GameDay: Habs vs Sabres Preview, Lineups, Galchenyuk, Eller

All Habs GameDay: Thursday April 11, 2013

On this day in hockey history… In 2004 – Montreal’s Jose Theodore became just the 3rd NHL goalie to get 2 assists in a playoff game, when he assisted on both of Alex Kovalev’s goals in the 1st period in a 3-2 win over the visiting Bruins.

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

TOP SCORERS

► Those difficult games against Buffalo: 

• The Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres will be playing their fifth and final match-up of the season on Thursday in Buffalo, with the Sabres having won the last three games against Montreal after the latter blew them out 6-1 in their first face-off of the season.
• After the 6-1 victory, the Habs lost to the Sabres by the scores of 5-4 (shootout), 3-2 (overtime) and 2-1.
• Currently, the Sabres are seven points out of a playoff spot and in all likeliness, they’ll be playing golf in early May while the Canadiens sit in fourth place in the East, with the Bruins having moved past them on Wednesday after beating the New Jersey Devils by the score of 5-4.

► Alex Galchenyuk has turned it up a notch:

• It’s safe to say that those who were criticizing Alex Galchenyuk’s play have quieted down these past few games, that’s because he’s on a tear.
• The rookie had a strong performance against the Capitals and picked up two assists in the 3-2 loss on Tuesday.
• Galchenyuk has now picked up at least one point in each of his last four games, and has two goals and three assists over this period.
• He now has five goals and 20 points on the season, just one less than Gallagher’s 21.

► Lars Eller finally finding the back of the net:

• Lars Eller improved his goal production by 150 per cent on Tuesday against the Capitals, netting his fifth and sixth goals of the season.
• This was Eller’s fourth point in his past three games.
• He now tallies six goals and 21 points on the season and interestingly enough, only five of those points were obtained in single-point games. This means that Eller picked up 16 of his 21 points over seven games and has been held off the scoresheet 25 times since the start of the season.
• The odder stat is that although he had two goals against the Caps, he only obtained 13:40 in ice-time that game. He obtained more ice-time in 26 other games this season.

► Rookie Watch:

• Tuesday night against the Capitals, Alex Galchenyuk picked up two assists while Brendan Gallagher was held off the scoresheet for a fourth 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 fifth and tied for sixth 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. Nail Yakupov (EDM): 10G, 13A, 23PTS
4. Brandon Saad (CHI): 9G, 14A, 23PTS
5. Brendan Gallagher (MTL): 11G, 10A, 21PTS
6. Justin Schultz (EDM): 6G, 14A, 20PTS
7. Alex Galchenyuk (MTL): 5G, 15A, 20PTS
8. Mike Zibanejab (OTT): 6G, 13A, 19PTS
9. Jakob Silfverberg (OTT): 8G, 9A, 17PTS
10. Alex Killorn (TBL): 7G, 10A, 17PTS

Coach Michel Therrien on the Sabres:

• “We got pucks at the net but they did a good job of blocking the lanes, and when they scored, it seemed like the puck found ways to go behind Price.”

Brian Gionta on how the Habs responded to Ovechkin and Fehr’s goals:

• “You always lose momentum when that happens,” confirmed Gionta. “But I thought we responded well after that. But when you have a lapse like that, it’s tough to chase a team that’s hot.”