Montreal Canadiens vs. New Jersey Devils
How to watch
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In Canada: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Devils Region: MSGSN
In the United States: NHL Network
If you were to look at the National Hockey League standings right now, you would note that the team with the longest winning streak is the New Jersey Devils, currently sitting at nine games. That’s great for them, but not so for the Montreal Canadiens, who host them Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.
Tale of the Tape
| Canadiens | Statistics | Devils |
|---|---|---|
| 8-6-1 | Record | 12-3-0 |
| 45.9% (26th) | Scoring-chances-for % | 62.2% (1st) |
| 3.07 (17th) | Goals per game | 3.67 (7th) |
| 3.20 (17th) | Goals against per game | 2.53 (4th) |
| 16.3% (27th) | PP% | 19.6% (19th) |
| 80.8% (13th) | PK% | 80.0% (15th) |
| 1-1-1 | H2H Record (21-22) | 2-1-0 |
However, the Montreal Canadiens have been playing well of late. They, too, are on a winning streak of their own, having won their last three in a row including a back-and-forth nail-biter of a win against the Pittsburgh Penguins this past Saturday night, 5-4 in overtime. Mike Hoffman, who scored the game-winner, has been on a tear over the length of this run, scoring four times during the stretch.
Of course you can’t forget about Montreal’s young top trio of Cole Caufield, captain Nick Suzuki, and Kirby Dach, who have been electrifying the offence this young season, with Suzuki and Caufield alone combining for 19 of the team’s 47 goals. Juraj Slafkovský, who was suspended for two games last week, is now eligible to return to action. We’ll see if head coach Martin St-Louis decides to reinsert him into the lineup.
One of the Canadiens’ biggest woes this season had been their play on the man advantage, contributing only seven times with the extra skater, but six of those goals have come in the past seven games as they’re finally starting to turn that situation in their favour.
New Jersey has revitalized itself this season, having not lost a game since a 6-3 decision at the hands of the Washington Capitals, way back on October 24. Jesper Bratt leads the team with 19 points, and 2017 first overall pick and team captain Nico Hischier has been finding his A-game as well, currently with a team-leading eight goals and on a seven-game point streak. Hischier, who has battled injury problems for most of his young career, has only been held pointless three times through the Devils’ first 15 games.
Former Canadiens top-line winger Tomas Tatar also is having a great start to his campaign, notching 11 points through so far. The Slovak forward, who spent three seasons with the Tricolore, had struggled the past two seasons; one with Montreal and one in New Jersey, notching only 30 points in each campaign. Having 11 points already with a whole 67 games to go, it could be another productive season for him.
What looked like a small signing last season is paying dividends in goal for New Jersey, with Vitek Vanecek having won his first six of seven starts thus far. Even in his absence due to injury, MacKenzie Blackwood and Swiss rookie tender Akira Schmid managed to keep the team hot enough to stake a claim to first place in the Eastern Conference.
Which team will get the quicker jump to their game, and which young team will prevail? It will surely be a battle from start to finish. New Jersey won their pre-season tilt by a 2-1 edge, but can Montreal’s Caufield, Suzuki and company end the Devils’ hottest streak in year?!
Puck drops at 7:00 PM. Catch you at the rink!
