Price V Bobrovsky Tonight at the Bell Centre + Schlemko In? + Notes (pacioretty)

pacioretty

Price V Bobrovsky Tonight at the Bell Centre + Schlemko In? + Notes

By Brandon Smillie

Nov 27, 2017 • 8:23 am

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The Habs stretch of 4 games in 6 nights began Nov. 25 against the Buffalo Sabres (3-0W) and continues tonight in Montreal as the Canadiens meet up with one of their worst enemies, the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Jackets have played Montreal hard the last couple seasons and this season has been no exception with CBJ handing MTL a hard fought OT loss (2-1) two weeks ago at the Bell Centre. This game is the 2nd of 3 between the clubs this season with the next one coming March 12, 2018 in Columbus.

Montreal enters the game riding a high despite losing 5 of their last 6 (1-3-2) as last game we saw a return to action, and form, from the Canadiens best player, Carey Price. Price entered the net amidst a lot of off ice noise and after a longer than anticipated period on the shelf. His response was epic as he posted a 36 save shut out against the struggling Buffalo Sabres. I say struggling, but Buffalo does have offensive players who need to be contained, and Montreal did just that. Yes, the Sabres outshot the Canadiens on the night (26-36) but factoring in MTL sitting on a 3rd period 2-0 lead that could be related to a 11-3 shot advantage for BUF in the 3rd and it’s not too much to worry about. Would you rather see the Habs keep the foot on the gas? Yes, of course. But, seeing them work to close out the game and preserve a very, very important shut out win for Price was equally as important and effective.

The Blue Jackets are a team that is seeing the benefits of incredible goaltending as S Bobrovsky is making a case for his second straight Vezina Trophy, and maybe a Hart or Lindsay too. Bob has put up 14 wins in 19 starts with a .936 SP% and 1.91 GAA, to go with 3 shut outs I might add. These numbers are out of this world and if he keeps it up the Blue Jackets could definitely be a dark horse contender for the cup despite their young roster.

Saying that, it’s important to observe that this CBJ squad is scoring just under league average in goals for (Avg: 70, GF: 66) and their shooting percentage is a full point below average (Avg: 9.3, SP%: 8.3) so the team is not without flaws or issues of its own. With their PDO rating of 100.4 you can see that supreme goaltending has provided this team with the balance they need to remain competitive night in, night out. Should the goaltending plummet down to earth at any point this season their fortune could change dramatically, but that’s hypothetical. I could make the devils advocate argument that if CBJ starts scoring AND Bob keeps this up they will be unstoppable. As of now, Bobrovsky looks like a world beater, as we saw first hand in that previous 2-1 OT loss I mentioned above where he was puck stopping machine with no regard for us Habs fans feelings.

The Jackets come in led by the same group I mentioned last game: Panarin, Bjorkstrand, Werenski, and Jones. Big time, impact weapons that will need the utmost attention from the Canadiens and the coaching staff if they want to remain in this game early. We can assume Bobrovsky is going to stand on his head so the game plan has to be lots of bodies in front cause chaos, deflections, and screens while jabbing and chopping away at the mess they create in front of the crease. A win tonight could be huge for team confidence with Boston losing in regulation last night. The opportunity to sneak into 3rd in the Atlantic is still there and will be within 2 points with a victory tonight.

I will acknowledge it’s a very tall order to take down the team with this seasons top performing goaltender, but perhaps Price has tuned up his dueling banjo for tonight and the fans get a net minding clinic. We will see.

SCHLEMKO ERA BEGINS…. MAYBE

The game day skate was cancelled today so I won’t have any line formations to relay to you, but there is a real good chance that we see David Schlemko suit up for his first career game as a Canadien.

There has been much ado made about Schlemko stemming from some preseason comments made by MTL GM Bergevin in which he referred to this years D being better than last years (statement is not aging well) and that he had Schlemko pencilled in beside Weber to start the season. Well, with Weber apparently out but the Habs playing fairly well in his absence, it will definitely be interesting to watch Schlemko’s first 10+ games to see how he plays. He was considered a good part of SJ Sharks D core last year and isn’t here to provide a lot of offence, but appears to have around 23-24 point pace over 82 games (which it is clear he will not compete in). If he can remain in the line up for the remainder of the season 10+ points should be attainable, but his strength will be his ability to limit other teams offense.

Schlemko had a 53.6 CF% and 54.6 FF% last season with the Sharks and both numbers were above average for his team. There is good reason to think that Schlemko will be a good defender for MTL this season, which is needed as long as they keep having to dress Morrow and Davidson. Yes, Morrow is actually putting up points, but he is not that good defensively. Being able to add more stability to the back end may actually allow Morrow, Mete (if he remains up), and Petry to play a bit more offensively. Balance and stability are key in your defensive pairings and Schlemko brings potential to that.

STILL NO WORD ON THE FORGOTTEN MEN….. LEHKONEN & SCHERBAK

Feels like a long time since we have heard anything about Lehkonen’s injury or recovery as he has been shelved for 2 weeks with a LBI. I know the team mentioned he would be out for an extended period, but it’s a shame there hasn’t been any update. Looks like it is fairly serious injury. I could also say the exact same for N Scherbak. The sooner we get these two back the better.

Go Habs Go!

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!

I had the chance to crack open a Hobby box of the Toronto Maple Leafs Centennial set, as I was a big fan of the Canadiens version and I must say they did a great job from the design, subsets, and design of the Auto’d cards! Check out what I got here!

Was hoping for a Gilmour or Matthews auto for my collection but maybe next time!

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

If you have interest in advertising in this space message me through the HockeyBuzz PM system or through Twitter.

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