Montreal Canadiens Roundtable
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Bracing For the Avalanche
The Montreal Canadiens enjoyed a day off on Friday after
their overtime loss to the New York Islanders, but they will be all hands on
deck on Saturday as they are set to host the Colorado Avalanche at the Bell
Centre.
It will be the second and last game between the two sides
this season. The first occurred in Denver in early January when Jakub Dobes
recorded a 2-1 shootout win against a hazardous Colorado attack. The youngster
finished the game with a .955 save percentage.
While Samuel Montembeault has been fantastic for the
Canadiens since the 4 Nations Face-Off break, he’s let in a couple of softies over
the last two games, and it will be interesting to see if Martin St-Louis
decides to give him a rest on Saturday night.
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However, the Becancour native has only faced the Avs twice
in his career, winning the only decision he was involved in. He has a 1.88
goals-against average against them and a .935 SP, which are pretty good
numbers. However, that’s a pretty small
sample; the same can be said for Dobes.
There’s no word yet on which goaltender will be defending
the Avalanche’s net. Mackenzie Blackwood was on duty the last time the two
teams met, and he was as good as Dobes until the shootout. He has faced the
Canadiens six times and has a 4-0-2, with a 2.26 GAA and a .931 SP. As for
Scott Wedgewood, he has lost his only duel with the Canadiens and has a 4.45
GAA and a .778 SP. He was on duty for the Avs last game and beat the Senators
5-1 on Thursday night.
The Canadiens have won their last three games against Saturday
night’s visitors but only four of the previous 10 meetings between the two
sides. Montreal is 6-1-3 in its last 10 games, while Colorado is 8-1-1.
Given Colorado's good attack, the Canadiens will need their
attack to be ready to go on Saturday night. Patrik Laine is the Habs’ most
productive player against the Avs, scoring 18 points in 20 games. Nobody else
is in the double digits, but to be fair, the two teams do not face each other
regularly. Nick Suzuki and Brendan Gallagher both have eight points against
them, the former in as many games, while the alternate captain has faced them
15 times, but he has been red-hot over the last two games. Speaking of the alternate captain, he only needs one more points to join Pierre Mondou in 28th place of the top scorers with the Canadiens. Cole Caufield has four
points in five games against the Avs, while Lane Hutson has an assist in his only tilt with
Colorado.
As for the Avs, Nathan MacKinnon leads the pack with 17 points
in 18 games, followed by Mikko Rantanen, who had 14 points in as many games, but as been traded,
and Cale Makar, who has 10 points in eight games. Former Hab Artturi Lehkonen
has four points in as many games.
The Canadiens are currently in the second wildcard spot in
the Easter Conference, three points behind the Ottawa Senators, who will be
taken on the severely depleted New Jersey Devils on Saturday. The New York
Rangers and the New York Islanders are both trailing Montreal by two points;
the former will be taking on the Vancouver Canucks, while the latter will be
battling the Calgary Flames; both teams will play in the daytime, meaning
Montreal will know where they stand before puck drop.
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Canadiens: Rivalry Meeting With Extra Meaning
After dominating the Florida Panthers on Saturday night, the Montreal Canadiens will press on with their quest for a playoff spot by taking on the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.
Montreal’s nearest geographical rival has become its most significant rival
full-stop over the years, according to Arber Xhekaj. The gritty defenseman made
his name in the league in a pre-season fight against the young Sens, and the
number of times both teams have met has fuelled the intense rivalry.
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On Tuesday night, with both teams trying to secure their ticket to the
Spring dance, meaning we should be in for a real battle. Martin St-Louis has already
confirmed Samuel Montembeault will be in net. The Canadiens’ starter has a
2-3-0 record against Ottawa, with a 3.06 goals-against average and a .893 save
percentage. As for backup Jakub Dobes, he’s never taken on the divisional
rival.
As for the Sens, Linus Ullmark has had the lion’s share of the work so far
this season, but he doesn’t have a great track record against the Habs, he’s
3-3-0 with a 3.44 GAA and a .869 SP. As for Anton Forsberg, he has an amazing
6-0-0 record when facing the Canadiens along with a 2.62 GAA and a .924 SP.
Given the importance of the game, it will be interesting to see if Ottawa
decides to go with the undefeated goaltender.
The Canadiens have won the first two meetings between the two teams this
season, but Ottawa has won eight of the last 10 games. Still, this season, the
Habs have a 9-3 edge in scoring over their rival.
Practice was intense at the Bell Centre on Monday morning, Xhekaj and Mike
Pezzetta had an altercation, but gloves weren’t dropped. Asked about the
incident, St-Louis agreed its better to see too much intensity than not enough.
Still, they added it’s possible to have the right amount of intensity without
that kind of incident.
Xhekaj and Pezzetta made up minutes later and went out to dinner last night as showed on the latter's Instagram account, proving they had buried the proverbial hatchet.
Brendan Gallagher has been the most productive Canadiens against the Sens
for a few years; the alternate captain has 26 points in 46 games, including two
points in the Habs’ 5-2 win over Ottawa last month. Captain Nick Suzuki has 18
points in 27 games, while Patrik Laine has 15 points in 14 games.
On the other side, Claude Giroux has got quite the history against the Habs
with 38 points in 49 games, while captain Brady Tkachuk has 27 points in 29
games. Drake Batherson rounds up the top three with 24 points in 26 games.
This won’t be an easy duel for the Canadiens. The Senators have a 7-2-1
record in their last 10 games and have won their last 6. They are getting close
enough to smell the playoffs. They have a 5-point lead over the New York
Rangers in the first wild card spot. Meanwhile, the Canadiens have a 7-1-2
record and are still outside of the playoff position looking in. Puck drop is
set for 7:00 PM, and it promises to be the kind of game you shouldn’t miss.
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Canadiens: Taming The Panthers
If the Montreal Canadiens have any hope of qualifying for the playoffs, they’ll need to tame the Stanley Cup Champions Florida Panthers since they are playing three of their remaining 17 games against the Sunshine State team. Saturday night will be the second duel between the two sides this season. The first one occurred on December 28 and was Jakub Dobes’ first career game. Against all odds, the rookie posted a 33-save shutout, and the Habs took the two points in a 4-0 win.
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Don’t expect a repeat performance, however. Martin St-Louis has already confirmed that Samuel Montembeault will be in net Saturday night. The 28-year-old doesn’t have a great record against the team that drafted him 77th overall in the 2015 draft. In seven duels, he’s 1-4-1 with a 4.72 goals-against average and a .880 save percentage.
There’s no word yet on who will be in the Panthers' net. It won’t be the man who lost the last game since the Panthers sent Spencer Knight to the Chicago Blackhawks in the Seth Jones trade. The Cats had drafted Knight 13th overall at the 2019 draft, passing on Cole Caufield. Sergei Bobrovsky has taken on the Canadiens 25 times, and he has a 16-7-1 record with a 2.42 GAA and a .922 SP. Meanwhile, backup Vitek Vanecek is 3-1-0 with a 2.76 GAA and a .894 SP.
Up front, expect some changes for the Canadiens. After missing the last game, Joel Armia was back at practice and should be good to go. The biggest change at practice was yet another iteration of the second line, this time featuring Joshua Roy, Alex Newhook, and Patrik Laine. In other words, Roy’s audition for the second unit isn’t over, but Laine is out of the doghouse and back in the top six.
During his post-practice press availability, the coach spoke about Laine at length when Martin McGuire mentioned how tricky it is to put the Finn on a line for five-on-five play:
I speak to Patty a lot about this. I know what he can do offensively, but he also must be predictable defensively. I need to know that he will buy in our defensive game, not just in our zone. And it can’t be just one period; it’s every day, it’s in the practices, it’s all the time he must show that he means to do the defensive work. I know what he can do offensively, it’s a big part of why we were able to get a point from the last game, I know he can do that, but he must be responsible so that I can trust him and give him more ice in tight games in the third when points are so important.
We’ll see on Saturday night if Laine understood his coach. He usually likes to play against Florida. He has 21 points against them in 19 games, just behind Brendan Gallagher, who has 23 in 37 meetings. Captain Nick Suzuki rounds up the top three with 15 points in 16 games. Interestingly, none got a single point in the December game against Florida. Kirby Dach, whose season is now over, had two goals, while Newhook had two assists.
As for the Panthers, captain Aleksander Barkov leads the pack against Montreal with a whopping 47 points in 36 games, followed by Sam Reinhart with 22 points in 30 games and Sam Bennet with 20 points in 25 games. Matthew Tkachuk has 28 points in 26 games but hasn’t played since sustaining an injury at the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. Newly acquired Brad Marchand has 48 points against the Habs, but he’s still nursing an injury.
Florida will also be without their top defenseman, Aaron Ekblad, who’s serving a 20-game suspension for violating the league’s performance-enhancing substances program. The blueliner explained he made a mistake by taking something to help him recover from an injury without checking with the proper medical personnel. However, he still has to serve the suspension.
The game is set for 7:00 PM, and the Canadiens must show up from the start for this pivotal game. They will be playing for their playoff lives every night now. Montreal has only won three of the last 10 games between the two teams.
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Canadiens: Must Win Battle In Seattle
After pulling off the win against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night, the Montreal Canadiens won’t have time to enjoy the win for too long. They must turn the page and prepare to face the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday night. A win in this game would tie the Canadiens with the Columbus Blue Jackets in points.
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While the Washington state outfit is pretty much out of the running for the playoffs, Montreal won’t have an easy game. The two sides played each other in October, and tonight’s host annihilated the Habs 8-2 at the Bell Centre.
Samuel Montembeault was solid in the Canadiens’ in extremis win over Vancouver, but Martin St-Louis had announced before the game that Jakub Dobes would get the start in Seattle. Dobes has never faced the Kraken, but his young career is off to a good start with a 6-3-1 record, a 2.49 goals-against average, and a .913 save percentage. The youngster lost his last start, but he was great in the matchup against the Calgary Flames, and Dustin Wolf finished the game with a .958 SP.
There’s no word yet on who will mind the net for the Kraken. Joey Daccord was in net for the October duel and has a 1-1-0 record against the Habs with a 1.86 GAA and a .932 SP. Philipp Grabauer breaks even against Montreal with a 4-4-0 record, a 2.74 GAA, and a .900 SP. Daccord was in the net for the Kraken's 4-2 loss against the Washington Capitals, while Grubauer led the team to a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night.
It will be interesting to see if Patrik Laine is ready to return to the lineup, and if he is, where does he slot in? On Tuesday night, the Brendan Gallagher, Alex Newhook, and Joshua Roy line seemed to have Martin St. Louis’s confidence, and as a result, the team’s first line was not overworked. Would he have the same trust if Laine replaced Gallagher on the second line? Would he play the same way on the defensive side of the puck?
Tonight’s game will only be the eighth duel between the two sides, so even the most productive players against the Kraken have modest numbers. Captain Nick Suzuki has six points in seven games, Newhook has five in seven meetings, and Cole Caufield has 4 in seven. As for the aforementioned Laine, he’s only played the Kraken three times and has as many points.
Meanwhile, Seattle’s players have played the Canadiens much more often, and it shows in their numbers. Jaden Schwartz has 15 points in 19 games, Jordan Eberle has 13 in 25 tilts, and Andre Burakovsky rounds out the top-three with 11 points in 19 games.
So far, Seattle has won four games against Montreal and lost the other three, but the Kraken also outscored the Canadiens 26-19. The game is of pivotal importance for the Habs, who currently have a 13.8% chance of making the playoffs, according to Moneypuck.com. Puck drop is scheduled for 10:30 PM on Wednesday, so if you are on the East Coast, a nap may be in order, especially if you watched Tuesday night’s tilt. Hang in there; it’s Montreal’s last late game of the season.
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Canadiens: Taking On The Canucks
The Montreal Canadiens
will be taking on a team that has had a trying season, to say the least, on
Tuesday night. The Vancouver
Canucks were thrown into turmoil by a rift between J.T. Miller and Elias
Pettersson which President Jim Rutherford confirmed. Trouble in the room rarely
leads to success on the ice, and eventually, the West Coast team elected to
trade Miller to the New York Rangers at the end of January.
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Unfortunately, since then, Petterson has looked like a
shadow of his former self. A week ago, he had fewer shots since the trade than
Miller has points. The Canucks center ended the month of February with only two
points to his name and he only has a goal in March so far, for a total of three
points in 12 games since the trade. Could a game against the Habs be what he
needs? It would be surprising; in 15 duels with the Canadiens, he has only
picked up 10 points and has a minus-11 record.
If you want to see the bright side though, his faceoff game has been better.
Pettersson wasn’t in the lineup when the Canadiens beat the
Canucks 5-4 in overtime at the start of January, worst still, Miller was their
dynamo in the game, picking up two goals and two assists.
Vancouver will hope that their top points producers against
Montreal, Tyler Myers (20 points in 54 games), Brock Boeser (17 points in 20
tilts), and Jake De Brusk (17 points in 22 duels) will show up. Of course,
Quinn Hughes’s presence would be a big plus (19 points in 18 games), but the
blueliner is still day-to-day with an injury.
As for the Canadiens, captain Nick Suzuki has 16 points in
just 18 meetings with the British Columbia outfit, while alternate captain
Brendan Gallager has 14 in 29 games. Joel Armia wraps up the top three with 12
points in 19 games. It’s also worth noting that rookie blueliner Lane Hutson
got three points in his only game against the Canucks.
We already know that Samuel Montembeault will be in net against Vancouver while Jakub Dobes will take on Seattle. The Becancour native was on duty when Montreal beat the Canucks in
January and he has a 2-3-1 record against the Canucks with a .849 save
percentage and a 4.50 goals-against average. As for Dobes, he’s never taken
them on.
As for Vancouver’s top choice, Kevin Lankinen, he’s only
faced Montreal once in that 5-4 defeat in January. As for backup Arturs Silovs,
he’s never taken on the Canadiens. The Canucks could certainly use Tatcher
Demko, but he’s week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
Montreal has won four of the last ten duels between the two
sides, with Vancouver taking the other six. Both teams are in similar form
right now: Vancouver is 5-5-0 and has lost its last game in regulation, while
the Canadiens are 5-4-1 and have also lost their last game in regulation.
There’s been no word about Patrik Laine’s status for the
game even though he missed Monday's practice, but we know that Owen Beck won’t be there, having been sent down to the
Laval Rocket to make way for Joshua Roy. Whether Laine is there or not should
not matter, though. There’s a free spot on the second line, and that’s where
Roy should have his audition.
Beck got a six-game tryout before being sent down, and Roy
should receive the same kind of treatment. In the four games he’s played with
the Habs this season, he has seen chiefly bottom-six minutes, and that’s not
how a 20-goal scorer will shine.
The Canadiens are now four points out of the playoffs since the Ottawa Senators beat the Detroit Red Wings last night to leapfrog the Columbus Blue Jackets in the standings. The Habs also leapfrogged the Wings however since they now have played more games and suffered an extra regulation loss.
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Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.
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