GAME DAY | Panthers – Canadiens: Preview, Lines, Goalies, TV, Fantasy
Jordan Lambe
Pre-game Notes and Quotes
John Scott on his recent promotion to the Canadiens: “It’s kind of cool how everything’s come full-circle. It’s good to be back in [an NHL] room. I haven’t met most of the guys yet. Half of the team I met in St. John’s, though. It’s good to be up here and kind of experience what it’s like to be a Canadien, they’re kind of doing me a favor. It’s a one-game thing, unless I go out and score a hat trick.”
Brendan Gallagher on the Panther’s top line of Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau and Jaromir Jagr: “They’re good. We’ve played against good players before, but it seems like every time we play them, that line finds ways to contribute. It’s two pretty young kids playing with Jagr. I’m sure they’re learning a lot from him. They’re definitely a challenging line to play against, but at the same time you can’t be happy when you give a line that much success.”
Michel Therrien on the terrible luck the Canadiens have had with injuries this season: “Losing another defenseman was definitely taxing on our group. Everything was under control, but with the loss of Lernout and then Pateryn for a short time, we asked a lot of our defensemen. Even our veterans like Markov and Emelin played way too many minutes. We lost some energy because of that. Tonight’s circumstances made things a little more difficult, for sure.”
The Canadiens have had 14 different defensemen suit up for at least one game this season. This is of course worsened by the fact that last year’s MVP Carey Price has also spent majority of the season on the sidelines.
The Panthers have won all three games between these two teams this season by a combined score of 11-5. Their last game was the only one to have the winner decided by a single goal.
While the Canadiens have a 29-19-3 record versus teams in the Eastern Conference this season, the Panthers have a 33-12-6 record against teams from the East.
So far this season, the Canadiens have a 17-10-1 record versus teams in the Atlantic division, while the Panthersg have a 19-8-1 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 23rd in the league in goals against, with 228 in 79 games. The Panthers have allowed 197 goals in 79 games and find themselves in 7th in the league.
The Canadiens have maintained their place in the standings for the goals scored category as they are currently in 17th place in the NHL, with 209 over their first 79 games. The Panthers are 6th in this category with 229 goals scored in their first 79 games.
Matchup
Bell Centre, Montreal, QC. | April 5, 7:30 PM ET | TV: FS-F, RDS, SNE
2015-16 statistics
PANTHERS
CANADIENS
99 (3rd)
Points (Conference rank)
78 (13th)
45-25-9
Record
36-37-6
24-11-5
Home
21-15-3
21-14-4
Road
15-22-3
7-3-0
Last 10
4-6-0
2.90
G/G
2.67
2.49
GA/G
2.89
17.0
PP%
16.2
80.1
PK%
82.0
49.4
CF%*
51.2
49.0
CF60*
54.7
50.2
CA60*
52.0
*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
Forwards
Huberdeau – Barkov – Jagr
Jokinen – Bjugstad – Smith
Purcell – Grimaldi – Hudler
Wilson – McKegg – Shaw
Pacioretty – Galchenyuk – Gallagher
Eller – Plekanec – Carr
Danault – Desharnais – Andrighetto
Byron – Mitchell – Scott
Expected scratches: Matteau, Lessio, Brown
