Game Day: Canadiens vs Devils – Preview, Lines, Goalies, TV, Fantasy

• Bud Holloway will play his first career NHL Friday night and at 27 years old, he is the fifth oldest player currently on their roster. With injuries to Brendan Gallagher and now Alex Semin, a roster spot opened for the skilled winger and he had this to say about the opportunity: “I think for me it’s going to be skate, work hard, and try to get in on the forecheck. I’m going to start with that and as soon as I start getting comfortable, I’ll add things from there,”
• Team captain, Max Pacioretty, on the Canadiens’ recent string of injuries: “Our depth is our biggest asset right now, the most important thing is that the guys who are stepping up for injured players all have the right mindset. They’re coming to work every day and they’re staying patient and doing the right things and being good team guys
• Patrik Elias, who has accumulated 1017 points over his career, made his season debut Wednesday versus the Blue Jackets. Head Coach, John Hynes, had this to say about his performance: “I thought it was a good first game for [Elias] to come back, he looked good, quick, and I thought he was really smart the way he managed his shifts. He even got to play some special teams, and he had a good work ethic.”
• As to the despair of Canadiens fans everywhere, it was announced that Carey Price re-aggravated his lower-body injury Thursday. The injury has already cost him nine games so far this season and he is expected to miss at least another week.
• Kyle Palmieri, who is tied for second on the team in points and leads the team in shots, is questionable for tonight’s game as he took an elbow to the head on Wednesday night versus the Blue Jackets. He did return to the game but it hasn’t been confirmed if he will play tonight yet.
• The Devils currently have five players on their team who have hit double digits in terms of points; The Canadiens have a total of 10.
• The Canadiens are tied with division rival, Tampa Bay,  for fifth place in the league in goals against with 51 in their first 23 games. The Devils’ defensive game has been much better than most expected so far this season, as they have only allowed 52 goals against in their first 21 games.
• The Canadiens have a commanding lead (5 goals) on first place in the NHL in the goals for category, with 83 over their first 23 games. The Devils have not been as fortunate, as they are in a tie for 23rd in the NHL with a total of 51 goals over their first 21 games this season.

2015-16 statistics

• Although many people predicted that the Devils would struggle to score this season (and they are right to an extent so far), few few predicted that a key contributor to their offense would be Lee Stempniak. The 32-year-old is on pace for a career year (previous career high is 52 points) this season and doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of slowing down, with 8 points in his last 9 games. Continuing on the pace he is currently on, Stempniak will reach 16 goals, 62 points, 164 shots, 20 PPP and 144 hits if he is to play the full 82 game schedule. Although he may not reach these totals, he has proven to be a very steady fantasy option so far this season. His ceiling is overly high but he can be a solid fantasy option in some mid-deep tier leagues.
• Flying under the radar in Montreal, amidst all of the injury woes and minor league promotions, is a player who has a modest 3 game point streak. Alex Galchenyuk has struggled get ice time so far this season, but has shown that he can still produce with low TOI totals as he places third on the Canadiens in Assists per 60 minutes played (behind only Pacioretty and Subban). Galchenyuk also leads the team in CF% with 61.15 (with a minimum of 11, half the season so far, games played). Start Galchenyuk with confidence as his ice time should slowly rise if he keeps performing as he has the past few games.
• Top scorers for the Devils at home this season are:

1. Mike Cammalleri and Lee Stempniak (with 9 points in 11 games).
2. Travis Zajac (with 7 points in 10 games)
3. Adam Henrique and Kyle Palmieri (with 6 points in 11 games)

• Top scorers for the Canadiens on the road this season are:

1. Tomas Plekanec (13 points in 11 games)
2.  Andrei Markov, P. K. Subban and Max Pacioretty (both with 11 points in 11 games)
3.  Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher (with 8 points in 11 and 10 games respectively)

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