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

Sam Gerber

7 years ago

Game Preview by Sam Gerber, Staff Writer

Last game: MTL 2 NSH 3 (SO)

The Canadiens defense did all the scoring while Filip Forsberg potted two goals for the Predators. Antti Niemi played well but Pekka Rinne won the battle in a shootout.

For a complete recap: Canadiens – Predators: Habs Settle for a Moral Victory

Players to watch

Carey Price
Price makes his return to the net after being out due to injury. His presence should calm the Habs players and give them extra motivation.
Jakub Jerabek
Jerabek will be playing his first game at the Bell Centre after debuting for the Habs against the Predators.
Ryan O’Reilly
O’Reilly got the lone goal for the Sabres in the last matchup and was dominant at the faceoff dot. Habs have to do a much better job at keeping O’Reilly in check.

Keys to Victory

Stay out of the box
Neither team is proficient when it comes to special teams. The Canadiens will need to be disciplined and take advantage of their power-play opportunities.

Battle hard
The Sabres are a hard-checking team that use their size to win puck battles. Habs will need to be hard on the pucks and use their speed.

Finish them off
Buffalo is a team who like to hang around in games and comeback late in games. The Habs need to finish the Sabres early and get a good sized lead.

Matchup
Bell Centre, Montreal, QC \| November 25, 7:00 PM ET \| TV: SN, TVA, MSG-B
	2017-18 statistics
SABRES	2017-18 statistics	CANADIENS
16 (30th)	Points (rank)	19 (27th)
6-13-4	Record	8-12-3
3-6-3	Away/Home	4-5-2
2-6-2	Last 10	4-4-2
2.39	GF/G	2.30
3.43	GA/G	3.43
13.7	PP%	14.5
83.0	PK%	75.3
47.55	CF%	53.15


Projected forward lines, defense pairings and goaltenders
Forwards
Kane – Eichel – Pominville Pouliot – O’Reilly – Reinhart Nolan – Josefson – Okposo Girgensons – Larsson – Criscuolo	Byron – Drouin – Galchenyuk Pacioretty – Danault – Shaw Hudon – Plekanec – Gallagher Deslauriers – De La Rose – Froese
Defensemen
Scandella – Ristolainen McCabe – Antipin Beaulieu – Falk	Alzner – Petry Benn – Morrow Mete – Jerabek
Out of the lineup
Scratched: Moulson, Griffith, Gorges Injured: Fedun, Tennyson, Bogosian	Scratched: Davidson Injured: Hemsky, Scherbak, Price, Montoya, Lehkonen, Weber
Goalies
Chad Johnson	Carey Price

Record: 1-4-2 GAA: 3.59 Sv%: .885 SO: 0 Alternate: Robin Lehner	Record: 3-7-1 GAA: 3.77 Sv%: .877 SO: 0 Alternate: Antti Niemi

What to Expect

Carey Price’s return should spark the team and they should come out with high energy. It will be important for the Habs to get a goal in the opening moments to keep the energy up.

Prediction: Canadiens 3 Sabres 0

The Sabres will keep pushing early in the game, but after playing yesterday they will come up empty in the third period against the Canadiens.

Highlights from the NHL

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2017-18 statistics