In this edition of the hotstove we discuss whether or not the Montreal Canadiens will remain one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference without Carey Price for the next six weeks.
Todd Cordell
I wouldn't say this a year or two ago but I think the Canadiens will continue to win their fair share of games even without Carey Price.
The Canadiens have a very balanced offensive attack and are the NHL's 4th best team in score adjusted possession so they're not exactly relying solely on goaltending to win them games.
Obviously Mike Condon is a big step down from Price but if the Habs continue to get contributions from all four lines and win the possession battle they'll get good results more often than not.
Another thing going for Montreal is their division is terrible so even if they drop some points in the coming weeks they should still be able to stay on top of the division.
James Tanner I think they will.
They aren't a mirage team like the Rangers, and so they don't need to get Vezina quality goaltending just to win.
They play in the Atlantic, so they probably have the easiest schedule in hockey and Galchenyuk is turning into more of a star player by the day. As good as they were last year, with Jeff Petry there for a full year and Galchenyuk emerging, they've basically added two top of the roster players to what was already a good team.
And they took such a head start with their crazy beginning to the season. I see no reason they'll fall of much. I mean, they probably aren't going to go 19-7 in their next 26 games, but they'll still be at the top of standings when Price returns.
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