Playing their 5th game in 7 nights and 2nd set of back-to-backs with travel over that span, the 3rd place (love the sound of that) Carolina Hurricanes take on Montreal Canadiens tonight. I think the team is a bit gassed right now, but after this game things let up a bit. It is clearly 1 of those games in which the Canes are likely to find themselves at a bit of a physical disadvantage but can completely empty the tank and any energy reserves they can find with a "just find a way tonight" attitude. After tonight, the Canes are home through the start of the Olympic break and get 2 days off before playing St. Louis, 3 more days off before hosting Winnipeg and then 2 more days off before closing with a home back-to-back against Florida and Montreal. Hopefully the team can see the longer breaks on the way and use it to dig down and find a way tonight.
The Montreal Canadiens come into the matchup struggling having lost 4 straight largely by lopsided margins and allowing 4.75 goals per game over that stretch. The Habs have not won in regulation since January 6. At least for now, the tight, offense-stifling system defense of the Canadiens seems to be lost. A team that once seemed a shoe-in for the playoffs has fallen all the way back to the scratching, clawing fray of teams trying to win the last couple division spots and 2 wild cards.
Put more simply the Canadiens are not in a good place right now and are not at the moment a very good hockey team. Despite the physical disadvantage the Canes need to come in and aggressively challenge the Canadiens early to see if they can enlist self-doubt and lack of confidence as 6th and 7th skaters for the good guys.
With that, my keys to the game:
1) Patience and attention to detail. The Canes looked a bit sluggish, slow and frankly worn out Monday versus Columbus. It seems likely to expect some of the same Tuesday. The key is for the Canes to make simple plays, avoid turnovers in bad places and have a bit of patience offensively. Except for the sputtering power play, the Canes have been confident, efficient and productive offensively across 4 lines recently. It is important not to cheat and create offense for a struggling Canadiens team and instead to just wait out chances a bit and continue to finish them.
2) Heroes. My keys to yesterday's game were basically willingness/ability to succeed in a difficult, grinding type of game and the battle of the best players. The Canes competed but still lost the physical war on the boards below the faceoff circles (and in other places) but a better late than never surge by its leaders proved to be enough to steal a win late. If my hunch is right the Canes are up against it a bit physically in this game, I think it is very likely that winning Tuesday night will require a similar bout of heroics from the Canes best players turning a couple individual efforts/"1 great shift" type of plays into scoring.
3) Anton Khudobin. Kirk Muller was non-committal on goalie for Tuesday night before Monday's game, but I just do not see how he could go any other direction. I think it is very possible that Khudobin is a bit worn out and in need of a night off, but I also think that a worn out Khudobin gives the team the best chance to win. That wins right now especially with some off days near-term and only 12 more days until a 2 1/2-week layoff. I expect he will need to be the better goalie for the Canes to continue winning.
The puck drops a little bit after 7:30pm on Fox Sports Carolinas. Here is hoping that momentum and a positive vibe is stronger than tired legs and that the Canes winning streak trumps the Canadiens growing frustration and desperation.
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