Home Game Day GAME DAY | Stars – Canadiens: Preview, Lines, Goalies, TV, Fantasy

GAME DAY | Stars – Canadiens: Preview, Lines, Goalies, TV, Fantasy

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GAME DAY | Stars – Canadiens: Preview, Lines, Goalies, TV, Fantasy
Pre-game Notes and Quotes
  • To say that the Canadiens have an injury problem would be an understatement, as it’s more like an epidemic. Not only has Carey Price been out for majority of the season, their current roster is missing Brendan Gallagher, Nathan Beaulieu, Alex Galchenyuk, David Desharnais, Jeff Petry, Daniel Carr, Tom Gilbert, Lars Eller, and Brian Flynn. That’s nine players from their original roster to start the season (the severity of the injuries to Gallagher and Galchenyuk remain unknown). Although I like to remain optimistic, it would be very hard to turn the season around and make the playoffs with so many injuries.
  • In light of the current lineup at the infirmary, many of the Canadiens’ prospects are getting the chance to prove themselves and gain experience at the NHL level. Michael McCarron, who turned 21 on Monday, had this to say about his most recent trial in the NHL: “I feel a bit more comfortable, and I’ve been getting more accustomed to the guys in the room and the speed of the game. I think anybody would say that the difference between the NHL and the AHL is the speed. Everybody also makes perfect passes; every play is crisp and perfect, my goal is to stay here as long as I can. I just need to continue to improve and progress and stick to my style of play.”
  • Alex Galchenyuk scored his 20th goal of the season on Saturday night and became only the 8th Canadien in history to accomplish the feat twice before their 23rd birthday.
  • While the Canadiens have a 5-16-2 record versus teams in the Western Conference this season, the Stars have a 18-9-2 record against teams from the East.
  • So far this season, the Canadiens have a 2-8-2 record versus teams in the Central division, while the Stars have a 8-5-1 record versus teams coming from the Atlantic.
  • The Canadiens have dropped in the standings for the goals against category, as they are currently in 21st in the league in goals against, with 185 in 66 games. The Stars have allowed 192 goals in 67 games and find themselves in 22ed in the league.
  • The Canadiens have dropped in the standings for the goals scored category as they are currently in 13th place in the NHL, with 179 over their first 66 games. The Stars are 1st in this category with 215 goals scored in their first 67 games.
Matchup 
Bell Centre, Montreal, QC.. | March 8, 7:30 PM ET | TV: FS-SW, RDS, SNE, NHL.TV

2015-16 statistics

STARS CANADIENS
87 (3rd) Points (League rank) 66 (22nd)
40-20-7 Record 30-30-6
21-10-1 Home 17-11-3
19-10-6 Road 13-19-2
3-5-2 Last 10 3-5-2
3.21 G/G 2.71
2.87 GA/G 2.80
21.8 PP% 17.3
79.7 PK% 84.5
 52.3  CF%*  52.3
58.8 CF60*  55.5
51.1 CA60* 50.5
*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
Jamie Benn – Seguin – Eaves
Janmark – Spezza – Nichushkin
Roussel – Eakin – Hemsky
Faksa – Fiddler – Sceviour
Pacioretty – Galchenyuk – Andrighetto
Eller – Plekanec – Matteau
De la Rose – McCarron – Byron
Mitchell – Danault – Brown
Expected scratches: Lessio
Defensemen
Oduya – Demers
Russell -Goligoski
Nemeth – Oleksiak
Markov – Subban
Emelin – Pateryn
Bartley – Barberio
Expected scratches:
Goalies
Kari Lehtonen (Likely) Ben Scrivens  (Confirmed)
2015-’16 regular season:
Record: 18-8-1
GAA: 2.83
Sv%: .907
SO: 1
Alternate: Antti Niemi
2015-’16 regular season:
Record: 3-6-0
GAA: 3.01
Sv%: .901
SO: 0
Alternate: Mike Condon
Fantasy Outlook
  • Top scorers for the Stars on the road this season are:
  1. Jamie Benn (with 40 points in 32 games)
  2. Tyler Seguin (with 31 points in 32 games)
  3. Patrick Sharp (with 30 points in 31 games)
  • Top scorers for the Canadiens at home this season are:
  1. Tomas Plekanec (with 26 points in 31 games)
  2. P. K. Subban (with 25 points in 31 games)
  3. Max Pacioretty (with 20 points in 31 games)

* – Currently injured

Player stats from War-on-Ice, NHL.com and Yahoo Sports.

Recap: Canadiens vs Jets (March 5) – Click for Game report, 3-stars, Post-game quotes

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