The Montreal Canadiens had three days off after Saturday’s loss to the Nashville Predators. It will prove to be important rest as the team plays through their second start in less than 24 hours tonight.
After battling the Avalanche last night, ultimately getting the loss in a third consecutive game, the team made the trip to Arizona to take on the Coyotes on Thursday evening.
Antti Niemi guarded the crease for the Canadiens versus the Avs, meaning Carey Price will get the start in goal tonight.
How to watch
Puck drop: 9:00 PM EST / 6:00 PM PST
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Avalanche region: FS-A
Elsewhere: NHL.tv/NHL GameCentre Live, NHL Center Ice
Tale of the Tape
| Canadiens | Statistic | Panthers |
|---|---|---|
| 25-30-11 | Record | 32-25-7 |
| 1-1-0 | H2H Record | 1-1-0 |
| 51.0% | Corsi-for pct. | 49.1% |
| 171 | Goals for | 193 |
| 206 | Goals against | 204 |
| 20.2% | PP% | 19.4% |
| 76.5% | PK% | 79.3% |
He will be facing a few talented offensive players, chief among them being Clayton Keller. The rookie has cooled off from a fast start, but still leads the team with 16 goals and 40 points. He’s no longer a front-runner in a Calder Trophy race now led by Mathew Barzal and Brock Boeser, though he is still one of the biggest storylines for a team that has struggled in recent years.
This season hasn’t been much different for the Coyotes, who are once again located at the bottom of the standings, amassing just 40 points through 57 games.
While Antti Raanta has fared well in his promotion to a starting role after a trade from the New York Rangers, the other half of that off-season trade, Derek Stepan hasn’t worked out as well as the team expected. Stepan has just 10 goals and 36 points despite leading all forwards in ice time. While that is still good for second on the team, it’s much less than the team had hoped to add from a package that included the seventh overall pick in the 2017 NHL draft.
Fortunately for the team, they are in position to get another high pick in 2018, well cemented in the basement of the NHL standings. Getting high picks hasn’t been a guarantee of success for some of the other weak teams in the league, but it would at least be a good starting point to offer some hope of getting the franchise back to relevance.
