Five things you should know about the Canadiens-Penguins game at the Bell Centre on Thursday (7:30 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio), by Pat Hickey.

1.

Strange scheduling: Sometimes you wonder if there’s a serious glitch in the computer that spits out the NHL schedule. We’re in the final month of the season and the Canadiens are playing the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins for the first time. The teams also have two games scheduled for Pittsburgh this month.

2.

Injury woes: The Canadiens are coming off an impressive 4-2 win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, but they lost Andrew Shaw in the process. While there has been no official update from the Canadiens, it’s a good bet that Shaw suffered another concussion when he ran into Dallas defenceman and former teammate Greg Pateryn. The hard-nosed Shaw was already playing through a knee injury and it would be prudent to shut him down for the season.

3.

Niemi leads the way: Antti Niemi has been the Canadiens’ best goaltender this season and should be high on the list for any team shopping for a backup goaltender this summer. He stopped 36 of 38 shots in the win over Dallas and improved his record with the Canadiens to 5-24. The 34-year-old Finn has a 2.30 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage. Those numbers would be among the league leaders if he had played more games.

4.

Penguins eye division lead:

The Penguins are in a battle with the Washington Capitals for the Metropolitan Division lead. Heading into Wednesday’s game, they were only one point behind the surprising Caps. GM Jim Rutherford deserves credit for acquiring Derick Brassard from the Ottawa Senators at the trade deadline. Brassard gives the Penguins another 20-goal scorer and makes Pittsburgh one of the NHL’s strongest teams up the middle.

5.

Malkin the MVP? When you think of the Penguins, you think of Sidney Crosby, but teammate Phil Kessel believes Evgeni Malkin should win the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player this season. Malkin leads the Penguins with 87 points and is second only to Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov of Tampa Bay, who has 91. Malkin has 39 goals, three fewer than leader Alex Ovechkin. Kessel is second in scoring on the Penguins with 28 goals and 78 points, while Crosby has 23 goals and 76 points.