So we meet again: Game Preview 3-13-10

Because player-specific bullet points get redundant when you play teams more than 4 times a year, I'm cheaping out on you tonight and giving you a skinny:

Boston has played three games less than Montreal and are only two points away from tying them at 7th place, but have just learned the severity of Marc Savard's injury (he's out for the rest of the season). However, they have only brought one win out of the rest of the season's matchups between the two teams and you have to imagine that something's gotta give in that situation. Montreal barely squeaked out a W against Edmonton the other night and by no means want to make this as close (or as freaky-deaky) a game as that. Rask faces Halak in goal, Maxim Lapierre returns from suspension, Zdeno Chara is the NHL's version of Lurch, and insert other game fact here.

Oh right, and the "any excuse to show my German side" tag gets its use here:

:D BON MATCH, M'DAMES & MESSIEURS.

(Making an "overuse of caffeine" tag, stat)

Blood in the water: Game Preview 3-4-10

It's no secret that the Sharks have been true to to their name this season. Well. Pretty close to it, anyway. Sitting at 89 points in 63 games, they reign over the sea of the Western Conference with only the Chicago Blackhawks in their way of top seed (same amount of points, but Chicago has two more wins). Not to mention they have about half of Team Canada's gold-medal winning roster in their ranks. The Canadiens, in addition to their usual western roadtrip habits, have not been able to win at the hp pavilion this decade (may I just take this opportunity to point out that a 21 year old Marco Sturm was in that November 23rd, 1999 game).

I had to.

However, both teams are 5-4-1 in their last ten games and there are no wild cards at play since neither team made changes (aside from Matt D'Agostini's departure, good luck, Dags) at yesterday's trade deadline. If there was a time for our beloved Tricolore to pull out a surprise win, tonight's matchup would be it.

The two teams last met a year ago, and Jaroslav Halak stood on his head as the Canadiens took the Bell Centre meeting 3-2. No word on a starting goaltender as of yet, but indicators might point to Carey Price making a second straight appearance as he wasn't too shabby in the 4-1 win against Boston on Tuesday and Halak is still recovering from his Olympics.

Bigger leads are better against the Sharks, as they nearly pulled out a win (or at least a point) against New Jersey after being down 4-0, a.k.a. defensive hockey won't cut it here tonight.

Some Jaws-related pun that I can't think of at the moment

• Ottawa native Dan Boyle is a sneaky little playmaking defenseman, responsible for 12 points, mostly assists (but you know he can score), against the Canadiens over the course of his career.
• Russian backstop Evgeni Nabokov is looking to rebound from the last two weeks he spent in Vancouver. Sharks' coach Todd McLellan was recently quoted as saying the team's confidence in their goaltender hasn't faltered, and you can bet he'll be ready to prove them right.
• Devin Setoguchi manned the near-comeback against New Jersey with two goals.
• In the "predicting who will score for Team Canada" mission I inadvertently gave myself, Dany Heatley was always the one who kept me from being right 100% of the time (I had a ridiculous accuracy rate going for the round robin).
• Of course there's also Jumbo Joe Thornton, but don't forget little Joe Pavelski either.
• At this rate, there should probably be a bullet point for the entire team.

And we're back! Game Preview 3-2-10

This is the situation I will hereby refer to as The Clump: the ugly, unwanted stress that comes with six teams jostling for three spots in the playoffs. The Canadiens currently have 64 points, and tonight's opposition, 65. Boston has a handful of Olympic returnees, as do the Habs.

Tonight's matchup question: which team has the bigger Olympic hangover?

As mentioned on the Team 990 this morning, a major issue for the Habs is the fact that they will seemingly never have games in hand from here on out, and any losing streak will mark their playoff chances pretty negatively. Basically, this is a less-than-agreeable time for a roadtrip, much less one to California after this game. Los Angeles is no longer a freebie with their remarkable season, and despite Anaheim's struggles, they have quite a bit of fight left in them. San Jose, uh, well. No need to elaborate. Yet the Habs seem to play better against teams with better positions in the standings, so they have the power to surprise as well.

Bruins and stuff

• David Krejci's wakeup call has been the Olympics, where he played brilliantly before the Czechs' elimination. He should be en route to continue that pace, barring a complete meltdown.


• Mark Recchi seems to be Mr. Clutch for the Bruins as of late, and there's the ex-Hab factor in here as well.


• Marc Savard. Usual pain-in-the-butt scoring qualities that I may have eluded to previously.


• Marco Sturm was the thorn in the Habs' side the last time the two teams faced off.

The Jaroslav Tea Party: Game Preview 2-4-10

Tonight's game spells the return of Halak to the net (third start in a row, for whoever's counting), and Spacek to the blueline. Clinging to 7th place in the East, the Habs take on an old foe in Boston who, it has to be said, hasn't been awesome lately, but are hot on the Habs' trail for a playoff spot (much like everyone and their mother). Both games between the two teams this season have been won by the Canadiens, however lots of factors have changed since then, begging the question "what to expect tonight?"

The last 5-1 score had Mike Cammalleri score a hat trick. Today, he stands on crutches. To that effect, neither team has a 20-goal scorer. Plekanec and Gionta are tied for second on the board in that category with 14 each, while on the other side, Marco Sturm leads with 16. Given the history of these division/all-time rivals it's only natural to expect that one can look for a physical affair, with more skirmishes and trips to the box than bouts of offensive flashiness.

However:

• The aformentioned Marco Sturm would love to show his goal face to the Bruins' faithful.
• Patrice Bergeron and Marc Savard are a double-team of annoying when it comes to these matchups. They've combined for 54 points in 73 games against the Habs, which doesn't quite seem staggering enough of a statistic so maybe it's just me that finds them annoying.
• Zdeno. 'Nuff said.
• David Krejci has been one bright spot in Boston's recent woes, and no doubt he also has a little bit of revenge planned for his compatriot Tomas Plekanec (if you have no idea what I'm referring to, YouTube-search the two names).
• Michael Ryder may find himself in trade rumours, but he's no less dangerous against his old team.