Five things you should know about the Habs-Preds game at the Bell Centre Saturday (7 p.m., CITY, SN360, TVA Sports, TSN Radio 690), by
1. Welcome back P.K.
Nobody likes to be in the spotlight more than Nashville defenceman P.K. Subban and that’s where he’ll be as he returns to Montreal. After a visit to the Montreal Children’s Hospital and a meal at Park Restaurant, Subban will concentrate on wreaking havoc on his former team. He’s starting to generate some Norris Trophy buzz with a career season. He leads the Predators with 43 points, including 15 goals. He’s third in scoring among NHL defencemen and is plus-11. He’s also the only NHL player to visit Trevor Noah on The Daily Show.
2. The other guys
The Predators are on a threegame swing though Eastern Canada and they’re still looking for their first win after overtime losses in Toronto and Ottawa. But Nashville has a 6-1-3 record in its last 10 games and has moved into first place in the Central Division. The Predators were tied in points with Winnipeg (73) heading into Friday’s games.
3. The goalie battle
In most seasons, this game would offer a goaltending battle between the Canadiens’ Carey Price and Pekka Rinne of the Predators, but they’ve been going in different directions this season. Rinne ranks seventh in goals-against average (2.31), fifth in save percentage (.926), third in wins (27) and second in shutouts (five). After giving up four goals in a 5-3 loss to Philadelphia on Thursday, Price has a 2.95 GAA, a .906 save percentage, a 15-20-4 record and one shutout.
4. Power play delivers
While the Canadiens have been struggling to score this season — they rank 27th in the NHL with an average of 2.59 goals a game — the power play has been a pleasant surprise. The Canadiens have scored six power-play goals in their last three games and rank seventh in the NHL with a success rate of 21.8 per cent. Unfortunately, the other half of the special-teams puzzle hasn’t fared as well. The Canadiens’ penalty-killing unit is 25th with a 77.9 per cent success rate.
5. Gallagher eyes 30
The Canadiens’ power-play goal in Philadelphia was scored by Brendan Gallagher and it was his team-leading 19th goal of the season. The hard-working winger is in a good position to top his career-best 24 goals and is the Montreal scorer with the best chance to reach 30 goals. Gallagher’s season is all the more impressive because he has been playing on a line with Tomas Plekanec and their prime mission has been to shut down the opposition’s top lines. Max Pacioretty has reached 30 goals in each of the past four seasons, but he has 17 this season and is on pace for 26 goals.