Tonight, the Montreal Canadiens are visiting the Pittsburgh Penguins and it shouldn't be a goaltending battled, the teams are 32nd and 30th in goals against by game played.
It's been a tough goaltending month for the Montreal Canadiens. After Samuel Montembeault started the season with a magical 48-save shutout to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Habs netminders—like their defense—have crumbled. In 11 games, Sainte-Flanelle has given up 46 goals.
Meanwhile, tonight's hosts, the Pittsburgh Penguins, have already surrendered 48 goals to their opponents, but they've done it over 12 games for an average goals against per game played of 4.00. The Canadiens are tied with the Colorado Avalanche in last place with 4.18.
If you think Montembeault and Cayden Primeau have had issues, you should know that the Penguins' number one goaltender last year, Tristan Jarry, is currently in the AHL with the Pens' farm team in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He landed there after playing three NHL games this season in which he gave up 12 goals and posted a goals-against average of 5.47 and a save percentage of .836.
As a result, the Penguins are now relying on Alex Nedeljkovic and Joel Blomqvist to hold the fort with modest results. The former has a 3.18 GAA and a .890 SP, while the latter has just played his first six NHL games and has a 3.46 GAA and a .909 SP to show for it.
Neither of the Canadiens' netminders has great stats against Sidney Crosby and co. Montembeault has a 2-1-1 record, a 3.40 GAA, and a .894 SP, and Primeau has lost his two games against them with a 4.84 GAA and a .860 SP. Considering Thursday's result, we should see Montembeault in net tonight.
As for the Pens, Blomqvist has never played the Canadiens in his young career, but Nedeljkovic has a great record. He's 2-1-1 with a 1.91 GAA and a .944 SP. The latter was on duty on Thursday for Pittsburgh's last game, so the coach may want to give Blomqvist a game since he's played the most games so far this season.
Both teams have similar records right now, the Pennsylvania outfit has a 4-7-1 record with nine points to its name while the Tricolore also has nine points but on the back of a 4-6-1 record.
The two teams have already played each other this season, with the Penguins triumphing 6-3 at the Bell Centre in mid-October. Lars Eller hurt his former team with a couple of goals, and Evgeny Malkin earned first-star honours with a goal and two assists.
The Canadiens won't be having a morning skate today. It was initially planned to take place at 11:30 a.m., but after holding what could be called a punishing practice on Friday, coach Martin St-Louis has elected not to put his men back on the ice before the game.
The bench boss was understandably disappointed after Thursday's debacle, and he decided it was time to react. As he made his charges skate, skate, and skate again, he was heard shouting, "It will be like that every time." In other words, if the level of effort is not satisfying and the same issues resurface, the players could find themselves right back in the same predicament.
Questioned by the press on practice, he explained that a coach is like a father; there are times when you need to be tougher on your kids. After watching the Canadiens' first 11 games, this strikes me as a pretty fair comment.
Arber Xhekaj will be back in the lineup tonight, while Justin Barron will make way. Montembeault will be back in net for his first away game of the season.
Tonight's game will be the 227th between the two teams. So far, the Canadiens have a record of 127-65-23-11. However, the Penguins have won the last four duels and seven of the last ten.
Brendan Gallagher is the Canadiens' biggest point producer against Crosby and co. with 15 points in 29 games. Captain Nick Suzuki has 10 points in 13 games, but sniper Cole Caufield has only four points in nine games, including a modest two goals. The diminutive right winger will try to keep his goal-scoring streak going; he's had a lamplighter in each of the last four games.
The Penguins' dynamic duo of Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have got matching record against Montreal, both have faced them 50 times and put up 64 points. Their top two defensemen will also have to be watched closely, though; Kris Letang has picked up 36 points in 45 games against his childhood's side, while Erik Karlsson, who has faced them a lot during his Ottawa days, has 41 points in 50 games. As for the points streak, Crosby has five points in his last two games, while Matt Grzelcyk has five in his last three.
The game, which starts at 7:00 PM, is the last one before the Canadiens head home for a tilt with the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night.
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