Montreal Canadiens vs. Detroit Red Wings
How to watch
Puck drop: 7:30 PM EDT / 4:30 PM PDT
In the Canadiens region: TSN2, TSN Direct (English), RDS, RDS Direct (French)
In the Red Wings region: Fox Sports – Detroit
Elsewhere: NHL.tv/Rogers NHL Live
We witnessed a great comeback on Saturday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins, with the Habs fighting back from an early 2-0 deficit to win it 4-3 in a shoutout. The team received big contributions from the Phillip Danault, Tomas Tatar, and Brendan Gallagher line.
Tonight the Canadiens will meet a divisional rival in a similar situation to theirs. Enter the Detroit Red Wings, a team whose present identity is half rebuild, half veteran core.
The Canadiens had the edge throughout the 2017-18 season, when the Wings’ talent pool was much shallower than what Montreal possessed, winning all four contests between the two Original Six clubs.
Tale of the Tape
| Canadiens | Statistic | Red Wings |
|---|---|---|
| 2-1-1 | Record | 0-3-2 |
| 4-0-0 | H2H Record (17-18) | 0-4-0 |
| 56.7% | Corsi-for pct. | 48.2% |
| 11 | Goals for | 11 |
| 10 | Goals against | 23 |
| 11.8% | PP% | 26.7% |
| 81.8% | PK% | 78.9% |
Monday night will be the first meeting between the two teams in 2018-19. Montreal racked up 24 goals while merely giving up six in the head-to-head series a year ago. Most of us will remember the game where Montreal scored 10 on a listless Red Wings club.
If this year’s early results are any indication, the Habs might be able to prey on a weak team to secure some important points in the standings. The Red Wings most recently suffered a drubbing to the tune of 8-2 at the hands of the Boston Bruins.
Detroit is a mixed bag of both aging players past their prime and young players trying to prove their worth to the team. The loss of Henrik Zetterberg down the middle has been a significant one. It did open the door to some of their young players to step up and contribute right away, contrary to their modus operandi of bringing up younger players only after several years of seasoning in the minors.
Even though the Red Wings still haven’t won a game this season, a few of their younger players are stepping up. Dylan Larkin is playing great after signing a lucrative expansion this summer, posting five points in five games, while Tyler Bertuzzi is also stating his case with four points in that span. Young blue-liners Dennis Cholowski and Filip Hronek are putting up a few points while patrolling the blue line.
If Montreal is to prove to others they are somewhat more talented than the credit they get, this match versus Detroit is a good game to prove it. The Habs’ aggressive forechecking game should be able to exploit the suspect defense of the Wings. Moreover, Detroit hasn’t received solid goaltending this year, and Montreal should be able to use this to its advantage. Both Jimmy Howard or Jonathan Bernier have not impressed to this point of the season.
The Canadiens may no longer be able to surprise teams with their speed as they did early with Toronto and Pittsburgh, but they should be in good shape to take the fight to the Red Wings. As opponents go, Detroit should be an easy target if the Habs keep the same tactics they’ve used so far.
