Montreal Canadiens Reveal Major Lineup Changes Ahead of Tonight's Clash with the Islanders

As the Montreal Canadiens get underway to face the New York Islanders tonight, Martin St-Louis has made significant lineup changes to face Patrick Roy's squad.

The first of many announced was that Cayden Primeau will be in net tonight against the Islanders, replacing Samuel Montembeault.

The Montreal Canadiens selected 25-year-old Cayden Primeau in the seventh round of the 2017 NHL Draft. Although Samuel Montembeault has had a fantastic start to the season, a strong showing from number 30 could add some interest. It's always good to have some internal competition to drive the players' standards.

Cayden Primeau, skated in 23 games in 2023-24, starting 21 of them and recording an 11-21-6 record. The 25-year-old played as many games in one season last year as he did in the three seasons prior with the Canadiens.

Recalled from the Laval Rocket yesterday, defenseman Logan Mailloux practiced with the team. This season, he had never been called up before. Against the Detroit Red Wings on April 16, 2024, the rearguard made his NHL debut and recorded one assist.

We also know that defenseman Jayden Struble will play his first game of the season tonight, and he might even play a significant part, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Juraj Slafkovski will likely miss time due to an unfortunate injury to his shoulder that occurred during practice. The defensemen Mike Matheson and Kaiden Guhle did not participate in the session. While the latter took a day off from therapy, the former will be assessed every day for an upper-body injury.

At a time when Montreal is already dealing with several long-term absences, this injury scare has piled up. The Canadiens would undoubtedly be undermanned up front if Slafkovsky were added to the roster, especially with forwards like Patrik Laine and Rafael Harvey-Pinard sidelined due to injury.

In the season series last year, the Canadiens defeated the Islanders 2-1. Looking further back, the teams have split their last ten games evenly, with five wins for each team. The fact that five of the previous six head-to-head matches have been decided by a single goal is noteworthy and illustrates how evenly matched these teams are.

The Canadiens are facing their most difficult test to date as they get ready to play the New York Islanders on Saturday, following a shaky 2-3-0 start to the season. In order to stay in the game, the Habs must salvage what remains of their players as injuries begin to mount and the season runs the risk of ending too soon. The team is forced to persevere and hope that their key players recover in time, even though Juraj Slafkovsky's loss would now only mean another disruption.