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Who impressed in Habs 3-2 loss to NJ; Tonight's game preview vs. Capitals |
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The Montreal Canadiens lost their pre-season opener 3-2 to the New Jersey Devils Monday night at the Bell Centre. It was the first real opportunity for prospects and bubble players to prove their worth in NHL action. Perhaps the pressure was greatest on starting goaltender Mike Condon as he battles to keep his backup position to Carey Price. Unfortunately, letting in two goals through 30 minutes will not help his case. Charlie Lindgren looked more solid in net and had better rebound control when he was between the pipes.
While Artturi Lehkonen did not factor in on any Canadiens goal, he displayed the skill, speed and smarts to make it in the NHL. He created opportunities, was not afraid to get to the dirty areas and was sound in his own end. With 9 shots on net and 4 hits, Lehkonen very much fills a void on the Canadiens and it should not be long until he is able to find the back of the net in North America. With Pacioretty’s return to the ice and will likely reclaim his spot with Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher for this Thursday’s preseason match, the question is who will head coach Michel Therrien line him up with? Will it be on the second line with Tomas Plekanec and Alexander Radulov or on the third line with David Desharnais or Michaels McCarron? If Andrew Shaw stays on the second line for now, I would love to see Lehkonen play with McCarron (chemistry from the Rookie Camp) and Daniel Carr. They would be a fun line to watch and a tough one to go up against…
Carr also acquitted himself well against the Devils. He looks healthy and ready to go. The kids line of Markus Eisenschmid, Daniel Audette and Nikita also had a strong game despite their limited minutes. Eisenschmid scored a beauty off of a perfect pass by Audette while Scherbak demonstrated a more complete game and effort compared to a year ago. They could very well be the Ice Caps second line this coming season. Jacob De La Rose competed hard and was involved with 5 hits. He did poorly in the faceoff circle though, winning only 36% of his draws. He was not alone in that department as David Desharnais also only won 36% while Audette was at a lowly 17%.
On defence, Jeff Petry had a strong game for the most part, especially considering that it was his first match since February 7th. I thought that Zach Redmond outplayed Mark Barberio and he will challenge Greg Pateryn for that bottom pairing right side spot. Noah Juulsen continues to impress by making the little plays look easy. With 4 hits and 4 blocked shots, the 19 year old is looking like a very smart player. While I would not necessarily call him NHL ready, you could throw him in a real NHL game and he would not embarrass himself. I look forward to cheering him on at the World Junior Championships this season.
The powerplay and penalty kill did struggle and they will be a work in progress, especially in these early preseason games with mixed personnel.
As for tonight’s game, Al Montoya and Zach Fucale will split the duties tonight when the Canadiens take on the Washington Capitals at the Bell Centre. The lines will be:
All eyes will be on Radulov and Shaw as they make their Canadiens preseason debut. Flynn knows that he is only keeping Plekanec’s spot warm but he has to perform well in order to cement his place on the Habs roster. The pressure will be on Beaulieu and Pateryn to play big minutes as the team’s defacto #1 pairing this evening. With no Captain or Assistants in the lineup tonight, I wonder if Beaulieu might sport the A as the veteran on defence? I would think one of Radulov/Shaw and Mitchell get the other A’s for the game. It will be McCarron’s turn to step up tonight as he attempts to play his way onto the Habs roster. A strong game might give him actual NHL linemates for the next match.
The Canadiens need to take advantage of the inexperienced Capitals roster tonight as this is far from their A team that is coming to Montreal:
Puck drops at 7:30pm.
Cheers & follow along!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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