Jets at Canadiens: Five things to know
The Canadiens (31-19-8) return from their bye week to play the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday (2 p.m. CBC, RSE, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio). Here are five things you should know about the game: Julien returns: The Claude Julien 2.0 era begins with this game. Julien replaced Michel Therrien for the second time and he’ll be behind the bench after only one practice with his players. If Friday’s practice was any indication, he’s putting his faith in Alex Galchenyuk, returning him to the top line with Max Pacioretty and Alex Radulov. Pressure on Price: The Canadiens need Carey Price to regain his position as a dominant goaltender. Price has won only four of his last 13 starts and his numbers are the worst since the lockout season of 2013-14. He has a 2.46 goalsagainst average and a .917 save percentage. The layoff this week won’t work in the Canadiens’ favour — teams coming off the bye week in February are 0-5. Laine leads Jets: Patrik Laine may have something to say about who wins the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie. While Toronto’s Auston Matthews is the favourite to win the award, Laine — who was drafted second overall behind Matthews last June — has matched Matthews’ 27 goals this season and is the leading scorer among NHL rookies with 48 points, two more than Matthews. Jets making a push: Winnipeg is coming off a win over Dallas and an overtime loss to Pittsburgh, and is four points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Jets have a top-10 offence led by Laine and Mark Scheifele, who is fifth in the NHL scoring race with 25 goals and 58 points. The problem is their defence giving up 3.17 goals a game. Hockey Day in Canada: The Canadiens are playing a rare Saturday afternoon game because this is Hockey Day in Canada. More precisely, Hockey Day in Everywhere in Canada except Quebec. For the 17th consecutive year, the folks at CBC, Rogers, Scotiabank and whoever have decided that Quebec isn’t a suitable host venue. Kamloops, B.C., is the host city this time.