The Colorado Avalanche and the Montreal Canadiens will reignite the Battle of Quebec on Saturday afternoon as the Avs wear their Heritage Jerseys. The series goes back to when the Quebec Nordiques became members of the NHL in 1979. Montreal and Quebec would meet five times in the playoffs and 51 more times in the regular season. The teams took on political symbolism during the rivalry. Some saw the Canadiens as reflective of those in favor of keeping the province as part of Canada, while the Nordiques were a symbol of Quebec independence. Either way, this will bring us back to the great days of the 1980s, when the two regularly met in the postseason. The Avalanche may even see the return of forward Valeri Nichushkin after missing time with a lower-body injury.

Colorado Avalanche (17–1–6 40pts)

Colorado is coming out of a division battle against the Minnesota Wild on Friday afternoon. It marked the seventh instance the Avs played overtime or a shootout during this season. Gabriel Landeskog pushed the Avs late in the third period after a slash to his face. He immediately got up and scored off a Nathan MacKinnon shot to tie the game. Landeskog even saw a promotion to the top line later in the game after playing the last few games on the third line.

Projected Lines

Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Necas
Ross Colton – Brock Nelson – Gabriel Landeskog
Parker Kelly – Jack Drury – Victor Olofsson
Ivan Ivan – Zakhar Bardakov – Joel Kiviranta

Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Josh Manson – Brent Burns
Samuel Girard – Sam Malinski

Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood

Montreal Canadiens (13–7–3 29pts)

Following a win against the Vegas Golden Knights, the Canadiens are in second place in the Atlantic Division. Under coach Martin St-Louis, Montreal is emerging as a powerhouse in his fourth year. Vegas did not perform well during that match. It would see goals from four different forwards. Cole Caufield nailed his 14th goal of the season early in the second period, and it was no contest from there. Mark Stone, in just his eighth game of the season, had the only response for the Golden Knights.

Projected Lines

Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Zack Bolduc
Juraj Slafkovsky – Oliver Kapanen – Ivan Demidov
Florian Xhekaj – Jake Evans – Josh Anderson
Jared Davidson – Joe Veleno – Brendan Gallagher

Mike Matheson – Noah Dobson
Jayden Struble – Lane Hutson
Adam Engstrom – Alexandre Carrier

Jakub Dobes
Sam Montembeault

Game Details

Time: 1:00 p.m. MT

Watch: Altitude, Altitude+, TSN2 (MTL), RDS (MTL), ESPN+ (out of market)

Listen: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM/AM 950