kinot-2 Posted January 7, 2019 Report Share Posted January 7, 2019 TONITE THE MINNESODA WILD ARE IN TOWN. 7:30 PM ET Minnesota @ Montreal TSN2, RDS, FS-N AT THINGS TO KNOW: 8 straight regulation losses against the Wild. Haven’t beat them since the 2013-14 season. Drouin just left Habs practice in a lot of pain with a left leg/foot injury of some sort according to TSN690. The matchup: The Canadiens have slipped out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference after losing 4-1 to the Nashville Predators on Saturday at the Bell Centre, where they have an 11-8-3 record. They need a bounce-back game in this conclusion of a three-game home stand, but it won’t be easy. Although the Wild is also out of a playoff position in the Western Conference, Minnesota crushed the Canadiens 7-1 last month in St. Paul. The Wild is 4-5-1 in its last 10 games, but has two consecutive wins, including a 4-3 victory Saturday in Ottawa. The puck stops here: This is the first of a back-to-back set for the Canadiens — they’re in Detroit on Tuesday night — and that means Claude Julien may be splitting the work for his goaltenders. But you can be certain Carey Price will start this game. He usually gets the starts at home and backup Antti Niemi was in the net for all seven goals in that blowout in Minnesota. Look for the Wild to counter with Devan Dubnyk, who was once a Canadiens farmhand. He has a 15-14-3 record this season with a 2.64 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage. Top players need to step up: Max Domi and Jonathan Drouin have been the Canadiens’ top scorers for most of this season, but their performances have tailed off over the past dozen games. Domi, who leads the team with 14 goals and 38 points, hasn’t scored a goal in 12 games, while linemate Drouin has three goals in that stretch and one of them was an empty-netter. Brendan Gallagher is the team’s leading goal-scorer with 15, but he has also hit a bit of a dry patch. He has scored only two goals in the last 13 games. Kotkaniemi in good company: Rookie Jesperi Kotkaniemi may have missed out on being part of Finland’s gold-medal team at the World Junior Championships, but he reached a milestone when he set up Shea Weber for the Canadiens’ only goal against Nashville. The assists gave Kotkaniemi 20 points for the season — four goals and 16 helpers — and he became the third Canadiens’ player to score 20 points before his 19th birthday. Mario Tremblay had 39 points, including 21 goals, in 63 games in 1974-75. Defenceman Petr Svoboda had three goals and 18 assists in 49 games in 1984-85. Parise leads Wild to victories: Zach Parise and Mikaël Granlund share the Wild team scoring lead with 38 points each, but Parise has made the biggest impact of late. He has a five-game point streak with four goals and five assists and he has scored the game winner in both games as the Wild won the first two games on their current four-game road trip. He completed a 4-3 comeback win in Toronto on Thursday and his 19th goal was the winner in a 4-3 victory Saturday afternoon in Ottawa. Veteran Eric Staal has chipped in with 13 goals and 13 assists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinot-2 Posted January 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2019 Engels: Druoin came back and finished the skate, expected to play with Max Domi and Joel Armia tonight vs. Wild. Paul Byron moves to a line with Artturi Lehkonen and Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maas_art Posted January 7, 2019 Report Share Posted January 7, 2019 31 minutes ago, kinot-2 said: Engels: Druoin came back and finished the skate, expected to play with Max Domi and Joel Armia tonight vs. Wild. Paul Byron moves to a line with Artturi Lehkonen and Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Glad to hear Drouin is ok. Really dont like Byron with JK. They are both excellent players but do not suit each other's game well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabsAlways Posted January 7, 2019 Report Share Posted January 7, 2019 27 minutes ago, maas_art said: Glad to hear Drouin is ok. Really dont like Byron with JK. They are both excellent players but do not suit each other's game well. I think they're struggling to figure out where to play Byron to be honest .. he doesn't fit on any of the top 3 lines and his past performance dictates he play there. He simply hasn't shown any chemistry with Domi/Drouin or Lehk/JK ... and the other line is set (Tatar, Danault, Gallagher) ... though I feel that line needs a shakeup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maas_art Posted January 7, 2019 Report Share Posted January 7, 2019 4 minutes ago, HabsAlways said: I think they're struggling to figure out where to play Byron to be honest .. he doesn't fit on any of the top 3 lines and his past performance dictates he play there. He simply hasn't shown any chemistry with Domi/Drouin or Lehk/JK ... and the other line is set (Tatar, Danault, Gallagher) ... though I feel that line needs a shakeup Agreed. I wouldnt mind shaking up the whole top 9 to be honest. There are pairs Id keep together (ie Domi-Drouin) but the rest i think could be swapped around. We have a very solid 9 players in that group but i dont think we're using them as effectively as we could. Id love to try: Drouin - Domi - Lehkonen/Shaw Tatar - JK - Gallagher Byron - Danault - Lehkonen/Shaw plus youd have the ability to play Armia (or shaw) on the fourth line Agostino - Chaput - Armia would exploit a lot of team's 4th lines and could hold their own as a checking line against pretty near any line in the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabsAlways Posted January 7, 2019 Report Share Posted January 7, 2019 8 minutes ago, maas_art said: Agreed. I wouldnt mind shaking up the whole top 9 to be honest. There are pairs Id keep together (ie Domi-Drouin) but the rest i think could be swapped around. We have a very solid 9 players in that group but i dont think we're using them as effectively as we could. Id love to try: Drouin - Domi - Lehkonen/Shaw Tatar - JK - Gallagher Byron - Danault - Lehkonen/Shaw plus youd have the ability to play Armia (or shaw) on the fourth line Agostino - Chaput - Armia would exploit a lot of team's 4th lines and could hold their own as a checking line against pretty near any line in the league. I think Armia is under rated by a lot of people. He belongs in the top 9, he's strong on the puck, responsible defensively, goes into the dirty areas on the boards etc ... With Shaw out ... Drouin - Domi - Lehknonen Tatar - JK - Gallagher Byron - Danault - Armia Is what I'd like to see Make Danault's line a true shutdown role and the other 2 our scoring lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinot-2 Posted January 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2019 That did not look good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinot-2 Posted January 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 Looks like HTL and I will be on time delay again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H_T_L Posted January 8, 2019 Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 6 minutes ago, kinot-2 said: Looks like HTL and I will be on time delay again. Yup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinot-2 Posted January 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 Looking for more tonite from Gally, Domi, Druoin, and well, just about everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabsRuleForever Posted January 8, 2019 Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 Ouch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabsAlways Posted January 8, 2019 Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 late hit ... at best that should be 2min Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinot-2 Posted January 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 Just now, HabsAlways said: late hit ... at best that should be 2min Yup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabsAlways Posted January 8, 2019 Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 5 mins for interference? really? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabsRuleForever Posted January 8, 2019 Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 What the hell? Just because he hits his head? It’s not Ago’s fault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinot-2 Posted January 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 HUH???????????? 5 for that??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H_T_L Posted January 8, 2019 Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 Tossed from the game it seems. Don't agree at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabsAlways Posted January 8, 2019 Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 Just bizarre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabsRuleForever Posted January 8, 2019 Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 Four on four for two minutes then a three minute kill needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinot-2 Posted January 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 i thought the instigator penalty was 2+5+ a game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabsRuleForever Posted January 8, 2019 Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 If that happened to Gallagher the ref would say shake it off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H_T_L Posted January 8, 2019 Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 Just now, kinot-2 said: i thought the instigator penalty was 2+5+ a game. He was sent off the ice so i assume he got a match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabsAlways Posted January 8, 2019 Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 Just now, HabsRuleForever said: If that happened to Gallagher the ref would say shake it off. Paccioretty gets his head slammed into the stantion by Chara on a dirty hit and it was 2 wasn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinot-2 Posted January 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 1 minute ago, HabsAlways said: Paccioretty gets his head slammed into the stantion by Chara on a dirty hit and it was 2 wasn't it? I don't think he got anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabsRuleForever Posted January 8, 2019 Report Share Posted January 8, 2019 Weber hurt blocking a shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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