Saturday, March 1, 2008

Next Up - Brodeur and the Devils


The Northeast division leading Canadiens, take on the conference leading Devils, Saturday night in Montreal. It is the third time this season the two clubs are meeting, and the first time in the Bell Center.

Carey Price will face off against Montreal native, Martin Brodeur, who is 34-13-5 (W-L-T) all-time against the Canadiens.

The Last time these two clubs met, the Canadiens came back from a two goal deficit in the third period, to win the game 4-3, thanks to a two goal effort by Brian Smolinski and a late goal from Christopher Higgins to win the game.

Numero Uno
The Devils sit atop the Eastern conference but for how long...The Canadiens have their eyes set on becoming number one and are now only 1 win and a Pittsburgh loss away from sole possession from the crown.

The Price Is Right
Carey Price gets his 4th consecutive start and his second since the Canadiens traded away Cristobal Huet. Price, who is 14-9-3, will aim for his 3rd straight win.

Montreal Snipers?
The Montreal Canadiens have scored 207 goals for 07/08 campaign. The team without a "Superstar" sits 2nd in the league behind Ottawa (211 goals). The Canadiens are the only team in the NHL with 7 players that have at least 40 points. The team has great chemistry and thus all four lines produce speed, precise passing, and goals.

Please don't bench me!
The 2007-2008 roster consists of 22 players and 2 goalies. This is an issue in the locker room because only 18 players and suits up to play. Therefore 4 players are scratches for every game. When looking at this from a coaches viewpoint, this is great. Because if 1 player doesn’t perform then there are 4 others who are eagerly waiting to take his spot. However from a players viewpoint, this is horrible. Every player wants to play. That is their job, that is their life, that is what they love. If a player is scratched then it might be several games before they return. Right now the chemistry on the team is great. Dandenault, Kostopoulos, Brisebois will continue sitting in the press box while Smolinski and Begin alternate.

TEAM COMPARISON

2007-2008 Team Stats
80Points:79
37Wins:35
4Shutouts:3
21Power Play Rank:1
11Penalty Kill Rank:24
.783Win % When Leading After 1:.821
.923Win % When Leading After 2:.828
.294Win % When Trailing After 1:.211
.231Win % When Trailing After 2:.120



TEAM LEADERS


GOALS:Z. Parise25
A. Kovalev29
ASSISTS:Z. Parise30
A. Kovalev38
POINTS:Z. Parise55
A. Kovalev67
+/-:P. Martin19
A. Kovalev9
OT GOALS:P. Elias2
A. Kovalev1




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