Just as the Montreal Canadiens seemed to be coming back from Western Canada on a high, word came this morning that Carey Price suffered a lower body injury against Edmonton and would be out of the lineup for a week. Starting with tonight's game against the Winnipeg Jets, this is a busy week and homestand for the Canadiens as they next play the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, New York Islanders on Thursday and Boston Bruins on Saturday. Dustin Tokarski has been recalled from the AHL St. John's Ice Caps to back up Mike Condon who has been thrust into the starting goaltender position.
Fortunately for the Canadiens, Condon has thus far been excellent in his 3 starts this season and his teammates and coaches have a lot of confidence in him. This is an excellent opportunity to show that he is capable to help the team win, night in and night out.
"He has a lot of pressure on him, but he’s been flawless in every start so far." - @BGALLY17 on @Condibear1 #GoHabsGo
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) November 1, 2015"Condon a été excellent. Nous avons confiance en lui. / Condon has been great for us. We're confident in him." - Dale Weise #GoHabsGo
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) November 1, 2015Without Price, it will be especially necessary for the Canadiens to continue with the strong played that they demonstrated throughout most of their unbeaten steak and regained during the game against the Calgary Flames. They cannot get caught trying to do too much or getting too fancy. The Canadiens must play the same honest, hard-working style of play that earned them so many points in October. Those points which are in the bank are especially looking good while Price is injured.
Alex Semin will be a healthy scratch for the 3rd game in a row as he is still unable to get out of Michel Therrien's doghouse. After another poor showing against the Flames, some wondered if it would be Lars Eller's turn to sit tonight. Therrien is giving him another chance against the Jets.
I asked Therrien what's going on with Lars Eller's play: "It's not only Lars. I'm expecting more from the Galchenyuk line."
— Dan Robertson (@DRTSN690) November 1, 2015With no offence to Brian Flynn, the Galchenyuk is not going to improve with him playing on the right side of Galchenyuk and Eller. The way that Dale Weise and Devante Smith-Pelly are playing, I believe that they are more deserving of the opportunity and can bring an additional level of physicality to the line.
And so the Canadiens lineup tonight will be:
#Habs lines vs #NHLJets
Pacioretty - Plekanec - Gallagher
Eller - Galchenyuk - Flynn
Fleischmann - Desharnais - Weise
Byron - Mitchell - DSP
— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNMtl) November 1, 2015#Habs D & G vs #NHLJets:
Markov - Subban
Emelin - Petry
Beaulieu - Gilbert
Condon starting
Tokarski
Scratches: Semin, Pateryn, Tinordi
— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNMtl) November 1, 2015The Winnipeg Jets are off to good start to the season, going 7-3-1 in the month of October. Blake Wheeler is leading the charge with 14 points and expect the talented rookie Nikolah Ehler to be pumped for tonight's game as it will be the first time his parents will see him play a NHL game. Tonight should be an excellent test for the Price-less Habs.
5 Questions heading into tonight's game:
1) How long will Therrien continue the Flynn experiment next to Galchenyuk and Eller? It hasn't worked for two games. Usually Therrien is much quicker to work his blender but the success of the other 3 lines has left him hesitant to alter chemistry.
2) How many starts will Condon get in Price's absence? Much will likely depend on his own play and stamina. Dustin Tokarski has an AHL record of 2-2-2 through games this season with a GAA of 2.51 and save percentage of .915. He is still working to rediscover his game but will the Canadiens have enough confidence to give him a start this week?
3) Will Max Pacioretty get going again tonight against the Jets? He was held pointless in Western Canada and seemed to be gripping the stick just a little too tight. Pacioretty has been known to be a streaky player and a 4 game homestand could be just what the Doctor ordered...
4) The Canadiens have scored powerplay goals in consecutive games, can they make it three in a row against the Jets?
5) While the Canadiens unbeaten streak was broken up by the Vancouver Canucks, they still have not lost at the Bell Centre this season. Will the Canadiens be able continue their winning ways at home?
Puck drops at 7pm tonight.
Cheers & Enjoy the game! Follow @Jenbcutler