The Montreal Canadiens will host the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday night at the Bell Centre as they attempt to extend their consecutive win streak to seven games as the two teams will meet for the first time this season. The Canadiens not only lead the Atlantic division but are first overall in the NHL with 15 points and a goal differential of +16, just one point ahead of the surprising Edmonton Oilers. The Leafs find themselves in familiar territory with their young team and shaky goaltending, although Frederik Andersen is coming off a much improved performance as he led them to a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers this past Thursday. They sit sixth in the Atlantic with a record of 2-2-3 in seven games.
Unsurprisingly, Montreal’s lines will remain the same as how they finished their last game, a 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning:
Habs lines this morning: Radulov-Galchenyuk-Gallagher; Pacioretty-Desharnais-Shaw; Lehkonen-Plekanec-Byron; Danault-Mitchell-Flynn
— Ðrpon Basu (@ArponBasu) October 29, 2016
#Habs D & G vs #Leafs:
— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNMtl) October 29, 2016
Emelin - Weber
Markov - Petry
Beaulieu - Pateryn
Price starting
Montoya
Scratched: Sergachev
These lines are perhaps the most balanced that the Canadiens have iced to date yet it also rewards players who are outperforming others. Alexander Radulov has consistently been amongst the Canadiens best forwards, night in and night out. The few shifts that he has had with Alex Galchenyuk this season has been electrifying to say the least, with the duo creating multiple scoring chances. Galchenyuk has had chemistry with Brendan Gallagher from the moment the two entered the NHL together and will be the net presence that the other two need. David Desharnais is playing some very good hockey lately, especially with Max Pacioretty and Andrew Shaw. In reality this should come as no surprise as Desharnais has traditionally succeeded when flanked by two big wingers, ie: Pacioretty and Eric Cole, Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann. Yes, Shaw is not physically tall but he plays much bigger than he is. Tomas Plekanec will still draw the tough defensive assignments and Artturi Lehkonen plays a likeminded two way game although he has a lethal shot. Paul Byron’s speed should complement the trio well. And what more can be said about the fourth line, arguably the best right now in the entire NHL?
On defence, Mikhail Sergachev continues to be a healthy scratch. As the end of the month of October draws near, one has to imagine that Sergachev will shortly be sent back to the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL. He will have had two months to soak in the professional game and learn valuable lessons as to what it takes to play in the NHL. After this weekend, Mark Barberio should get called back from the St. John’s Ice Caps as he is better suited to be the team’s seventh defenceman while Zach Redmond is injured. Alexei Emelin remains on the top pairing with Shea Weber and while for the most part he has risen to the occasion, it will be interesting to see how the duo fares tonight against the speedy Leafs. Nathan Beaulieu’s ice time should see an increase as he has been reinserted on the second powerplay unit, this time paired with Andrei Markov.
Montreal hockey fans will be in for a treat as it will be the first time that they will see the talented Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner in the regular season. The two youngsters have played above and beyond expectations and have brought a real sense of excitement to Toronto, regardless of the win/loss column. Their lines tonight will be:
#Leafs at skate: van Riemsdyk-Bozak-Marner; Komarov-Kadri-Brown; Hyman-Matthews-Nylander; Martin-Smith-Griffith
— Terry Koshan (@koshtorontosun) October 29, 2016
#Leafs D: Rielly-Carrick; Marincin-Zaitsev; Gardiner-Polak. Andersen in net.
— Terry Koshan (@koshtorontosun) October 29, 2016
5 questions for tonight’s game:
1) Will the Canadiens lines finish the game as they started? In my opinion, yes.
2) Is tonight the night that Plekanec breaks out? I think so. He has been holding the stick too tight. I think he will feel less pressure in the offensive zone with Lehkonen and Byron and in turn the line will contribute offensively.
3) Will the Canadiens powerplay continue to perform and score? They are finally above the 20% mark and rank 15th in the lead. I’ll say that the five man unit of Radulov/Galchenyuk/Gallagher/Weber/Petry will be too much for the Leafs to handle.
4) Which Leafs rookie will impress the most tonight? Hard to against Matthews here…
5) What will be the final score? 4-2 Canadiens to extend their streak.
Puck drops at 7pm.
Cheers & enjoy the game! Follow @Jenbcutler