 32 games. "He's probably in that day-to-day range."
Before the game, the organization announced it had signed defenseman J.J. Moser to an eight-year deal worth an annual average value (AAV) of $6.75 million.
The 25-year-old product from Biel, Switzerland, has three goals and nine assists with a plus-25 rating over 35 games.