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

Sam Gerber

December 22, 2018

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

Game Preview by Sam Gerber

Last game : MTL 2 ARI 1 The Canadiens got the win in a tight checking game delivered by Carey Price. He completely stole the game for career win 300. Price made 36 saves and looked almost unbeatable. The one he was beat on was deflected twice before getting to the net. Shea Weber blasted another power-play goal, the second power-play goal for the Habs in as many games. Paul Byron scored the game-winner tapping in a great no look pass from Phillip Danault.

For a complete game recap: Habs Price Earns 300th Win

Players to watch

Tomas Tatar
Tatar will be playing with a chip on his shoulder after being traded from Vegas in the off-season. After being relatively quiet recently, this is a game where he will be making an impact.
Shea Weber
Weber showed some emotion at the end of last game. Expect him to be a physical force against Vegas.
Andrew Shaw
Shaw has been playing great hockey the last few weeks after he has finally become healthy.

Keys to Victory

Be physical
The Golden Knights are very physical team and the Habs have to be ready. Let Vegas over-commit so that Montreal can use their transition game.
Use the stretch pass
The Canadiens need to start using the stretch pass to back teams up and to catch them cheating up the ice. It’s a play the Habs have to be careful making or it could easily be a turnover.
Limit opposition shots
The Habs need to work a lot harder to keep the shots against down. But more importantly the Canadiens are top-5 in the league in giving up high danger scoring chances. That must change.

Matchup by All Habs staff
T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV \| December 22, 4:00 PM ET \| TV: TSN2, RDS, ATTSN-RM
	2018-19 statistics
GOLDEN KNIGHTS	2018-19 statistics	CANADIENS
42 (12th)	Points (rank)	41 (14th)
20-15-2	Record	18-13-5
11-3-1	Home/Away	8-6-3
6-3-1	Last 10	6-4-0
2.97	GF/G	3.03
2.78	GA/G	3.17
21.4	PP%	12.9
83.5	PK%	77.1
54.71	CF%	54.26



Projected forward lines, defense pairings and goaltenders
Forwards
Marchessault – Karlsson – Tuch Pirri – Stastny – Smith Lindberg – Eakin – Carpenter Carrier – Bellemare – Reaves	Drouin – Domi – Shaw Tatar – Danault – Gallagher Byron – Kotkaniemi – Lehkonen Agostino – Chaput – Deslauriers
Defensemen
McNabb – Schmidt Theodore – Engelland Holden – Hunt	Benn – Weber Reilly – Petry Kulak – Mete
Out of the lineup
Scratched: Merrill, Nosek Injured: Haula, Pacioretty, Miller	Scratched: Peca, Hudon, Schlemko Injured: Armia
Goalies
Marc-Andre Fleury	Carey Price

Record: 20-10-2 GAA: – 2.56 Sv%: – .907 SO: 5 Alternate: Malcolm Subban	Record: 14-10-4 GAA: – 2.84 Sv%: – .905 SO: 1 Alternate: Antti Niemi

What to Expect by Sam Gerber

Tomas Tatar should really want to prove himself against his former team. After being a acquired by Vegas for a boatload of picks, Tatar sat in the press box for the Golden Knights playoff run. It is his chance to show them the Knights that they made a mistake. It will be interesting to see how the Habs come out and play. It is the last game before the Christmas break and they should be prepared to empty the tanks. The Habs also had the day off and spent it in Vegas, which could lead to a sluggish start. Afternoon games are always a little different with routines changed up, which ever team has a strong start should leave with the all important two points.

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2018-19 statistics