Montreal Canadiens vs Minnesota Wild Game Time, Preview, TV, Live Stream
By Omar L
The Montreal Canadiens have an afternoon match against the St. Louis Blues hoping to build off their 4-0 win over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.
The Montreal Canadiens needed a game like Thursday’s. The team produced at 5v5, adding another on the powerplay and held the Minnesota Wild to limited shots and scoring chances helping Carey Price get the shutout. It was a big improvement from their Tuesday game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, where a three-minute window cost them the match.
The next challenge is the Habs’ second bout against the Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues. Montreal got the win last Saturday 6-3 when they were still in their “battle back” stage. The team saw goals from 5/6 of their top six that night, including Artturi Lehkonen‘s first of the season. Brendan Gallagher was also a start leading the team with a goal and two assists.
Keeping the nature of their last win in mind will be key on the road. The Montreal Canadiens can’t afford to play from behind but instead, rely on their offence to establish and maintain a lead.
The Habs now have two more players they can get scoring off of with Victor Mete and Nick Suzuki, scoring their first NHL goals. Another avenue there is Nick Cousins, who set up Mete pretty well finding the trailer from below the red line for the eventual one-timer. Cousins isn’t going to be expected to produce every night, but maybe his presence can help Paul Byron, who has yet to score a goal himself.
Things on the Blues’ end hasn’t been perfect. St. Louis is hoping to avoid a four-game losing streak as they’ve dropped their last three games. After losing to the Montreal Canadiens, the Blues picked up points in overtime and shootout losses to the New York Islanders and Vancouver Canucks.
St. Louis got the lead in both games but allowed the opposition to come back and force play past regulation time. Maintaining their compete level will be the main goal this afternoon and trying to end the slump will be good enough motivation to have a strong match.
Jordan Binnington has done his job for the most part in giving the Blues an opportunity to win. The Montreal Canadiens could get frustrated by him quickly if he chooses to close the door. But the key for the Habs will be to continue that frontal assault and use their speed to their advantage. St. Louis may be a heavy team, but they can be outskated, and it worked for Montreal the last time.
Here are the details for the afternoon match up: