Montreal Canadiens vs Arizona Coyotes
How to watch
Start time: 7:00 p.m. EDT / 4:00 p.m. PDT
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English)RDS (French)
In the Coyotes region: Bally Sports Arizona
Diffusion: ESPN+, Direct RDS, TSN Direct
In four games, most people would say the 2022-23 Montreal Canadiens exceed expectations. A young defensive body has largely withstood the stress of NHL forwards, Cole Caufield has already tripled his goal tally since the first half of last season, and the goalie has been solid and at times spectacular. The team was not only competitive, but actually scored hard-fought victories against favored opponents. Heck, with two wins in the bank already, the Habs shouldn’t pick up any more points until Nov. 3 if they want to keep up with last year’s pace and aim for back-to-back lottery wins.
Thursday night, in a season full of new experiences, the Habs once again venture into uncharted territory.
“Favorites.”
Tale of the Band
Canadian | Statistics | coyotes |
---|---|---|
Canadian | Statistics | coyotes |
2-2-0 | Registration | 1-2-0 |
43.8% (26th) | Score chance for % | 29.9% (32nd) |
2.00 (31st) | Goals per game | 3.00 (20th) |
2.75 (13th) | Goals conceded per match | 4.67 (30th) |
7.7% (29th) | PP % | 38.5% (3rd) |
91.7% (8th) | PACK% | 71.4% (23rd) |
0-2-0 | H2H report (21-22) | 2-0-0 |
The Arizona Coyotes are not a good hockey team. “The worst team built in modern hockey” (courtesy Steve Dangle) is perhaps a little hyperbolic, but only a little. The Coyotes are generally expected to finish dead last in the NHL by some margin. Like the Canadians, they failed to win a game during the pre-season. Unlike the Canadians, they also lost their season opener, as well as the following game, allowing six goals in both games.
So of course they were going to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs at home and arrive in Montreal on a winning note.
Still, Arizona’s two points in three games put them second-to-last in their division, spared from the basement only by a historic meltdown in the Minnesota Wild’s net. In terms of the roster, the attacking contingent includes some notable names: Clayton Keller, Christian Fischer, Lawson Crouse, Nick Bjugstad, Zack Kassian and Nick Ritchie. Alongside them are skaters in unexpected situations, like leading winger and seven-year AHL veteran Liam O’Brien and 29-year-old second-line centermate Travis Boyd. Star prospects Dylan Guenther (ninth overall, 2021) and Barrett Hayton (fifth overall, 2018) are the icing on the cake in this well-mixed sundae.
On the blue line, the top pairing consists of second JJ Moser (60th overall, 2021) and offseason free agent acquisition Troy Stecher. Shayne Gostisbehere forms an offensive-minded duo with journeyman Josh Brown. Finally, the third pairing is Dysin Mayo (133rd overall, 2014) and waiver pick-up Juuso Välimäki. Jakub Chychrun, subject of many trade rumors, make the trip in Montreal but will not be suitable for the match.
Karel Vejmelka, 26, started all three games, posting an .894 save percentage and a 4.35 goals-against average. The replacement is Connor Ingram, whose only NHL experience is three playoff losses to the Colorado Avalanche last year after Juuse Saros was injured in Game 1.
As a matter of fact, HockeyDB, Hockey Reference, Wikipediaand Elite Prospects all do a lot of work here.
If there’s one place Arizona can do damage, it’s on the power play. In three games, only four Coyotes have scored a five-on-five run. Still, the team scored nine goals in total, underlining how good special teams can lift an otherwise mediocre club. Surprisingly, the sniper for the Arizona contingent so far has been Ritchie (three goals on five shots). He, Keller, Gostisbehere, Moser and Boyd are the reason the team’s power play is running at 38.5 percent skill. Against them stands a numerical disadvantage of the Canadians who allowed only one goal against Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Alexander Ovechkin and Auston Matthews.
The question is not whether the Canadians can win this game or not. This answer is definitely yes. Heck, it’s no exaggeration to say that Canadians should win this game. However, the Canadians, over the past few years, have had a frustrating tendency to belittle their opponent – and they haven’t had the high-level skill to bail out 55 minutes of poor effort with five minutes of inspired play. . A second straight solid effort from start to finish would go a long way to demonstrating that these Canadians plan to be different going forward – keeping pace with last season.
#Canadiens #Coyotes #Game #preview #start #time #tape #tale #watch