It’s always something special when an Original Six club comes to town for a game and even more so when it’s either the Toronto Maple Leafs or Montreal Canadiens simply based on the fact that “visiting” fans make up half the attendance in the stands making for quite the atmosphere.

Montreal Canadiens (17-13-6 / 4th Atlantic)
@
Winnipeg Jets (21-13-2 / 3rd Central)

Dec 23, 2019 – Puck drop: 7:00 PM CST
Bell MTS Place – Winnipeg, MN
TV: TSN 3 – Radio: TSN 1290

Last Canadiens Game

The Habs fell behind to the Edmonton Oilers early and even though they did manage to tie things up midway through the contest, it felt like they were chasing the game the entire night and couldn’t quite keep up with the Oilers who handed them a 4-3 loss on Saturday night.

Fun Canadiens Facts…

• On November 5 at Washington, Carey Price became the first goaltender to reach the 10-win mark in a season for the third time in his career. He is the 11th goaltender in NHL history to accomplish the feat in three or more seasons – including instances where multiple netminders reached the mark on the same day.
• Max Domi will try to extend his point streak to four games.
• This is Ben Chirot’s first game against the Jets after having spent the first six seasons of his career with Winnipeg.

What They’re Saying…

The Montreal Canadiens have been a difficult team to figure out this season. It seems when you expect them to win a game, they find a way to lose that one. When you think they are in tough and don’t have much of a chance, they all pull together and take out one of the league’s best teams.

Montreal Canadiens Look To Continue Strong Road Play vs Winnipeg Jets – A Winning Habit

Fast forward two years and the Canadiens still don’t know what they have in Kotkaniemi. He had an impressive rookie season as an 18-year-old, scoring 11 goals and adding 23 assists for 34 points in 79 games. It took the Finn some time to get used to the speed and physicality of the NHL, but all in all he had a promising rookie campaign.

Canadiens Need to be Patient With Kotkaniemi – The Hockey Writers

 

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Last Jets Game

How much fun was Saturday? Patrik Laine scored twice, @lake Wheeler had two points and now has the all-time franchise points lead and Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves as the Jets shutout the Minnesota Wild 6-0.

Fun Jets Facts…

• The Jets have lost the past three games against the Canadiens at Bell MTS Place. Winnipeg’s last home win against Montreal was on March 5, 2016.
• Tonight is Winnipeg’s first game on a Monday this season. The Jets play three games on Monday’s in total this season, two of which are oddly enough against Montreal.
• Blake Wheeler now has the team points record and was already the franchise leader in assists with 413. He has a ways to go with goals though as his 202 goals is third behind Ilya Kovalchuk (328) and Bryan Little (217).
• Jansen Harkins had an assist on Saturday for his first NHL point. He’s the 243rd player in franchise history to register a point and the 17th player in franchise history to record a point in their NHL debut.

What We’re Saying…

After seeing Blake Wheeler make franchise history on Saturday, Connor Hellebuyck didn’t want to be left behind. With his 17th career shutout, he’s now tied with Ondrej Pavelec for the most in franchise history. The big difference between the two netminders is that Pavelec played in 379 games while Hellebuyck has only played in 242.

WTWF: Last Game Before The Holidays

 

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You can also get up to the minute lineup combos for the Jets
including power play and penalty kill lines by checking out our line combo page.

Montreal Canadiens Lines

LW	C	RW	Forwards
TOMAS TATAR Rating: 76.6#16 LW	PHILLIP DANAULT Rating: 74.9#40 C	BRENDAN GALLAGHER Rating: 78.0#8 RW	FL1 Rating Rating: 76.51#10 FL1
ARTTURI LEHKONEN Rating: 72.7#63 LW	MAX DOMI Rating: 75.9#30 C	JOEL ARMIA Rating: 75.0#30 RW	FL2 Rating Rating: 74.51#15 FL2
NICK COUSINS Rating: 71.8#112 LW	NICK SUZUKI	JORDAN WEAL Rating: 70.7#108 RW	FL3 Rating Rating: 71.24#22 FL3
RYAN POEHLING Rating: 74.0#40 LW	NATE THOMPSON Rating: 70.2#163 C	RILEY BARBER Rating: 73.3#51 RW	FL4 Rating Rating: 72.48#3 FL4

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS		Defense
BEN CHIAROT Rating: 74.8#23 LD	SHEA WEBER Rating: 79.2#5 RD	DL1 Rating Rating: 76.99#4 DL1
BRETT KULAK Rating: 72.8#65 LD	JEFF PETRY Rating: 75.6#16 RD	DL2 Rating Rating: 74.24#10 DL2
MIKE REILLY Rating: 73.1#54 LD	CALE FLEURY Rating: 72.2#66 RD	DL3 Rating Rating: 72.65#10 DL3

GOALIES
CAREY PRICE Rating: 66.7#43 G1	CHARLIE LINDGREN Rating: 75.3#2 G2

 

Winnipeg Jets Lines

LW	C	RW	Forwards
KYLE CONNOR Rating: 77.6#11 LW	MARK SCHEIFELE Rating: 79.0#15 C	PATRIK LAINE Rating: 75.0#29 RW	FL1 Rating Rating: 77.19#8 FL1
NIKOLAJ EHLERS Rating: 76.0#19 LW	BLAKE WHEELER Rating: 76.5#14 C	JACK ROSLOVIC Rating: 71.7#86 RW	FL2 Rating Rating: 74.72#14 FL2
GABRIEL BOURQUE Rating: 69.3#124 LW	ADAM LOWRY Rating: 71.0#139 C	MASON APPLETON Rating: 71.0#102 RW	FL3 Rating Rating: 70.46#27 FL3
JANSEN HARKINS	NICK SHORE Rating: 70.8#147 C	LOGAN SHAW Rating: 69.6#123 RW	FL4 Rating Rating: 70.23#23 FL4

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS		Defense
JOSH MORRISSEY Rating: 74.4#31 LD	TUCKER POOLMAN Rating: 72.2#68 RD	DL1 Rating Rating: 73.30#26 DL1
LUCA SBISA Rating: 72.7#69 LD	NEAL PIONK Rating: 74.2#30 RD	DL2 Rating Rating: 73.46#14 DL2
NATHAN BEAULIEU Rating: 72.3#81 LD	ANTHONY BITETTO Rating: 70.9#96 RD	DL3 Rating Rating: 71.57#25 DL3

GOALIES
CONNOR HELLEBUYCK Rating: 71.6#12 G1	LAURENT BROSSOIT Rating: 65.9#50 G2