Martin St-Louis stuns with unexpected lineup change before Game 1 vs. Buffalo
Arber Xhekaj and Joe Veleno are drawing into Montreal's lineup tonight. Brendan Gallagher and Jayden Struble are out. Game 1 in Buffalo, KeyBank Center.
Martin St-Louis is changing the look that closed out Tampa Bay. Heavier, more physical, second-round version of the Canadiens.
The morning skate told the story Wednesday. Two new faces on the ice. Two veterans of the Tampa series watching.
- Anthony Martineau
Gallagher and Struble were skating with the reserve players, Arber Xhekaj and Joe Veleno didn't. It speaks for itself.
Montreal just clawed past the Lightning in seven games. They won 2-1 on the road in Game 7 to punch this ticket.
Now comes Buffalo. Lindy Ruff's group split four meetings with the Habs during the regular season, two wins apiece.
Xhekaj's return changes the temperature on the back end. The 25-year-old played six games in round one before being scratched for Game 7.
He brings a different element. Size, edge, a willingness to finish every check. St-Louis clearly wants that against the Sabres.
Joe Veleno gets his first playoff shift of the spring
Veleno has not dressed once in the postseason. Not a single shift through seven games against Tampa. Wednesday flips that.
The 26-year-old forward posted a -12 rating in 61 regular-season games. His role tonight will be limited, but the bench needed a fresh body.
Gallagher coming out is the surprise to chew on. The 34-year-old played three playoff games so far, picking up a goal and a plus-1 rating.
Struble had been a fixture. Seven straight playoff games, plus-3, dependable minutes on the third pair against the Lightning.
So why pull both? The reads point to matchup logic. Buffalo's forecheck is heavy in straight lines. Xhekaj on the back end and Veleno in the bottom six adds bodies.
Is this a one-game look or the new normal? St-Louis hasn't tipped his hand. The bench will tell us by the second period.
The morning skate report came from Anthony Martineau on TVA Sports, citing colleague Félix Séguin.
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Cole Caufield carries 51 regular-season goals into Game 1. He's had a quiet stretch lately, one point in his last five playoff outings.
Lane Hutson keeps cooking. The young defenseman has six points through seven playoff games and continues to soak up the heavy minutes.
The risk in pulling Gallagher is real. Veteran presence in a hostile building matters. Buffalo will come hard early, and Montreal just lost two of the steadier voices in that locker room for tonight.
The Canadiens won the first round on grit. Now St-Louis is doubling down on it. If Xhekaj and Veleno deliver, this becomes the lineup that defines the series.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 6, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Josh Doan | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Ryan McLeod | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Zach Benson | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Bowen Byram | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Kirby Dach | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Greenway | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jansen Harkins | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Beckett Sennecke | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mark Stone | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nick Suzuki | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Demidov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Chris Kreider | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ryan Poehling | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mattias Samuelsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Juraj Slafkovsky | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Troy Terry | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Shea Theodore | - | 1 | 1 | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||