Game Day: Leafs vs Canadiens – Preview, Lines, Goalies, TV, Fantasy
Jordan Lambe
Pre-game Notes and Quotes
Brendan Gallagher on Fridays win versus the Sabres: “It’s always good to win, we just have a one-game-at-a-time mentality. It won’t change. Take this for what it is, we have another game [Saturday] night and we move on to that one.”
Mike Babcock: “Obviously Montreal, they’re playing real well. They’ve been a real fortunate team in that they’re playing good, they got off to a good start, their goalie is playing good, they haven’t had injuries so they play the same lineup every night. They kind of hit their rhythm early so it’s going to be a good test for us. We’re excited that they play tonight and we get to watch them and then we play them tomorrow.”
P. K. Subban on inching closer to breaking an NHL record for consecutive wins to start aseason: “We’re just focusing on Toronto now, for us, we can’t focus on those things.”
Both these teams couldn’t be further apart in terms offensive production so far this year. The Canadiens lead the league with 30 goals for, while the Leafs place tied for 23rd with 13.
The Leafs also have been averaging 2.83 goals against per game (5th worst in the NHL), compared to the Canadiens who have a league best 1.13.
Both Tyler Bozak and Jake Gardiner currently have injuries for the Leafs. Bozak will likely play tonight, while Gardiner has already been ruled out.
Matchup
Bell Centre, Montreal, QC. | October 24, 7:00 PM ET | TV: CBC, TVAS
2015-16 statistics
LEAFS
CANADIENS
4 (T-13th)
Points (Eastern Con. rank)
16 (1st)
1-3-2
Record
8-0-0
0-1-1
Home
3-0-0
1-2-1
Road
5-0-0
1-3-2
Last 10
8-0-0
2.17
G/G
3.75
2.83
GA/G
1.13
12.5
PP%
19.4
79.2
PK%
89.3
50.6
CF%*
55.0
52.1
CF60*
61.3
50.7
CA60*
50.1
*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: 0-3-1 GAA: 2.39 Sv%: .924 SO: 0 Alternate: James Reimer
2015-’16 regular season: Record: 6-0-0 GAA: 1.00 Sv%: .966 SO: 2 Alternate: Mike Condon
Fantasy Outlook
Toronto’s leading scorers are Dion Phaneuf and Daniel Winnik. Yes, you read that right, both of these players lead the team in points with four a piece in the first six games. This should be a subtle clue as to how the 25th ranked offense in the league is doing.
One player to watch from the visiting side tonight is Nazem Kadri. Due to Bozak’s injury, Kadri has been given more opportunity by Mike Babcock and he has logged 18:46 and 20:44 TOI in his last two games. Not to mention that Kadri leads the Leafs in shots taken with 29 (4.83 per game), 11 shots over 2ed place James van Riemsdyk who has 18. The fact that Kadri has only scored one goal (a 3.40 shooting percentage) is mind boggling and he is long overdue to breakout.
The high flying Habs have everything going for them recently and most fantasy GMs are reaping the benefits of owning a member of the Canadiens. But there is one player that hasn’t quite met expectations over the past 6 games, his name is Alex Galchenyuk. Everyone expected him to experience growing pains as he transitioned to the center position and that’s exactly whats happening. Over his past two games Galchenyuk hasn’t played more than 14 minutes on ice and only registered two shots in that span. Going back to when his mini cold streak started, versus the Senators, he has only had 2 points in six games and has registered 9 shots on net in the process. This isn’t something that fans should be worried about, as players go through mini slumps regularly, but it may be best for some fantasy GMs (in shallow leagues) to sit Galchenyuk for another player on this crowded Saturday night of hockey.
