Blues at Canadiens
The Canadiens (31-17-8) are back home to play the St. Louis Blues on Saturday (7 p.m., CITY, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio). Here are five things you should know about the game: 1. Captain leads the way
The Canadiens snapped a fourgame losing streak with a 5-4 overtime win in Arizona Thursday and Max Pacioretty led the offence. He scored two goals to boost his season total to 27 — only Sidney Crosby (30) and Jeff Carter (29) have more — and he added two assists. He also came home with a souvenir puck because his first goal was the 200th of his career. 2. Price still struggling
The good news is Carey Price won a game and that should be something to build on after losing nine of his previous 22 starts. But Price’s goals-against average climbed to 2.42, while his save percentage dropped to .918. He was totally out of position on one goal and had tough luck when he kicked in a goal. 3. Welcome back
Mike McCarron and Daniel Carr returned from the St. John’s IceCaps and their hard work along the boards earned them assists on a goal by Andrei Markov. McCarron delivered three hits and earned praise from coach Michel Therrien for his work in the faceoff circle, where he won seven of his 11 draws. If he keeps that pace, David Desharnais will remain on the sidelines. 4. Old friends clash
Mike Yeo, who once served as an assistant coach under Therrien with the Pittsburgh Penguins, has a 4-1 record since replacing Ken Hitchcock behind the Blues’ bench. St. Louis (28-22-5) will be looking for a sweep of Eastern Canada after beating Ottawa 6-0 on Tuesday and edging Toronto 2-1 in overtime on Thursday. This is the second meeting between these teams, with the Blues winning 3-2 in overtime on Dec. 6 in St. Louis. 5. Tarasenko clutch in OT
Vladimir Tarasenko needed only 20 seconds to score his third overtime goal of the season, and the seventh of his career, for the win in Toronto. Tarasenko leads the Blues with 26 goals and 53 points but he also has a minus-10 rating, which is more a reflection of the Blues’ weak goaltending (26th in the NHL). The win in Toronto allowed St. Louis to leapfrog Nashville into third place in the Central Division.