HabsCast Hockey Blog

It will start with Buffalo and then shift to Bruins; the Montreal Canadiens better bring out all of their artillery when they play back-to-back games against two divisional rivals. The Canadiens are coming off of an overtime win against the Maple Leafs, a game that they should have lost. Thanks to Carey Price, however, the Canadiens were able to come back and win the game on a rare Mike Komisarek breakaway goal. Carey Price played extremely well stopping 37 of the 40 shots against him. The Canadiens will look to continue their success against their Northeast rivals when they face the Sabres and Bruins on Friday and Saturday night.

First Stop: Buffalo @ HSBC Arena

When the Canadiens play the Sabres tonight they have to put their previous success in their hindsight and play them as if they were the best team in the league. I find that the tougher the team is, the better the Canadiens play. The Sabres have been struggling of late and it seems that the losses of Chris Drury and Daniel Briere are catching up to them. Defenseman Brian Campbell has been their best player and that’s not a good sign for Buffalo. The Canadiens need to attack their weakness and that’s their defensive game. If they can solve Ryan Miller early, the Canadiens will be looking at a victory.

By the Numbers

The Canadiens are 2-0-0 against the Sabres this season
Buffalo has lost 4 out of their last 5 games
The Canadiens have outscored Buffalo 6-2
Buffalo ranks 14 on the PP and 9 on the PK
Montreal ranks 1 on the PP and 17 on the PK

Second Stop: Boston @ the Bell Centre

The Canadiens have had a lot of success against the Boston Bruins over the past two seasons. The Bruins are in a rebuilding phase and have already lost their star forward, Patrice Bergeron, to a severe concussion after he was hit from behind by Flyers defenseman Randy Jones. They haven’t been play terrible this season, recording a 9-6-2 record. The Canadiens will have to continue playing the same way they did the previous two times they met this season. Carey Price is already known to be the starting goalie against the Bruins. Price’s play has not gone without notice and it seems that his starts are becoming more regular. The Canadiens must also take advantage of Boston’s PK by putting pressure on them, which is exactly what they did in their 6-1 win earlier this season.

By the Numbers:

The Canadiens are 2-0-0 against the Bruins this season
Boston has gone 4-4-2 in their last 10 games, while Montreal has gone 7-2-1
Boston ranks 19 on the PP and 25 on the PK
Montreal has outscored Boston 8-2 this season

Here are the projected lines for the games against Buffalo and Boston:

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

Defence
Markov - Komisarek
Hamrlik - Brisebois
Bouillon - Streit

Goaltender
Huet
Price

Line Changes:

Michael Ryder has been demoted to the third line and Tom Kostopolous got promoted to the first line as a result. Carbonneau is hoping that Kostopolous can fill the void on the first line, which hasn’t been producing much of late. Ryder, on the other hand, will need to find his game on the third line playing with the likes of Begin and Smolinski, which could be a good mix. The second line has been the most productive of late and will remain intact. Alex Kovalev had 3 points in Montreal’s win over Toronto on Tuesday. At the defensive end there have been no changes, however, the exceptional play of Mike Komisarek cannot go unnoticed. Komisarek is continuing to mature into one of the game’s elite defensive defenseman and is starting to produce more offensively. He’s second in the league in hits and blocked shots with 64 and 61, respectively. Both Buffalo and Boston need to watch out for Komisarek.

Predictions: Canadiens 4, Buffalo 3 (SO) / Canadiens 5, Boston 2

The Canadiens can definitely take both these games this weekend, especially considering the way some of their players have been performing. However, bearing in mind that both these teams are hungry for wins and have lost both their first two games of their series against the Canadiens, it’s going to be tough for them to pull off two in a row. Well, here goes nothing.

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