Preview: Canadiens at Blues

[December 06, 2016]  After squeezing out a rare victory in the state of California, the Montreal Canadiens will close out a rugged five-game road trip with a visit to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night. Montreal improved to 2-2-0 on its four-game trek with a 5-4 shootout victory over the Los Angeles Kings -- its second victory in the past 12 contests in the Golden State.

The Canadiens have an NHL-leading 36 points but they had failed to score more than three goals in nine straight games before outlasting Los Angeles. "When the whole team is playing hard and we get it going, it's hard to play against us," said forward Alexander Radulov, who had a goal and two assists in the win. "It's always nice to score, but it's huge for us to get going and get our confidence back." Montreal could use a boost of confidence heading into St. Louis, where the Blues have lost only once in regulation in 15 games this season. St. Louis had a six-game winning streak at Scottrade Center snapped in a 3-2 overtime defeat to Winnipeg on Saturday.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, RDS, SNE (Montreal), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)

ABOUT THE CANADIENS (17-6-2): The road trip became bumpier for Montreal when Alexander Galchenyuk, the team's leading scorer with nine goals and 23 points, suffered a lower-body injury in the third period against the Kings and has been ruled out indefinitely. Galchenyuk, who has failed to register a point in consecutive games only once this season, underwent medical testing Monday in St. Louis and will be re-evaluated when the team returns to Montreal. Radulov has two goals and 11 assists in his last 13 games.

ABOUT THE BLUES (14-7-4): St. Louis had a string of ugly road losses in the first part of November, hitting its nadir with an 8-4 drubbing at Columbus on Nov. 12. The Blues have bounced back with a vengeance since then, going 7-1-1 in their last nine games and, predictably, standout forward Vladimir Tarasenko is leading the charge. Tarasenko, named the NHL's Second Star of the Week on Monday after scoring four times in three games, has erupted for eight goals and 14 points over his last 10 contests.

OVERTIME

1. Blues D Joel Edmundson, sidelined for 12 games, will return to the lineup and replace D Robert Bortuzzo, who is listed as week-to-week.

2. Canadiens G Carey Price is 4-3-2 with a 2.39 goals-against average versus the Blues.

3. St. Louis has 12 power-play tallies in the past 10 games.

PREDICTION: Canadiens 3, Blues 2

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