#Mike Hoffman

The struggling Montreal Canadiens (15-20-3) finally return home from a long road trip to face the surging New York Rangers (21-12-6) on Thursday night. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 PM ET. The Canadiens are coming off a six-game losing streak where they've outshot and outscored by a wide margin. Cole Caufield, on of the only bright spots in the…

SUNRISE - The Florida Panthers will be as close to full-strength as they have all season when they return from the NHL's holiday break to play the Montreal Canadiens. Sasha Barkov (knee), Aaron Ekblad (shoulder) and Radko Gudas (concussion) were all cleared to return to the lineup on Thursday night, ending a month-long stretch where the Panthers…

Montreal Canadiens at Tampa Bay Lightning: GAME#33 Time: 7:00 pm Eastern Time Location: Amalie Arena Broadcast/Streaming: BSSUNX, SN, RDS, ESPN+/Hulu Opponent SBNation Site: Habs Eyes on the Prize DraftKings Odds: Lightning -1.5 O/U 6 It seems like it's been much longer than a week since the Lightning played their last game. However, that's all…

Just like that, Montreal Canadiens forward Michael Pezzetta went from hero to goat (in the derogatory sense). Scoring against the hosting Dallas Stars on Dec. 23, Pezzetta put the the Habs up 2-0 in the second period with a shot that had the Reseau des sports telecast comparing him to Cole Caufield. However, Pezzetta was also in the box for an…

Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes has let it be known that he's looking to deal prior to the start of the season, and it seems he's there's been an uptick of activity over the last few days. According to a well-placed NHL executive, Hughes has left no stone unturned in his quest to make a deal. The Canadiens' general manager is focused…

Without injured first-line forwards Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog along with some other key contributors, this is not the same Colorado Avalanche team that lifted Lord Stanley's Cup over their heads at the end of the 2021-22 season. However, Colorado is still managing to pick up points with four wins in the last five games. The Montreal…

For the vast majority of the season, the Montreal Canadiens had too many healthy players on the roster, which led to frustration for veteran players and rookies alike. But now that Brendan Gallagher, Jonathan Drouin, and Mike Hoffman have been sidelined (in addition to Sean Monahan's questionable health status), reinforcements may be in order. The…

There are a ton of NHL teams in win-now mode these days. It seems like everyone is going for it, with the pursuit of Stanley Cup glory being taken at all costs. Last Saturday, we even looked at five teams who are the most committed to winning the Cup. But for the majority that are all-in, there's a minority on the other end of the spectrum working…

The San Jose Sharks (7-13-4, seventh Pacific) kick off a road trip with a visit to the Montreal Canadiens (11-9-1, sixth Atlantic). The Canadiens will be well rested after coming off a 3-2 shoot out victory over the Chicago Blackhawks, where Kirby Dach made an impression on his old team. The Sharks are coming off another loss - despite the team…

Struggling Winnipeg Jets winger Kyle Connor draws a slump-busting matchup against the Anaheim Ducks, and he headlines our top shot-prop picks from the 13 NHL games on Thursday. It's a busy night on the ice with 26 teams in play and a number of soft matchups to target. The following three picks continue the trend of backing high-volume shooters in…

We are well into November in Canada! Snow is flying in Alberta and other parts of the country. The cold winds are blowing in a few places, while some teams are more than holding their own. So what's the update for the Canadian teams? Let's get down to business. The Oilers hit a massive speed bump this week, losing three straight games and then…

Ville Husso looks to continue his stellar start with the Detroit Red Wings Tuesday night as the home-standing Wings go after a second win this season over the Montreal Canadiens. The Finnish netminder has begun his Detroit tenure with a 5-1 record, 1.86 goals against average, and a pair of shutouts. He's just the seventh goalie to win at least five…

With Joel Edmundson returning to the lineup, the Montreal Canadiens find themselves in a challenging situation roster-wise. Fortunately for them, Evgenii Dadonov was put on injured reserve (IR) with a virus on the day Edmundson was activated for play, temporarily giving the Habs some space. However, Dadonov is due back next week, and to keep the…

The Montreal Canadiens (5-5-0) face the Winnipeg Jets (5-3-1) Thursday night at the Canada Life Centre. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 PM CDT (8 PM EST). The Canadiens' lineup will be a little different than in previous games with the return of stalwart defender Joel Edmundson. At practice he took Chris Wideman's spot in the lineup. The Canadiens…

The first month of the 2022-23 NHL Season is in the books, and one of the early trends is that underdogs are starting to bark again. The last two seasons have been especially hard on underdogs - favorites won 64.8% of games in 2021-22 (the best mark in the Action Network database) and 62.3% in 2020-21 (second-best) - but there are signs that things…

The Buffalo Sabres have got plenty of tongues wagging with their 4-1 start to the 2022-23 NHL season. Not only were the Sabres winning, but they were doing it against some impressive competition. Buffalo went 3-1 on a four-game road trip through Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Seattle. For a team that has been stuck in a rebuild since 2009, it's a…

The evaluation continued for Martin St. Louis and his staff on Saturday in Bouctouche, N.B., where the Montreal Canadiens played their eighth and final pre-season game and fell 3-2 in overtime to the Ottawa Senators. Just how complete it is now for the coach and his assistants, though, is questionable. That he couldn't ice a lineup that fully…

The Montreal Canadiens' run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final was the ultimate underdog story. Montreal barely got into the playoffs and stunned favored Toronto and Las Vegas before the dream run ended in five games to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Montreal fans should hold onto those memories for as long as possible because it could be a while before the…

The Montreal Canadiens' preseason is officially underway, but that doesn't mean Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton are done tinkering with their roster. Since the Habs are still over the cap even with Carey Price's $10.5-million contract on LTIR, some of the team's forwards will have to get moved soon to create more breathing room. But once that's taken…

MONTREAL - It's Day 1 of a new Montreal Canadiens season with nowhere for the team to go but up. They finished in 32 place last year - in the unenviable position of having to stare up at every other team in the NHL - and though the brass wouldn't mind if they repeated the feat for the best odds at landing generational talent Connor Bedard to add to…

With training camp just weeks away, the Montreal Canadiens have many unanswered questions regarding players and their lineup. These questions range from who will make the team out of camp, and who will be on the team by Christmas to who will have success, and who will flounder. Here is a look at the five most pressing questions going into the start…

Managing trade assets efficiently is important in any rebuild, so getting the best return from Montreal's forward group requires some careful planning. The idea is to maximize the return for each traded asset, while at the same time keeping the rebuild rolling in the right direction in a 2022-23 NHL season where the Habs are more likely to compete…

The Boston Bruins face-off tonight against the Montreal Canadiens this is a must-watch game for fans of the original six teams, plus some fans of other teams in the Atlantic who are interested in how close the Bruins could make things in the standings. The Bruins are the hot team right now, they have won four out of their last five games and have…