The task of winning and finding consistency does not get any easier for the Montreal Canadiens as they prepare to face the defending Stanley Cup Champions Chicago Blackhawks tonight at the Bell Centre. Not to mention the fact that the Blackhawks are riding an eight game win streak into Montreal. Chicago is only 2 points out of the Central Division lead with 60 points on the season. Montreal on the other hand is 3rd in the Atlantic Division with 49 points, just one up on the surging Tampa Bay Lightning, not to mention Boston and Ottawa breathing down their necks as well with 47 and 46 points respectively. As the Canadiens prepare for a tough stretch against Chicago, Saint Louis and Chicago again, they must try to put together consecutive good games and efforts. A task that has not come easily in quite some time.
The Canadiens lineup tonight will be:
#Habs lines vs #Blackhawks:
Pacioretty - Plekanec - Gallagher
Eller-Galchenyuk-Andrighetto
Fleischmann-Desharnais-Byron
Carr-Mitchell-Flynn
— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNMtl) January 14, 2016#Habs D & G vs #Blackhawks:
Markov-Subban
Beaulieu-Petry
Emelin-Barberio
Condon starting
Scrivens
Scratches: Smith-Pelly, Pateryn, Tinordi
— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNMtl) January 14, 2016Devante Smith-Pelly, Jarred Tinordi and Greg Pateryn will be healthy scratches. Smith-Pelly’s scratch has absolutely nothing to do with being present during the incident at Alex Galchenyuk’s home over the weekend. He has been inconsistent since returning from injury and needs to show that he can perform as well as he had been playing earlier in the season. Smith-Pelly at his best is a strong forechecker, creating room and space for his linemates. His speed has been a step behind since his return. At this point, Sven Andrighetto and Daniel Carr have surpassed Smith-Pelly on the depth chart as they bring intangibles that Smith-Pelly does not possess, namely offensive skill and willingness not to take a shift off. For the game against the Blackhawks, I would have preferred to see Carr on the third line with with Desharnais and Fleischmann rather than Byron and instead see him play with Flynn and Mitchell. The reason being is actually for defensive purposes as I believe that a Flynn-Mitchell-Byron line would be more effective defending against one of Chicago’s top two lines rather than Desharnais and his linemates. Desharnais’ line would have a higher chance at succeeding if he is sheltered from Chicago’s best.
Interestingly, Therrien has addressed the playing time of Andrei Markov these past couple of days, something I brought up in my last blog:
Andrei Markov - During the 2015 playoffs, it was evident that Andrei Markov did not have very much left in the tank. Coming into the 2015-2016, it was obvious that his minutes would need to be managed in order for Markov to contribute to any Canadiens success. He came out of the gate flying with 17 points in the first 22 games. However in the past 21 games Markov has only 5 points. Through 43 games this season, Markov is averaging 23:58 minutes of ice time a game compared to 24:54/game last season. While Markov is playing just under a minute a game less, that is not enough to make a difference throughout 82 games and (hopefully) playoffs. Markov is being asked to play too much in various situations, from the penalty kill to power play to 3 on 3 overtime. It is simply too much. Markov does not have the foot speed to recover from mistakes and his decision making has been baffling at times. This is not the Andrei Markov that we are used to seeing. Michel Therrien finally recognized this and bumped Markov off the 1st pairing but has now reunited Markov with Subban, even with Jeff Petry expected to back in the lineup for Thursday. Markov needs to play no more than 20-22 minutes a game to be at his best and this especially has to be monitored in back to back game situations…
Since then, Therrien has said:
#Habs Autre point intéressant de la conférence de Therrien : il a dit qu'il souhaitait que Markov joue entre 20 et 22-23 minutes par match
— Guillaume Lefrançois (@glefrancoisLP) January 13, 2016Rare revealing answer from MT. Says broke PK & AM up bc needed to manage AM's minutes but brought back bc chemistry. Adds it's a marathon.
— BrianWilde (@BWildeCTV) January 14, 2016The trouble is that in the heat of a game, there is temptation to lean on Markov. It will be interesting to see if Therrien and J.J. Daigneault can realistically keep Markov’s minutes down to where it needs to be, especially while playing with Subban. Before Nathan Beaulieu was promoted to play with Subban, he had developed nice chemistry with Jeff Petry and they became an exciting pair to watch, each able to contribute offensively. Hopefully they will be able to pick up from where they left off. I for one am glad though that Therrien decided to keep Emelin with Barberio on the 3rd pairing.
Chicago’s lineup will be:
#Blackhawks lines:
Shaw-Toews-Hossa
Panarin-Teravainen-Kane
Mashinter-Danault-Desjardins
Panik-Rasmussen-Garbutt
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) January 14, 2016Hometown boy Corey Crawford will get the start in goal. It will be Montreal’s first look at Panarin who has been lighting it up as a rookie this season.
1.38 GAA in career for Corey Crawford vs Montreal.
Pretty good.
Actually its his best vs any single team.
— SeansteR Campbell (@seanrcampbell) January 14, 20165 Questions For Tonight’s Game:
1) Will Markov play less than 23 minutes tonight against the Blackhawks?
2) Can the Canadiens score more than two goals against Corey Crawford?
3) Will Alex Galchenyuk shake off the past weekend’s distractions? He put in the extra effort this morning:
Alex Galchenyuk now working with Plekanec on the rebound board. And it's impressively quick. #Habs #TSN690 pic.twitter.com/oPDqvsevDY
— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) January 14, 20164) Can the Canadiens hold the Blackhawks to two goals or less?
5) How will Fleischmann perform in his return to the lineup?
Puck Drops at 7:30pm.
Cheers & Enjoy The Game! Follow @Jenbcutler