Canadiens vs. Golden Knights: Match Preview, Start Time, Tale of the Tape and How to Watch

Montreal Canadiens vs Vegas Golden Knights

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Start time: 7:00 p.m. EDT / 4:00 p.m. PDT
In Canada: city ​​television (English), TVA sports (French)
In the region of the Golden Knights: ATTSN Rocky Mountain

Expectations for the Montreal Canadiens were rightfully low this season given that they finished bottom in the league a season ago, their franchise goalie is unable to play, and the roster consists of rookies and players acquired in cap dumps . Yet the team is exceeding those expectations with a .500 point percentage in 11 games, and a 2-1-1 outing is the final chapter of a surprisingly competitive season.

The four-game outing began with a late winner against the much-improved Buffalo Sabers, followed by an incredible comeback in St. Louis that turned a multi-goal deficit into a three-goal lead. The only regular loss was another difficult game against the Minnesota Wild, but the Habs eased up by taking a point from the Winnipeg Jets on their return north of the border.

Now the Habs return to Bell Center for a single game. It won’t be a welcome homecoming as their opponents are the league-leading Vegas Golden Knights.

Once again, the Canadians play against a team that doesn’t concede many goals. They’ve faced a number of the current top-10 defensive sides – the Toronto Maple Leafs, Washington Capitals, Dallas Stars and most recently the Jets – and now it’s the only club in the league that still has a goals-against average has under 2.00 per month in the campaign.

It’s Logan Thompson who’s causing quite a stir with his playing between the whistle for Las Vegas. The rookie already has eight wins that he’s earned over a .934 percentage. Defending in front of him doesn’t force him to make many hard saves either, with the fifth-highest expected clean sheet rate in the NHL (the Wild sits fourth, so we can add it to the list). also stingy teams).

Despite Vegas literally giving away Max Pacioretty in the offseason, Vegas is still an offensive force. Jack Eichel is finally healthy and back to scoring points per game after a few seasons with a disc problem. The Golden Knights’ offense comes from a variety of sources early in the year, making it difficult to focus on one line, as is currently the case against Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki in Montreal.

After weeks of rotating options at every other forward position, Martin St-Louis seems to have pared down the options he’s willing to take advantage of. The first major decision was to make Evgenii Dadonov practically a permanent scratch (a perfectly timed placement on the IR certainly helps the visuals of this move), and Mike Hoffman hasn’t played a few games now. Considering that Joel Armia has caught the eye with his mistakes in his short time in the line-up, the head coach might decide to make another such decision for an experienced player.

Recent moves have all been made with the aim of dressing the best lineup regardless of NHL experience, suggesting St-Louis is looking towards the playoffs rather than the trade deadline and the draft. It seems an unlikely target given the club’s prospects earlier in the year and if we get into the season late the added pressure could start to reach all the young players who play a crucial role. But right now, with about a seventh of the season on the books, they’re one win away from a postseason position, and we’ve already seen how tough their opening plan was.

That reputation is tenuous, thanks largely to Caufield and Suzuki and some fine goalkeepers, most notably Samuel Montembeault of late. It’s also highly unlikely that their current 82-point lead will be enough to keep them in contention. When the team is as keen to make a splash in the Eastern Conference as St-Louis appears to be, the remaining line-up needs to reward the coach’s trust with supporting performances.