HabsCast Hockey Blog

Canadiens @ Maple Leafs – November 13, 2007

The Canadiens are coming off a tough 3rd period loss to Ottawa and are looking to rebound when they play the Maple Leafs on Tuesday night at the Air Canada Centre. The Canadiens have not fared so well this season against the Maple Leafs since they have gone 0-2 in the series thus far. In both of the meetings this season, the Canadiens were edged by a goal each time.

The Canadiens are a better team than the Leafs on paper and on the ice and it has definitely showed in the standings thus far this season. However, it seems that both times they played the Leafs, the Canadiens had a hard time finishing their opportunities. If Montreal can put pressure on the Leafs, it will cause the Leafs to take penalties and therefore allow the Canadiens to do what they do best and that’s score on the Power Play. What the Canadiens cannot do is sit back on a lead like they did against the Senators on Saturday night. The Leafs still have some firepower and the Canadiens must contain that if they want to win this game. Kyle Chipchura has been excellent so far containing the top lines of the opposing team and expect him to see some ice time against Sundin’s line.

Guy Carbonneau decided to juggle the lines a bit for Tuesday night’s game, which doesn’t come as a surprise. What also doesn’t come as a surprise is his decision to start Carey Price in goal. Cristobal Huet has obviously struggled against the Leafs, losing all of his starts at the ACC. It was a smart move on Carbonneau’s part to go with the 20 year old rookie. His play has been stellar so far and it should be interesting to see how he plays against the Leafs.

Here is the projected lineup for the Canadiens for Tuesday night’s game against the Leafs:

Forwards
Higgins - Koivu - Ryder
Kostitsyn - Plekanec- Kovalev
Latendresse - Smolinski - Dandenault
Grabovski - Chipchura - Kostopoulos

Defence
Markov - Komisarek
Brisebois - Hamrlik
Bouillon - Streit

Goaltender
Price

Steve Begin will be sitting out his second game in a row with a charley horse and is noted as day-to-day. He would have been good to have for Tuesday’s game because the Canadiens need grit where they can find it. I think the first line might have seen enough and might need a change if their play doesn’t improve, and what I mean by “their” is Michael Ryder. Ryder has gone scoreless in his last 5 games and needs to seriously step it up. The scary thing is that he has been stepping up his game and playing harder, however, the results still aren’t there. If Ryder can’t get it done on the first line then he can’t get it done at all.

The key to the Canadiens winning this game is finishing their opportunities. They have been having trouble doing that and it has been hurting them. To fall 0-3 to the Leafs in the season series would be embarrassing, considering that they are one of the duller teams in the league.

Prediction: Montreal 6, Toronto 3

The Canadiens will hold nothing back in this game in order to avoid going 0-3 to the Leafs. The Leafs will also have to solve Carey Price who has been playing superbly this season and hopefully he’ll be a problem for them.

GO HABS GO!

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