The Montreal Canadiens visit the red-hot New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden tonight in what is bound to be a goaltending duel between arguably the two best goalies in the NHL. The Rangers are absolutely on fire through the month of November, having lost only a single game in their past ten and holding a 13-1-1 record over their last fifteen.
Solving Henrik Lundqvist will prove to be the biggest challenge the Habs have had to face in a while, as the Swedish superstar is having a tremendous season. His record stands at 12-3-2, with a 1.74 GAA and a SV% of .946, He’ll look to backstop a Habs team with the same number of points (34) in the standings while playing a very similar brand of hockey.
Carey Price has excelled against the Rangers since the start of his professional career, posting a 1.75 GAA and a 11-5-1 record with seven shutouts against Alain Vigneault’s team. The last time out, the Habs blanked the Rangers by a score of 3-0, though Rick Nash’s recent awakening might be an important factor to consider when analyzing the relative ease with which the Habs won their last meeting. Coming off of a three-goal night on Saturday and adding another tally on Monday, Nash is starting to find his scoring touch as he struggled through the first 17 games of the season. Playing against a high-caliber team like Montreal’s will push Nash to continue building on an ordinary start to the year.
As mentioned in my piece from yesterday, Devante Smith-Pelly will line up on the first line with Max Pacioretty and Tomas Plekanec. There couldn’t be a better opportunity for Smith-Pelly to crash the net and bother an elite goalie like Lundqvist. Much like Price, he’ll more than certainly stop the pucks that he sees. Getting in his face will be an absolute necessity, as he’s backed by a very strong core of defensemen led by none other than Ryan McDonagh, and Vigneault stresses the importance of forwards back checking in order to support the defense. Smith-Pelly could be a welcomed addition to the trio, as Plekanec has not scored a goal in his last eight games. His five assists in that span are nothing to scoff at, although his line mate is faring better with 4 goals and 5 assists in his last eight outings.
One thing is for certain; tonight’s matchup will be an excellent game pitting two extremely similar, fast-skating and apt puck-moving teams that are well-coached by a staff capable of making on-the-fly adjustments while tightening up defensively.
With an average of 3.55 goals per game, the Habs rank first in the NHL and third in power play conversions at 24.36%. Their penalty kill is second in the league at 86.84%, while the Rangers are first overall when it comes to goals allowed per game at 1.75.
Tonight’s game is therefore anybody’s for the taking, and it will be a great one to watch as two original six rivals square off in a competition for the top spot in the eastern conference.