- The Canadiens held an optional morning skate at the Prudential Center on Friday ahead of their game against the Devils. Fifteen players took part in the practice, including Dustin Tokarski and Christian Thomas , who met the team in New Jersey on Thursday night after being recalled from St. John’s.

- Tokarski will back up Mike Condon against the Devils, as Carey Price was placed on the injured reserve list with a lower body injury on Thursday. Despite being without his starting netminder for at least the next few games, head coach Michel Therrien confirmed that his game plan remains the same no matter who he has between the pipes.

“We had a really good start and we faced adversity early in the season when Carey got hurt. We lost another warrior in Brendan Gallagher, but for us, it’s business as usual,” explained Therrien. “We have to make sure we’re solid and that we give ourselves a chance to win hockey games by playing the right way. Credit goes to the players and the leadership, because they approach every game the right way. Absolutely nothing changes. We want to play the same way, we want to play the right way, we want to play within our structure. We believe our structure is what brings us success.

- Therrien also confirmed on Thursday that Bud Holloway will make his NHL debut on Friday night at the age of 27. He’ll skate alongside Paul Byron and Brian Flynn, who are looking forward to seeing what the rookie winger can bring to their line.

“He’s played a lot of professional hockey. He’s worked hard to get to this point and he’s definitely earned it, especially with the really good start he had in St. John’s this year,” said Flynn on his new linemate, who was first on the IceCaps and third in the AHL with 20 points in 18 games when he was called up. “From what I’ve seen, he sees the ice really well. He’s a smart player and he’s good offensively. Hopefully we’ll be able to contribute a little more offensively tonight.”

- Greg Pateryn will be back in action on Friday in place of Alexei Emelin, who returned from a lower-body injury on Wednesday against the Rangers, but will not dress against the Devils.

“We decided before we left for the trip that Alexei would come back into the lineup. He was feeling good, but we’ll continue to work with him and he’ll probably be back in the lineup on Saturday,” shared Therrien, whose team will head back to Montreal after the game to face the Devils on home ice on Saturday. “We have depth and we like to use that as much as possible. In Emelin’s case, he missed a lot of time and we’re playing three games in four nights. We have to manage his ice time.”

- Devils netminder Cory Schneider will get his second career start against the Canadiens on Friday night. He’ll be looking to add to New Jersey’s impressive start to the campaign, having racked up 23 points to date under rookie head coach John Hynes.

“This is a team that plays with a lot of energy and they’ll be one of the teams battling right to the end to earn a playoff spot,” said Therrien. “Games against teams like that are always difficult.”

- Puck drop is slated for 7:00 p.m. at the Prudential Center. The game will be broadcast on RDS, Sportsnet East, 98.5FM, and TSN 690.



- canadiens.com



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