Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Wildcard Edition
Playing the second outing of a back-to-back set, the Montreal Canadiens (8th in Atlantic Division) will try to snap a seven-game slide on the road, with the New York Rangers (3rd in Metropolitan) playing host on the back of two straight victories.
The Montreal Canadiens (17-23-3) kicked off their current New York Metropolitan back-to-back stretch with a defeat after earning their seventh consecutive road loss (0-6-1) following a 2-1 setback against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena last night. The Habs conceded two snipes in the first six minutes of the contest before Nick Suzuki (16 goals, 36 points this year) banked Montreal’s only marker at 9:56 of the third period, finding the back of the net for the first time in 12 games. The Canadiens were outshot 38-23, going with 46 total attempts to New York’s 75, and are 2-8-1 in their most recent 11 matchups.
Goalie Sam Montembeault made 36 saves yesterday and has now gone 7-7-2 for the ongoing campaign with a 3.31 GAA and a .905 save percentage. He has posted a faultless 2-0-0 past tally against the New York Rang ers with a 3.84 GAA and a .869 save percentage, while Cayden Primeau (4-6-3 for the AHL’s Laval Rocket this season with a 3.65 GAA and a .890 save percentage) is 0-1-0 versus the Blueshirts historically with a 3.02 GAA and a .912 save percentage. The Canadiens, meanwhile, are 3rd in least goals scored per game this year (2.56), 4th in most goals given up on average (3.74), 3rd from the bottom in power play (15.8%) and 23rd in penalty kill (74.8%).