GameDay: Capitals vs Habs Preview, Lineups, Ryder, Galchenyuk, Subban

All Habs GameDay: Tuesday April 9, 2013

On this day in hockey history… In 1946 – Elmer Lach scored a goal and added two assists as Montreal beat Boston 6-3 in Game Five of the Finals, to become the 1946 Stanley Cup Champions.

PROJECTED LINE COMBINATIONS AND GOALTENDERS
(Will be updated following game day skate.)

TOP SCORERS

► Caps with only one regulation loss in their last 10 face first real test! 

• The Washington Capitals have sure turned things around as of late.
• Playing in the terrible Southeast Division, they’ve gone 8-1-1 over their last ten games and are coming into Montreal on a four game winning streak.
• Over this period, Alex Ovechkin has picked up 13 goals and 6 assists and now tallies 25 goals and 18 assists for 43 points on the season. What a terrible player.
• In their first match up of the season way back on January 24, the Canadiens had come out on top 4-1 in Washington.

The Capitals have blanked the Canadiens in each of their last three visits to Montreal, and they’ve done so with three different netminders. Washington’s whitewash mastery over the Habs at Bell Centre extends back to the second period of a March 15, 2011 game there. Montreal’s Andrei Kostitsyn scored against Holtby at 3:28 of the second period in that game, the final Canadiens goal in a 4-2 Capitals victory. – Stick tap to Mike Vogel 

► Michael Ryder and Alex Galchenyuk with the hot hand:

• Both Michael Ryder and Alex Galchenyuk have had no trouble finding the back of the net these past couple of games.
• Ryder picked up a goal in his last game against the Bruins and had picked up two goals and an assist in the prior game against the Jets. He now tallies 16 goals and 16 assists for 32 points on the season. Since being acquired from the Dallas Stars for Erik Cole, Ryder has 10 goals and 8 assists for 18 points in 18 games.
• Galchenyuk has scored a goal in each of his last two games, and has had a point in each of his past three games. He now has 5 goals and 13 assists for 18 points on the season.

► P.K. Subban continues to impress:

• Can anything slow down P.K. Subban?
• Subban picked up two assists in each of his last two games and is now tied with Michael Ryder on the Canadiens’ roster for most points on the season.
• His 10 goals and 32 points are best amongst all NHL defencemen,
• Closest to him in goals are Shea Weber (Nashville Predators), Keith Yandle (Phoenix Coyotes) and Mike Green (Washington Capitals) who all have eight goals.
• In points, the closest one behind Subban would be Ryan Suter (Minnesota Wild) who has 29 points.

► Rookie Watch:

• Saturday night against the Bruins, Alex Galchenyuk found the back of the net for a second straight game while Brendan Gallagher was held off the scoresheet for a third straight game.
• Gallagher totals 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points on the season.
• Galchenyuk now has 5 goals and 13 assists for 18 points on the season.
• Respectively, they rank tied for fourth and eighth for total points amongst rookies in the league.

Top 10 NHL Rookies / Total Points

1. Jonathan Huberdeau (FLA): 13G, 14A, 27PTS
2. Cory Conacher (TBL): 10G, 15A, 25PTS
3. Brandon Saad (CHI): 9G, 14A, 23PTS
4. Brendan Gallagher (MTL): 11G, 10A, 21PTS
5. Nail Yakupov (EDM): 9G, 12A, 21PTS
6. Justin Schultz (EDM): 6G, 14A, 20PTS
7. Mike Zibanejab (OTT): 6G, 13A, 19PTS
8. Alex Galchenyuk (MTL): 5G, 13A, 18PTS
9. Jakob Silfverberg (OTT): 8G, 9A, 17PTS
10. Alex Killorn (TBL): 7G, 10A, 17PTS

Habs vs Bruins Game Recap

Coach Michel Therrien:

• “Tonight I liked Carey Price. I thought Carey was fantastic.”
• On Lars Eller’s line: “They work hard. They’re on puck. They skate well. They manage the puck really well. They were a really good line tonight. They set the tone for the game.”
• “We have confidence in Lars. The kid competes really hard. Galchenyuk has a lot of speed. Two games that he skates well and plays with confidence. Prust’s best game since he came back.”
• “We played five games in eight days. It’s a demanding week. We had quite good success. I’m really proud about those guys.”
• “If [the Bruins] want to play undisciplined, that’s fine with us.”

Carey Price:

• “It’s obviously two big ones. We’re battling for the top spot. The playoffs are coming up soon and we’re just trying to set the tempo for the rest of the season going into the playoffs.”