The Montreal Canadiens (37-16-5) play host to the Columbus Blue Jackets (26-27-3) Saturday night at the Bell Centre. The game starts at 7:00 and can be seen on TVA and City.

Match Up

This is the second of three meetings between the Habs and Jackets, and the only one in Montreal. Three unanswered third period power play goals helped the Canadiens squeak out a 3-2 victory in Columbus, just before the city hosted this season’s All Star Game.

What to Watch

Canadiens: Despite taking a hard shot to the leg and missing shifts in Wednesday’s game against the Senators, PK Subban returned on Thursday and played over 30 minutes for the fourth time in his last six games. He also picked up an assist in the game to extend his point streak to five.

Blue Jackets: Despite a season riddled with injuries for the Blue Jackets, Nick Foligno and Ryan Johansen have been two consistent bright spots. The pair represented Columbus at the All Star game, and with good reason, Foligno has 22 goals and 52 in 54 games this season, while Johansen has 21 goals and 52 points in 56 games. Johansen, along with David Savard, are the only two players who have played all of the Jackets’ 56 games so far this year.

What’s at Stake

The NHL season is in it’s homestretch to the Playoffs and every point counts as the Canadiens look to cement their hold on the Atlantic division and Eastern Conference. The good news is, with 24 games remaining on the season, the Habs have a 15 point lead in the Eastern race on the ninth placed Panthers, and a 20 point lead on the Flyers in tenth.

Who’s Out

The Canadiens will be without Alexei Emelin (shoulder) for the next little while, and Sergei Gonchar (upper body) is nearing a return but seems doubtful for Saturday. P.A. Parenteau (concussion) is not yet participating in full practices.

Alex Galchenyuk should return on Saturday after missing Thursday’s game with an illness.

The Blue Jackets have been one of the most banged up teams this season, and that’s still the case heading into Saturday’s action. Sergei Bobrovsky (groin), Ryan Murray (ankle), Dalten Prout (upper body), Boone Jenner (back), and Jeremy Morin (upper body) are all missing. Nathan Horton is out as well with a career threatening back injury, he has yet to play a game this year.

What Else

The Canadiens have scored two or fewer goals in seven of their ten games this month, and their 3-1 victory over the Bruins included an empty net goal. Max Pacioretty has 12 points in his last 12 games, six goals and six assists, factoring in on a dozen of Montreal’s 28 goals during that span, roughly 43%.

The Question Mark

If you were the GM, how would the recent injuries to Sergei Gonchar and Alexei Emelin have changed your strategy going into the trade deadline?

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.