The Montreal Canadiens are set to face off against the Vancouver Canucks tonight at the Bell Centre. In what originally should have been a matchup between two NHL powerhouses, the Canucks have fallen off track recently. After starting their season off with four consecutive wins, they've picked up only a single point out of 10 by losing five games in a row.
The Habs continue to sit atop of the National Hockey League with an 8-0-1 record, priding themselves on being the only team without a regulation loss thus far. Many are questioning whether tonight will represent history repeating itself, as the Habs suffered their first loss last season at the hands of the Canucks in their tenth game.
Michel Therrien's troops are averaging 3.44 goals per game, good for fourth overall across the league. They’ve scored on the power play in seven of their nine games including in the last three, but they’ll have to solve a goaltender who has succeeded at the Bell Centre with a 11-7-1 career record: Ryan Miller. He boasts a 2.07 GAA and a .935 save percentage against the Canadiens during that span.
Whether he will succeed in helping a struggling Canucks team win is anybody’s guess, but one thing is for certain: Miller loves playing in Montreal and feeds off of the fans’ energy.
Ryan Miller, who is 11-7-1 with a 2.07 GAA and .935 Sv% in his career at Bell Centre, gave a thoughtful answer on why he likes playing here. pic.twitter.com/FrvYz9M13D
— Ðrpon Basu (@ArponBasu) November 1, 2016
On the other hand, the Canucks are averaging a league-worst 1.78 goals per game and will have the difficult task of trying to beat a red-hot Carey Price (5-0-0), whose 1.40 GAA and .954 SV% will surely intimidate head coach Willie Desjardins’ team. Moreover, Price’s career 6-2-2 record against the Canucks as well as his 2.47 GAA and .924 SV% justify Therrien’s decision of giving him the nod.
Led by Shea Weber’s four goals (including three game-winners) and his 10 points, the Habs will hope to give Bell Centre attendees their money’s worth by winning their eighth game in a row. That would earn them one more point than they had after 10 games last season (9-1-0).
No lineup changes are expected ahead of tonight’s matchup:
(F) Pacioretty – Desharnais – Shaw Radulov – Galchenyuk – Gallagher Lehkonen – Plekanec – Byron Danault – Mitchell – Flynn
(D) Emelin – Weber Markov – Petry Beaulieu – Pateryn
(G) Price