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

Sam Gerber

December 11, 2018

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

Game Preview by Sam Gerber

Last game : MTL 3 CHI 2 A penalty-filled game saw the Habs shorthanded eight times. The Montreal penalty-kill gave up one goal which is a big part of why the Habs left with two points. Carey Price stood tall, stealing this game for the Habs. Price was beat twice by Patrick Kane, and didn’t have a chance on either one. The anti-hero for the game is Tomas Tatar, after taking three minor penalties, he deflected Jeff Petry’s point shot to put the Habs up late in the third. The Habs shut the door and got the win in a game where they were simply out-played.

For a complete game recap:

Players to watch

Paul Byron
Byron got banged against Chicago missing a large chunk of the second period. His speed is a big threat and something he should be able to take advantage of against a slower Wild team. .
Jeff Petry
Petry shook off a tough week and played well in Chicago. He finished the night off by setting up the game-winner and shutting the door in the final seconds.
Kenny Agostino
Agostino seems to be a favourite of Claude Julien with Matthew Peca and Charles Hudon spending a great deal of time in the press box. He’s physical, gets to the net and sees the game well.

Keys to Victory

Win faceoffs
The Habs have struggled this season at the faceoff dot. This is an area where Minnesota could dominant unless Montreal wingers help out.
Stay out of the box
The Canadiens know they need to stay out of the box and will have to do a much better job to beat the Wild.
Create traffic
Montreal scored all three goals last game with players in-front of the net. It has been an inconsistent part of their this season, but they need to add it to the game regularly.

Matchup by All Habs staff
Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN \| December 11, 8:00 PM ET \| TV: TSN2, RDS, FS-N, FS-WI
	2018-19 statistics
WILD	2018-19 statistics	CANADIENS
32 (17th)	Points (rank)	35 (15th)
15-12-2	Record	15-10-5
8-4-2	Home/Away	7-4-3
3-7-0	Last 10	4-4-2
3.03	GF/G	3.13
2.97	GA/G	3.13
22.1	PP%	13.6
84.6	PK%	79.0
50.29	CF%	53.72

eSAT Analytics by Mathieu Chagnon

Projected forward lines, defense pairings and goaltenders
Forwards
Zucker – Staal – Granlund Parise – Coyle – Niederreiter Greenway – Eriksson Ek – Kunin Foligno – Fehr – Brown	Drouin – Domi – Shaw Tatar – Danault – Gallagher Byron – Kotkaniemi – Lehkonen Agostino – Chaput – Deslauriers
Defensemen
Suter – Dumba Spurgeon – Brodin Seeler – Pateryn	Kulak – Weber Schlemko – Petry Juulsen – Benn
Out of the lineup
Scratched: Hendricks, Prosser Injured: Koivu	Scratched: Hudon, Peca,, Reilly Injured: Armia
Goalies
Devan Dubnyk	Antti Niemi

Record: 10-9-2 GAA: – 2.81 Sv%: – .907 SO: 0 Alternate: Alex Stalock	Record: 4-2-1 GAA: – 3.60 Sv%: – .893 SO: 0 Alternate: Carey Price

What to Expect by Sam Gerber

Montreal did not play well in Chicago and were outshot for one of the few times this season. The Canadiens did get off to a decent start but relied on Carey Price for the win. A poor game against the Blackhawks could be a blessing in disguise .By stealing a win and knowing how they played wasn’t good enough they should step it up against the Wild. The Wild are much superior to the Canadiens on special teams. The Habs will have to use their speed and match the Wild’s physical play. Noah Juulsen will make his return to the line-up since being out with a facial injury, Mike Reilly will take a seat as he struggled greatly last game, playing less than ten minutes.

Highlights from the NHL

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2018-19 statistics