Montreal Canadiens Prepared For Tough Four Games in Next Six Days
Less than two weeks ago, the Montreal Canadiens were in a bit of a slump. They started the year off on the right foot, but after a west coast road trip, went through a 1-3-1 stretch. Even after beating the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 in a shootout, it appeared their offensive game would never return.
During the six game stretch, they were lucky to grab five points, as they only found the back of their opponent’s net a total of six times in those six contests. Carey Price had to be great to get one point in an overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks, and Dustin Tokarski was the first player to steal two points from the Buffalo Sabres in years.
Nov 8, 2014; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price (31) makes a save against Minnesota Wild during the first period at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports
It was not because the Sabres are so good it is difficult to get points, quite the opposite actually. Usually Buffalo is handing out two points on a silver platter, but the Habs allowed 32 shots in a tough 2-1 shootout victory.
Suddenly, following the win over the Sabres, the Canadiens found their offense, rediscovered their defensive game, and since then have won five straight. The Habs haven’t been scraping out victories either, in each of their last five games, they have won by at least three goals.
A 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild was followed up by a 3-0 shutout victory against the Winnipeg Jets, before a 5-1 blowout win over the Boston Bruins. The Habs finished off a dominant four game home stand with a 6-3 win in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers, and defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 two nights ago in Detroit.
It is not that the past five games have been against weak teams, but the next four games will be a real test for the Montreal Canadiens. In what will surely be one of the most difficult weeks on the Habs schedule, they face the Pittsburgh Penguins Tuesday, the St. Louis Blues Thursday before hitting the road to take on the Boston Bruins on Saturday and the New York Rangers Sunday night.
Nov 15, 2014; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens forward Dale Weise (22) reacts with teammates including Alex Galchenyuk (27) and Sergei Gonchar (55) after scoring a goal against the Philadelphia Flyers during the third period at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
The Penguins are off to a tremendous start to the season, with a 12-3-1 record thus far. Pittsburgh will head into their contest with the Canadiens having won nine of their last ten games, and sit atop the Metropolitan Division standings. They boast three of the top 13 scorers in the NHL in Evgeni Malkin, Patric Hornqvist and of course Sidney Crosby who is currently in second.
The Blues are off to an equally impressive start to the season, sitting first in the ultra competitive Central Division with a record of 12-4-1. They are led by a young scoring trio of Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz and Jori Lehtera, who are all in the top 20 in league scoring.
After facing those two Stanley Cup contenders, the Habs get no break as they take on their biggest rival, the Boston Bruins. Boston is off to an 11-8-0 start, holding down a playoff spot even with key players injured. Both David Krejci and Zdeno Chara have missed significant time, and though the Habs are 2-0 against Boston this season, it will be extremely difficult to win a third straight game against the Bruins, especially with Boston’s 7-4-0 record as the host team this season.
One night later, the Habs get a chance to take on the defending Eastern Conference champion New York Rangers. The Rangers of course knocked off the Habs in the Eastern Conference Final last season, on their way to the Stanley Cup Final where they fell in five hard fought games to the Los Angeles Kings.
The Rangers have made a lot of changes to their lineup since last season, but with Henrik Lundqvist leading the way, are always a tough team to beat at Madison Square Garden. They are holding down the final playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division at the moment
It will be a tough test for the Montreal Canadiens, but if they keep playing the way they have in the past five games, the will prove to be at the same level as some of the NHL’s best teams.