by Jocelyne LeBlanc, Staff Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine
MONCTON, NB. — So far this season, the Montreal Canadiens have played seven games and have a record of five wins and two losses. They’re currently ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference.
Players to Watch for the Week of February 3 to February 9, 2013
The Canadiens will play four games during the week of Sunday February 3 to Saturday February 9, 2013. Listed below are a few players to watch during the upcoming week:
Andrei Markov
Before facing the Buffalo Sabres, Markov was on a five-game point streak. Despite not tallying any points against Buffalo, Markov is still a major player to watch and is leading the Canadiens with 8 points (4 goals, 4 assists) in 7 games.
Tomas Plekanec
Plekanec is currently on a three-game point streak and has a total of seven points (4 goals, 3 assists) in 7 games.
Lars Eller
Despite remaining pointless in his first four games of the season, Eller surely brought attention to himself in Saturday’s game against the Sabres by recording three points (1 goal, 2 assists). Let’s hope these multi-point games continue for this talented young player.
Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher
These two rookies are absolutely amazing to watch and work incredibly well together. So far, Galchenyuk has seven points in seven games, while Gallagher has five points in six games.
Alexei Emelin
This hard-hitting defenseman is leading the Canadiens with 32 hits. Although he only has one assist in seven games, Emelin’s hard hits definitely make him fun to watch.
Carey Price
Price has had a great start to the season, only losing once, which was their first game against Toronto. Peter Budaj was in net for the team’s second loss which was against Ottawa. In six games so far this season, Price has had 162 shots against him and has only let 11 in the net. He has a 1.82 goals against average and a .932 save percentage.
The Canadiens continue to impress on the power play. Of the fifteen goals they scored this past week, six of them have been on the power play. And of the twenty-four goals they scored since the beginning of the season, eleven have been during the man advantage.
Listed below are their upcoming four games:
Sunday, February 3rd – Ottawa Senators at Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens and Senators have played each other once so far this season with Ottawa winning that game 5-1. It was a pretty rough game with Brandon Prust receiving 17 penalty minutes and Ryan White accumulating 9 minutes in the box. Tomas Plekanec scored Montreal’s only goal that game and had 6 shots on goal.
Wednesday, February 6th – Boston Bruins at Montreal Canadiens
This will be the first time the Canadiens and Bruins will face each other this season. They played each other six times last season with Boston winning four games. Last season against the Bruins, David Desharnais recorded 5 points, while Erik Cole and Tomas Plekanec each tallied 4 points.
Thursday, February 7th – Montreal Canadiens at Buffalo Sabres
The Canadiens and Sabres have played each other once this season with Montreal winning that game 6-1. Lars Eller recorded three points, while David Desharnais, Alex Galchenyuk, Rene Bourque and Tomas Plekanec each tallied two points.
Saturday, February 9th – Toronto Maple Leafs at Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens and Maple Leafs faced each other once already in the season opener with Toronto edging Montreal 2-1. Brian Gionta scored the Canadiens’ only goal that game. Max Pacioretty, Raphael Diaz and Tomas Kaberle each had three shots on goal.
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