GAME DAY | Canadiens – Lightning: Preview, Lines, Goalies, TV, Fantasy
Jordan Lambe
Pre-game Notes and Quotes
The Canadiens have been making a splash in college hockey free agency (where undrafted players are eligible to sign with a team of their choice), as they signed both Tom Parisi and Charlie Lindgren. Lindgren (a goaltender) will remain with the NHL club for the rest of the season, while Parisi (a defenseman) has reported to the Ice Caps of the AHL. Marc Bergevin had this to say about Lindgren: “We are very happy to have reached an agreement with Charlie Lindgren. Lindgren was in our mind the best free agent goaltender available coming out of the US college level.”
Mike Condon on the Canadiens’ most recent win against the Red Wings: “That was a dogfight. You go up two and you have to kill off a certain amount of penalties there. They’ve got so much skill over there, throwing pucks at the net. They’re so dangerous and so fast, and they come with a lot of speed.”
Paul Byron: “It doesn’t matter what the score is, what time of the game it is, this team is going to work for 60 minutes, we might not always have our best hockey, but part of our identity and our culture here is we compete and we work hard. That’s a 60-minute game for us.”
Max Pacioretty remains the only player in the NHL to register a shot in every game his team has played in this season.
P. K. Subban,Brendan Galllagher and Carey Price‘s return could be sooner than expected, as both are making the trip to Florida. The Canadiens also play the Panthers on Saturday.
The schedule for the Canadiens is simple over the next week, as they play every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday until the season wraps up.
While the Canadiens have a 28-18-3 record versus teams in the Eastern Conference this season, the Lightning have a 28-17-3 record against teams from the East.
So far this season, the Canadiens have a 16-9-1 record versus teams in the Atlantic division, while the Lightning have a 15-10-3 record versus teams coming from the Atlantic.
The Canadiens have maintained their place in the standings for the goals against category, as they are currently in 24th in the league in goals against, with 224 in 77 games. The Lightning have allowed 182 goals in 76 games and find themselves in 4th in the league.
The Canadiens have maintained their place in the standings for the goals scored category as they are currently in 17th place in the NHL, with 205 over their first 77 games. The Lightning are 10th in this category with 214 goals scored in their first 76 games.
Matchup
Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL. | March 31, 7:30 PM ET | TV: SUN, RDS, SNE
2015-16 statistics
LIGHTNING
CANADIENS
93 (4th)
Points (Conference rank)
74 (13th)
44-27-5
Record
35-36-6
24-12-3
Home
21-15-3
20-15-2
Road
14-21-3
5-4-1
Last 10
4-6-0
2.82
G/G
2.67
2.39
GA/G
2.91
16.5
PP%
16.3
84.3
PK%
82.1
52.8
CF%*
51.2
55.2
CF60*
54.7
49.4
CA60*
52.1
*Advanced statistics: Score adjusted, even strength. CF%: Corsi for percentage of total CF60: Corsi For/60 minutes CA60: Corsi Against/60 minutes (via War on Ice)
Projected forward lines, defense pairings and goaltenders
Forwards
Killorn – Stamkos – Callahan
Palat – Johnson – Marchessault
Paquette – Filppula – Brown
Namestnikov – Boyle – Blunden
Pacioretty – Galchenyuk – Byron
Eller – Plekanec – Mitchell
Danault – Desharnais – Andrighetto
De la Rose – McCarron – Matteau
Expected scratches: Gallagher, Lessio, Brown
