With Carey Price still on the mend, Pat Hickey offers five hot takes on the Habs’ visit to Dallas Tuesday.

1 Far from madding crowd

The game against the Stars is the first of backto-back road games for the Canadiens, who are in Nashville on Wednesday, and there’s probably a sense of relief after they were booed at home during Saturday’s 6-0 loss to Toronto. After finishing a six-game homestand 2-31, Montreal was five points out of a playoff spot before Monday’s action. There were five teams ahead of them for the final wildcard berth, and four have at least one game in hand. Sportsclubstats.com rates the team’s playoff chances at 4.1 per cent.

2 Lindgren starts in goal

Charlie Lindgren was yanked after giving up the first five goals Saturday, but coach Claude Julien said the rookie will start in Dallas. Julien wouldn’t commit to a starter for Wednesday’s game. That’s an indication he’s open to using Lindgren in both games. Then again, we might see Carey Price, who hasn’t played in three weeks. He practised with the team Monday, but remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

3 Offence sputtering

The emphasis in the offseason was supposed to be on bolstering the offence. But after being shut out Saturday, the Canadiens are averaging 2.38 goals a game, 30th in the NHL. The power play is 29th with a success rate of 16.1 per cent. The numbers lag behind last season, when the Canadiens averaged 2.72 goals (15th) and were 13th on the power play at 19.1 per cent.

4 Radulov reunion

The Habs will be facing Alex Radulov for the first time since he took the money and ran. Radulov has seven goals and 12 assists and is on pace for a career season. He has a couple of pretty good linemates in Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. Jamie, brother of Habs defenceman Jordie, leads the Stars with 11 goals and 10 assists.

5 Familiar face in goal

Ben Bishop used to terrorize the Canadiens when he was playing for the Tampa Bay Lightning, and he will be in goal for the Stars. Bishop’s regular-season record against the Canadiens is 10-4-3 with a 1.81 goalsagainst average and a .931 save percentage. Bishop has struggled at times this season, but he has an 8-6 record with a 2.78 GAA and a .904 save percentage.