The Montreal Canadiens (46-21-8) are back home to host the Florida Panthers (34-26-14) for their last Saturday night home game of the regular season. The game starts at 7:00 and airs on TVA and City.

Match Up

This is the fourth of five meetings between the Habs and Panthers this season, and the final one in Montreal. These teams have played three one-goal games already this season, including a pair that needed a shootout to find a winner. The Habs have gone 2-0-1 so far against the Panthers with Brendan Gallagher picking up three goals in those three games.

What to Watch

Canadiens: Brendan Gallagher has had the hot hand for the Habs recently, picking up a goal in each of his last four games. Gallagher has moved up to second in goals on the team now with 23, one ahead of Tomas Plekanec, and fourth in points with 45, one more than David Desharnais.

Panthers: Youngsters Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov have been hot for the Panthers recently. Huberdeau leads the team with 45 points on the year including four goals and eight assists over 12 games in March. Barkov hasn’t been as successful this year, with just 29 points in 63 games, but he does have a goal and four assists in his last five.



What’s at Stake

By the time the Habs take the ice on Saturday may have already punched their playoff ticket depending on how the Bruins fare in their one o’clock game. But if the Bruins do win, the Canadiens can clinch a playoff berth with a win of their own.

Who’s Out

Tom Gilbert (face) missed the team’s most recent road trip but could be available for Saturday’s game.

The Panthers will be without Nick Bjugstad (back) for the remainder of the season, and backup goalie Al Montoya (groin) is also out.

What Else

Saturday nights have been kind to the Canadiens this season, especially on home ice. Through 20 Saturday games this season, the Habs have gone 17-1-2, and 12-0-2 at home. On top of that, of Carey Price’s nine shutouts on the year, five of them have come in Saturday games.

The Question Mark

If PK Subban and Andrei Markov will form the top pair when the playoffs start, what do you think the second and third defensive pairs should look like?

As always, we’ll be going over your answers on the Montreal Hockey Talk Habs Pregame Show, starting an hour before each Canadiens game on montrealhockeytalk.com.