Montreal hosts St. Louis, looks to break home losing streak

St. Louis Blues (28-14-5, fourth in the Central) vs. Montreal Canadiens (8-33-7, eighth in the Atlantic)

Montreal; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Montreal takes on St. Louis looking to stop its seven-game home slide.

The Canadiens are 5-17-1 at home. Montreal averages 10.7 penalty minutes per game, the fourth-most in the league. Michael Pezzetta leads the team serving 68 total minutes.

The Blues are 10-8-3 on the road. St. Louis is fourth in the league averaging 6.3 assists per game, led by Robert Thomas with 0.8.

St. Louis knocked off Montreal 4-1 in the last meeting between these teams on Dec. 11.

TOP PERFORMERS: Nicholas Suzuki has 28 total points for the Canadiens, nine goals and 19 assists. Mike Hoffman has 6 points over the last 10 games for Montreal.

Vladimir Tarasenko leads the Blues with 44 points, scoring 18 goals and collecting 26 assists. Brayden Schenn has eight goals over the last 10 games for St. Louis.

LAST 10 GAMES: Canadiens: 0-8-2, averaging 2.3 goals, 4.1 assists, 4.2 penalties and 10.8 penalty minutes while giving up five goals per game with an .858 save percentage.

Blues: 6-4-0, averaging 3.9 goals, 6.8 assists, 4.3 penalties and 8.9 penalty minutes while allowing 2.9 goals per game with a .905 save percentage.

INJURIES: Canadiens: Rafael Harvey-Pinard: out (health protocols), Louie Belpedio: out (covid-19), Gianni Fairbrother: out (covid-19), David Savard: out (ankle).

Blues: Marco Scandella: out (lower-body).

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