Canadiens’ Christian Dvorak will return to lineup against Blues

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Centre Christian Dvorak will make his season debut Saturday when the Canadiens play the Blues in St. Louis (7 p.m., Citytv, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).

Dvorak has been sidelined since having knee surgery in March. Last season, he had 10-18-28 totals in 64 games while winning 52 per cent of his faceoffs.

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Forward Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, who suffered a lower-body injury in Thursday’s 3-2 loss to the Coyotes in Arizona, won’t play for the Canadiens. Forward Michael Pezzetta, who was a healthy scratch against the Coyotes, will return to the lineup, replacing Jesse Ylönen. Harvey-Pinard is listed as day-to-day.

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Samuel Montembeault will start in goal for the Canadiens. He has a 2-1-1 record with a 2.91 goals-against average and a .950 save percentage.

The Canadiens have a 5-3-2 record, while the Blues are 4-4-1.

The return of Dvorak will allow head coach Martin St. Louis to move Alex Newhook back to the wing after playing centre since Kirby Dach suffered a season-ending knee injury during the second game of the year. St. Louis wouldn’t say what his forward lines will look like against the Blues when asked by reporters in St. Louis after Saturday’s morning skate.

“Circumstances brought him back to centre,” St. Louis said about Newhook. “He’ll be back on the wing tonight. There’s definitely less responsibility and the biggest one is in that faceoff circle. I think he’s going to benefit from going back on the wing.”

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Newhook has 3-2-5 totals this season, but has won only 41.7 per cent of his faceoffs. Since the injury to Dach, Newhook has been playing between Juraj Slafakovsky and Josh Anderson, who both have no goals and only one assist this season.

“When you’re struggling in the faceoff circle, within one second or two seconds there’s a negative vibe because you lost another faceoff,” St. Louis told reporters in St. Louis. “Sometimes it weighs on them. So it’s one less responsibility (for Newhook), just play the game.”

Dvorak is happy to get back in the lineup for the first time since March 7.

“It’s been a long road to get here,” he told reporters in St. Louis after the morning skate. “A lot of excitement, for sure.

“They’re playing well,” he added about his teammates. “It’s been fun hockey to watch. There’s a lot of energy out there, that’s for sure. They’re playing fast and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

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Cole Caufield leads the Canadiens in scoring with 4-6-10 totals, followed by Sean Monahan (6-3-9), Nick Suzuki (2-6-8), Tanner Pearson (3-3-6) and Mike Matheson (2-4-6). Monahan has scored a goal in each of the last four games and is winning 60.6 per cent of his faceoffs this season.

Robert Thomas leads the Blues in scoring with 3-4-7 totals, followed by Kevin Hayes (2-3-5), Jakub Vrana (1-3-4), Oskar Sundqvist (1-3-4) and Kasperi Kapanen (1-3-4).

This is the first of two games between the Canadiens and Blues this season. The Blues will be at the Bell Centre on Feb. 11. The Canadiens won both games against the Blues last season, winning 7-4 in St. Louis and 5-4 at the Bell Centre.

This is the final game of a three-game road trip for the Canadiens. They will fly back to Montreal after the game and face the Tampa Bay Lightning Tuesday at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).

scowan@postmedia.com

twitter.com/StuCowan1

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