After a five game road trip where the Canadiens picked up five out of ten points, the Habs return home to the friendly confines of the Bell Centre to take on the New Jersey Devils. Last season, the Habs enjoyed success against New Jersey, going 2-0-1 against the Devils. Tonight marks the first meeting of the season between the two clubs.

Habs Notes:

Phillip Danault was absent from the morning skate due to an illness, but was not ruled out for the game.

#Habs announce Phillip Danault will not skate this morning. He is sick. No word on whether he'll play tonight.

— Dan Robertson (@DRTSN690) December 8, 2016

Also absent from practice is defenseman Greg Pateryn, who may still be feeling the effects of a blocked shot he took of his foot against St. Louis. The club announced that Pateryn was taking a therapy day.

On the positive side of things, Nathan Beaulieu is back on the ice and will make his return to action after missing six games with an upper body injury.

Nathan Beaulieu will be in #Habs lineup tonight. He missed 6 games after taking puck to throat

— Stu Cowan (@StuCowan1) December 8, 2016

Morning Skate Lines:

It was hard to get an idea of what the Habs lines would look like tonight. This was not only true for fans, but for reporters as well.

Stu Cowan was able to decipher the powerplay lines, but the even strength lines were unclear.

Still hard to figure out what #Habs lines will be tonight from flow drills they're doing this morning in Brossard.

— Stu Cowan (@StuCowan1) December 8, 2016

Unit 1: Pacioretty – Shaw – Radulov; Weber – Markov

Unit 2: Lehkonen – Plekanec – Gallagher; Petry – Beaulieu

After practice, Michel Therrien confirmed that Zach Redmond will make his debut with the Canadiens tonight, and Phillip Danault should healthy enough to play.

Redmond will make his #Habs debut tonight. Danault should be good to go, as per Michel Therrien.

— Dan Robertson (@DRTSN690) December 8, 2016

The New Jersey Devils were much more transparent about their lines, as they practiced this morning at the Bell Centre.

Same lines for #Devils at morning skate:
Hall-Henrique-Parenteau
Cammalleri-Zajac-Palmieri
Bennett-Kalinin-Smith-Pelly
Wood-Fiddler-Lappin

— Andrew Gross (@AGrossRecord) December 8, 2016

#Devils d-pairs also constant.
Greene-Severson
Auvitu-Lovejoy
Moore-Quincey.
Jon Merrill was rotating in for drills

— Andrew Gross (@AGrossRecord) December 8, 2016

Always interesting to see former Canadiens make their returns to Montreal. Mike Cammalleri, Devante Smith-Pelly and P.A. Parenteau will be in action for the devils tonight.

And the moment you’ve all been waiting for.

Carey Price vs Devils #lavoiedubé

— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) December 8, 2016

Game time is 7:30pm.