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

Sam Gerber

February 14, 2018

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

Game Preview by Sam Gerber

Last game: MTL 2 NSH 3

The battle between Brendan Gallagher and P.K. Subban stole the show. The Habs had 49 shots on goal but failed to score in the shootout, missing out on the extra point.

For a complete recap: Habs Gallagher Steps Up, Speaks Out

Players to watch

Brendan Gallagher
Gallagher can build on the emotionally-charged performance from last game.
Alex Galchenyuk
Galchenyuk was dominant in overtime against the Predators. He is now tied for second for the team in points. Down the stretch, Claude Julien would be wise to lighten up on the leash further.
Mikko Rantanen
Rantanen has taken over the offense for the Avs after Nathan MacKinnon went down with injury. With 35 assists on the season, the Habs have to worry more about the pass than the shot when Rantanen has the puck..

Keys to Victory

Compete with high energy
The Canadiens need to maintain a high tempo for 60 minutes.
Top-six must contribute
Montreal’s top offensive talent must execute on a consistent basis.
Make smart choices
It’s been an issue all season: the Habs must not settle for perimeter shots and should make a push towards the net.

Matchup by All Habs staff
Pepsi Center, Denver, CO \| February 14, 9:30 PM ET \| TV: TSN2, RDS, ALT
	2017-18 statistics
AVALANCHE	2017-18 statistics	CANADIENS
64 (17th)	Points (rank)	51 (26th)
30-21-4	Record	22-26-7
19-7-1	Home/Away	8-16-1
5-4-1	Last 10	4-5-1
3.15	GF/G	2.58
2.95	GA/G	3.07
19.4	PP%	21.4
83.5	PK%	78.3
47.90	CF%	50.89

eSAT Analytics by Mathieu Chagnon

Projected forward lines, defense pairings and goaltenders
Forwards
Landeskog – Kerfoot – Wilson Nieto – Soderberg – Rantanen Jost – Compher – Bourque Greer – Toninato – Yakupov	Pacioretty – Byron – Lehkonen Galchenyuk – Drouin – Scherbak Hudon – Plekanec – Gallagher Deslauriers – Froese – L. Shaw
Defensemen
Zadorov – Johnson Nemeth – Girard Lindholm – Barrie	Alzner – Petry Morrow – Benn Mete – Schlemko
Out of the lineup
Scratched: Grimaldi, Siemens Injured: MacKinnon, Comeau, Barberio, Kamenev, Andrighetto	Scratched: Jerabek, Carr, De La Rose Injured: Weber, Hemsky, Danault, A. Shaw
Goalies
Semyon Varlamov	Antti Niemi

Record: 13-11-2 GAA: 2.90 Sv%: .910 SO: 1 Alternate: Jonathan Bernier	Record: 2-5-1 GAA: 4.13 Sv%: .883 SO: 0 Alternate: Carey Price

What to Expect

Prediction: Canadiens 3 Avalanche 1

The Avs sit a few points out of the playoffs and have been around a .500 team since the Mackinnon injury but still compete hard every night. A hot start for the Habs would do wonders for them as they usually get frustrated if they do not score early on.

Highlights from the NHL

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Tickets


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2017-18 statistics