New Jersey @ Montreal preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 21, 2018 ) Montreal 2, New Jersey 5

Well-rested and holding down one of the wild cards in the Eastern Conference, the Montreal Canadiens will look to carry over the momentum from before the All-Star break when they return to the ice to host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday afternoon. The Canadiens, who have been idle since Jan. 23, won five of six entering the break and yielded two goals or fewer in all five wins.

Although Montreal has a better record on the road (14-8-3) than at the Bell Centre (14-10-2), a five-game homestand over the next eight days offers an opportunity to move up in the standings. "We have a chance to bring our home record to a more acceptable level," Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. "We're not a bad home team, but we want to be better." The Devils returned from the break with an impressive 6-3 win at Pittsburgh before dropping a 4-3 decision at home to the New York Rangers. New Jersey has won the past three meetings, including a 5-2 victory over visiting Montreal on Nov. 21, but it sports an NHL-worst 6-17-3 record on the road.

TV: 2 p.m. ET, MSG-Plus (New Jersey), TSN2, RDS (Montreal)

ABOUT THE DEVILS (19-24-7): New Jersey is hurting on the blue line after Sami Vatanen was placed on injured reserve Thursday due to a concussion, joining fellow defenseman Ben Lovejoy on the sideline, but captain Andy Greene traveled with the team and is expected to play Saturday despite sitting out Friday's practice. Reigning league Most Valuable Player Taylor Hall missed his 15th consecutive game Thursday due to a lower-body injury and forward Travis Zajac remained in New Jersey after missing practice Friday. Center Pavel Zacha notched a pair of goals against the Canadiens in November but scored just once in 12 games last month.

ABOUT THE CANADIENS (28-18-5): Carey Price allowed four goals in winning his last four starts before the break, but he was suspended one game for missing the All-Star Game so backup netminder Antti Niemi will start Saturday. Forward Paul Byron will return to the lineup after serving a three-game suspension while Andrew Shaw could be back Tuesday after an 11-game absence due to a neck injury. "I have to make sure I can come back and start off where I left off," Shaw said after practicing Friday for the first time since he was hurt. "That's what I have to focus on, making sure my timing is right and that everything is perfect before I can come back."

OVERTIME

1. The Canadiens announced Friday that D Noah Juulsen will be sidelined indefinitely with a vision-related issue.

2. Devils F Marcus Johansson had a goal and an assist Thursday to run his point streak to three games.

3. Niemi is 4-1-2 with a 1.95 goals-against average versus New Jersey.

PREDICTION: Canadiens 4, Devils 3