Canadiens (1-0-0) Look to Contain Capitals (1-0-0), Laval Rocket Notes (pacioretty)

pacioretty

Canadiens (1-0-0) Look to Contain Capitals (1-0-0), Laval Rocket Notes

By Brandon Smillie

Oct 7, 2017 • 10:49 am

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Canadiens (1-0-0) V. Capitals (1-0-0) Preview

The Montreal Canadiens kick off Thanksgiving weekend with a pair of games, back to back, against the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers.

Tonight the Canadiens give thanks in Washington, D.C. as they prepare to shut down the high octane offence of Ovechkin and Co. Last game, the Capitals trailed the Senators 3-1 at the beginning of the third period before Kuznetsov set up two Ovechkin goals within 1:23 to tie the game. Pesky Sen Mark Stone scored his second of the game shortly after to restore Ottawa’s lead to 4-3, but Kuznetsov found OV again to complete his third period Hat Trick and send the game to a fruitless overtime. The game was decided in the shoot out thanks to two goals from, you guessed it, OV and Kuznetsov.

So, the scouting report should read: STOP OV’S LINE.

In all seriousness, incredible start for OV after a summer of speculation he’s well past his peak and should be considered in trade conversations. I’m sure Julien and his staff have shown the Habs the tape of the game and worked on a plan to contain him that centers around Weber.

Speaking of Weber, he didn’t practice yesterday after logging 29:30 minutes worth of action Thursday night against the Sabres. Well deserved rest I would say. It’s unreal to me that some of these NHL players can play that kind of time effectively. Only a gifted few can and it is definitely a relief to have the one named Shea Weber.

The Canadiens practice lines yesterday remained the same aside from the aforementioned Weber being absent for a Therapy Day. They looked like this:

Pacioretty - Drouin - Gallagher Hudon - Plekanec - Lehkonen Galchenyuk - Danault - Shaw Byron - De La Rose - Hemsky Mitchell

Mete - Davidson  Alzner - Petry Benn - Streit Morrow - Schlemko

Price Montoya

The Canadiens had good contributions from everyone against the Sabres on Thursday in a game that was in no way easy. The Sabres have a rebuilt D core and a new, very good coach in Phil Housley. They came at the Canadiens with incredible speed, a style that Housley knows well from his time in Pittsburgh. The Canadiens weathered the storm and Price shut the door to secure the first victory of the season.

Tonight will be an great early season measuring stick game with two top teams from last season. The test for the Canadiens will be to manage the top 6 forward group while also trying to put a few pucks past all world goaltender Brayden Holtby. No easy task, but I’m looking forward to not only seeing how Julien prepares the team, strategy wise, but also how the team can execute.

Rookie Victor Mete asserted himself rather quickly last game and was trusted with 18:43 TOI and 2:44 PP TOI in his NHL debut, finishing the night with one shot and a +1 rating. Pretty good start for “Meat… and the confidence of the coaching staff is quite evident. This is no “let’s see…, Mete will hold a top pair role with Weber until the coaching staff thinks he needs a break. I just hope he is given more rope than the previous coach, Therrien, used to give young players. It’s difficult for young players to adjust when your first bad shift out of 8 lands you on the bench for the remainder of the game.

Rocket de Laval had themselves a fantastic start to the season as well scoring 3 goals in front of an unbeatable Charlie Lindgren for a 3-0 win over the Belleville Senators.

The Rocket had a packed and rowdy crowd for the game and you can’t help but think that the move to Laval will be beneficial on a number of levels for the Canadiens and their prospects. With the club being so close to Montreal, call ups have become much easier for the kids travel. Definite bonus for emergency situations. The close proximity is also already yielding results for fan enthusiasm as well. Playing in front of a full, raucous crowd makes any sporting event much more engaging for not only the fans, but the players. That is a definite bonus. Lastly, I believe having the team so close to the Canadiens keeps the potential call ups motivated because they will always be in the line of sight of management. No longer will they feel forgotten due to distance from the people who manage their fate. Play well and management will always notice.

Rocket goals were scored by Daniel Audette, Michael McCarron, and newly acquired Nicolas Deslauriers. The line up was provided by the Rocket twitter, attached below.

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

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