Drouin, Price in for Habs V. Leafs in Quebec City (exhibition)

exhibition

Drouin, Price in for Habs V. Leafs in Quebec City

By Brandon Smillie

Sep 27, 2017 • 11:07 am

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The Montreal Canadiens are quickly afforded an opportunity to make up for a lacklustre performance Monday night in Toronto. Habs V. Maple Leafs should be the hottest ticket in town tonight at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City as the Canadiens look to finally break the goose egg in the preseason win column.

I’m clearly of the opinion that preseason doesn’t matter in relation to the NHL regular season, but I would be outright lying if I said this game didn’t mean something. I want to see Jonathan Drouin lead the Canadiens to victory tonight. We all do. At least once.

Last game Al Montoya… um… well, he wasn’t really at his best.

Wow.

The Canadiens struggled for the first half of the last game against the Leafs before turning it around, but by then the game was out of reach. The defence actually played well and Victor Mete continued to impress next to Weber, even garnering praise from Coach Julien post game "He was a bright light in our game against Toronto, the way he handled himself against a lot of NHL players. I thought he was good. He played the puck well. He skates well. You can see he's gaining confidence here with his game at this level. It's nice to see that.…

Julien also commented on the possibility of Mete being on the opening night roster, saying "Right now, I would say it's open. As we speak right now, he's doing pretty well for himself.… Information gathered from the Canadiens website and Twitter account.

Obviously I’m looking to focus on the positive as opposed to the negative, but I just don’t see the need in hanging my head over preseason losses. Am I happy to see the Canadiens drop 5 in a row? No. Do I think everyone should be happy about that also? Nope. But, in the history of preseason it has shown that these games have no impact on regular season performance. Preseason’s biggest stories are break out rookies, injuries, and line combos. I’m not going to dwell on these losses here. Regular season, different story.

Speaking of injuries, Al Montoya was not the originally planned starter for the previous game against the Leafs, but was thrust into action when Charlie Lindgren suffered an injury before the game. To add to the speculation it could be serious Zach Fucale has been recalled from Laval, as of yesterday.

Personally, would rather have seen McNiven get his cup of coffee in the CH uniform, but I completely understand that there’s no way McNiven was making the NHL or AHL this season so Fucale it is.

The line up for tonight will look like this, courtesy of the Montreal Canadiens official Twitter (as always).

The Canadiens will be dressing 10 of the teams regulars tonight against a Toronto team that will be really thin on NHL starters. Included in the roster is newly minted center Jonathan Drouin who will get his second taste of preseason after missing the last game with what was called a muscle issue. I had read on Twitter he may have been under the weather, but none of that matters now. I can’t wait to watch this game tonight, preseason or not.

Carey Price looks to be the starter in goal tonight and I would think he will be getting the entire game, with injury call up Z Fucale as his back up. I don’t believe any Habs regulars have really played with a purpose so far, and for good reason, but tonight in Quebec City I think we may see the intensity moved up a notch. The team knows as much as these games are inconsequential, they do not want to lose 8 straight. At some point, no matter how against the preseason schedule you have been, pride starts to come into play. I think that will be shown tonight. At least it better be. No better opponent to win against tonight too.

The lines tonight will be:

Pacioretty - Drouin - Gallagher Galchenyuk - McCarron - Shaw Carr - Holland - Froese Terry - de la Rose - Mitchell Byron

Mete - Weber Gelinas - Davidson Morrow - Streit Jerabek

Price Fucale

It’s looking more and more like Mete will be moving to Montreal soon. Some media types are completely against the idea of a 19 year old rookie playing top pair in Montreal, and they have a point. However, Mete has speed to burn and excellent vision. Weber carried a few Habs D last year who showed less smarts and speed. Could Julien look at Mete developing into Weber’s new Josi? Clearly a lofty expectation to hurl, but you just don’t see a coach like Julien putting this much practice time and effort in for a young player. They must believe they have something special here and maybe Weber has had a say as well? Hopefully we will get some clarity on this topic soon from the coaching staff and hopefully Weber himself.

I feel that Jerabek will be making the team as well, but Julien did say he still thought Davidson had more to give and I think that’s why we are seeing him on the second pair tonight. It could be Morrow’s last life line as well. With a thin pro lineup on the other side, if Morrow doesn’t play effectively he is likely to be sent down. Same goes for Gelinas, if Montreal offers him a contract.

If you’re in Quebec City tonight, head to the game. I know its preseason, but with all the talk of expansion and/or relocation the people of the area have to show their desire for all things NHL. I hope many of you can make it out tonight and shake the building.

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

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