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

Sam Gerber

December 7, 2017

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

Game Preview by Sam Gerber, Staff Writer

Last game: MTL 3 STL 4

The Canadiens were badly outplayed by the Blues but battled back to tie the game. It was ended by an unfortunate bounce off David Schlemko’s skate giving St. Louis the victory.

For a complete recap: Blues – Canadiens: Blues End Habs Win Streak

Players to watch

Max Pacioretty
Pacioretty, like most snipers, is streaky. Currently in a downturn, the Canadiens need him to go on a tear.
Sean Monahan
Monahan brings size and speed at center and should have a stiff matchup facing the Canadiens top defense.
Matthew Tkachuk
Tkachuk has been compared to Claude Lemieux bringing all the good and bad that involves. Tkachuk has a hearing with the NHL on Thursday for his spear against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Keys to Victory

Get off to a fast start
Montreal needs to start quickly to take advantage of home ice and a Calgary team that is coming off a back-to-back.
Maintain the pace
The Canadiens need to play a 60 minute game taking advantage of a tired Flames squad late in the contest.

Finish your checks
The Canadiens need to tighten up their defensive coverage and clear the front of teh net.

Matchup
Bell Centre, Montreal, QC \| December 7, 7:30 PM ET \| TV: TSN2, RDS, SNW
	2017-18 statistics
FLAMES	2017-18 statistics	CANADIENS
36 (18th)	Points (rank)	29 (22nd)
14-12-2	Record	13-13-3
7-4-2	Away/Home	8-6-2
4-4-2	Last 10	5-4-1
2.82	GF/G	2.75
3.17	GA/G	3.06
21.1	PP%	17.5
76.3	PK%	77.9
52.51	CF%	51.47


Projected forward lines, defense pairings and goaltenders
Forwards
Gaudreau – Monahan – Ferland Tkachuk – Backlund – Frolik Bennett – Jankowski – Hathaway Brouwer – Stajan – Lazar	Byron – De La Rose – Galchenyuk Pacioretty – Danault – Shaw Hudon – Plekanec – Gallagher Deslauriers – Froese – Carr
Defensemen
Giordano – Hamilton Brodie – Hamonic Kulak – Stone	Benn – Weber Alzner – Petry Jerabek – Schlemko
Out of the lineup
Scratched: Bartkowski, Hamilton Injured: Versteeg, Jagr	Scratched: Mete, Morrow Injured: Hemsky, Scherbak, Montoya, Lehkonen, Drouin
Goalies
David Rittich	Carey Price

Record: 1-1-0 GAA: 3.03 Sv%: .875 SO: 0 Alternate: Mike Smith	Record: 8-8-1 GAA: 3.00 Sv%: .903 SO: 1 Alternate: Antti Niemi

What to Expect

Calgary should have some energy to start the game as most teams do at the Bell Centre. Montreal should be able to take advantage of the Flames back-to-back, dominating the later half of the game.

Prediction: Canadiens 4 Flames 2

The Canadiens should be able to take advantage of a young goaltender with just one start this season.

Highlights from the NHL

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Tickets


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2017-18 statistics