Brad Richards on not scoring his first goal as a Red Wing until Saturday versus the Nashville Predators: “It was getting a little annoying, as long as you’ve been around you go home and tell yourself ‘tomorrow is a new day’ it still eats at you. The good thing is since I’ve been back we haven’t really lost a game in regulation so you’re not pressing as much as you could be.”
Michel Therrien on Nathan Beaulieu‘s recent performance: “He knows that he hasn’t met our expectations over the last two games. We expect more from him, it’s a challenge to work with young players. We’re looking for consistency. The challenge for young players is to have the least amount of ups and downs as possible over the course of the year.”
Niklas Kronwall on the amazing start of rookie Dylan Larkin: “I’d seen some highlights but not more than that, I heard he had a really good playoff when he started playing for GR (Grand Rapids) last year. But not more than that. I think the initial thoughts are always wow, such a good skater. It looks so effortless. But to be able to do what he does with that speed is pretty incredible. Not a lot of people can make those plays at that speed.”
The Canadiens place seventh in the league in goals against, with 66 in their first 29 games. The Red Wings’ defensive game has been hovering around average, as they have allowed 72 goals against in their first 28 games and are in 14th in the league.
With only a single goal on Wednesday, the Canadiens dropped to second place in the NHL in the goals for category, with 95 over their first 29 games. The Red Wings’ offense has been under-performing by many people’s expectations to start the season, but they remain in 15th in the NHL with a total of 73 goals over their first 28 games this season.
Matchup
Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, MI. | December 10, 7:30 PM ET | TV: RDS, CITYM, FS-D
2015-16 statistics
RED WINGS
CANADIENS
35 (5th)
Points (Eastern Con. rank)
41 (1st)
15-8-5
Record
19-7-3
9-5-3
Home
10-4-2
6-3-2
Road
9-3-1
6-0-4
Last 10
5-4-1
2.61
G/G
3.28
2.57
GA/G
2.28
17.0
PP%
21.6
81.0
PK%
86.6
51.7
CF%*
54.0
52.9
CF60*
57.2
49.4
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
2015-’16 regular season: Record: 8-4-3 GAA: 2.41 Sv%: .924 SO: 1 Alternate: Jimmy Howard
2015-’16 regular season: Record: 0-0-0 GAA: 6.00 Sv%: .846 SO: 0 Alternate: Mike Condon
Fantasy Outlook
As Therrien was quoted in saying above, Nathan Beaulieu hasn’t been performing up to expectations this season. Many believed that this would be the season that we would see Beaulieu unleash the offensive force he has demonstrated throughout his time in the QMJHL and AHL, but it hasn’t been the case so far. Beaulieu has only seen over 20 minutes of TOI three times this seeason and has had 13:51, 13:32 and 12:32 in his last three games respectively. Not only has Beaulieu seen his ice time dip, he has registered a minus in the plus/minus category for three straight games. Beaulieu has kept some patient fantasy owners in deeper leagues pleased with his respectable hits and blocked shots over the season, but even those have been on the down slide the past three games. He has only registered one blocked shot in the past three games and no hits as all, couple this with the lack of TOI and it is safe to bench or drop Beaulieu for the time being.
Top scorers for the Red Wings at home this season are:
Dylan Larkin (with 14 points in 17 games).
Tomas Tatar and Henrik Zetterberg (with 12 points in 17 games)
Justin Abdelkader and Gustav Nyquist (with 11 points in 17 games)
Top scorers for the Canadiens on the road this season are:
Tomas Plekanec (13 points in 13 games)
Max Pacioretty and Andrei Markov (with 12 points in 13 games)
P. K. Subban (with 11 points in 13 games)
Player stats retrieved from War on Ice, NHL.com profiles and Yahoo Sports
