Free Daily NCAA Lock Pick, Wednesday October 11th: Sam Houston vs New Mexico State 9:00pmET
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The Montreal Canadiens begin the season against their rival Toronto Maple Leafs with both teams entering the season with different expectations. The Canadiens ended last season in last place and are in the middle of a rebuild but hope the young core is ready to take a big step forward this year. The Maple Leafs made it to the Second Round last season and are going all-in to win the Cup with their current group. Both teams look to start off the season strong in a tough Atlantic Division and the upcoming game should be a good one.
The Canadiens are in the middle of the rebuild and hope the offense can take a big leap after scoring only 2.77 goals per game last season. A young core is forming with Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Kirby Dach scoring 66 goals and 74 assists last season but the rest of the offense needs to improve. The hope is that veterans Josh Anderson, Joel Armia, and offseason addition Alex Newhook can add depth to the forward unit and make the offense a tough one to stop.
The offense looks to take a leap but the defense is desperate to improve after allowing 3.72 goals per game last season. Johnathan Kovacevic and Mike Matheson led the top two lines last season with 5.7 defensive point shares but the rest of the unit struggled and the hope is that Jordan Harris and David Savard can step up on the later pairings. In addition, the Canadiens hope the goaltending improves and all eyes will be on Jake Allen to ste p up as he had a .891 save percentage and a 3.55 goals-against average on 1335 shots last season.
Free Daily NCAA Lock Pick, Wednesday October 11th: Sam Houston vs New Mexico State 9:00pmET CLICK TO SEE PICK NOW