Carey Price makes a save on Anders Lee. (Photo by Getty Images)
LEXINGTON, KY — This upcoming week the Canadiens will be starting a five-game road trip, playing one game this week against the New York Islanders. The Habs went 2-1 last week finishing their home series with a 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators.
While the Canadiens are away, the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championships will take up residence at the Bell Centre (and Air Canada Centre in Toronto) running from December 26th until January 5th. Team Canada begins the tournament with a game against Slovakia on Boxing Day followed by a matchup with Germany on Saturday. Curtis Lazar (Senators) will captain the Canadians with Connor McDavid (draft eligible 2015) and Sam Reinhart (Sabres) serving as assistants.
Calendar: December 22-28
MON
TUE
WED
THU
FRI
SAT
SUN
AWAY
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Montreal Canadiens
The Habs (21-11-2) are coming off a strong offensive performance last week, scoring nine goals in three games. The Canadiens have found their way back to first place in the Atlantic Division, tied with Tampa Bay, and they have moved up to seventh in the league with 44 points. They are 5-4-1 in their last ten games.
Players to Watch
Alex Galchenyuk. The third overall pick of 2012 has been unstoppable lately with six points in his last three games, including a hat trick against Carolina last week.
Max Pacioretty. Pacioretty is leading the Habs with 27 points this season, picking up seven in his last five games. He also boasts a plus-16 rating (5th).
Strengths (+)
Weaknesses (-)
Montreal’s penalty-kill has moved up to sixth in the league at 86.1 per cent. Their team defence and goaltending is also spectacular, only allowing 2.4 goals against per game (8th). The Habs also boast the best faceoff win percentage in the league at 55.4 per cent.
The Habs’ offence is on the rise but that is not reflected in the numbers, averaging only 2.6 goals a game (20th).
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Tuesday
New York Islanders
The Islanders (23-10-0) are coming off a great week, going 3-0, and finishing off the week with a 3-1 win over Tampa Bay. New York is in second place in the Metropolitan Division and fourth in the league with 46 points. They are 7-3-0 in their last ten games played.
Players to Watch
John Tavares. The team captain has three points in his last five games and has six power-play goals this season (7th).
Anders Lee. Lee is quite an offensive threat with three points in his last two games as well as having three game-winning-goals this year (9th).
Strengths (+)
Weaknesses (-)
The Islanders offence is going to be tough to stop, averaging three goals a game (5th).
New York’s offence is powerful but their defence is a soft spot for the Habs to exploit, averaging 2.76 goals against per game. The Islanders penalty-kill is also struggling at 72.3 per cent (30th).
