GAME DAY | Canadiens – Avalanche: Preview, Prediction, Lines, Goalies, TV

By
Sam Gerber
-
0
40
Game Preview by Sam Gerber
Last game : MTL 0  BOS 4    The Habs embarrassed themselves once again. Carey Price was the only player who showed up to play. The Habs fought the puck all night and could barely make a clean pass. The Bruins took advantage and easily had their way all night. This was a hard game to watch, and something that can’t happen again..  

For a complete game recap: Habs Collapse in Front of Price

Players to watch

  • Victor Mete
    Mete will play on the second pairing after his recall from Laval. He brings speed to the backend that was missing badly last game.  
  • Max Domi
    Domi has been quiet offensively recently. But more concerning is his total lack of effort without the puck along with his linemate Jonathan Drouin.    
  • Carey Price
    Price was not pleased with how his team played last game, and voiced it afterwards. It has been hard having the world’s best goalie in the prime of his career with a B-level team in front of him   

Keys to Victory

  • Limit giveaways
    The Habs had way too many turnovers last game and have to do a much better job with the puck in their own end. 
  • Contain the top line
    The Avalanche have the best line in hockey and the Canadiens have to do their best to contain it.
  • Shoot on the power-play
    The Montreal power-play has hit rock bottom. As Price said get the puck to the net and jam it in. It doesn’t have to be pretty.. 
Matchup by All Habs staff
Pepsi Center, Denver, CO | December 19, 8:30 PM ET | TV: SN, SN360, RDS, ALT

2018-19 statistics
AVALANCHE CANADIENS
42 (10th) Points (rank) 39 (14th)
18-10-6 Record 17-12-5
7-4-3 Home/Away 7-5-3
4-4-2 Last 10 6-4-0
3.59 GF/G 3.12
3.09 GA/G 3.26
29.4 PP% 12.0
77.2 PK% 76.4
49.25  CF%  54.16
 
 
Projected forward lines, defense pairings and goaltenders
Forwards
Landeskog – MacKinnon – Rantanen
Jost – Compher – Andrighetto
Nieto – Soderberg – Calvert
Bourque – Kerfoot – Wilson		 Drouin – Domi – Shaw
Tatar – Danault – Gallagher
Byron – Kotkaniemi – Lehkonen
Agostino – Chaput – Hudon
Defensemen
Girard – Johnson
Cole – Barrie
Nemeth – Zadorov		 Benn – Weber
Reilly – Petry
   Schlemko – Mete
Out of the lineup
Scratched: Dries
Injured: Barberio, Kamenev
 Scratched: Peca, Deslauriers, Kulak
Injured: Armia
Goalies
Philipp Grubaer Carey Price
Record: 13-9-4
GAA: – 2.94
Sv%: – .901
SO: 1
Alternate: Semyon Varlamov		 Record: 13-9-4
GAA: – 2.94
Sv%: – .901
SO: 1
Alternate: Antti Niemi
 What to Expect by Sam Gerber
The Canadiens will try to regroup against the Avalanche, one of the best offensive teams in the league. Keeping the big MacKinnon line in check all night isn’t going to be easy. The Danault line will likely match-up against it all night with the Weber pairing on defense. The rest of the Habs have to step-up and provide the offense. The power-play really has to do something, teams know the Habs are struggling and attacking a lot more than usual. Considering how badly Montreal played against Boston, this could be a deciding game on how the rest of Habs season is going to go. 
Highlights from the NHL
Quick Links from Rocket Sports Media publications
[wp_rss_multi_importer category=”3″ thisfeed=”8″ showdate=”0″]
 
 
Habs360-sm-06 [wp_rss_multi_importer category=”6″ showdate=”0″]
 
Tickets
   
   
Get Habs Tickets  
  • Need tickets for an upcoming Canadiens game? Click the following link for the best prices on available tickets: Montreal Canadiens Tickets
 download

Follow @AllHabs on Twitter

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR