Blue Jackets Invade Montreal To Battle The Canadiens (Drouin)

Drouin

Blue Jackets Invade Montreal To Battle The Canadiens

By Brandon Smillie

Nov 14, 2017 • 2:59 pm

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***Update: Immediately after I submitted this blog I noticed the Habs have claimed A Neimi off waivers. Not a fan of this move at all unless it's to replace Montoya for the season OR keep Lindgren up and give Laval a experienced G. I could really get behind the Laval possibility.***

The Montreal Canadiens will meet their toughest opponent, arguably, of this 6 game home stand when they face off against the 10-7-1 Columbus Blue Jackets tonight. Puck drop at approximately 7:30 pm at the Bell Centre.

Montreal enters tonight looking to build off a comeback, OT victory against the Buffalo Sabres in their last game. In that game Charlie Lindgren’s parents finally got to witness one of their son Charlie’s victories as Montreal mounted a 3rd period comeback off at PP tip in goal by Shaw (A: Drouin, Pacioretty) and capped it off with a great effort by Danault in OT to get the puck to Pacioretty just inside the Sabres blue line as he broke in all alone and deked around C Johnson to score his 7th of the year and break the Canadiens all time regular season OT goal record with his 10th.

Lindgren needed to be sharp in this game as it was one in which the Canadiens found themselves out shot 35 to 29 by the end of the game and 35 to 26 by the end of the 3rd. Lindgren stopped 34 shots to improve his record to 3-1-0 this season with a sparkling .964 SP% and 1.24 GAA. It was really great to see the reaction by Lindgren’s parents in the stands. I can only imagine the pride you must feel when watching your child succeed at hockeys highest level. Good for Charlie and his family, let’s all hope it can continue!

The Blue Jackets come into the game with some new found confidence after defeating the upstart Detroit Red Wings in a SO, 2-1, on November 11. It was CBJ’s first win after losing 4 straight by a combined score of 16-9. We all know how dangerous Columbus is, they play with speed and skill and have a few stud defencemen too. The Jackets are paced by the Breadman offensively. A Panarin leads the Jackets with 3G and 10A in 18 games, followed closely by D man S Jones (3G, 9A), O Bjorkstrand (5G, 6A), and Z Werenski (4G, 6A). Although they haven’t broke out yet, don’t discount CBJ’s offence as they still deploy A Wennberg, C Atkinson, and rookie PL Dubois. This is a young, fast team that is well coached by long time NHL coach John Tortorella.

The Jackets are likely to start former Vezina winner, and bounce back player, Sergei Bobrovsky tonight. Bobrovsky comes in to the game having himself a good season so far with a .925 SP% and 2.24 GAA that has helped him to a 9-4-1 record. He may be the biggest game changer for the Jackets tonight as we all know a hot goalie can steal games by themselves. Look for the Habs to challenge him early and I would think they will be taking the puck to the net hard to not only challenge the Jackets defense, but cause chaos around the crease. It's really the best way to get to a hot goalie, take the puck to the net and get him scrambling. Long shots or clear looks will not work at all, don't even try it unless its a set play at the pads or blocker side to get the puck on net quick and cause a rebound scramble.

Columbus is last in the NHL for PP efficiency connecting only 9.6% with the man advantage. Certainly good news for the Habs but I would hate to see tonight be the game CBJ breaks out on the PP so, just like every game in today’s NHL, discipline is key. Don’t give up unnecessary advantages for meaningless chops, trips, and face washes. If you have to take that penalty, save a goal or drop someone on their backside for running the goalie. Other than that, just skate away from scrums. Montreal is currently 19th in the NHL for PP efficiency at 16.4%.

Columbus is 16th in PK efficiency at 80.4% while the Canadiens are 28th at 75%. This could part of the game that’s most crucial. Two teams that don’t dominate in any way on special teams, but both have a side they have struggled mightily on. If one of these teams figures out a way to turn a special teams deficiency into a strength tonight could take the game.

KEYS TO THE GAME

1) Forecheck hard, keep CBJ back. They aren't scoring on their shots at a high rate, 8.4% to the NHL avg. 9.3% so keeping them hemmed in like the Habs have been able to do fairly successfully this year should be huge in this game.

2) As always, stay out of the box. MTL isn't good at keeping pucks out of the net and are even worse when a man down. Letting things go and keeping strict control of their sticks will be huge despite the Blue Jackets aforementioned PP struggles. You don't want to give them a PP goal early and watch their confidence grow.

3) Score first. A team that struggles to score like the Jackets have, or the Habs for that matter, can gain a huge boost from being the first on the board. Don't give them that feeling. Don't give the coaches the opportunity to pump the players up on the bench. Take that from them and pile onto their already fragile confidence. This point could be said for both teams really so get it going early will be huge.

LEHKONEN OUT TONIGHT + PRACTICE LINES TODAY

News out of Montreal this morning was of the “Damn it!… Variety as the Habs announced that A Lehkonen was not only not going to practice, but he would also be missing tonights game with a Lower Body Injury. That is all the information I have at the moment and I can’t recall any moment last game where he appeared to be in pain. Have to wait for Habs Nation to scour the last game to find some possible reason for the injury.

With that, here were the practice lines today in Brossard.

Pacioretty - Danault - Shaw Galchenyuk - Drouin - Byron Hudon - Plekanec - Gallagher de la Rose - Mitchell - Froese

Benn - Weber Alzner - Petry Mete - Morrow/Davidson

Lindgren Fucale

Aside from the above mentioned absence of Lehkonen, it’s a change seeing Mete away from his usual partner S Weber. Mete’s ice time had climbed the last two games (13:58 Minn, 12:27 Buff) after a season low 8:00 TOI against Vegas. It appears the coaching staff has noticed Mete may be reaching a wall or perhaps as the season is going on the game is finding another level, overall, on a broader spectrum and Mete needs to to learn to walk before he can run. Mete’s advanced stats are all still on the right side of the battle, but as I’ve mentioned before, they aren’t the end all be all. Keep an eye on him tonight to see how he’s deployed, it should be interesting.

Lindgren appears to be suiting up for his 5th straight start that is of concern to NO ONE. Lindgren has allowed 6 goals in the last 4 games while the team has only scored 7. To be 3-1-0 over that span is a testament to Charlie’s battle level and the teams improved defense. Things are coming together slowly and while the Habs have been trending up they still need to string together a quality run of wins to even out the 1-6-1 start and remain in playoff contention.

PRICE QUOTES FROM TODAY

It appears that while Carey Price is chomping at the bit to return to the line up, he also is very grateful for the play of rookie Charlie Lindgren in his absence.

This quote is interesting. To me, it suggests this injury was likely diagnosed in the “Strain… category, but was a bit more serious than expected. Nothing really to worry about, just takes time and getting 100% healthy is more important right now.

Clearly, he isn’t far off from a return so I think we will see him back within a week or so.

SCHLEMKO STILL SKATING, RETURN STILL UNKNOWN

It appears Schlemko is recovering nicely now and continues to work towards a return (debut?) to the Habs D core. I’m curious to see how he fits into Julien’s system when he is healthy and hope it adds more balance and stability to the group.

HABS CENTENNIAL GAME JERSEYS TO BE REVEALED TODAY

… I let them know this morning as well…

I’ll update the blog when they reveal the jerseys.

***UPDATE: Jersey revealed, still want one, too white, that is all.***

COLLECT THE BEST! COLLECT UPPER DECK!

2017-18 UPPER DECK SERIES 1 IS OUT THERE IN THE WILD! CHECK IT OUT AT YOUR LOCAL HOBBY STORE! #COLLECTTHEBEST

Don't forget to check out Upper Deck products at your local hobby shops and online! Preorders for UD Series 2 are already happening so if you’re a big collector, or a new one, make sure you stop by your local shop and see if you can get yourself a box (or case).

The Young Guns rookie set are one of the most collected rookie sets all year and the Exclusives (#’d to 100) and High Gloss (#’ to 10) are always worth good money on the secondary market (depending on the rookie of course). You can find Auto’s, jersey, and patch cards in these boxes as well! Check it out!

Follow me on Twitter @BrandonSmillie where I mostly stick to hockey stuff.

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