HOW THEY MATCH UP
Pat Hickey tells you what you’ll need to know when these two Original Six rivals lock horns on Saturday night (7 p.m., CBC, TVA Sports, TSN Radio 690) at the Bell Centre.
1 It never rains, but it pours The Canadiens are coming off arguably their worst performance of the season — a 5-4 loss to the lowly Arizona Coyotes — and they may be short-handed going into this game. Max Pacioretty, Jonathan Drouin and Jordie Benn all missed practice Friday with the flu and coach Claude Julien said he has no idea if they’ll be available to face the Leafs. This game ends a six-game homestand for the Canadiens, who are 2-2-1 over that stretch. 2 Have to win faceoffs The Habs were on the power play and pulled the goaltender for a 6-on-4 manpower advantage in the dying minutes of the Arizona game, but failed to get any traction because they lost the final four faceoffs of the game. Drouin, who lost 10 of his 14 faceoffs, lost the first draw. Andrew Shaw (56.3 per cent) lost the next one and Phillip Danault (54 per cent) lost two. 3 Offensive droughts For reasons known only to the folks at RDS, Alex Galchenyuk was named the third star in the Arizona game. He did have five shots on goal, but none of them went in the net, and he’s gone eight games without a goal. Drouin picked up an assist, but he’s scored only once in the past 13 games. Charles Hudon had five shots but his two goals in Ottawa on Oct. 30 stand as his only NHL goals. 4 Lindgren back between the pipes With no sign of Carey Price on the ice, Charlie Lindgren will make his seventh consecutive start in goal. The Arizona game marked the first in his nine NHL games that Lindgren has allowed more than two goals, but he still ranks fourth in the NHL with a 2.00 goals-against average. The Leafs are expected to counter with Frederik Andersen (3.04 GAA), who is among the leaders in wins because Toronto has the offence to make up for his shortcomings. 5 Matthews a question mark Auston Mathews scored the overtime winner when the Leafs beat the Habs 4-3 on Oct. 14, but he’ll be a game-time decision after missing the last four games with a lower-body injury. Matthews, who leads the Leafs with 10 goals and 19 points, practised Friday but said he’s still not 100 per cent. Even without Matthews, the Leafs have won five in a row. Nazem Kadri and James Van Riemsdyk have each scored nine goals while free-agent pickup Patrick Marleau has eight.