Last Place Habs Host Struggling Rangers (Plekanec)

Plekanec

Last Place Habs Host Struggling Rangers

By Brandon Smillie

Oct 28, 2017 • 6:17 pm

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Canadiens V Rangers: Round 2

The Montreal Canadiens play host to the New York Rangers tonight at the Bell Centre for their second match up of the season. The last time these two met this season the Rangers sent the home crowd home happy as Lundqvist blanked the Habs and the Rags won 2-0. It was a game that Montreal actually played well, but they simply couldn’t buy goal that evening (two were waived off after review).

The previous match up highlighted this seasons biggest issue, lack of scoring.

The Canadiens will also be without the services of recent call up Nikita Scherbak who appeared to tweak his right knee last game against the LA Kings and did not practice today.

The Habs are being given the treatment typically reserved for the leagues worst teams in that the Rangers will be starting back up goalie Ondrej Pavelec. Pavelec is not a very good NHL goaltender and has a record of 1-2-0 with a SP% of .889 and a 3.08 GAA. Starting in goal for Montreal will be Carey Price, of course. Price has struggled mightily this season on his way to a record of 2-6-1 with a SP% of .887 and a GAA of 3.60…. Let me double check this…. Nope, that’s correct.

Price received some “Bronx Cheers… last home game and while it’s fair to say he hasn’t played well, his numbers show that, I don’t think it’s fair to jeer the one guy who’s made the Habs competitive for the last 7 season. The guy has carried this team. No need to treat him that way, but I definitely understand the frustration. We all believed that if there was one player we could count on it was Carey Price. I also believe that you don’t need to remind Price he needs to step up his game, he is his biggest critic and he doesn’t put the blame on others. He is the teams true leader and I feel that as soon as he finds his game, the team will turn it around.

Of course, there is the off chance that this year just isn’t his year and could be the exception to his rule of being a top NHL goaltender. It happens. Patrick Roy had a brutal year by his standards in the 92-93 season going 31-25-5 with a SP% of .894 and a GAA of 3.20, but the Habs squeaked into the playoff and he went on a tear on the way to the Canadiens 24th Stanley Cup. Good players are allowed to have down time, they are human after all. But I wouldn’t count on it being the norm going forward. Carey Price will likely be an elite NHL talent until he is about 36 years old. He is just technically that good. It would be unfortunate if this is how this season is going to play out but I have the utmost confidence that Price will find his game eventually.

It looks like the only change in the line up will be Mitchell replacing the injured Scherbak. So the offensive creativity will go down a bit, as if it wasn’t hard enough to score already. The lines appear to be remaining the same as the previous two games.

VICTOR METE FINDS HIS HOME

Mete received the news that he will be remaining with the Canadiens from Marc Bergevin and he found the perfect roommate, his mom Mary Mete. In a season with many disappointments so far, Victor Mete is one of the few bright spots. The 19 year old defence man has thrived next to Shea Weber and earned his place so far.

In my preseason blogs I mentioned a few times that Mete was my favourite Habs prospect but I must admit that I didn’t expect him to earn a top pair role and to be so good so quickly. Typically it takes NHL D men 150-200 games to show what they are, but Mete is making himself the exception to the rule so far. Mete only has 2 assists so far this season and his last 5 games have helped to balloon his =/- to a -8, but he is still on the good side of the Corsi war (53.5). The eye test will tell you that Mete, while making a couple mistakes, is quick and dependable.

Simply fantastic play for a undersized, 19 year old NHL defenceman.

OVERTIME

It is being reported that Habs Prospect Martin Reway is taking a few days off from the Laval Rocket, with the support of the team, to decide what he would like to do regarding his hockey career. Reway was a feel good story this summer as we followed his comeback from a debilitating heart ailment that wiped out his last season entirely. He worked hard to come back and try to develop into the skilled player we all knew him to be. Unfortunately, it appears he may need some extra time to get back into pro shape or it's possible that professional hockey is no longer a realistic option for him.

I sincerely hope it is not the latter as I feel for Martin and his struggles. He appears to greatly appreciate his opportunity to play hockey and it would be tragic to see that taken away in front of us this year. It would be another sad story on a pile of misery that is the Habs October 2017... Good Luck Martin Reway.

If you aren’t following @UpperDeckHockey and @UpperDeckSports you are missing out on seeing the latest and greatest in collectibles. They recently donated over 30,000 packs of cards to local first responders that they in turn will disperse throughout the community in an effort to build better relationships with the community. It looks like it was a great success and good on them for such a generous donation. I’m a great supporter of first responders in Canada and the USA so any partnerships that help them and their communities bond is fantastic.

I know this article was: 1) Late, and 2) Short. I apologize for that. We hosted our sons 4th birthday party and it was his first with school friends so that last couple days have been hectic. I appreciate your patience!

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

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