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All right. Are you ready for tonight's game?
We don't know yet if Noah Dobson will be able to play. But… what we do know, however, is that he'll be in uniform for the warm-up.
The decision will be made after that. If he's fit enough to play, he'll be in the lineup to face the Lightning in the most important game of the Canadiens' season…
Martin St. Louis says Noah Dobson will take part in tonight's pre-game warm-up and will be a game-time decision.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) May 3, 2026
Obviously, I don't need to tell you that seeing him play would really help the Canadiens.
The Montreal team managed to force a Game 7 even though Dobson wasn't able to play… and that's practically a feat in itself. Any team that loses its #1 or #2 defenseman has to find a way to cope, and that's exactly what the Canadiens did.
It's still interesting…
If he plays, I'm looking forward to seeing how Dobson is utilized in tonight's game.
He hasn't played in a game since April 11, after all. It's been a good three weeks since he last played, and there's a question that's been on my mind…
Will he be a little rusty?
He'll definitely need a game or two to get back into the swing of things. But the Canadiens have to hope it doesn't take any longer than that because they'll need everyone at their best to send the Lightning packing…
We know the Bolts have experience in these situations. Andrei Vasilevskiy has truly incredible stats in Game 7s since the start of his career, and the Lightning have a team that knows how to win.
The Canadiens will have to pull off a big win, even if Dobson plays…
Overtime
It'll also be interesting to see which defenseman gets benched if Dobson is able to play.
My guess: it'll be Jayden Struble… because the Sheriff, Arber Xhekaj, has shown he can be a real asset in the lineup in a physical series like this one.
