The Montreal Canadiens just swept their annual Florida end of year trip with convincing wins over the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning, a rare feat they hadn’t achieved since 2009, but an even bigger test awaits them in Nevada. On Sunday night, the Vegas Golden Knights blanked the Calgary Flames 3-0 to record a sixth consecutive win. They’re still far away from their franchise record of 10 consecutive triumphs, but they’re still in top form and have won nine of their last 10 games.
The last time the two sides met, Montreal suffered a humiliating 6-2 defeat at home and played perhaps their worst period of hockey this season. The second frame was a complete nightmare for Martin St-Louis’ men who gave up four goals in less than six minutes. After five goals, Samuel Montembeault was replaced by Cayden Primeau for the third frame, but it was too late for that to have any influence on the outcome of the game.
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Vegas has won the last seven duels between the two teams and the Canadiens won the three before then, meaning the Knights have a 7-3 edge in the last 10 confrontations.
In the November massacre, Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev both had three points, which is hardly surprising for the former who now has 24 points in 23 games against the Habs. He’s followed by defenseman Shea Theodore who has 15 points in 12 games and center William Karlsson who also has 15 points in 16 games.
Adin Hill was in net for the win, and has a nearly immaculate record against the Habs. He’s 5-1-0 with a 2.64 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage. Ilya Samsonov was on duty Sunday night and it will be interesting to see if the shutout earns him a second start in a row. So far this season, he’s only played 13 games to Hills’ 23. The backup also has a great record against Montreal at 6-1-1 with a .910 SP and a 2.74 GAA.
Meanwhile, the Canadiens’ players have not been overly productive against the young franchise. Christian Dvorak has the most points with 11 in 23 games while captain Nick Suzuki has nine points in as many games. Veteran Brendan Gallagher rounds up the top three with 8 points in 10 games.
In net, Jakub Dobes has obviously never taken on Vegas while Samuel Montembeault has never beaten the Knights. He’s 0-2-2 in five starts with a 4.06 GAA and a .894 SP. With three games on tap this week, including a back-to-back against the Chicago Blackhawks and the Colorado Avalanche on Friday and Saturday nights, it will be interesting to see how Martin St-Louis divides the workload. Dobes should at least play one of the two weekend games.
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Today’s game kicks off at 15:00 and will be the perfect starter for your new year’s eve celebration. Whichever way you chose to mark the occasion, enjoy yourself but be safe and ready for an exciting new year in Habs land.
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