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

Sam Gerber
Game Preview by Sam Gerber, Staff Writer
Last game: MTL 3  VGK 2

The Canadiens got great goaltending again with timely saves by Charlie Lindgren. He gets his third straight start against the Wild.

For a complete recap: Lindgren Shines Again as Habs Beat Knights

Players to watch

  • Brendan Gallagher
    Gallagher has been on a mission this season and is three goals away from matching his goal total from last year. Gallagher will draw extra attention from opponents as long as he keeps this up which could lead to extra space for his teammates.
  • Ryan Suter
    Suter, the former defense partner of Shea Weber, is now the workhorse defenseman for the Wild. Suter battles hard each shift and rarely makes mistakes.
  •  Byron Froese
    Froese will be playing his first NHL game for the Habs tonight. Froese was recently named captain of the Laval Rocket and has 11 points in 13 games. Expect energy shifts from Froese in his first home game at the Bell Centre.

Keys to Victory

  • Don’t give up first goal
    The Canadiens gave up three goals in the first period against the Wild last week. They can’t let that happen in this game if they expect a victory.
  • Penalty kill is key
    The Habs penalty kill ranks 29th in the league. They will need to turn that around if they want to keep their modest winning streak alive.
  • Be physical on defense
    Opponents have been regularly going hard to the net knowing that they won’t be touched. It’s time for the Canadiens defense to step up their physicality.
Matchup 
Bell Centre, Montreal, QC | November 9, 7:30 PM ET | TV: TSN2, RDS, FS-N

2017-18 statistics
WILD CANADIENS
12 (27th) Points (rank) 15 (25th)
5-7-2 Record 7-8-1
2-4-1 Away/Home 3-2-1
4-6-0 Last 10 6-4-0
3.08 GF/G 2.69
3.00 GA/G 3.56
17.1 PP% 15.9
82.0 PK% 74.1
 45.44  CF%  53.93
 
Projected forward lines, defense pairings and goaltenders
Forwards
Zucker – Staal – Stewart
Niederreiter – Koivu – Granlund
Winnik – Eriksson Ek – Ennis
Foligno – Cullen – Kunin		 Galchenyuk – Drouin (GTD) – Lehkonen
Pacioretty – Danault – Shaw
Byron – Plekanec – Gallagher 
Hudon – Froese – De La Rose
Defensemen
Suter – Spurgeon
Brodin – Dumba
Quincey – Reilly		 Mete – Weber
Alzner – Petry
Morrow – Benn
Out of the lineup
Scratched: Olofsson, Stalock
Injured: Parise, Coyle		 Scratched: Mitchell, Davidson
Injured: Hemsky, Schlemko, Scherbak, Price
Goalies
Devan Dubnyk Charlie Lindgren
Record: 4-5-1
GAA: 3.03
Sv%: .907
SO: 0
Alternate: Niklas Svedberg		 Record: 2-0-0
GAA: 1.00
Sv%: .971
SO: 1
Alternate: Al Montoya
 What to Expect
The Bell Centre should be rocking if the Habs get off to another good start. 

Prediction: Canadiens 4  Wild 3

The Canadiens must use that emotion to take it to the Wild, redeeming themselves after a 6-3 loss to Minnesota just a week ago.
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