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

Sam Gerber

7 years ago

Game Preview by Sam Gerber

Last game: MTL 3 CGY 2

The Habs nearly played a very good road game versus Calgary. The Flames pressed the Canadiens for the final ten minutes after Montreal had dominated for the middle part of the game.

For a complete recap: Canadiens – Flames: Habs Notch Second Win on Western Road Trip

Players to watch

Connor McDavid
The Oilers have won three in a row and will go as far as McDavid takes them. Shutting him down will be key for the Habs.
Artturi Lehkonen
Lehkonen returned from injury against Calgary and set up the game winning goal by Brendan Gallagher. Lehkonen was positive force for the Habs all game and was out in a defensive role in the last minute.
Antti Niemi
Niemi will get the start in Edmonton with Carey Price having earned the win the night before. The Canadiens will need the good Niemi to show up for this one.

Keys to Victory

Forecheck hard
The Canadiens were aggressive on the forecheck controlling the play against the Flames and will need a repeat performance in this game.
Score with the man advantage
Montreal has iced one of the better power-plays in December and will need to finish the month strongly.
Empty the tank
The Canadiens can take advantage of the holiday break by With a few days off after this game the Habs really need to empty the tank and leave it all out on the ice.

Matchup by All Habs staff
Rogers Place, Edmonton, AB \| December 23, 7:00 PM ET \| TV: SN, TVA
	2017-18 statistics
OILERS	2017-18 statistics	CANADIENS
39 (26th)	Points (rank)	34 (23rd)
16-17-2	Record	16-15-4
7-10-0	Home/Away	7-8-1
6-4-0	Last 10	6-3-1
2.97	GF/G	2.74
3.17	GA/G	3.11
16.3	PP%	18.3
73.2	PK%	77.4
53.63	CF%	51.23


Projected forward lines, defense pairings and goaltenders
Forwards
Lucic – McDavid – Puljujarvi Maroon – Nugent-Hopkins – Caggiula Khaira – Draisaitl – Strome Cammalleri – Letestu – Kassian	Pacioretty – Drouin – Byron Galchenyuk – Danault – Shaw Lehkonen – Plekanec – Gallagher Deslauriers – Froese – Carr
Defensemen
Nurse – Russell Sekera – Benning Davidson – Larsson	Alzner – Petry Benn – Schlemko Morrow – Jerabek
Out of the lineup
Scratched: Gryba, Auvitu, Slepyshev Injured: Klefbom	Scratched: De La Rose, Lernout, Hudon Injured: Weber, Hemsky, Montoya
Goalies
Cam Talbot	Antti Niemi

Record: 13-10-1 GAA: 2.92 Sv%: .905 SO: 1 Alternate: Laurent Brossoit	Record: 2-1-0 GAA: 2.66 Sv%: .921 SO: 0 Alternate: Carey Price

What to Expect

The Habs need to a have a repeat performance with tight checking once again.

Prediction: Canadiens 4 Oilers 2

The Canadiens depth should be the difference maker in the game.

Highlights from the NHL

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2017-18 statistics