Canadiens on Red Wings: Five Things You Need to Know

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Here are five things to know about the Canadiens-Red Wings game at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday (7 pm, SNE, CITY, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM):

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The match: This is the third of four meetings between these teams and the Canadiens won the first two games at the Bell Center. They won 6-1 on October 23 and 3-0 on November 2. The Canadiens are coming off a 4-2 win over the Calgary Flames on Thursday after losing in overtime to Los Angeles on Tuesday. That was the first time this season the Canadiens have earned points in two straight games. The Red Wings, who are 7-6-2, lost 2-0 at home to the Washington Capitals on Thursday when former Canadiens prospect Zach Fucale made 21 saves in his NHL debut.

Who is in goal? This is the first game in a straight series for the Canadiens, who are in Boston on Sunday. The Canadiens generally split goalkeeping duties in those situations, but the team hasn’t shown much confidence in Samuel Montembeault and Jake Allen could start both games. Montembeault has lost both of his starts, but relieved Allen in the third period of the Nov. 4 game against the Islanders and stopped all 10 shots he faced, including eight on the power play. Alex Nedeljkovic will likely get the nod over Thomas Greiss at the Detroit network.

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Suzuki on a hot streak: Nick Suzuki was unhappy with his game in the Halloween loss in Anaheim, but he scored a goal Thursday and also received an assist on Ben Chiarot’s first goal. That put an exclamation point on a strong performance during the Canadiens’ five-game home run, when he scored four goals and five assists. He has four goals and 14 points in 15 games to lead the Canadiens in scoring. Chiarot and Mike Hoffman also have four goals to share the team leadership.

Injury updates: The only recent good news for the Canadiens on the injury front is the return of defender Mattias Norlinder, who was injured during training camp. There’s no room for him, but he’s expected to see action on this trip because the Canadiens need to determine if the 21-year-old is ready to play in the NHL. If not, he will return to Frolunda in the Swedish League. Jonathan Drouin (headaches), Cédric Paquette (undisclosed) and Mathieu Perreault (eye) are not expected to play and that means there will be another chance for the Laval trio of Alex Belzile, Ryan Poehling and Michael Pezzetta to impress. He has to like Pezzetta because he is a last-round recruit who is not ashamed to play the role of an agitator.

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Bertuzzi the wild card: Can one player make a difference? The Red Wings hope so, as they face Montreal for the first time this season with Tyler Bertuzzi in the lineup. He missed the first two games in Montreal because he refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and is prohibited from entering Canada. This is a problem for the Wings, who play in a division with Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. Despite missing three games, Bertuzzi is Detroit’s leading scorer, with nine goals and 15 points. Lucas Raymond has 14 points, including six goals. Dylan Larkin, the captain of the Red Wings, also missed the second game in Montreal. He took a week off to deal with a family emergency. He has four goals and nine points in 11 games.

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