Game 23 - Canadiens at Rangers

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Match Up

The league leading Montreal Canadiens (16-5-1) are in New York to face the Rangers (8-7-4) Sunday night at Madison Square Garden. The game is set to start at 7:00 and can be seen on RDS and City.

This is the second of three meetings between the Habs and Rangers this season, the two teams that faced off in the Eastern Conference Finals last season. Montreal already picked up a 3-1 victory on home ice earlier in the season on goals by Tomas Plekanec, Lars Eller, and Max Pacioretty.

What to Watch

Carey Price may have earned his second shutout of the season and league best 13th win Saturday against the Bruins, but Dustin Tokarski is expected to get the start Sunday in New York, his fifth of the season.

Like the Habs, the Rangers are also coming off a shutout performance by their goalie, and like the Habs, that goalie, Cam Talbot in this case, isn't expected to start on Sunday. Henrik Lundqvist is expected to start on Sunday. In 28 career regular season starts against the Habs, Lundqvist is 13-12-2 with a .897 save percentage and a 2.86 GAA.

What's at Stake

The Canadiens are hot and there's no sense slowing down now. With just one loss in their last nine games, the Habs have surged to the top of the standings and are building a healthy cushion on their competition. The Rangers have been struggling in November as well, posting a 3-3-4 record this month and a 2-3-2 record in their last seven.

Who's Out

The Habs are missing Michael Bournival (shoulder) but are otherwise healthy going into Sunday's game.

The Rangers are without their captain and former Habs prospect Ryan McDonagh (shoulder). They could also be without Lee Stempniak (back) who is listed as day to day.

What Else

Andrei Markov scored career goal number 100 Saturday night against the Bruins, becoming just the fourth Canadien and 86th NHL defenseman to hit that milestone. Markov is one of just three Russian-born defenseman to hit the mark, new teammate Sergei Gonchar is another, with 219 career goals to his credit.

The Question Mark

Given his wealth of options, how would you like to see Michel Therrien set his top six (or seven) defensemen?

Tonight's Show

Join host Steven Hindle along with Kosta Papoulias and Rob Elbaz for the Montreal Hockey Talk Pregame Show as we go live at 6:00 to preview the Canadiens and the Rangers.

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Game 8 - Canadiens vs Rangers

#MTLHockey Preview

Match Up

The Canadiens (6-1-0) play host to the Rangers (4-3-0) Saturday night at the Bell Centre in an Eastern Conference Final rematch. The game starts at 7:00 with a special ceremony in honor of Corporal Nathan Cirillo and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent that will be shown on CBC, Sportsnet ONE, City, and TVA Sports, as well as the NHL Network for U.S viewers.

This is the first of three meetings between the Habs and Blueshirts, and the only one in Montreal. Last year the teams met three times in the regular season with each game ending as a shutout. Cam Talbot, Carey Price and Peter Budaj all posted shutout wins during the series, while Henrik Lundqvist was the only goalie to give up more than a single goal in one of these games, allowing a pair in a 2-0 loss.

These teams me again in the Eastern Conference Final with the Rangers eliminating the Habs in 6 games. Carey Price was forced out of the series after just two periods when Chris Kreider collided with the Habs netminder.

What to Watch

While slow starts continue to be an issue plaguing the Canadiens, the questions about Carey Price's slow start have subsided. Price has 3 straight wins since being pulled in Tampa, and has made 59 saves on 62 shots in his last two starts. Don't look now but Alexei Emelin has quietly put up five assists in five games this season. Emelin logged a season high 24:58 Tuesday night against the Wings.

19-year-old Montreal native Anthony Duclair will be dressed for Saturday's game, the rookie has three assists in five games and is still looking for his first NHL goal. The Habs will need to keep a close watch on Rick Nash whenever he's on the ice, Nash has eight goals in seven games this year.

What's at Stake

The Habs have already faced the two teams they eliminated in last year's playoffs, now they get to try for a bit of revenge of their own. With a win on Saturday, the team will match a franchise record for most wins in their first eight games, although the 1961-62 Canadiens earned 15 of their first 16 points. A win would also help the Habs keep pace with the league leading Anaheim Ducks who sit two points ahead of Montreal after their win on Friday.

Who's Out

Nathan Beaulieu has been sent back down to Hamilton along with Michael Bournival to get at least some game action and both are expecting to be called back up after the weekend. Other than that the Habs are healthy as they look to close out their first home-stand of the season.

The Rangers are missing two big pieces in Dan Boyle (hand) and Derek Stepan (leg). Since joining the Rangers in the off-season, Boyle has played in just one regular season game seeing 14 minutes of action before breaking his hand while blocking a shot.

What Else

The Canadiens, Maple Leafs and Senators will hold a special, coordinated tribute in their home buildings for slain Canadian soldiers Corporal Nathan Cirillo and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent. The event is being described as a show of solidarity and a way to show appreciation for the men and women whose selfless actions stopped the attackers and aided the victims. Senators owner, Eugene Melnyk, had this to say on the event in his statement posted on the Ottawa Senators' Website:

As we continue to reflect on the tragic circumstances surrounding the deaths of two our country’s soldiers on Canadian soil, we do so with heavy hearts. But what doesn’t break us, makes us stronger. Today our country stands more united than ever and so does the entire NHL family. We are very pleased to join forces with the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs in coordinating a unique and special tribute prior our game on Saturday in honour and recognition of these two brave soldiers, their families and all members of our Canadian military.

The Question Mark

After having several month to look back, how do you feel about Chris Kreider and his collision with Price last Spring?

Tonight's Show

Join host Steven Hindle along with Kosta Papoulias and Rob Elbaz for the Montreal Hockey Talk Pregame Show as we go live at 6:00 tonight to preview the Canadiens and the Rangers.

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Habs/Rangers Post Game Saturday Nov. 17th

The Habs were shut-out by the Rangers 1-0 who visited the Bell Center Saturday night.

The Canadiens who are currently 4-4-2 in their last ten games were coming off a victory in a shoot-out against the struggling Blue Jackets but looked lost against a rising New York team.

With Price in nets, the Habs were unable to get anything by backup goaltender Cam Talbot. Talbot has only appeared in a hand-full of games this season but has put up good numbers in those efforts, after the game Saturday night he is posting a 1.58 GAA and a .943%. The Canadiens shot 22 pucks in his direction but still weren't able to get any scoring done in front of the home crowd.

What is worrisome about the inability for the Canadiens to score is that in consecutive games they have played against the oppositions backup. There should have been extra incentive to get those pucks on net and test these goalies who are not regularly between the pipes. The Rangers blocked 21 shots to help their goaltender's work load.

While there was a lot of reaction from the media and the public with regards to the David Desharnais shoot-out winner against the Jackets. It appeared to only gave him a boost in the first period, the following two periods were filled with more of the same from the center-man who has been struggling progressively for the better part of the last calendar year.

Alexei Emelin made his Habs debut this season. While he has yet to play a game his play over the years has earned him an extension in the eyes of general manager Bergevin. In his first game back, he appeared a little rusty but did manage to log over 16 minutes of ice time. Given the severity of his injury, he will take a few games to fit into the line-up as the effective hard hitting presence he is famous for in the city. He came in replacing Douglas Murray who was benched for a large portion of the previous game.

The game for both teams was sloppy. Neither team was regularly finding a groove to challenge the other. The Rangers, one of the leagues hottest teams of late, played a physical, heavy hitting game against the Habs. They let Montreal come to them and waited for mistakes before reacting to them. They were playing their first game of a back-to-back and are playing against the strong LA Kings squad on Sunday.

Subban logged the most time on ice for the Canadiens again. The night before he had put up 29 minutes and Saturday he was on the ice for a little over 25. He and Markov were the team leaders in that category and while they are very good at producing points, especially on the man-advantage. The Rangers were disciplined and only took two penalties limiting those chances for the Canadiens.

The Rangers on the other hand used their power-play to score the only goal of the game. Pacioretty went to the box in the second period for tripping, and captain Ryan Callahan tipped in a Brad Richards shot which eventually became the game winner.

The efforts of Carey Price were rewarded with a third star selection. In his last two starts he has allowed 2 goals against but the team in front of him just cannot put it together and score to give him the win. Earlier on in the season he was able to keep them in games long enough for the Habs to generate the one important scoring chance that they capitalized on to get the win. Lately though, the Canadiens are not making the most of their chances.

Perhaps their success on special teams has left them searching for answers five-on-five. They are a middle of the pack 5/5 scoring team but have used their 4th ranked power play to compensate for that short-coming.

The lines for the Habs may need a shake-up. While the Eller/Gally(s) line was doing very well in the beginning they seem to be finding themselves in a short term rut. Their production was heavily relied on in the early goings but has since been lost. Maybe it's time for Coach Therrien to juggle the lines and see if there are new combinations that will produce goals.

The next three games are all big match-ups for the Habs. First they take on the Minnesota Wild who are quietly posting one of the better records in the west. Then they see Ovechkin and Crosby in consecutive nights as the Capitals and Penguins are on the docket.

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