Montreal: The Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs will square off in a major game on Saturday night at the Bell Centre for the NHL record 767th time during the regular season.
What you should know before starting the game is as follows:
1. During their recent four-game road trip to Florida, Tampa, Nashville, and Carolina, the Canadiens picked up four points (1-1-2). For Montreal, nine different players found the scorebook, with Nick Suzuki leading the squad with five points over the eight-day span. Cole Caufield averaged a point per game, Joshua Roy scored two goals, and the two players that played together the entire four games, David Savard and Arber Xhekaj, ended up with a plus-eight difference on the Canadiens blue line. After periods on the injured list, Jayden Struble and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard returned to the starting lineup, respectively.
2. The Habs’ modest 12-16-3 record at the Bell Centre this season hasn’t always been helped by having home ice, but in previous years, the Canadiens have thrived when the Leafs have visited town. Since May 29, 2021, Montreal has won five straight games versus Toronto at home. The top scorers for the home team during that time are Josh Anderson (4-1-5) and Caufield (4-2-6), followed by Suzuki (0-7-7).
3. The Leafs will play another Original Six game, and if the outcome is similar to their previous two games against the Boston Bruins, Habs supporters will be pleased with their trip home. Between two 4-1 losses to the Bruins this season and Wednesday’s 2-1 overtime victory over the Buffalo Sabres, Torontothis week, with the most recent occurring on Thursday and the first taking place on Monday. In 2023–24, Sheldon Keefe’s team has a 4-4-5 record versus opponents from the Original Six.
Auston Matthews, who leads the National Hockey League with 54 goals and is on track to score more than 70 this season, is the only one of the seven Buds players with double-digit goal totals. Joel Edmundson, a former Hab, was moved to Toronto on Thursday and is expected to play his first game for the Blue and White on Saturday at Bell Centre. Ilya Lyubushkin was also recently acquired by the Leafs from the Anaheim Ducks. The defenseman who stays at home has one assist in four games with his new team.
