Arber Xhekaj will not play tonight | Jacob Fowler in goal

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Arber Xhekaj will not play tonight | Jacob Fowler in goal
Credit: Arianne Bergeron/NHLI via Getty Images

Martin St-Louis spoke to the media before today's game.

As reported by Marc Denis, Jacob Fowler will ultimately be in net for the Habs tonight. He'll face off against Jordan Binnington for the Blues.

It would have made sense to start Jakub Dobes—who lives in St. Louis during the summer—to keep Fowler out of the lineup against the Stars. But it seems the Habs want to win tonight and are taking a short-term approach, putting Thursday's decision on hold.

Most notably, Arber Xhekaj will not be playing.

Adam Engström, who is currently the Canadiens' #7 defenseman, will take his place in the lineup. This will be his first game since last Tuesday.

Mike Matheson's return from injury means the Habs have five defensemen (including Lane Hutson, Alexandre Carrier, Noah Dobson, and Kaiden Guhle) that Martin St-Louis must rotate each night.

That leaves the “Sheriff” as the extra defenseman for the first time this season. After all, Engstrom needs to get some ice time, too.

I expect Xhekaj to be ready to play in Thursday's game in Dallas. But we'll have to wait and see what the Canadiens decide in two days.

On offense, Owen Beck will once again be left out of the lineup. This comes as no surprise, given that he's the 13th forward. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see him sent down to the Rocket when both teams are in Quebec at the same time.

Details to follow…


In a Nutshell

– Connor Hellebuyck will start tonight.

– Stay tuned.

– Note this.

– Well done.

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