Joshua Roy to play with Kirby Dach tonight

Even though tonight’s game against the Ottawa Senators will take place at the Bell Centre, don’t expect to see a line-up anywhere close to the one we’ll see on October 9.

Why not?

Because, if today’s practice is anything to go by, the first line (Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky) won’t be in action. Is this a hint that we won’t be sending Slaf out with Kirby Dach in the short term?

But whether Kirby Dach plays on the first or second line tonight, what we wanted to see in practice was who he’d be skating with.

It’s unclear who will replace Patrik Laine on the top-6, but it’s interesting to note that Joshua Roy (a top-6 candidate in Jeff Gorton’s eyes) and Joel Armia practiced with Dach in preparation for tonight’s game.

Of course, Alex Newhook isn’t here for tonight’s game. The Avalanche veteran is more than ever expected to start the season on the top-6.

And we can assume that Roy and Armia have an audition to replace Laine.

Today’s Habs trios.

Roy-Dach-Armia
Barré-Boulet-Dvorak-Kapanen
Heineman-Evans-Gallagher
Pezzetta-Condotta-Tuch

Engstrom-Savard
Struble-Barron
Xhekaj-Mailloux

Primeau

– J-F Chaumont (@JFChaumontLNH) October 1, 2024

Alex Barré-Boulet finds himself on a line with Christian Dvorak at center… and Oliver Kapanen on the wing. This is clearly a test to see how he fares. Emil Heineman, with Jake Evans and Brendan Gallagher, is also being tested.

Michael Pezzetta will play with the two guys who were recalled this morning for the game. No surprises here.

Defensively, Kaiden Guhle isn’t ready to return to action and guys like Mike Matheson and Lane Hutson are absent. David Savard is the only veteran to play tonight: he’ll be with Adam Engstrom.

Jayden Struble, Justin Barron, Arber Xhekaj and Logan Mailloux are also present.

Overtime

– Like it or not?

I’m told Montreal’s new professional women’s soccer team has chosen its name. They’ll be called: ROSES FC

Been told Montreal’s women’s professional soccer team will be called: ROSES FC @BPMSportsRadio

– Tony Marinaro (@TonyMarinaro) October 1, 2024