Here are five things you should know about the CanadiensBlackhawks game at Chicago’s United Center on Sunday (6 p.m., SN, SN1, RDS, TSN 690 Radio):
1 The matchup
The Canadiens are on a modest two-game win streak after sweeping a home-and-away series against the Ottawa Senators. Montreal has won three of its last four games and went into the weekend with the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The current edition of the Blackhawks doesn’t bear any resemblance to the teams that won the Stanley Cup three times this decade. The Blackhawks are on a six-game losing streak after dropping a 4-3 decision in Las Vegas Thursday. Chicago has a 9-16-5 record and is 10 points out of a wild-card spot.
2 Spreading the wealth
Max Domi failed to get a point in Thursday’s 5-2 win in Ottawa and Jonathan Drouin was limited to one assist, but it didn’t matter because other players stepped up. The Canadiens were able to play at a fast pace because head coach Claude Julien rolled four lines and each of the lines contributed a goal. Paul Byron had a pair of goals and appears to be at full speed after missing 14 games with a leg injury. He has two goals and two assists in the four games since his return.
3 Is Juulsen ready?
That’s the question facing the Canadiens as they head west for games in Chicago and Minnesota. Juulsen has missed eight games with a facial fracture, but he has been cleared for contact and is on the trip. The Canadiens made room for him on the 23-man roster Friday when they placed defenceman Xavier Ouellet on waivers. That was a no-brainer because Ouellet has been a healthy scratch for the last seven games. The more difficult decision will be deciding which defenceman sits to make room for Juulsen, and the likely candidate is Mike Reilly.
4 Nothing special here
The Canadiens went 0-for-3 on the power play in Ottawa Thursday and rank 29th in the NHL with a success rate of 14.1 per cent. The return of Shea Weber should have been good news for the power play and he did have a power-play goal in his second game. But the Canadiens are 1-for-12 in the five games since Weber’s return and they have had trouble finding him for open shots. As bad as the Canadiens are, the Blackhawks are even worse. Chicago’s power play is last in the NHL at 11.5 per cent.
5 The other guys
Chicago suffers from a lack of depth and the worst defence in the Western Conference, but they have high-end talent in Patrick Kane (13 goals and 19 assists), Jonathan Toews (13 goals, 11 assists) and Alex DeBrincat (11 goals, 11 assists). Châteauguay native Corey Crawford was limited to 28 games last season because of a concussion and the two-time Stanley Cup champion has struggled this season. Crawford has lost his last seven starts and has allowed 30 goals in that stretch. He has a 5-13-1 record with a 3.22 goalsagainst average and a .902 save percentage.