The Montreal Canadiens will play their first game since getting shutdown for more than a week after forwards Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Joel Armia went into COVID protocol and their opponents will be the Edmonton Oilers, a team coming off of a very emotional overtime win last night.
Speaking of last night’s victory for the Oilers, I don’t think they played particularly well and in my opinion were very lucky to come away with the two points. Mike Smith carried their asses in both games and is showing once again why veterans like himself are of extreme value in a young dressing room.
Some of what I post will look familiar as I cut and pasted a little bit from the game preview I published prior to the canceling of the matches between the Habs and Oilers.
Should they be in the lineup, here are three players that I think you should keep an eye on for the Canadiens tonight,
- #11 Brendan Gallagher – Was an integral figure in Montreal’s last win. Has seven points (five goals) in his last ten games and no doubt will be driving Edmonton’s defenders crazy.
- #92 Jonathan Drouin – He’s starting to heat up a little bit with four points (all assists) in his last five games. Drouin is a clever playmaker when given the time and space.
- #17 Josh Anderson – I have a feeling we might see a scrap tonight if Anderson is feeling good. Anderson’s game is predicated on being extremely physical, driving the net like Glenn Anderson used to for the Oilers, and being a menacing presence who’s difficult to handle.
For Montreal to have success, their top-six is going to have to outwork Edmonton’s. Simple as that. As good as that group might be, it will be a very tall task for them. Expecting one of the Oilers’ goalies to have a bad night or for the club to be tired from last night’s victory is probably a better bet.
Dominique Ducharme’s bottom-six has gone absolutely dry with only two goals in its last five games, maybe they’d like to show up here at some point.
For the last ten games, Carey Price (4-1-2) and Jake Allen (0-1-2) have had their forms on the year flipped. Price is starting to round into the goalie we all know him to be and Allen is beginning to regress. This will be a tough decision for Ducharme as to who he starts because Allen has a much better record against Edmonton and Price’s struggles when he plays the Oilers are well known. Whoever it is starting, they’d best have their “A” games handy.
Montreal has had a lot of time to rest here and that will leave us wondering, will the Habs be full of piss and vinegar and on the ball or will it take them some time to shake off the rust?
With regards to Edmonton, I’ll be watching these three individuals closely,
- #29 Leon Draisaitl – He wasn’t not great last night. Gave up the puck on countless occasions and really didn’t look like he had it against Toronto. However, he continues to be Edmonton’s single shining light on the faceoff dot.
- #19 Mikko Koskinen – In Edmonton’s last ten games, Koskinen has started three of them and he’s 2-1-0 with a 1.68 GAA and a .938 SV% in those games. It’s been a long time since he had a start, so it’ll be prudent that he’s sharp early on.
- #8 Kyle Turris – There’s a theory bouncing around out there that MAYBE this guy needs to be playing in the top-six to be more effective since he has only shown that he’s completely ineffective in the bottom-six. The two games before he was put on COVID protocol were his best to date for Edmonton and he did get a goal last night. We’ll see how he does against Montreal.
Three Keys to Success For the Oilers
- Get On the Habs Early
Montreal recorded a very emotional victory against the Vancouver Canucks before their games were re-scheduled and if they can draw from that win, they’ll be feeling good going into this one. Edmonton should be gunning for the kind of start that saw them come away with a 7-1 win against the Calgary Flames not too long ago. It was as if their mindset was that they were in the last minute of a must-win game down by a goal and they had the netminder pulled. That’s how intense they need to start their games. If they do that tonight, they’ll send a shock into Montreal’s psyche that will put the Canadiens back at square one.
- Tighten Up the Neutral Zone
The two games against the Maple Leafs were tough and similar to a playoff atmosphere. The Oilers would be good to learn from both the win and the loss and close off the neutral zone thus disallowing the Montreal forwards clean entries into Edmonton’s zone.
- Shut Gally Down
The heartbeat of the Montreal Canadiens is Brendan Gallagher. If the Oilers can find a way to take him off of his game and render him ineffective, that could go a long way for Edmonton. Gallagher’s intensity and enthusiastic style of play has a certain ability to find its way into the minds and hearts of his teammates when he’s on.
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