Game Preview: Montreal Canadiens vs Washington Capitals
By Omar L
The Montreal Canadiens look for their first win of the preseason as they are set to take on the Washington Capitals Wednesday night.
Game one of the preseason didn’t go as planned for the Montreal Canadiens. After a scoreless period, Brendan Gallagher and Jèrèmey Grègoire put the team up 2-0. It was defensive mistakes and a 5-on-3 that cost them the game.
Wednesday will be a new team (in a sense), a new opponent, and a new game. Montreal will be taking on the Washington Capitals in their second game of the preseason.
It’ll be a different line-up than the one that took on Boston. Jonathan Drouin will make his Montreal Canadiens debut on the top line with Max Pacioretty and Ales Hemsky. The two, Drouin and Pacioretty, have had flashes of on-ice chemistry that they hope to put to good use.
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Additionally, the line of Charles Hudon, Tomas Plekanec, and Artturi Lehkonen will come together again for the Habs. Similarly to the Drouin line, these three have played well together in practice and the scrimmage games so far. Hudon has been a standout including a three-point performance last Sunday.
The Victor Mete-Shea Weber experiment will be put on a serious trial run as the two are set to play next to each other. Claude Julien and the rest of the Habs management have spoken on how much they’ve liked what Mete has brought to camp. It’s possible that he could push for a roster spot if he continues to impress.
We also can’t forget Mark Streit‘s homecoming to Montreal. The 39-year-old signed a one-year deal with the Habs over the off-season after winning a Stanely Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins and hopes to bring over some of that success. Streit’s been playing on the right side of Jordie Benn at practices, so we can expect that to be another pairing for the Habs on Wednesday.
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Additionally, there’s a strong chance the Jakub Jerabek makes his debut with the team. He hasn’t really stood out amongst other defencemen on the roster at the moment, but this could be his chance.
The Habs will have Carey Price and Charlie Lindgren as their tandem. It’s safe to say that there should be no worries in terms of goaltending. It’ll be up to the other 18 players on the team to get the job done.
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Can the Montreal Canadiens pull off this win? Let us know what you think down below!