GAME DAY | Canadiens – Hurricanes: Preview, Lines, Goalies, TV, Fantasy
Jordan Lambe
Pre-game Notes and Quotes
Hurricanes captain, Eric Staal, had this to say about their current 3 game losing streak: “It’s just a lot mentally you go through every day, and it’s been tough sledding right now and we’ve got to find a way to pick ourselves up because we’re obviously down,”
Lars Eller on his transition from center position to the wing: “It’s just a question of learning how to deal with those situations. As a center, you’re always facing certain scenarios more often than others – which areas you’re going to have to make plays in, which areas you’re going to have to make quick decisions in. As a winger, there are certain areas you always end up in along the wall, especially in your own zone and coming out of your own zone. That took repetition over weeks to nail down in terms of where to be at certain times,”
Canadiens’ forward Torrey Mitchell skated without gear, before practice on Friday. He has been sidelined since November 19 with a lower-body injury.
This is a tale of the two extremes when it comes to goal differential. The Canadiens lead the league with a plus-32, while the Hurricanes are second to last with a minus-24 rating.
Dating back to January 28, 2014, the Canadiens have won the last five games in a row against the Hurricanes. These five wins have come to a combined score of 18-3.
The Canadiens place sixth in the league in goals against, with 60 in their first 27 games. The Hurricanes’ defensive game has been absolutely terrible this season, as they have allowed 75 goals against in their first 25 games and are in 24th in the league.
The Canadiens are in a tie for first place in the NHL in the goals for category, with 92 over their first 27 games. The Capitals’ offense has been the complete opposite, as they are in dead last in the NHL with a total of 51 goals over their first 25 games this season.
Matchup
PNC Arena, Raleigh, NC. | December 5, 7:00 PM ET | TV: TVA Sports, SN, FS-CR
2015-16 statistics
HURRICANES
CANADIENS
20 (16th)
Points (Eastern Con. rank)
41 (1st)
8-13-4
Record
19-5-3
4-6-3
Home
10-3-2
4-7-1
Road
9-2-1
2-4-4
Last 10
6-3-1
2.04
G/G
3.37
2.96
GA/G
2.18
12.2
PP%
23.2
74.6
PK%
86.8
53.5
CF%*
53.7
53.7
CF60*
56.4
46.7
CA60*
48.7
*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
E. Staal – Rask – Lindholm
Nordstrom – J. Staal – Versteeg
Skinner – Nash – Terry
Malone – McClement – Nestraisil
With only four draft picks in the 2013 NHL draft, the Hurricanes were under a lot of pressure to make their fifth overall pick count, or it was likely that the whole draft would be a bust for them. MacKinnon, Barkov, Drouin and Seth Jones went off the board to start, and then the Hurricanes selected Elias Lindholm at number five. So far in his short NHL career, Lindholm has shown flashes of his immense skill level on a very lowly Hurricanes team. Since Lindholm has broken into the NHL in 2013-14, the Hurricanes have finished 24th and 26th in the league in points (and currently sit 27th), so he hasn’t been surrounded by a a ton of talent. Lindholm started this season off on an extremely cold streak as he had only a single point in his first 16 games, yes, just a single point. Since he has broken out of that slump he has put up six points in his last nine games and had a five game point streak broken by the Devils on Thursday. Does your league count Shots? Hits? TOI? If yes than Lindholm should be on your radar (he has 53 shots, 35 hits and averages 16:51 per game). Now is the time to buy low on Lindholm in any keeper leagues also, as you may be able to pry him away from a frustrated manager.
Top scorers for the Hurricanes at home this season are:
Justin Faulk (with 13 points in 13 games).
Kris Versteeg (with 10 points in 13 games)
Victor Rask (with 9 points in 13 games)
Top scorers for the Canadiens on the road this season are:
Tomas Plekanec (13 points in 12 games)
Max Pacioretty and Andrei Markov (with 12 points in 12 games)
P. K. Subban (with 11 points in 12 games)
Player stats retrieved from War on Ice, NHL.com profiles and Yahoo Sports
