Morning Skate: Canadiens at Red Wings Preview
Game 73
7:00p ET, Joe Louis Arena
Detroit, MI
TV: Fox Sports Detroit, TSN
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Canadiens Blog: Habs Eyes On The Prize
Please note that this game will be at 7pm instead of the usual 7:30 start time and adjust your plans accordingly.
After winning four of their previous six games, and earning at least a point in five of their last six games, the Wings came up empty against Columbus, who then moved ahead of us in the playoff race. Montreal has won their last three games, and five of their last six and have worked their way up to 2nd in the Atlantic division. The Wings won both previous games against Montreal, beating them 4-1 in January, then squeaking out a 2-1 OT win right after the Olympic break. I'll give you one guess who scored the OT winner in that game. Hint: his name rhymes with Rus Liquist.
Speaking of that guy, he's been streaking again. He's got 10 points in his last 6 games, and his goals in those last 6 games account for 53% of the goals scored by the Wings. That's great that scoring goals at a faster rate than he's ever done at any level before, but some other players have to start scoring more goals. The good news is that reinforcements may soon be on the way, the bad news is that they're not players who have been lighting the lamp very often. Callahan sent back to Grand Rapids yesterday and Tomas Jurco will return tonight and that's an upgrade I'll take.
*in a deep movie narrator's voice* In a world where every point matters, and a loss can mean the difference between playoff life and death, these two Atlantic Division foes will face off in a game you won't want to miss. Let's get ready to RUMBLE!!!!
The Expected Lineup
Forwards
| Johan Franzen | David Legwand | Daniel Alfredsson |
| Tomas Tatar | Riley Sheahan | Gustav Nyquist |
| Drew Miller | Luke Glendening | Darren Helm |
| Tomas Jurco | Joakim Andersson | Todd Bertuzzi |
Defensemen
| Niklas Kronwall | Brendan Smith |
| Kyle Quincey | Danny DeKeyser |
| Brian Lashoff | Jakub Kindl |
Goaltenders
| Jimmy Howard (starting) |
| Jonas Gustavsson |
Scratches: *crickets*
Injuries: Jonathan Ericsson (finger), Justin Abdelkader (cut leg), Daniel Cleary (knee), Pavel Datsyuk (knee), Stephen Weiss (groin), Henrik Zetterberg (back) & Mikael Samuelsson (pride)
| CANADIENS | THE MATCH-UP | RED WINGS |
| 41-26-7 (89 pts; 2nd in Atlantic) | Record | 33-25-14 (80 pts; 2nd in WC Race) |
| 2.49 (21st in NHL) | Goals Per Game | 2.58 (19th in NHL) |
| 2.45 (7th) | Goals Against Per Game | 2.72 (16th) |
| 18.8% (12th) | Power Play % | 17.9% (17th) |
| 85.6% (4th) | Penalty Kill % | 83.0% (12th) |
| Max Pacioretty (32 goals) | Goal Leader | Gustav Nyquist (25 goals) |
| P.K. Subban (50 points) | Points Leader | Henrik Zetterberg (48 points) |
Opponent Outlook
Player to Fear: Max Pacioretty
X-Factor: Carey Price
Familiar Faces: None
Thumbs up (One Thing to Like About Montreal): Carey Price when he's not playing against us, and the end of Patrick Roy's Montreal career.
Thumbs down (One Thing to Dislike About Montreal): Their insistence on having a French Canadian coach instead of the best coach they can get.
Bullets of Knowledge
- The Red Wings are 203-271-96-0 (W-L-T-OTL) all-time against the Canadiens.
- Last 10 games: Montreal 6-4-0. Detroit 5-4-1./
- Howard is 3-1-0 with a 2.58 GAA, .898 SV% in 4 career appearances against Montreal./
Prediction: Nous Péter dans leur direction générale!