Habs vs Jets : Game Preview

Source : Yahoo.com

The Montreal Canadiens are back in the playoffs following a one-year absence, but their recent poor play may have cost them their first Northeast Division title since 2007-08.

One loss just about ended the Winnipeg Jets' playoff chances.

Montreal will try to snap a season-worst three-game road losing streak Thursday night when the Jets close out their regular season.

The Canadiens (27-14-5) clinched a playoff spot with a 5-1 victory over Buffalo on April 11, but they've since lost five of six and are tied with Boston for the division lead. The Bruins, though, have a game in hand.

Montreal is fourth in the Eastern Conference and still has a chance to secure home-ice advantage in the opening round if it doesn't finish ahead of Boston, but the club has issues to fix before the postseason kicks off. Starting stronger would be one of those, as the Canadiens have fallen behind by at least two goals in the first period of each of their last five losses.

"It's been our last five or six now that we've come out flat and gone down early," forward Rene Bourque told the Canadiens' official website following Tuesday's 3-2 loss at New Jersey.

The Canadiens also need to fix a penalty-kill unit that's allowed 10 goals in 27 chances during the 1-5-0 stretch.

"We have to make the right decisions and we have to be smart," said coach Michel Therrien, whose team plays at Toronto in Saturday's season finale.

The Jets (24-20-3) have to win Thursday, and even that might not be enough to prevent them from getting eliminated from the East race. That's a tough position for the club to be in, especially since it could have moved a point ahead of Washington for the Southeast Division lead when the teams met Tuesday.

Instead, the Capitals' 5-3 victory gave them the division title, and it left Winnipeg - which was 6-0-1 in its previous seven - in ninth place, one point behind Ottawa and the New York Rangers.
That's not a huge gap, but it is considering the Senators have three games left and the Rangers play two more times.

"It was basically our Game 7 in the playoffs," said center Nik Antropov, who scored after missing the previous eight games with a lower-body injury. "And it's frustrating to lose that way."

The Jets have very little chance of making the postseason for the second time in franchise history - and first since 2007 when they were based in Atlanta - but they don't plan on just going through the motions in their finale.

"The worst thing you can do is sell yourself short and end up having those teams losing and then shoot yourself in the foot by not putting forth your best effort," said captain Andrew Ladd, the team leader with 46 points. "We're all professionals in this room - we'll show up and work hard and try to win that game against Montreal."

The Jets are 5-0-1 in their last six at home, while the Canadiens are riding their worst road skid since finishing last season 0-3-4.

Montreal, which lost 4-0 in its last game in Winnipeg on Dec. 22, 2011, has won four straight and seven of eight in this series following a pair of victories this season.

Canadiens vs Devils : Game Preview

Source : Yahoo.com

Since clinching a playoff berth, the Montreal Canadiens have endured a slide that they're hoping won't cost them home-ice advantage in the first round.

The New Jersey Devils wish they had such problems.

Montreal looks to get back on track Tuesday night against host New Jersey, which officially has been eliminated from postseason contention.

The Canadiens (27-13-5) secured a playoff appearance with a 5-1 win at Buffalo on April 11, but they've since dropped four of five after falling 5-1 to Washington on Sunday.

Montreal, which has given up 25 goals during that stretch, is tied with Boston for the Northeast Division lead - and the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference - though the Bruins have a game in hand. The Canadiens are four points ahead of Toronto for the fourth seed with three games left.

They'll finish the regular season on a three-game road trip that includes visits to Winnipeg on Thursday and Toronto on Saturday.

"Teams that come in hungry and on a roll are teams that go far in the playoffs," forward Travis Moen told the team's official website. "We've got three games here to turn it around. It's just staying positive, getting things rolling and playing like we were the first 20 games. If we can do that, we'll be fine."

Getting off to better starts likely will be part of the focus. They've fallen behind by at least two goals in the first period in each of their last four defeats, including giving up two goals on the Capitals' first three shots Sunday.

Carey Price, who has won both of Montreal's matchups with New Jersey this season, has a 5.45 goals-against average over his last five appearances, but defenseman Josh Gorges said the team also needs to be better in front of him.

"You can't just show up in Game 1 of the playoffs and think, 'Now I'm going to start playing, now our team's going to click,'" Gorges said. "We have to bounce back and have that championship mentality."

The Devils seemed to have just that last season on their way to a surprising run to the Stanley Cup finals, but they've struggled lately and were eliminated from the playoff chase with a 4-1 loss to the
New York Rangers on Sunday.

New Jersey (17-18-10) lost 10 straight from March 25-April 15 as Ilya Kovalchuk was sidelined with a shoulder injury, all but sealing its postseason fate.

Kovalchuk's return for the last two games wasn't enough to resurrect the Devils' playoff chances.

"It hasn't sunk in," said coach Peter DeBoer, who was ejected with 16.2 seconds remaining Sunday as emotions boiled over. "I think you don't want to think about it until it's actually a reality. It's not the way you want to go out. We'll have to regroup and fix it going forward."

It marks only the second time in 16 seasons that New Jersey hasn't qualified for the playoffs.
"It's difficult to take," said Martin Brodeur, who has a 2.37 GAA over his last 13 starts but is 2-7-4.

"We've competed real hard all year."

Brodeur gave up Andrei Markov's overtime goal in a 4-3 loss at Montreal on Jan. 27 in the teams' first meeting. Tomas Plekanec scored in the third period to give the Canadiens a 2-1 victory March 16 for their fifth win in the last six matchups in New Jersey.

Price is 4-1-0 with a 1.61 GAA in his last five starts there

Canadiens vs Ligthning : Game Preview

Source : Yahoo.com

Having failed to earn a point after clinching a playoff berth, the Montreal Canadiens are seeking to get their edge back while regaining sole possession of the Northeast Division lead.

The Canadiens will also try to avoid a season-high fourth straight loss when they host the slumping Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.

Since securing its return to the postseason with a 5-1 victory in Buffalo last Thursday, Montreal has been outscored 18-8 in three consecutive regulation defeats. That failure to earn points opened the door for Boston to match the Canadiens' 57 points on Wednesday.

The Bruins, though, currently occupy the No. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference because they've played one fewer game.

"When we locked up our spot in the playoffs we lost a little of that desperation," coach Michel Therrien told the team's website. "It's our job now to find it again and build on it so we're playing the best hockey possible when we start the playoffs."

The Canadiens (26-12-5) couldn't recover after falling behind 4-0 in the first 25 minutes against Pittsburgh on Wednesday and suffered a 6-4 defeat.

"We've got to get back to what was making us successful the start of the season," said goaltender Carey Price, who replaced an ineffective Peter Budaj. "The last three games we haven't gotten off to the best starts. They beat us right off the bat and got the ball rolling."

Montreal will try to get back in the groove during the visit from the Lightning (17-22-4), who are 0-2-2 in their last four games and have dropped a season-high five straight on the road. Tampa Bay rallied from a 3-1 deficit Tuesday in Winnipeg but fell 4-3 in a shootout.

The result pushed the Lightning closer to playoff elimination. Tampa Bay is eight points behind the eighth-place New York Rangers and ninth-place Winnipeg with only five games remaining.

The Lightning would be officially eliminated if they trail by nine or more points after Thursday.

"We never give up no matter what. By no means are we going to pack it in the last five games of the year," forward Steven Stamkos said.

Stamkos and teammate Martin St. Louis each remain five points behind injured league leader Sidney Crosby, and they'll try to move a little closer while ending Tampa Bay's three-game losing streak to the Canadiens and a three-game slide in Montreal.

The Canadiens needed three third-period goals for a 4-3 win in the most recent meeting March 9, and blew a 3-0 lead Feb. 12 before prevailing in a shootout.

Max Pacioretty has six goals and four assists in his last eight meetings with Tampa Bay, and Brian Gionta has three goals and two assists in his past five matchups.

Lightning defenseman Sami Salo has three goals and four assists in his last seven games against Montreal. St. Louis has seven assists in his past seven matchups, while Stamkos, who ranks second in the league with 27 goals, has just four points (three goals, one assist) over his last eight.

Tampa Bay could start goaltender Ben Bishop, who signed a two-year contract extension Monday. Bishop is 2-0-1 with a 1.25 goals-against average in three career starts against Montreal, playing all of those games while with Ottawa.

The Canadiens haven't dropped four in a row since March 24-31.

Habs vs Flyers : Game preview

 Source : Yahoo.com


The Philadelphia Flyers are facing what appears to be inevitable elimination from playoff contention, and a deep scoring slump certainly isn’t helping matters.

Facing a Montreal Canadiens team that was pretty generous in its own end the last time out could help get them back on track.

Philadelphia looks to avoid a fifth consecutive loss by defeating Montreal for the eighth time in 11 meetings Monday night.

The Flyers (17-21-3) haven’t missed the playoffs since 2006-07, but they’re sitting nine points behind the New York Rangers for the final Eastern Conference postseason spot.

They’ve managed three goals during their skid after falling 1-0 to Buffalo on Saturday. Philadelphia has gone four games without scoring at least two goals in regulation for the first time since Jan. 24-30, 2003.

“Nobody likes the position we’re in. It’s tough to take,” general manager Paul Holmgren said.

“Scoring three goals in the last four games is, I’m sure, real tough to take for the players, too. We just have to dig in now and play hard.”

Danny Briere returned after missing 10 games with a concussion and wasn’t immune to the bad luck, ringing a shot off the crossbar as the final horn sounded.

The Flyers, who last dropped five straight in regulation Nov. 27-Dec. 7, 2009, have been outscored 12-3 over the last four.

“Yeah, it’s the way things are going these days around here,” Briere said. “All the offense that we have up front, it’s been frustrating in that regard. I wish I had an easy answer.”

 The slide follows a four-game winning streak in which Philadelphia scored five goals in each of the final three, including a 5-3 victory over Montreal on April 3. Jakub Voracek and Simon Gagne each had a goal and an assist in that game as Carey Price gave up four goals.

Price had another tough outing Saturday, allowing three goals on four shots before being pulled midway through the first period of a 5-1 loss to Toronto.

“It was a tough night for him, but those things happen in your career,” coach Michel Therrien said. “He’s a good kid, he cares, he’s had a good season, he’s got character and he’s going to bounce back.

I have no doubt about that.”

Price has gone 1-3-0 with a 3.49 goals-against average in his past four games, starting with the loss to the Flyers.

It’s uncertain if playoff-bound Montreal (26-10-5) will go back to Price on Monday or start Peter 
 Budaj who signed a two-year extension Wednesday.

Budaj has gone 7-0-0 with a 1.53 GAA over his last eight appearances - six starts - in a stretch that began with a 19-save effort in a 4-1 win over Philadelphia on Feb. 16.

No matter who is in net, the Canadiens hope to get back on track quickly. They lead Boston by one point atop the Northeast Division.

“(Saturday) was a tough one, but this is a team with a lot of character and these are the kinds of athletes who are going to bounce back,” Therrien said.

Philadelphia may opt to start Ilya Bryzgalov despite his 3.44 GAA over his last five starts. He’s 2-3-1 with a 3.17 GAA lifetime versus the Canadiens.

Though the Flyers have won seven of the last 10 matchups, each defeat has come in Montreal.

Habs vs Sabres : Game Preview

Source : Yahoo.com

If the Buffalo Sabres want to make the playoffs, they can't afford too many more sloppy efforts like they had in their last game.

The Sabres hope to bounce back from a costly defeat and resume their late postseason push Thursday night when they host the Montreal Canadiens, whom they've surprisingly dominated this season.

A three-game winning streak had Buffalo (16-18-6) thinking playoffs, but a 4-1 loss at Winnipeg on Tuesday damaged those hopes. The Sabres, 11th in the Eastern Conference, gave up three goals in the second period in falling to one of the teams they're battling for a postseason berth.

"Three wins in a row. ... We're really close to the playoffs again, and this was a huge game for us coming here and this is that much more disappointing tonight," defenseman Christian Ehrhoff said.
The Sabres will be opening a three-game homestand, and play six of their final eight at home. They also got leading scorer Thomas Vanek back after a six-game absence due to an upper-body injury, but he didn't record a point and was minus-4 for the game.

"It's a tough break at this time of the year. It's unfortunate," Vanek said of the loss.
Vanek, though, has five goals in the season series with Montreal.

A visit from the Canadiens may also be reason for optimism, given how the season series has gone.

Since losing 6-1 on Feb. 2 in the first matchup, Buffalo has taken three straight meetings by one goal. The Sabres won the latest one 2-1 on the road March 23 behind a stellar effort from Ryan Miller, who made 38 saves and stopped 15 of 16 shots in the third period.

Vanek had two second-period goals in that game and the Sabres won despite managing just 18 shots. They were also outshot in the previous matchup, 34-21 in a 3-2 overtime victory March 19.

The Canadiens (25-9-5) are also coming off a defeat, though they're much more secure in their position in the conference. Montreal, second in the East with an 11-point edge over third-place
Washington and five points behind Pittsburgh, fell 3-2 to the red-hot Capitals on Tuesday.

Lars Eller scored two goals, opening the scoring in the first period and then cutting the deficit to one with 3:22 remaining, but Montreal couldn't complete the comeback.

"They got away with two points they probably shouldn't have tonight," said Eller, who ended an 11-game goal drought. "All I can say is we're going to be looking forward to the next game."
The Canadiens play six of their final nine away from home. Though Montreal is 12-4-2 on the road, it's dropped two of its last three there.

"Now you're nine games, 10 games away from the playoffs and the intensity picks up," right wing Brian Gionta said. "You've got teams that are fighting to get in, teams that are fighting for position."
Teammate Alex Galchenyuk recorded two assists Tuesday and has two goals and three assists during a four-game point streak.

Buffalo's Steve Ott has three goals and an assist in the four matchups with the Canadiens. Ott had a three-game goal streak snapped Tuesday.

Capitals-Canadiens : Game preview

Source : Yahoo.com

Alex Ovechkin's game had grown so stale and incomplete that, a year ago, he was being benched late in games.

The two-time MVP's performances are back to being predictable - in a way the Washington Capitals have to love.

After scoring five times in his last two games to grab a share of the NHL goal-scoring lead, Ovechkin tries to help the Capitals remain alone atop the Southeast Division on Tuesday night when they visit the Northeast-leading Montreal Canadiens.

The 27-year-old Russian found himself benched by defensive-minded coach Dale Hunter at times late in games last season, particularly when the Capitals (20-17-2) held a lead.

Enter Adam Oates, who moved Ovechkin from left wing to right wing and endured a miserable start to a season shortened by a labor dispute. Oates now has the Capitals - and Ovechkin - back on track. Washington has taken over first place in the Southeast, and Ovechkin looks like the Alexander the Great of old, netting 16 goals in 14 games to move into a tie for the NHL's goal-scoring lead with Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos.

Sounds like the risky move has paid off.

"He never met me before," Oates said of Ovechkin. "And I totally respect who he is, and what he's accomplished. And when you suggest something like that, it has to be a meeting of the minds and private conversations, and he had to trust me. It takes a little time, and obviously I hope he does now. We're going in the right direction."

The Capitals' run of five consecutive playoff appearances was in danger of coming to an end after a 2-8-1 start. Their play was uneven and ragged through February, and Oates said on Feb. 26 that his players were only about "60-70 percent" along the way toward getting his system down pat.

Then, sometime in March, Oates figured they were there - or at least close enough.

"Quite honestly, for the last month, we didn't talk about it," Oates said. "It's just the way we play. It's not my system or anybody's, it's just the way we play hockey. The guys know it, and when we make mistakes, it's just a team making mistakes, that's it."

Central to the turnaround is Ovechkin, who is getting the puck in different positions and no longer relies heavily on the same familiar moves to try to beat an opponent. He has 25 goals in 39 games - a 50-plus-goal pace over an 82-game season that evokes memories of his MVP seasons of 2007-08 and 2008-09.

And there's no more limiting his minutes with a lead. He was still out there when the Capitals were holding on to a one-goal lead late against Tampa Bay on Sunday. Ovechkin scored an empty-netter - his second goal of the game - to finish off the 4-2 win.

The Capitals were held off the board until the 17:37 mark of the third period in their only other meeting with Montreal (25-8-5) this season. That Joey Crabb goal came far too late in a 4-1 loss,
 Washington's first in regulation in this regular-season series since February 2010 after a 7-0-1 stretch.

While the Capitals are two points ahead of Winnipeg for the Southeast lead, the Canadiens are trying to stave off Boston atop the Northeast. Montreal grabbed the lead by a point with Saturday's 2-1 win over the Bruins, their second one-goal victory in the series in 11 days.

Starting with that first victory over Boston, the Canadiens have won five of their last six.

"We're finding ways to win games," center Lars Eller said. "... There's a lot to like about this team.
Really. But there are still 10 games to go, and if you want to go to the Stanley Cup finals you have to be good enough to beat every team. You want to finish with as good a record as you can and feel good going in, and this one felt really good."

Not all is well with Montreal, however. The Canadiens found out Monday defenseman Alexei Emelin will miss the rest of the season because of a torn knee ligament suffered in a collision with Boston's Milan Lucic on Saturday.

Emelin had 12 points this season, but Montreal isn't hurting for offensive production lately thanks to
Michael Ryder and P.K. Subban. Ryder has six goals and an assist in his last six games, and Subban has a goal and nine assists in that same stretch.

Subban has only one point - an assist - in eight career games against Washington.

Ovechkin has one goal in the series' last four contests.

Habs vs Sabres : Game Preview

Source : yahoo.com

Montreal's only blemish during its current seven-game points streak came at home to the Buffalo Sabres earlier this week.

The Canadians have a chance to avenge that loss as they host the Sabres for the second time in five nights Saturday.

Montreal (20-5-5) avenged its only regulation loss in the last 19 games with a 5-2 road win over the New York Islanders on Thursday. The Canadiens, who are 6-0-1 since that 6-3 loss to the Islanders on March 5, now have a chance to pay back Buffalo (12-15-4) after the Sabres left Montreal with a 3-2 overtime victory Tuesday.

"Obviously a run like this feels good but we know we have a lot of work to do in improving our game," said Montreal forward Max Pacioretty, who had two assists Thursday. "If we want to be successful we have to change a couple things in our game and get better at it and hopefully we can
keep doing that."

The Canadiens have a two-point lead over Boston in the Northeast Division and are on the heels of Eastern Conference-leading Pittsburgh. Montreal is in the midst of a 4-0-3 home stretch but has lost in a shootout and overtime to the Sabres since beating them 6-1 at the Bell Centre on Feb. 2.

Buffalo's Steve Ott scored in regulation and 2:16 into overtime at Montreal on Tuesday. Ott had an assist and scored in the sixth round of Thursday's 5-4 shootout home win over Toronto.

"He was the guy to go to,'' Sabres interim coach Ron Rolston said. "He brings a lot of energy to the team and especially the grit he plays with on a consistent basis. He can be put out in all situations.''

Ott has three goals in two games against the Canadiens, who hope to halt Buffalo's momentum by building on their latest victory.

Montreal trailed 2-1 on Long Island before scoring four straight goals, including three in the third period. Defenseman P.K. Subban had two goals and Michael Ryder scored his third for his 10th point in 10 games since being acquired from Dallas last month.

"This was a big win for us," said Montreal's Carey Price, who made 25 saves. "We wanted to rebound after that last game. I don't think we played particularity well in those first two periods, but we came out really strong in the third.

"We're really comfortable in tight games when we come out in the third period. We have a group with an incredible will and work ethic that allows us to overcome tough situations."

Price has a 2.29 goals-against average while winning five of six, but has yielded three goals in three of his last four against the Sabres.

Buffalo's Thomas Vanek has three of his team-leading 14 goals versus Montreal this season, but could sit out a second straight game after he was struck by a shot in the right hip Tuesday against the Canadiens.

Four points out of the final playoff spot in the East, Buffalo is 6-5-3 since Rolston replaced the fired Lindy Ruff on Feb. 20.

Subban has six of his nine goals in the last 10 games, but one in 15 career contests against the Sabres.