GAME DAY | Ducks – Canadiens: Preview, Lines, Goalies, TV, Fantasy

• Michael McCarron scored his first career NHL goal on Saturday. The promising rookie had this to say about his reaction: “It was really exciting. I’ve dreamt of that moment since I was kid. It was also a special feeling just to see how excited the guys on the bench were. Moving forward I’ll just try to stick to the same game plan; crash the net and grab those greasy pucks. The front of the net is where I am going to score most of my goals, I’m just happy that one finally went in for me. The fans gave me a very memorable salute, so I have to thank them for that. They were awesome.”
• Michel Therrien on the struggles of the Canadiens: “To create offense, you need a good transition. Our transition, under the circumstances, is struggling. There are a lot of broken plays. We’re having a lot of trouble attacking the neutral zone with speed and we’re often stopped. Our transition game is suffering a lot right now.”
• Apparently I’ve lost perspective of what “rock bottom” entails. I mentioned that the Habs have hit rock bottom in the Game Day report previous to their game versus the Flames, and I was wrong. I’ll will refrain from using this phrase for the remainder of this season as I am now well aware it can get worse (which ultimately, is good to increase their draft position).
• The schedule for the Canadiens is simple over the next three weeks as they play every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday until the season wraps up.
• While the Canadiens have a 6-18-3 record versus teams in the Western Conference this season, the Ducks have a 15-10-3 record against teams from the East.
• So far this season, the Canadiens have a 3-9-1 record versus teams in the Atlantic division, while the Ducks have a 8-5-0 record versus teams coming from the Atlantic.
• The Canadiens have maintained their place in the standings for the goals against category, as they are currently in 22ed in the league in goals against, with 209 in 73 games. The Ducks have allowed 164 goals in 71 games and find themselves in 1st in the league.
• The Canadiens have dropped down in the standings for the goals scored category as they are currently in 18th place in the NHL, with 192 over their first 73 games. The Ducks are 24th in this category with 182 goals scored in their first 71 games.

2015-16 statistics

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

1. Ryan Getzlaf (with 27 points in 31 games)
2. Ryan Kesler and Corey Perry (both with 21 points in 34 games)
3. Rickard Rakell (with 17 points in 33 games)

• Top scorers for the Canadiens at home this season are:

1. Tomas Plekanec and P.K. Subban* (both with 26 points in 36 and 33 games respectively)
2. Max Pacioretty (with 25 points in 36 games)
3. Alex Galchenyuk (with 22 points in 36 games)

* – Currently injured

Player stats from War-on-Ice, NHL.com and Yahoo Sports.

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