The Montreal Canadiens are one game away from having Paul Byron return to the team. The speedy winger was handed a three-game suspension for his hit on MacKenzie Weegar. Since then, Matthew Peca and Charles Hudon have split assignments playing with Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Joel Armia on the third line.
And thus the battle began. Peca already had the edge over Hudon before puck drop considering his usage on special teams. The Habs lost a penalty killer in Byron and Peca filled that void.