The Montreal Canadiens lineup will look a little different tonight as they get set to play the Colorado Avalanche at the Bell Centre. Alex Semin returns after having been a healthy scratch for the past 7 games and Greg Pateryn will make his season debut as defenceman Alexei Emelin is out with a lower body injury. On the Avalanche’s side, Gabriel Landeskog will serve the first game of his 2 match suspension for his hit on Brad Marchand. Here are the expected lineups for both teams:
#Habs lines vs #Avalanche:
Pacioretty - Plekanec - Gallagher
Eller - Galchenyuk - Semin
Fleischmann - Desharnais - Weise
Flynn-Mitchell-DSP
— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNMtl) November 14, 2015#Habs D & G vs #Avalanche:
Markov - Subban
Beaulieu - Petry
Gilbert - Pateryn
Condon starting
Tokarski
Out: Byron, Tinordi, Emelin (LBI)
— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNMtl) November 14, 2015#Avs skating this morning at the Bell Centre with these lines ahead of tonight's matchup with #Habs. #TSN690 pic.twitter.com/71M5eQqbtT
— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) November 14, 2015Semin will be given another chance to play with Alex Galchenyuk and Lars Eller. The trio showed immense promise during training camp but struggled to find the back of the net on a consistent basis through the first 10 games of the season. Perhaps things came too easily for them during the preseason when the level of competition and play was weaker. Now is Semin’s make or break moment but he has to be given a fair chance of at least 5-10 games to find a way to contribute to the team’s success. He and his linemates must be wary not to attempt to do too much tonight. They must play their game and be responsible defensively. Semin and Galchenyuk will have to be especially careful not to constantly look for the other. They both must shoot when they have the opportunity. Pateryn will most likely be paired with Tom Gilbert on the 3rd defensive pairing as Nathan Beaulieu moves up to play alongside Jeff Petry on the 2nd unit. Pateryn and Gilbert played solid hockey together during the Ottawa playoff series last Spring when Beaulieu was injured. Even though he had to cede his place in the lineup when Beaulieu returned, Pateryn demonstrated that he is ready to be an everyday NHL defenceman. He is physical, makes a good first pass and plays smart. While one can expect some rust to start the game, the conditioning stint he did in the AHL with St. John’s now seems very well-timed…
While I had criticized Emelin for his play against the Pittsburgh Penguins, it appears that there was at least a reason for it with his injury. His play this season has for the most part been very consistent and strong with Petry. Since Emelin is a left defenceman, it could have been a chance for fellow lefty Jarred Tinordi to get into the lineup. If it was assumed beforehand that he was the 8th defenceman, it is now a given as Therrien elected to go with the right handed Pateryn instead. Like I said earlier, his situation needs to get resolved sooner rather than later as it is obvious that he is not part of the Canadiens future. Tonight though is an opportunity for Beaulieu to show that he can also play top four minutes and accept additional responsibilities. He and Petry have played well together on the 2nd powerplay unit and this is a chance to build on that chemistry.
The Avalanche for their part will have 3 former first round picks, all centers, playing on the first line together as head coach Patrick Roy was forced to juggle his lines. Mikhail Grigorenko only has 3 assists on the season and tonight he will have the chance to show what he can do playing alongside Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Duchene. On Duchene’s part, it must be somewhat unnerving to learn that Joe Sakic has reached out to teams to let them know that he could be available. While Duchene may not have lived up to the lofty expectations, he is still just 24 years old. The Avalanche must tread lightly here even though there is no question that they have an abundance of talented forwards and need help in other areas.
5 Questions heading into tonight’s game:
1) The Canadiens have scored a powerplay goal in 7 straight games and Alex Semin was benched for 7 games, a coincidence? Will Semin be put into a position to succeed with additional time with the man advantage or will Dale Weise keep his place alongside Galchenyuk and David Desharnais?
2) Will Beaulieu play over or under 20 minutes? While he gets the opportunity to play with Petry, I also wouldn’t be surprised if sometimes Gilbert gets a shift here and there with Petry just because Therrien tends to lean on his veterans…
3) Will Semin have a positive or negative impact on the game tonight?
4) How much longer can Mike Condon’s good fortune continue for? He truly has not had a bad outing and the last game against the Penguins was the first time he allowed 3 goals in a game.
5) The good news from this morning was that Price skated for the first time since his injury. After tonight’s game, the Canadiens play next on Monday and then back to back on Thursday and Friday. Could he be ready to play in one of the back to back situations or will Condon continue to carry the load for another week?
Carey Price est sur la glace, ce matin, à Brossard. #Canadiens #tvasports pic.twitter.com/m6nBzdje5i
— Félix Séguin (@fseguinhockey) November 14, 2015Finally, I have to admit that it was tough to concentrate and write this blog after the tragic attacks that took place in Paris last night. Paris is an incredible city, full of joie de vivre. The attacks that they have endured this year are senseless and frightening. The Canadiens have announced that they will honour Paris and France before the game tonight. When they do so, please take a moment to think about the lives lost and give your loved ones an extra squeeze and kiss…
#ParisJeTaime #PeaceForParis
Puck Drops at 7pm.
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