The Canadiens will be able to count on the services of Nick Suzuki for the first time since October 20 as the Mammoth visit the Bell Centre for the third time in their history. It will be the fifth meeting between the two teams, and the Habs lead the series 3-1 after winning their last three battles against Utah!
In addition to the captain returning to the lineup, Kirby Dach will also be in the lineup while Florian Xhekaj and Owen Beck will be left out. I know you would have liked to see Owen Beck in the lineup—he has been playing good hockey lately. However, Kirby Dach was also playing good hockey before missing the last two games. You know I’m not a fan of Kirby Dach and that I turned the page on him a while ago, but I still believe he will not finish the season in Montreal. Moreover, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him moved right before the holiday roster freeze on December 19.
Jakub Dobes will get the start for the first time since his win against the Stars in Dallas and will try to win a second consecutive game for the first time since May 21, 2026, when he beat the Sabres in Game #7 and also won the first game of the series against the Hurricanes in the conference final. In six starts this season, the Czech has a record of 2-2-2 with a high goals-against average of 4.05 and a low save percentage of .853. I’m convinced that if Dobes wins tonight against the Mammoth, he will be in net on Saturday night to face the Leafs at Scotiabank Arena.
UTA 10-6-0 VS MTL 9-3-3
It will be the second career start for Jakub Dobes against the Mammoth. The #75 turned aside 31 of the 34 shots he faced in a 4-3 win at the Delta Center on November 26, 2025. Captain Nick Suzuki finished that game with two goals and one assist.
If the Habs hope to bounce back after the embarrassing loss to the Jets on Tuesday night, they will definitely need to stay out of the penalty box, because the Mammoth rank second in the league on the power play with a 36.4% success rate compared to 13% for the Canadiens, who sit 30th. However, it gets a little more complicated on the penalty kill for the visitors, who rank 25th in the NHL with a 70% success rate while the Habs are 11th at 81.7%.
As mentioned in my title, this will be a big test because the Mammoth are anything but an easy opponent. It will also be a good mental test. Will Martin St-Louis’s men be able to find the path back to victory? One thing is certain: opposing coach André Tourigny and his crew will not make life easy for the Habs. You can bet a little $2 that last season’s Rocket coach has put a few dollars on the board—he would surely love to collect the two points against his former organization.
Season prediction: 8-7
Guaranteed win: 2-0
Prediction:
UTA – 3
MTL – 4
With that, have a great rest of your day everyone and enjoy the game tonight.