A Huge Challenge | PREVIEW: MTL @ COL

By
Rick Stephens
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GAME DAY PREVIEW | Montreal Canadiens vs Colorado Avalanche: Preview, TV, Start Time, Statistical Match-up, Projected Lines, Starting Goalies, Keys to Victory, Habs Tickets

Game Preview (with notes from Cole Jurzyniec)

A Look Back

It was a game thoroughly dominated by the Golden Knights with Sam Montembeault being peppered with 53 shots. With some opportunistic scoring and subpar goaltending from Robin Lehner, the Canadiens took the contest to overtime. But the extra frame ended with Shea Theodore roofing a puck past Montembeault.

Last game: MTL 3  VGK 4  F/OT

For a complete game recap: Habs Grab A Point | RECAP: MTL @ VGK

Players to Watch

  • Michael Pezzetta
    Pezzetta has quickly become a fan favorite with his energy, flow and a bit of a scoring touch. Pezzetta has taken full advantage of the Canadiens injury situation to provide fans with a little entertainment in a difficult season.
  • Christian Dvorak
    Dvorak has performed well below expectations as evidenced by a team worst minus-18 rating. He has been relied on for a team best 55.7 percent success rate at the dot. After a lengthy drought, Dvorak has three points in the past two contests.
  • Artturi Lehkonen
    Lehkonen has three assists in the last four games and has quietly moved into the top-5 of Canadiens scoring this season. Lehkonen is an exceptional forechecker and great at retrieving pucks making his linemates better.

Keys to Victory

  • Protect the house
    The Avalanche are the number one offence in the NHL. The Canadiens will have to support Cayden Primeau who is still struggling with his positioning and puck tracking. Habs will have to clear rebounds for the young goaltender.
  • Win special teams
    The Avs are in the bottom five in the league in killing penalties. The Canadiens will have to continue their new found power-play success against Colorado to have a chance to win.
  • Control the neutral zone
    Montreal needs to clog up the neutral zone and use their physicality to create turnovers. It’s crucial that they slow down the speedy Avalanche forwards.
Statistical Matchup for Game 40
Ball Arena, Denver, CO | January 22, 7:00 PM ET | TV: SNE, CITY, TVAS, ESPN+, ALT

2021-22  statistics
AVALANCHE CANADIENS
57 (3rd) Points (rank) 22 (32nd)
27-8-3 Record 8-25-6
W5 Streak OT1
9-0-1 Last 10 2-5-3
4.18 (1st) GF/G (rank) 2.18 (32nd)
3.05 (20th) GA/G (rank) 3.67 (32nd)
23.8 (10th) PP% (rank) 12.7 (31st)
75.2 (27th) PK%  (rank) 73.7 (28th)
47.2  Faceoff % 47.5
Pre-game Quotes
Dominique Ducharme on Ryan Poehling’s effectiveness on the power-play.

  • “He’s good at working in front of the goalie, he’s got a good stick. He helps by winning faceoffs. He’s doing well there too.”
Projected Forwards, Defense and Goaltenders (subject to change)
Forwards
Landeskog – MacKinnon – Rantanen
Burakovsky – Kadri – O’Connor
Aube-Kubel – Newhook – Compher
Jost – Maltsev – Sherwood		 Lehkonen – Suzuki – Toffoli
Pitlick – Evans – Anderson
Dauphin – Dvorak – Hoffman
Pezzetta – Poehling – Paquette
Defensemen
Toews – Makar
J. Johnson – Girard
MacDermid – E. Johnson		 Chiarot – Savard
Kulak – Petry
Romanov – Wideman
Out of the lineup
Scratched: Byram
Injured: Helm, MacDonald, Matteau, Murray
COVID-19: Nichushkin
Taxi squad:		 Scratched: Niku, Clague
Injured: Montembeault (upper-body),  Allen (lower-body), Byron (hip), Drouin (upper-body), Gallagher (lower-body), Perreault (lower-body), Edmundson (back), Price (knee), Weber (multiple injuries)
COVID-19: Caufield, Armia
Taxi squad: Vejdemo, Schueneman
Goalies
Pavel Francouz Cayden Primeau
Pavel Francouz
Record: 5-1-0
GAA: 2.40
Sv%: .922
SO: 1
Alternate: Darcy Kuemper		 Record: 1-3-0
GAA: 4.11
Sv%: .883
SO: 0
Alternate: Michael McNiven
 Game Expectations
This will be one of the Canadiens’ biggest tests of the road trip. The Avalanche are undefeated in regulation in their last 10 contests. Colorado has firepower to capitalize on any Habs mistakes.

Bottom Line

In early December, Jeff Gorton was famously photographed with his hands in prayerful form after watching his Canadiens get dominated by the Avalanche for the first 20 minutes of the game. The Habs will need a much better start tonight.
 Video Highlights

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