The Battle of Quebec will renew on Thursday night as the Quebec Nordiques roll into Montreal to battle the Canadiens. After the Nordiques lost to the Ottawa Senators the night before, they will have very little time to recover for a rested Montreal club. This will be the first time that the Nordiques have played in Montreal since April 5, 1995, which ended in a 6–5 Canadiens victory. Vincent Damphousse scored the game-winning goal, assisted by Pierre Turgeon and Vladimir Malakhov.

Colorado Avalanche (34–7–9, 77 pts)

The Nordiques struggled to get the puck out of their own zone in the first half of a back-to-back on Wednesday night. As the Ottawa Senators fought for a playoff position, the Nordiques could not make many passes count. The Senator smothered every move that Quebec made, allowing only 17 shots on net. Brock Nelson, Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, and Artturi Lehkonen all combined for one shot on goal the entire game. Parker Kelly remained hot, scoring his third goal in five games and topping 20 points for the season. Ottawa would win the battle 5–2 as the Nordiques drop their seventh regulation loss of the year.

Projected Lines

Victor Olofsson – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Necas
Artturi Lehkonen – Brock Nelson – Valeri Nichushkin
Taylor Makar – Jack Drury – Gavin Brindley
Zakhar Bardakov – Parker Kelly – Joel Kiviranta

Samuel Girard – Cale Makar
Josh Manson – Brent Burns
Sam Malinski – Keaton Middleton

Scott Wedgewood
Mackenzie Blackwood

Montreal Canadiens (29–17–7, 65 pts)

The Canadiens sit just outside the Wild Card, tied with the Buffalo Sabres in the Atlantic Division. Much like many Eastern Conference teams, they hold a winning record; each point has proven significant for them. On Tuesday night, the Canadiens played the Vegas Golden Knights and won in overtime 3–2. Surprisingly, Pavel Dorofeyev was the only Golden Knight to find the back of the net. For the Canadiens, contributions came from up and down the lineup. Goals from Phillip Danault, Cole Caulfield and Jake Evans would help secure the victory.

Projected Lines

Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Alexandre Texier
Juraj Slafkovsky – Oliver Kapanen – Ivan Demidov
Zack Bolduc – Jake Evans – Kirby Dach
Josh Anderson – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher

Mike Matheson – Noah Dobson
Lane Hutson – Alexandre Carrier
Kaiden Guhle – Arber Xhekaj

Jakub Dobes
Sam Montembeault

Game Details

Time: 5:00 p.m. MT

Watch: Altitude, Altitude+, SN (MTL), TVAS (MTL), ESPN+ (Out of Market Only)

Listen: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM/AM 950