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

Sam Gerber

December 9, 2017

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

Game Preview by Sam Gerber, Staff Writer

Last game: MTL 2 CGY 3 (OT)

The Canadiens let a point get away from them allowing Calgary back into the game. In overtime, the Habs focused on defense and it back fired once again.

For a complete recap: Flames – Canadiens: Habs Take a Point in OT Loss to Calgary

Players to watch

Connor McDavid
McDavid has the speed and skill to blows up defenses every night.
Leon Draisaitl
Draisaitl is a big-bodied centre who is reliable at both ends of the ice. He is on pace points-wise to exceed his season high from last year.
Carey Price
This is the eighth straight start for Price since returning from injury. Saturday night has always been Price’s night, so look for a big game.

Keys to Victory

Don’t get caught
The Habs defense will have to be mindful of the Oilers speed so they won’t get caught flat-footed.
Counter with speed
One way to defend against speed is to attack with it. The Habs have some of the fastest players in the league and will need to use it tonight to have a chance.

Sacrifice the body
The Canadiens will need to sacrifice the body to make a play against a physical Edmonton team.

Matchup by All Habs staff
Bell Centre, Montreal, QC \| December 9, 7:00 PM ET \| TV: SN, TVAS
	2017-18 statistics
OILERS	2017-18 statistics	CANADIENS
24 (29th)	Points (rank)	30 (22nd)
11-15-2	Record	13-13-4
6-6-2	Away/Home	8-6-3
4-6-0	Last 10	5-3-2
2.85	GF/G	2.73
3.39	GA/G	3.06
16.66	PP%	17.34
72.34	PK%	78.78
53.60	CF%	51.51


Projected forward lines, defense pairings and goaltenders
Forwards
Lucic – McDavid – Puljujarvi Maroon – Nugent-Hopkins – Cammalleri Walker – Draisaitl – Slepyshev Khaira – Letestu – Kassian	Galchenyuk – Drouin – Shaw Pacioretty – Danault – Byron Hudon – Plekanec – Gallagher Deslauriers – Froese – Carr
Defensemen
Nurse – Russell Klefbom – Benning Auvitu – Davidson	Benn – Weber Alzner – Petry Mete – Schlemko
Out of the lineup
Scratched: Gryba, Strome, Caggiula Injured: Sekera, Talbot, Larsson	Scratched: De La Rose, Jerabek, Morrow Injured: Hemsky, Scherbak, Montoya, Lehkonen
Goalies
Laurent Brossoit	Carey Price

Record: 1-5-1 GAA: 3.71 Sv%: .876 SO: 0 Alternate: Nick Ellis	Record: 8-8-2 GAA: 2.99 Sv%: .904 SO: 1 Alternate: Antti Niemi

What to Expect

Edmonton has had a very poor start to the season. They give up too many goals and have far too many defensive breakdowns. This is a great opportunity for the Habs to pounce. Edmonton will come out physically and will use their speed to exploit the Canadiens defense. The Habs need to own the puck and frustrate the Oilers to the point where they start taking bad penalties.

Prediction: Canadiens 5 Oilers 2

With Jonathan Drouin back in the lineup the Habs power-play should be able to take over, if given the opportunity.

Highlights from the NHL

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2017-18 statistics