The Montreal Canadiens hit the road to take on the Arizona Coyotes in the first game of a three game road trip. Here are their keys to winning tonight’s contest in Arizona.
The Montreal Canadiens are heading on the road this week. They have travelled out west and are ready to take on the Arizona Coyotes, Las Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars in the next four days. It’s going to be a tough trip with the games packed so close together, so it will be important for the Canadiens to get started on the right foot.
Up first is the Arizona Coyotes. They made several moves over the summer that should give them a chance at cracking the postseason in the western conference. Their biggest acquisition was Phil Kessel who they acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for former Canadiens forward Alex Galchenyuk and defensive prospect Pierre-Olivier Joseph.
They are being led offensively by Nick Schmaltz who they acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks less than year ago. He has eleven points in eleven games. Goaltending has been their biggest strength, as Darcy Kuemper has posted a 1.87 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage.
It will be important for the Habs to kick off their first big road trip of the season on the right foot. How are they going to be able to do that? Here are the three keys to victory in Arizona for tonight’s contest.
#1: Stay out of the penalty box
The Canadiens basically have to stay out of the penalty box no matter who they play against. Their penalty killing is second worst among the 31 teams in the National Hockey League. Currently, they are killing off just 68.6% of the penalties that they take. Only the Winnipeg Jets have a worse time trying to fend off the opponent’s power play.
The Habs have had some success shutting down the Toronto Maple Leafs power play. In two games against their oldest rival, Montreal is 5-for-6 while shorthanded. That’s a tidy 83.3%. However, against the rest of the league they have allowed ten power play goals while being shorthanded 29 times. That’s an awful 65%.
The Coyotes don’t have the most fearsome power play in the league, but it is clicking at 22.9%. The addition of Kessel will always make the dangerous on the power play. It’s best for the Canadiens to limit the number of times Kessel is open for a one-timer with the man advantage tonight.
#2: Quick Start
The Canadiens flew to Arizona two days ago to get prepared for the time zone change and prepare for their trio of road games. They practiced yesterday in Arizona and have had lots of time to acclimate to their surroundings.
While they were practicing yesterday, the Coyotes were flying home from Buffalo after a lengthy road trip through the eastern conference. Their last home games was 11 days ago. Since then they were the road team against the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres. It’s not exactly the most gruelling of trips travel-wise, and they won three of the four games.
However, players always talk about how tough it is in the first game back after a road trip. For whatever reason, teams will often struggle in their first home game after being on the road for an extended period. The Canadiens need to take advantage of that and pounce on the Coyotes early while they try to find their footing again on home ice.
#3: Use depth to take advantage of Coyotes Third D pairing
The Coyotes were dealt a huge blow when defensive stalwart Niklas Hjalmarsson was injured. He is among the best shutdown defenders in the National Hockey League every year and was expected to play a huge role for the Coyotes this season.
They are also without Jordan Oesterle who is typically a third pairing defender for them. That will leave a couple of depth guys being forced into action to play together on the third pairing. Tonight, that is going to be Aaron Ness and Ilya Lyubushkin.
The Canadiens have a deep group of forwards and their third and fourth lines are going to have to take advantage of the Coyotes third defence pairing. We haven’t seen the Habs third line create nearly enough, but tonight is a good opportunity for Paul Byron, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Artturi Lehkonen to create plenty of offense.
If the Canadiens can stay out of the penalty box, take advantage of the weary road legs of the Coyotes and put pressure on their third defence pairing, which is normally their fourth defence pairing when everyone is healthy, the Canadiens will have lots of success tonight.