Home Game Day Weekly forecast FORECAST | Habs Face Best of the West

FORECAST | Habs Face Best of the West

Ty Prater
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FORECAST | Habs Face Best of the West
(Photo by Getty Images)

All Habs Weekly Forecast gives a first look of the week ahead for your Montreal Canadiens. Staff writer Ty Prater maps out the schedule, provides a statistical comparison of each matchup, identifies players to watch, as well as strengths and weaknesses of each team and provides links to our game reports for the season series. Bookmark this page and use it as your guide for each game in the Canadiens schedule this week. The Weekly Forecast combined with our popular Game Day feature provides you with the best information available as you prepare for puck drop.

by Tyler Prater, Staff Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine

(Photo by Getty Images)

MONTREAL, QC. — This week the Canadiens play two at home before heading to Dallas to face the Stars. Last week the Habs went 1-2-0, ending a four-game losing streak with their 3-1 win against Ottawa.

Calendar: December 14 – December 20
MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN
logo_sharks    
HOME HOME AWAY

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Montreal Canadiens
  • The Habs (20-8-3) are coming off a 3-1 win against Ottawa last Saturday and start their week Tuesday against San Jose. Montreal continues to lead the Atlantic Division, but has fallen to third in the league with 43 points. They are 5-4-1 in their last ten games played.
Players to Watch
  • Sven Andrighetto. Andrighetto has two goals in his last four games played, and four goals in only ten games played since being called up from the Icecaps.
  • Tomas Plekanec. Plekanec has two assists in his last three games and 20 assists so far this season (6th).
Strengths (+) Weaknesses (-)
  • Montreal’s offence continues to find the back of the net an easy target with an average goals scored per game of 3.19 (2nd).
  • The Canadiens power play continues to struggle and has dropped to 20.4 per cent (10th).

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Tuesday

San Jose Sharks
  • The Sharks (14-14-1) are coming off a 2-0 loss against Minnesota last Saturday and start their week Tuesday at Montreal. San Jose is fifth in the Pacific Division and 24th in the league with 29 points. They are 3-6-1 in their last ten games played.
Players to Watch
  • Brent Burns. Burns has three points in his last four games for a total of 23 points this season. The 6’5” defenseman gets plenty of scoring chances with 128 shots so far this season (2nd)
  • Patrick Marleau. Marleau has three points in his last three games and 22 points this season.
Strengths (+) Weaknesses (-)
  • The Sharks are a strong face-off team, winning 52.3 per cent of the time (3rd).
  • San Jose’s power play isn’t very effective, at 17.7 per cent (20th).
Matchup
Tuesday December 15 | Montreal, QC.

CANADIENS  (statistics as of December 13, 2015) SHARKS
43 (3rd) Points 29 (24th)
11-4-2 (home) Home/Away Record 10-5-1 (away)
3.19 (2nd) Goals per game 2.55 (16th)
2.23 (4th) Goals Against per game 2.69 (19th)
31.5 (4th) Shots per game 29.7 (14th)
28.1 (6th) Shots Against per game 28.0 (5th)
20.4% (10th) Power-play 17.7% (20th)
86.7% (3rd) Penalty-kill 81.5% (13th)

Season Series

  • February 29, 2016 | MTL SJS |
  • December 15, 2015 | MTL  SJS |

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Thursday

Los Angeles Kings
  • The Kings (19-9-2) are coming off a 5-3 loss against Ottawa on Monday and face Montreal Thursday. Los Angeles is first in the Pacific Division and fifth in the league with 40 points. They are 7-1-2 in their last ten games.
Players to Watch
  • Anze Kopitar. Kopitar has an assist in each of his last three games and 19 points this season.
  • Jeff Carter. Carter has three points in his last five games and 27 points so far this season.
Strengths (+) Weaknesses (-)
  • The Kings are tough to score on with an average of just 2.17 goals against per game (2nd). Los Angeles gets plenty of offensive chances, taking an average of 32.7 shots per game (1st).
  • Despite leading the league in shots, the Kings struggle to score. They average just 2.53 goals per game (17th).
Matchup
Thursday December 17 | Montreal, QC.

CANADIENS  (statistics as of December 13, 2015) KINGS
43 (3rd) Points 40 (5th)
11-4-2 (home) Home/Away Record 8-4-2 (away)
3.19 (2nd) Goals per game 2.53 (17th)
2.23 (4th) Goals Against per game 2.17 (2nd)
31.5 (4th) Shots per game 32.7 (1st)
28.1 (6th) Shots Against per game 27.7 (28th)
20.4% (10th) Power-play 18.2% (18th)
86.7% (3rd) Penalty-kill 84.5% (5th)

Season Series

  • March 3, 2016 | MTL  LAK |
  • December 17, 2015 | MTL  LAK |

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Saturday

Dallas Stars
  • The Stars (22-6-2) are coming off a 3-0 loss against St. Louis last Saturday and start their week Tuesday against Columbus before hosting Montreal Saturday. Dallas is first in the Central Division and first in the league with 46 points. They are 6-2-2 in their last ten games played.
Players to Watch
  • Jamie Benn. Benn has five points in his last three games and 20 goals so far this season (1st) for a total of 40 points (2nd).
  • Tyler Seguin. Seguin also has five points in his last three games and 25 assists so far this season (3rd) for a total of 40 points (2nd).
Strengths (+) Weaknesses (-)
  • Led by Benn and Seguin, Dallas’ offence leads the league with an average of 3.37 goals per game.
  • The Stars might have a hot offence, but their defence is lacking. Dallas allows an average of 2.60 goals against per game (17th) and their penalty kill is struggling at 79.5 per cent (20th).
Matchup
Saturday December 19 | Dallas, TX.

CANADIENS  (statistics as of December 13, 2015) STARS
43 (3rd) Points 46 (1st)
9-4-1 (away) Home/Away Record 11-3-0 (home)
3.19 (2nd) Goals per game 3.37 (1st)
2.23 (4th) Goals Against per game 2.60 (17th)
31.5 (4th) Shots per game 32.2 (2nd)
28.1 (6th) Shots Against per game 28.5 (9th)
20.4% (10th) Power-play 22.9% (3rd)
86.7% (3rd) Penalty-kill 79.5% (20th)

Season Series

  • March 8, 2016 | MTL  DAL |
  • December 19, 2015 | MTL  DAL |

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