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Category: Montreal Canadiens

  • Full Gameday Preview and Coverage – 11/1/2018 – Washington Capitals v. Montreal Canadiens

     

    Washington Capitals (5-3-2 12pts) v. Montreal Canadiens (6-3-2 14pts)

    Time: 730p EST

    Station: NBC Sports Washington

     

    Preview:

    In a battle of two 4th place teams in their respective divisions, the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens are going to be looking to improve their standing within their divisions. The Capitals are coming off two lackluster games against the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, while the Canadiens will be looking for their 6th win in nine games.

     

    Washington Capitals:

    Projected Lineup:

    Alex Ovechkin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Jakub Vrana

    Andre Burakovsky — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie

    Chandler Stephenson — Lars Eller — Brett Connolly

    Dmitrij Jaskin — Nic Dowd — Devante Smith-Pelly

    Dmitry Orlov — Matt Niskanen

    Michal Kempny — John Carlson

    Christian Djoos — Madison Bowey

    Braden Holtby

    Pheonix Copley

    Scratched: Nathan Walker, Aaron Ness

    Injured: Brooks Orpik (lower body), Travis Boyd (leg)

    Suspended: Tom Wilson

     

    Keys to the Game (Michael):

    1. Play a full 60 minutes

    The Capitals need to come into this game and play a full 60 minutes. They barely showed up in Edmonton, and they coasted through their game in Calgary, and it wasn’t acceptable. The Capitals need to play a full 60 minutes if they hope to win tonight in Montreal.

     

    2. Keep your feet moving

    The Capitals are going to need to keep their feet moving against the Canadiens. The Canadiens are much quicker team and the Capitals will need to utilize their speed to help neutralize Montreal’s.

     

    Montreal Canadiens:

    Projected Lineup:

    Tomas Tatar — Phillip Danault — Brendan Gallagher

    Jonathan Drouin — Max Domi — Charles Hudon

    Artturi Lehkonen — Jesperi Kotkaniemi — Joel Armia

    Nicolas Deslauriers — Matthew Peca — Andrew Shaw

    Jordie Benn — Jeff Petry

    Mike Reilly — Noah Juulsen

    Xavier Ouellet — Victor Mete

    Carey Price

    Antti Niemi

    Scratched: Karl Alzner

    Injured: Paul Byron (lower body), Shea Weber (knee), David Schlemko (knee), Tomas Plekanec (back)

     

    Keys to the Game (Armand):

    1. Don’t give the Caps chances with the man advantage.
    2. Carey Price needs to play a solid game as both Braden Holtby and Price are two of the best netminders in the league.
    3. Fast start Montreal needs to get on the board early to gain momentum.
    4. Lastly No Stupid Turnovers Montreal has made too many boneheaded moves this season.

     

    First Period:

    Canadiens Goal – 2:28 – Jesperi Kotkaniemi (1) from Joel Armia (3)

    Capitals Goal – 6:16 – Lars Eller (2) from Matt Niskanen (4) and Chandler Stephenson (2)

    Canadiens Penalty – 8:23 – Brendan Gallagher 2 minutes for Roughing

    Capitals Penalty – 8:23 – Evgeny Kuznetsov 2 minutes for Roughing

     

    End of 1st – WAS – 1       MON – 1

    Shots              13                18

    Faceoffs         06                06

    Hits               12                  10

    PP                 0/0                 0/0

     

    Analysis:

    Capitals (Michael) – This was an ok period for the Capitals. Definitely did not start this game well as they  looked overwhelmed by Montreal’s speed, and at one point was being out shot 10-3. However, with Braden Holtby’s stellar play and a solid shift by the 3rd line which resulted in a goal, and some really solid 4 on 4 play, the Capitals were able to get themselves back into this game.

     

    Canadiens (Armand) – Habs played a great period. Great on the forecheck. Getting tons of shots on Holtby.

     

    Need to Do:

    Capitals (Michael) – The Capitals need to start the next two periods much better than they started the first period. Also the Capitals need to continue to keep forcing the play in the Canadiens zone and clean up their own play in the front of Holtby and not let the Canadiens cut through the middle.

     

    Canadiens (Armand) – From what I can see the Habs just need to keep doing what they did in the first.

     

    Second Period:

    Canadiens Goal – :32 – Brendan Gallagher (8) from Tomas Tatar (7)

    Canadiens Goal – 3:06 – Brendan Gallagher (9) from Tomas Tatar (8) and Phillip Danault (5)

    Capitals Goal – 6:49 – Alex Ovechkin (9) from Evgeny Kuznetsov (11) and Jakub Vrana (3)

    Capitals Goal – 7:59 – Lars Eller (3) from Brett Connolly (7)

    Capitals Goal – 12:53 – Alex Ovechkin (10) from Dmitry Orlov (2) and Matt Niskanen (5)

    Capitals Penalty – 16:16 – Evgeny Kuznetsov 2 minutes for Holding

    Capitals Penalty – 19:57 – Lars Eller 2 minutes for Interfernce

     

    End of 2nd – WAS – 4        MON – 3

    Shots               26                 27

    Faceoffs          18                 13

    Hits                 16                  21

    PP                   0/0                  0/1 *2nd in progress

     

    Analysis:

    Capitals (Michael) – This period did not start well for the Capitals, but they finished it strong. The Capitals scored 3 unanswered goals after Brendan Gallagher scored back to back goals in the first 3 minutes of the period, and forced the play in the Canadiens zone.

     

    Canadiens (Armand) – Turnovers have killed the Habs Especially on the short handed opportunity Washington had.

     

    Need to Do:

    Capitals (Michael) – The Capitals need to play a strong 20 minutes to close out the Canadiens. They need to kill off this late penalty by Lars Eller and use that momentum to take it to the Canadiens.

     

    Canadiens (Armand) – Habs need to come out strong after a poor period. Powerplay to start the period needs to be strong.

     

    Third Period:

    Canadiens Penalty – 13:01 – Charles Hudon 2 minutes for Tripping

    Canadiens Goal –  – Jesperi Kotkaniemi (2) from Artturi Lehkonen (7) and Victor Mete (1)

    Canadiens Goal – 19:38 – Max Domi (6) from Mike Rielly (3)

    Canadiens ENG – 19:40 – Joel Armia (3) from Phillip Danault (6)

     

    End of 3rd – WAS – 4         MON – 6

    Shots              31                   44

    Faceoffs        35                    25

    Hits               25                     32

    PP                 0/1                    0/2

     

    Analysis:

    Capitals (Michael) – What should have been a win for the Capitals became nothing more but a blown opportunity for them. All they needed to do was play a full 20 minutes and truly pressure the Canadiens in their own zone and and keep the play there, but instead this was a period dominated by the Canadiens and they were able to take this game from the Capitals in the final 3 minutes of this game including 2 goals in two seconds to seal the deal for the Canadiens. One of the biggest bright spots was the play of Braden Holtby, and his stellar play in net kept this game a lot closer than it would have seemed to be. The Capitals were out shot 17-5 in the third period alone.

     

    Canadiens (Armand) – Habs blow a 3-1 lead but like the time they played Washington in the playoffs the Habs storm back to get the win. Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Brendan Gallagher each pick up two goals as Max Domi had a goal that would be the decider. Carey Price looked a little shaky at times but made some key saves late in the game to keep the Habs in the game.

     

    Next Up:

    Washington (5-4-2 12pts) v. Dallas (7-5-0 14pts)

    Montreal (7-3-2 16pts) v, Tampa Bay (8-3-1 19pts)

     

    You can watch TXHT Live next Tuesday at 8p EST on both Twitch and Facebook Live.

  • Montreal Canadiens Game Day Preview

    Montreal Canadiens Game Day Preview

    Montreal Canadiens: 6-2-2

    Dallas Stars 5-5-0

    Referees: #29 Ian Walsh, #17 Frederick L’Ecuyer

    Linesman: #88 Tyler Baker, #87 David Berg

    The Canadiens return home after embarking on a short two game road trip into Buffalo and Boston. During the trip the Habs went one and one. The Habs most recent game came with a 3-0 shutout of the Boston Bruins and Carey Price passing Patrick Roy for 2nd all-time on the Canadiens win list. The Stars are coming off a 4-2 loss to the Red Wings on Sunday.

    The Habs will be facing a Dallas team who has gotten off to a rough start but will get one of their top wingers back tonight in Alexander Radulov. The Habs will stick with the same line-up as they did on Saturday night in Boston. Max Domi will look to extend his point streak to eight tonight.  The Habs will look to finish a strong first month of the season with another W in the win column after tonight. Carey Price will get the start between the pipes for the Habs.

    Keys To The Game:

    Dallas comes into tonight ranked third in the NHL in face-off percentage at 52.8 percent. Montreal has done a nice job lately on improving in this category but could end up being a very important factor in tonight’s game.

    Goaltending should play a vital part in tonight’s game as Carey Price and Ben Bishop have been solid in their last few starts. If both goaltenders continue to be on their game it should be a very low-scoring game.

     

    Forwards:

    Tomas Tatar-Phillip Danault-Brendan Gallagher

    Jonathan Drouin-Max Domi-Artturi Lehkonen

    Paul Byron-Jesperi Kotkaniemi- Joel Armia

    Nicolas Deslauriers- Matthew Peca- Charles Hudon

    Defensive Pairings:

    Jordie Benn- Jeff Petry

    Mike Reilly- Karl Alzner

    Xavier Ouellet- Victor Mete

     

    You can watch TXHT Live tomorrow at 8p EST on both Twitch and Facebook Live.

  • Carey Price Ties Roy For Second In Franchise Wins as the Habs beat the Flames 4-3

    Carey Price Ties Roy For Second In Franchise Wins as the Habs beat the Flames 4-3

     

    The Montreal Canadiens beat the Calgary Flames by a score of 3-2 to improve to 5-1-1 on the season. Carey Price made 21 saves to pick up the win and tie Patrick Roy for second with 289 career wins as a Montreal Canadien.

    The Habs were all over the Flames in the first two periods outshooting them 34-15 after 2 periods.  The Habs finally beat Rittich at the 15:50 mark of the second on a powerplay goal from Petry then 1:49 seconds later Gallagher scored to give the Habs the lead. Xavier Ouellet picked up his first point as a Hab by getting an assist on the Drouin goal.

    Even when the Habs were shorthanded they were getting numerous opportunities.

    A Solid Night for the Habs

    The Domi line for the Habs was on the ice for all three goals and continues to be their best line. Domi, Petry, and Drouin all had two points on the night.

    The Habs were 54% on faceoffs tonight which looks promising going forward.

    The Habs Killed off five penalties and scored two of their three goals on the power play.

    The Habs will Travel to Buffalo to face the Sabres on Thursday night at 7:00 and then play Boston on Saturday Night before returning home to face Dallas next Tuesday.

     

    You can watch TXHT Live today at 8p EST on both Twitch and Facebook Live.
  • Montreal Canadiens Game Day Preview

    Montreal Canadiens Game Day Preview

     

    Montreal Canadiens: (4-1-2) 10 points, 3rd in the Atlantic Division

    Calgary Flames: (5-3-0) 10 points, 2nd in the Pacific Division

    Game Time: 7:30 Pm

    Referees: # 36 Dean Morton, # 25 Marc Joannette

    Linesmen: #59 Steve Barton, #81 Ryan Daisy

    The Montreal Canadiens are coming into tonight after blowing a 3-1 lead in Ottawa to end up losing to the Sens 4-3 in OT. With the Habs coming off the loss, there will be a some changes in tonight’s line-up. Karl Alzner will be a healthy scratch after playing in the last two games. Victor Mete who has missed the last two games with a hand injury will draw back in to the line-up. Carey Price will get a chance to tie Patrick Roy in franchise wins with 280 career wins, Jacques Plante currently holds the record with 314 wins.

    With seven games under his belt it’s starting to sound like Jesperi Kotkaniemi will be spending the entire season with the Habs. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise to Habs fans as he has played great in the seven games and has exceed expectations up to this point. He continues to be on the third line with Joel Armia and Paul Byron. Kotkaniemi has also seen time on the power-play but needs to start shooting the puck a little bit more.

    Forward Lines:

    Tomas Tatar-Phillip Danault-Brendan Gallagher

    Jonathan Drouin-Max Domi-Artturi Lehkonen

    Paul Byron-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Joel Armia

    Nicolas-Deslauriers-Matthew Peca-Andrew Shaw

    Defensive Pairings:

    Jordie Benn- Jeff Petry

    Mike Reilly- Noah Juulsen

    Victor Mete- Xavier Ouellet

    Keys to Tonight’s Game:

    Faceoffs: The Habs come into tonight with the worst face-off % at 42.6%. Ottawa exposed this weakness to the Habs on Saturday Night. Phillip Danault leads the team in that category at a mere 45.4%. This is starting to show why the Habs need to find a true number one center especially now since Tomas Plekanec will miss weeks with his back injury.

    Goalie Match-up: Calgary comes into tonight’s game with a hot goalie in David Rittich. Rittich is 2-0-0 with a 1.30 SV% in 2 starts this season. Carey Price will get the start tonight for Montreal. In five starts this season Price is 2-1-2 with a 2.57 GAA.

    Players to watch

    Max Domi is carrying a three game point streak into tonight’s game (2 goals,1 assist) and Jonny Gaudreau is caring a four game point streak in which he has put up five points (four goals and one assist). He is currently tied for goals and points on the Flames this season. David Rittch who was mentioned earlier should be a guy to watch tonight as he is the Flames goalie who is getting his second straight start as Calgary will go with the Hot hand. Mike Smith who was the Flames starter coming into the year is 3-3-0 with a 3.38 GAA.

     

    You can watch TXHT Live tomorrow at 8p EST on both Twitch and Facebook Live.

  • Montreal Canadiens Game Day Preview

    Montreal Canadiens Game Day Preview

     

    Game time: 7pm

    The Montreal Canadiens come into tonight’s game on a four-game winning streak. Both teams will be dealing with injuries as Brady Thchuck is out for Ottawa and Tomas Plekanec will be out several weeks with a back injury.

    Tonight Features two teams that are off to unexpected hot starts. Ottawa comes into the game with a 3-2-1 record while Montreal is 4-1-1. With Plekanec hitting the IR Nicholas Deslauriers will make his season debut for the Habs. Only change to the Habs lineup tonight is Deslauriers. Mete is expected to miss another game with a hand injury but was practicing with the team.

    Keys to the game:
    Ottawa is gonna look to use thier speed tonight if that Habs can keep them at bay they shouldn’t have a problem

    Stay out of the box the Habs have taken way to many penalties this year and sooner or later it will cost them

    Lines
    Tomas Tatar – Philip Danault – Brendan Gallagher
    Jonathan Drouin – Max Domi – Artturi Lehkonen
    Paul Byron – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Joel Armia
    Nicolas Deslauriers – Andrew Shaw – Matthew Peca

    Karl Alzner – Jeff Petry
    Mike Reilly – Noah Juulsen
    Xavier Ouellet – Jordie Benn

    Carey Price
    You can watch TXHT Live this Wednesday at 8p EST on both Twitch and Facebook Live.
  • Habs Win Thriller over St.Louis Blues

    Habs Win Thriller over St.Louis Blues

     

    The Montreal Canadiens defeated the St. Louis Blues in a thrilling 3-2 win. Montreal started things off early with a quick goal by Max Domi 20 seconds into the game and ended things will a Brendan Gallagher goal to give the Habs a 3-2 lead with 11 seconds left in the game. Carey Price made 23 saves in the win. With the win, the Habs improve to 4-1-1 on the season.

     

    Things the Habs Did Well:

    – The Habs only gave up 25 shots (22 in the final 2 periods).
    – Jesperi Kotkaniemi drew 2 penalties
    – Tomas Tatar adds another assist for the Habs and continues to look great. My only complaint about the game is the Habs took way too many penalties. Both goals by St. Louis came with the man-advantage. Habs need to clean this up if they are going to be successful all year.

     

    Victor Mete didn’t play tonight due to a minor hand injury but should be back in the line-up on Saturday night.

     

    The Habs ride a three-game winning streak into Ottawa when they face the Senators on Saturday Night.

    You can watch TXHT Live next Wednesday at 8p EST on both Twitch and Facebook Live.
  • Montreal Canadiens Game Day Preview

    Montreal Canadiens Game Day Preview

     

    Montreal Canadiens (3-1-1)

    St Louis Blues (1-2-2)

    Puck Drop:7:00

    The Montreal Canadiens come into tonight riding a 2 game winning streak. The Habs will get their star goaltender Carey Price back tonight as he will get his first start since catching the flu. The Habs have not yet announced a line-up but there have been indications that their will be changes due to an illness going around the locker room.

    Keys to the game:
    Carey Price will look to get back to his veznia self tonight after Niemi had two great starts in a row.

    The Habs have found thier scorer in Tomas Tatar who has three goals and four assists for 7 points in 5 games.

    The Defence has played okay but definitely needs to play stronger if that Habs want to be successful this season.

  • News & Notes – October 16th, 2018

    NHL

     

    Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, these are your news and notes for Tuesday, October 16th, 2018.

     

    There were four contests in the NHL yesterday.

    • The Montreal Canadiens scoring was hot in their 7-3 rout of the Detroit Red Wings, their sixth consecutive win over Detroit.Johnathan Drouin recorded his fourth multi-goal game of his career and his first as a member of the Canadiens, one of which occurred on his second career penalty shot attempt.

      Brendan Gallagher would also register a goal in the contest, his 11th goal in 18 career games versus Detroit. He has also scored seven times in the current six game win streak against the Red Wings.

      Tomas Plekanec would also play in his 1,000th career NHL game.

       

    • Plekanec also became the fourth player in Montreal history to record a goal while in his 1,000th NHL game.
    • In Toronto, the Toronto Maple Leafs are continuing to be an offensive machine with the line of Kasperi Kapanen, Auston Matthews, and Patrick Marleau all found the score sheet. The line combined for three goals and two assists in the Maple Leafs 7-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings.Kapanen entered the season with ten points in 55 career games. Kapanen has register four goals and four assists thus far this season in just seven games.

      With Patrick Marleau also scoring his first goal of the season on a power-play, he now ranks seventh place in game wining goals, sitting five shy from Brendan Shanahan (109).

      Auston Matthews has been on fire thus far for the season and this game was no different. Matthews registered his seventh straight multi-point game and at least one point in the last 17 regular-season contests. By registering his seventh straight multi-point game in as many games, he joined a very special class.

    • Ottawa Seantors D Maxime Lajoie and F Brady Tkachuk scored two of Ottawa’s first four straight goals to lift the Senators to their second straight win and a record of 3-2-1 on the season in a 4-1 rout of the Dallas Stars.This game would also be noteworthy for Lajoie as no Senators defenceman has registered more points in their first six games with the franchise.
    • In the final contest of the evening, Nashville Predators Filip Forsberg scored the game-winner to give himself four goals and two assists as well as giving Nashville their third consecutive win on the season. Nashville, 5-1-0, has earned at least five wins in six games for the third time in franchise history and the second time in four seasons (5-1-0 in 2015-16). Nashville would defeat the Minnesota Wild 4-2.

     

    There are eight games on the NHL schedule tonight…

    Oct_16th_Schedy-16120857 (1).jpg

    Image courtesy of NHL and NHL Public Relations

     

    In NHL news today…

    • The Arizona Coyotes announced that C Alex Galechenyuk has been cleared for contact but the return for on-ice action has not yet been determined.

     

     

    You can watch TXHT Live next Wednesday at 8p EST on both Twitch and Facebook Live.

  • Game Day Preview: Montreal Canadiens vs Detroit Red Wings

    Game Day Preview: Montreal Canadiens vs Detroit Red Wings

     

    Game time: 7:30 Pm.

    Montreal Canadiens- (2-1-1)

    Detroit Red Wings (0-3-2)

    The Canadiens will face a win-less Detroit team tonight after erasing a 2-0 deficit on Saturday Night vs Pittsburgh to win 4-3 in a shootout. Unfortunately for the Canadiens the flu bug seems to be going around the locker room as Andrew Shaw in questionable for tonight’s game with the flu. Carey Price will be the back-up tonight and according to coach Julien Niemi was scheduled to start anyway.  Tomas Plekanec will play in his 1,000 career game tonight for the Habs.

    Here are the lines for tonight’s game:

    Forwards

    Tomas Tatar-Phillip Danault-Brendan Gallagher

    Jonathan Drouin-Max Domi-Artturi Lehkonen

    Paul Bryon- Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Joel Armia

    Charles Hudon-Tomas Plekanec-Matthew Peca

    Defencemen

    Victor Mete- Jeff Petry

    Mike Reilly-Noah Juulsen

    Xavier Ouellet- Jordie Benn

    Scatches: Andrew Shaw, Jacob De La Rose, Nikita Sherbak

    How the Habs can pick up the W

    The Habs were able to bounce back on Saturday Night in Pittsburgh. Coming into tonight’s game the Habs should be rolling with confidence. Obviously Antti Niemi will look to have another solid start in net for the Habs. With that said no matter how he plays I expect to see Price back between the pipes on Wednesday Night.  The Habs first line looked very good on Saturday and basically got the Habs back in the game. Tonight will be a good test to see how all four lines are able to play against a struggling Red Wings team.