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Game Preview: Canadiens vs Sabres |
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Claude Julien has finally announced this morning what everyone already knew, Keith Kinkaid will get his first start tonight in Buffalo. No one should be surprised by this call considering that the Habs are also playing tomorrow against Detroit in Montréal for their home opener. Price was always going to be on duty to open the local season, had he not been, fans would have complained that this was like a slap in the face.
That being said, Kinkaid isn't going to have an easy night when the puck drops at the Key Bank Centre. Last season, the Canadiens dropped 3 out of 4 games to Buffalo and so far this season, the Sabres have won 2 games and lost one in OT while putting 13 goals on the board for an average of 4.33 goals per game. Of course, scoring a touchdown against New Jersey did help that average and one can't say that the Penguins have been hard to beat so far this season but still, credit where it is due, the Sabres are doing well. Here's the current Buffalo line-up:
Victor Olofsson - Jack Eichel - Sam Reinhart
Jeff Skinner - Marcus Johansson - Vladimir Sobotka
Jimmy Vesey - Casey Mittelstadt - Evan Rodrigues
Zegmus Girgensons - Johan Larsson - Kyle Okposo
Jake McCabe- Rasmus Ristolainen
Rasmus Dahlin - Colin Miller
Marco Scandella - Henri Jokiharju
Carter Hutton has been confirmed as the starting goalie and so far this season, he's won his 2 games and boosts a 1.50 GAA and a .939 save percentage. Dahlin is having himself quite a start to the season with 5 points in 3 games and the Sabres power play is lethal right now with a 60% success rate. Hopefully, we won't see any more bench minors for too many men tonight because the Canadiens just cannot afford to go a man down against a power play unit that is firing on all cylinders.
Don't expect any changes to the line-up tonight, it's already clear that the Canadiens will be using the same lines that started the last two games even though Julien got out his blender before the 3rd period against the Leafs. So, this will be how our Habs line-up:
Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Lehkonen - Domi - Suzuki
Drouin - Kotkaniemi - Armia
Byron - Thompson - Weal
Mete - Weber
Chiarot - Petry
Kulak - Fleury
Reilly - Folin
There was an optional skate this morning in Buffalo and the following players laced them up:
I was glad to see two players on that list: Weber (since he didn't practice yesterday) and Drouin (looks like the working hard trend is set to continue). I know that officially, Weber was given a rest day yesterday and that's why he didn't practice but who can tell me that they always trust what the Habs brass tells us about injuries? As for Drouin, I was worried about how he might react to still being on the third line but looks like he is A-OK with that and that's a big relief. Last season's Drouin might have sulked his way through tonight's game but this year's version is at the optional skate and ready to go.
It's worth mentioning that Nick Cousins didn't make the trip to Buffalo with the team as he's currently suffering from a back injury and is listed as day-to-day. This injury doesn't mean that someone will be recalled from Laval since he'd been a healthy scratch for the first two games on the season. Furthermore, Michael McCarron was also put on waivers today since he's back from injury. Hopefully he clears and is allowed to join the Rocket.
The puck drops at 19:00 and let's hope that the game is as entertaining as the last two because so far this season, the Canadiens have kept us very well entertained.
Edit: RDS report that Kulak and Fleury are out tonight and Reilly and Folin are in...not sure about this....
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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