NJD@MTL: Five things you need to know

MONTREAL - Here are five things you need to know ahead of Saturday's afternoon game against the New Jersey Devils at the Bell Centre.

1 - The Canadiens are returning from their All-Star and bye-week break. They haven't seen any game action since their 2-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes at the Bell Centre. The Habs closed out the month of January with a 7-4-0 record, and at 89.5%, had the third-best penalty kill in the League for the month. This is the first of five games in a row at home for Montreal. After the Devils, they'll welcome the Edmonton Oilers (Sunday), Anaheim Ducks (Tuesday), Winnipeg Jets (Thursday), and Toronto Maple Leafs (next Saturday) to the Bell Centre.

2 - The Habs are playing a pair of matinée games this weekend as part of their annual Family Weekend affair, with the Edmonton Oilers set to face off against the Habs on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. This is the 28th time that the Canadiens have played two games on Super Bowl weekend, and they have a 14-9-3-1 in the first game of the back-to-back set. This is Montreal's second of three meetings with New Jersey, with the Devils taking the first one 5-2 at the Prudential Center in November. The final showdown between the two teams takes place later in February in Newark.
3 - Carey Price was the team's Molson Cup winner for January and registered a 5-3-0 record, 1.53 goals-against average, .953 save percentage, and two shutouts in eight contests for the month. That said, it'll be Antti Niemi getting the start on Saturday. Price will be sitting out the game after missing the All-Star Game, and the Canadiens recalled Michael McNiven from the AHL's Laval Rocket to back up Niemi. The Finnish netminder has a 4-1-2 record, 1.95 goals-against average, and .928 save percentage in seven career games against the Devils. With Paul Byron returning, the Canadiens announced on Twitter that Michael Chaput and Kenny Agostino would be scratched, while Andrew Shaw remains out due to injury.

4 - The Devils split their first two games back from their All-Star break, beating the Penguins 6-3 in Pittsburgh on Monday before falling 4-3 to the New York Rangers at home on Thursday. Travis Zajac earned four points (1G, 3A) in those two games, but he didn't make the trip to Montreal, joining Taylor Hall, Sami Vatanen, Ben Lovejoy, Joey Anderson, and Stefan Noesen on the sidelines. Head coach John Hynes said he'd be announcing his starting goaltender shortly before puck drop.
5 - Puck drop is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. You can catch all the action on TSN2 and RDS on television, and on TSN 690 and 98,5 fm on the radio. This is the first game on the team's annual Family Weekend, presented by Canadian Tire. Six thousand flag-capes will be offered to families through the doors on a first-come, first-served basis. Young fans have been selected to play special roles throughout the afternoon, helping out to announce the starting lineup, sing the national anthem, and offer up entertainment as a guest DJ. Doors open at 12:30 p.m. For tickets,
click here
.