xXx..CK..xXx
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Posts posted by xXx..CK..xXx
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I don’t think it really matters that is numbers have been impacted by a recent streak.
Unless you’re an elite point per game + player in the league, you’re either going to never produce points or be a streaky player. Even some of the better players in the league are streaky as well.
Considering Dvorak is a career .467 points per game player and this year he is sitting at .4 points per game, the streak merely means that he is reverting more to his norm, and his production isn’t necessarily making him seem better than he is over an entire calendar year. When looked at a macro level, he is performing as he should, and similar to Jake Evans who has had a rough patch statistically in the second half, he’s still had a solid year overall and fans shouldn’t simply look at his recent drout as an analysis of his play.
Hugo knows who Dvorak is and what he brings to the table. In terms of what that means for Dvorak moving forward, perhaps that is a whole other conversation.
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The Habs continue their pursuit of happiness tonight at 7PM vs the Philadelphia Flyers.
Next Matchup
Philadelphia Flyers @ Montreal Canadiens - Saturday, April 5th @ 7PM EST - Centre Bell
Montreal Canadiens Lineup
Caufield - Suzuki - Slafkovský
Heineman - Newhook - Laine
Anderson - Dvorak - Gallagher
Pezzetta - Evans - Armia
Matheson - Carrier
Guhle - HutsonStruble - Savard
Montembeault
Dobeš
Philadelphia Flyers Lineup
Foerster - Cates - Brink
Michkov - Couturier - Konecny
Pelletier - Poehling - Tippett
Deslauriers - Dorwart - Hathaway
Seeler - Sanheim
York - Drysdale
Zamula - Andrae
Ersson
Fedotov
Storyline
The Habs and Flyers are set to meet each other for the second time in 10 days. The first meeting coincided with the firing of Flyers head coach, John Tortorella. The Flyers have managed to gain a boost from this event and have turned their last 3 matchups into a 3 game winning streak.
The Habs lost their last contest with the Flyers 6-4 but have also managed to turn their luck around at a crucial moment of their season. They are also in the midst of enjoying a 3 game winning streak.
The Flyers (26.8) and the Habs (26.9) are both young teams, sitting 3rd and 4th (tied with Boston) youngest respectively. Many of the younger teams are not doing well in the standings, so this bodes well for the talent level of Montreal’s young players.
Two of the youngest players on each team are currently in a battle for the rookie of the year honours, and the Calder Trophy. While Lane Hutson’s name has been circulating amongst the mouths of those discussing the topic, Michkov is also having quite a significant year, and things have only seemed to improve in this short sample size since Tortorella’s firing.
While Hutson has been the better player statistically over the past week with 6 points, Michkov has recorded 11 points (4g, 7a) in the past 14 days, good enough for third in the NHL over that span. He is tied with Jack Eichel (6g, 5a) and Ovechkin (6g, 5a) during that period. Only Robert Thomas and Nikita Kucherov have more points (15) over that same timeframe. While Nick Suzuki has led the way during that timeframe with 10 points, Hutson has been no slouch having registered 9 assists for 9 points during the past 14 days.
Clearly, the race for the Calder is on, and tonight’s matchup will be a big part of that.
The Habs will enjoy a back to back series this weekend with two winnable matches against the Philadelphia Flyers and the Nashville Predators. The playoff race is still tight but the Habs hold their destiny in their own hands. With a solid effort and results going their way, this weekend could prove to be monumental in regards to the Canadiens’ playoff aspirations.
May the team continue to play well and deliver the fans and organization what they so desperately crave, a playoff berth.
Previous MeetingsOctober 27, 2024: Montreal 4 - 3 Flyers
March 27, 2025: Montreal 4 - 6 Flyers
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Detroit and the New York Islanders decided to win tonight.
Detroit 5-3 against Carolina and the Islanders 3-1 against the Wild.
Maximum Points:
MTL: 95
NYR: 93
CBJ: 93
DET: 91
NYI: 90
Record since initial post:
MTL: 3-3-0 = 6 PTS (6 GP)
NYR: 2-1-1 = 5 PTS (4 GP)
DET: 2-2-1 = 5 PTS (5 GP)
CBJ: 2-2-0 = 4 PTS (4 GP)
NYI: 1-4-0 = 2 PTS (5 GP)
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I’m looking forward to having Dvorak during our playoff run… should we close out the regular season strong. Regardless of his statistical output, he seems the perfect type of player to have on your team for the playoffs.
The Travis Moen who scores your cup winning goal. (as he did for Anaheim)[Moen < Dvorak]
#OneCanDream
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Columbus won their last game 8-4 and then loses their next game today against Colorado 7-3. Roller coaster.
Here are the standings compared to how they were when the thread started.
Current Standings 3/25/2025
Montreal: GP 69 - 33-27-9 / 75 Pts / RW 24
NYI: GP 70 - 32-28-10 / 74 Pts / RW 25
NYR: GP 71 - 34-31-6 / 74 Pts / RW 31
Columbus: GP 70 - 32-29-9 /73 Pts/ RW 23
Detroit: GP 70 - 33-31-6 / 72 Pts / RW 25
Updated Standings 4/3/2025
Montreal: GP 75 - 36-30-9 / 81 Pts / RW 26
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NYR: GP 75 - 36-32-7 / 79 Pts / RW 32
CBJ: GP 74 - 34-31-9 / 77 Pts / RW 24
Detroit: GP 74 - 34-33-7 / 75 Pts / RW 26
NYI: GP 74 - 32-32-10 / 74 Pts / RW 25
If the Rangers lose their next game, that would be nice.
Record since initial post:MTL: 3-3-0 = 6 PTS (6 GP)
NYR: 2-1-1 = 5 PTS (4 GP)
CBJ: 2-2-0 = 4 PTS (4 GP)
DET: 1-2-1 = 3 PTS (4 GP)
NYI: 0-4-0 = 0 PTS (4 GP
Habs take the lead for the first time. Most games played though.
Playoff Probability (Hockey Reference)Montreal: 64.2%
Rangers: 24.4%
Columbus: 10.4%
Detroit: 1.5%
Islanders: 0.9%Playoff Probability (Playoff Status)
Montreal: 67%
Rangers: 25%
Blue Jackets: 6%
Red Wings: 2%
Islanders: 2%
Playoff Probability (Money Puck)
Montreal: 51.9%
Rangers: 28.6%Columbus: 16.7%
Detroit: 2.4%Islanders: 1.6%
Back to back this weekend at home versus Philly on Saturday and Nashville on the road on Sunday. Never easy but winnable games.
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Poll Results
Suzuki: (1g, 1a, 4 shots ) = 6 points
Pastrnak: (1a, 1 shot, 1 hit) = 3 points
Hutson: (2 shots) = 1 point
Zadorov: (1 shot, 6 hits) = 3.5 points
Caufield: (1g, 3 shots, 1 hit) = 4 points
Geekie: (1g, 1 shot, 2 hits) = 3 points
Slafkovský: (1a, 4 shots, 4 hits) = 6 points
Zacha: (2 shots, 2 hits) = 2 points
Anderson: (2 pim, 5 hits) = 4.5 points
Lindholm: (1g, 2 shots, 2 hits) = 4 points
Laine: (1 shot, 1 hit) = 1 point
Lohrei: 0 points
Montreal Total: 22.5 points
Boston Total: 15.5 points
Points (2) PIM (1) SOG (.5) HITS (.5)
It’s interesting to note that the two players who got into the fight had the highest totals of the game, though they weren’t options in the poll.
Guhle: (5 pim, 1 shot, 2 hits) = 6.5 points
Koepke (5 pim, 4 hits) = 7 points
- Gallagher ended with 6 points (1g, 1a, 2 shots, 2 hits)
- Newhook, Suzuki, Slafkovsky had the most shots (4)
- Pezzetta had the most hits (7)
That’s from both teams so we dominated the stat sheet.
Votes were:
Slafkovský: 3
Pastrnak: 1
Caufield: 1
Hutson: 1
Everyone else: 0
Slafkovský and Suzuki tied for the win.
No one voted for “Captain Obvious” so the three voters for Slafkovský are the winners.
We already know @JoeLassister and @BCHabnut voted for him. Just a matter of who else did.
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Considering we’ve seen that it doesn’t matter if the goalie would have been able to make the save, I would think it was interference as well. Fine with not challenging too.
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Dvorak makes it 1-0 🚨
Amazing save on Carrier by Swayman. Best I’ve seen in a while.
Nice shift for Pezzetta. Good shot on net and stayed disciplined after the whistle.
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Just started watching prior to this scrum. Already don’t like Boston again. Let’s lay the beat down. PP time.
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4 hours ago, tomh009 said:
Columbus gets no love from the prediction models.
They have Colorado tonight, Toronto, Ottawa twice, Washington twice. Let’s hope the other teams they face do what they’re supposed to.
I agree though, especially with Monahan returning and playing well and Columbus coming off of an 8-4 win. They and the Rangers both pose a threat. Let’s hope the season of underperforming continues for the Rangers, and the Jackets don’t handle their schedule well.
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Looks like we may have to look out for Geekie
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It’s actually been really tough for most players to adapt to our systems and level of play this year. Struble and Carrier have been relative exceptions so it could also perhaps relate to our lack of depth at forward.
That’s why nearing the tail end of our (first of two) hottest period of the season, the Heineman injury was so unfortunate.
Two of the main reasons we were winning at that point were line chemistry and confidence. It was the first time in awhile that I really appreciated every line and also the reason we were winning against teams who were favoured to beat us.
I’m not knocking any of our prospects because I know there were people excited to see Beck in the lineup, perhaps some wanted Roy to join the team and now people are happy that Kapanen is back. However, I haven’t really been impressed with any of our forward prospects this year. I guess that it could be said for defense as well, but it goes even further with the forwards. I haven’t really been impressed with any of the replacements for our starting 12 this year. Regardless of pospect vs NHL regular.
It is once again a combination of depth but also the systems in place and the “non-negotiables” within these systems. So it is not a knock on the skill level of the players. It simply looks as though it has been difficult for any of the newcomers to fully play in unison with the squad and their “team” system. So indeed Kapanen will need some time to adjust to everything before being thrown into the hunt. With that being said, we should see him soon and it’s exciting to see what he did in the SHL this year.
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I’m not really surprised Pezzetta is staying in the lineup. It’s just the timing of it and St. Louis is simply sticking to a winning lineup. If the Habs lose a game (or clinch early) expect to see Kapanen draw in.
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I hate it and I hope I’m wrong but I’m going to go with Pastrnak for the poll. First time I’ve picked a non Habs player.
I do “expect” the Habs to win tonight but he does a bit of everything. I was leaning towards him or Caufield.
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Heading into tonight’s games:
Updated Standings:
MTL: 74 GP - 79 PTS / (25 RW) - Max Points 95
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NYR: 75 GP - 79 PTS / (32 RW) - Max Points 93
CBJ: 73 GP - 77 PTS / (24 RW) - Max Points 95
DET: 74 GP - 75 PTS / (26 RW) - Max Points 91
NYI: 74 GP - 74 PTS / (25 RW) - Max Points 90
(Regulation Win)
Record since initial post:NYR: 2-1-1 = 5 PTS (4 GP)
CBJ: 2-1-0 = 4 PTS (3 GP)
MTL: 2-3-0 = 4 PTS (5 GP)
DET: 1-2-1 = 3 PTS (4 GP)
NYI: 0-4-0 = 0 PTS (4 GP)
In action tonight:
Boston @ Montreal 7PM EST
Colorado @ Columbus 7:30PM EST
Playoff Probability (Hockey Reference)
Montreal: 52.2%Columbus: 24.8%
Rangers: 23.5%Islanders: 2.4%
Detroit 1.6%
Playoff Probability (Playoff Status)Montreal: 56%
Rangers: 28%Columbus: 15%
Detroit: 3%Islanders: 2%
Playoff Probability (Money Puck)Montreal: 45.4%
Rangers: 32.5%
Columbus: 19.2%Detroit: 2.9%
Islanders: 2%
Schedule:
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41 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:
Bruins will be highly motivated to screw over the Habs’ playoff hopes, and the Habs will be highly likely to have a letdown after those mammoth wins against Florida. So I’m not too optimistic about this one.
The good news is that if the Habs do show up and play a strong game, that will suggest some real maturation on their part.
One thing is for sure, matchups between these two teams have often been tightly contested regardless of where the teams sit in the standings.With that being said, I am feeling optimistic for this matchup. If the Habs stick to their game, they should win this match due to skill alone.
The last time I felt optimistic in this manner was against Philly though… but then they fired their coach.
The real kicker and difference between those two matchups (Philly and Boston games), as well as our next contest vs Philadelphia is that they will be at home. Boston is fine at home but doesn’t have a great road record. Stick to covering and being aware of Pastrnak, get a few past Swayman, and the rest is gravy.
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1 hour ago, JoeLassister said:
Can you guys see it ? Feel it ??
April 17th, the Washington Capitals will play at 7pm agains the Penguins. Alex Ovechkin could end this game (and his season) with a 1 goal lead over Wayne Gretzky.
But the L-A Kings play the very last game of the NHL season against Calgary at 9:30pm.
Wayne Gretzky, 64 yo, signing a 1 day contract with the Kings. Scoring 2 goals to re-take the lead !!!Can you see it ? Can you feel it ??
First thing I see after reading this post:
I guess it is April Fools season…
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Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, on Thursday night, a rivalry will be renewed. The Boston Bruins are coming to town to face their longtime rivals in the Montreal Canadiens.
Next Matchup
Boston Bruins @ Montreal Canadiens: Thursday, April 3rd @ 7PM EST - Centre Bell
Montreal Canadiens Lineup
Caufield - Suzuki - Slafkovský
Heineman - Newhook - Laine
Anderson - Dvorak - Gallagher
Pezzetta* - Evans - Armia
Matheson - Carrier
Guhle - Hutson
Struble - Savard
Montembeault
Dobeš
*Kapanen has been recalled and may play
Boston Bruins Lineup
Geekie - Zacha - Pastrnak
Koepke - Lindholm - Lauko
Khusnutdinov - Middlestadt - Lettieri
Viel - Beecher - Brown
Zadorov - Jokiharju
Wotherspoon - Peeke
Lohrei - Mitchell
Swayman
Korpisalo
Storyline:
With 8 games and 7 games left in their respective seasons, the Montreal Canadiens and Boston bruins are set to face each other under very different circumstances from one another. As they enter their 764th regular season meeting, and 940th overall, the Habs are clinging to the final playoff spot, in a battle with the Rangers and Blue Jackets, whereas the Bruins are fighting with the Buffalo Sabres for last place in the east and the best possible odds at a 1st overall draft pick. With a win in regulation, the Canadiens can eliminate the Bruins from playoff contention, putting them out of the misery that has been this season.
Montreal will head into this matchup against the Bruins with many different faces in the lineup. Players like Brad Marchand, Brandon Carlo, and Charlie Coyle are no longer with the team as they have been shipped out. Instead the Bruins lineup is filled with many unrecognizable and difficult to spell names within their lineup. While David Pastrnak will always be dangerous, he cannot do everything on his own and his supporting cast isn’t the greatest at the moment.
As a result, the Bruins find themselves having lost their last 6 matches in a row, and hold a 1-8-1 record over their last 10. The Canadiens on the other hand are coming off of 2 big wins over the former Stanley Cup champions, including a thrilling come from behind overtime victory less than 48 hours ago. They hold a 4-3-3 record over their last 10 contests.
While the Canadiens cannot take any team lightly, this matchup is there for the taking, and it comes at a crucial point of the season where two points are almost necessary.While the Habs hold the current advantage over the Bruins, there are some statistical advantages the Bruins hold that one should be aware of. First of all, the Bruins have won our previous two meetings this year, 6-4 in October, and 6-3 in December. Both games were on the road, however, so this marks the first time the Canadiens will host the Bruins and we are already 75 games into the season. This means we will end the season with 2 away games and 1 home game against the Bruins. While the Habs held the advantage a few years ago with two home games and one away, this seems to be a little irregularity in the schedule which could use some adjusting. With parity in the league, this type of thing could lead to the difference between two teams making the playoffs in a given year. The Bruins have also won 9 out of their last 10 matchups with the Habs, so clearly they have held the advantage over us in the recent past.
Another area which the Bruins have recently held the advantage is goaltending for this particular matchup between teams. Montembeault has a 2-6-1 record against the Bruins with a 4.16 goals against average, and a .876 save percentage. Swayman, on the other hand, has never lost to the Montreal Canadiens in regulation, holding a 9-0-1 record to go along with a 2.69 goals against average and a modest .900 save percentage. A lot of this has had to do with the level of their respective teams, but hopefully Montembeault and the Habs can turn things in their favor today and come through with a regulation victory.
Korpisalo’s numbers are even better with an 8-2-0 record but a .916 save percentage and a 2.49 goals against average. It’s to be said that Korpisalo has done so while defending the crease of other teams as well, though. Dobeš has never played the Bruins.
Something else to mention is the reality that Montreal has recalled Kapanen to the team and so while nothing is official, there is a chance that he will replace Pezzetta in the lineup. On one hand, one would think that it may be best to keep a winning lineup intact. On the other end of things, Pezzetta has only played between 5 and 6 minutes over the past couple of contests, so any positive impact he has had on the outcome would have been very minimal.
Historical leaders vs the Bruins include Gallagher with 28 points in 42 games, Laine with 12 points in 15 games and finally Anderson with 12 points in 19 games.
For the Bruins, Pastrnak leads the way with 49 points in 32 games (perhaps we should double team him), Lindholm has 24 points in 34 games against the Habs, and finally McAvoy has 16 points in 23 games. McAvoy is another familiar face that the Habs won’t have to contend with due to the long term injury he sustained at the 4 nations face off.
On the other hand, the return of Kaiden Guhle has added a steady balance to the top 4 over the past 2 games. While things were starting to get out of hand over the past few weeks defensively, the Habs played a nice defensive game in their last contest. This style, and winning many closely contested 1 goal games has been their recipe for success this season. His defensive partner is no slouch either, with Hutson simply leading the way on the back end.
Should they transition this style into tonight’s matchup, the Habs will likely be successful and come away with their 3rd consecutive victory.
Previous Matchups
10/10/24: 4-6 Bruins @ Boston12/1/24: 3-6 Bruins @ Boston
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5 hours ago, JoeLassister said:
I have tickets for that game. Kinda hope it ends up being a decisive game for the Bell Centre atmosphere... but on the other end, kinda wish we'd already have our playoffs spot secured too...
Thinking about going to the game against Detroit next week and have similar thoughts.
Unfortunately the Rangers won 5-4 in overtime tonight against Minnesota so they’re tied with us in points once again.
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16 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:
There are some brutal match ups thereColorado, Dallas would be great
Leafs would lose to Ottawa
I wonder who Montreal would play in the second round?
We’re getting a little ahead of ourselves but since the Habs would be second wildcard and Washington has the highest points total, the Habs would join the Metro Division part of the bracket.
Since it is a fixed bracket, we would face the winner of Carolina and New Jersey. Carolina against New Jersey is pretty close to official so should the Habs make the playoffs, that portion of the bracket is fairly accurate already.
I’m guessing it would be Carolina, but you never know.
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How about we just start the playoffs today?
There would be some good matchups and rivalries present in the first round if they did. I’m thinking at least 5-6+ of these matchups will still be the case once the puck drops for the second season.
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Makes sense. I only added the last part about it possibly being the quickest when I realized it was 37.x seconds as well but since 8.4 is rounded up to 9 seconds, it is indeed 38 seconds no matter how you slice it.
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Yeah, I’m wondering why in the article they said that Nick Suzuki’s goal was the 3rd quickest goal between regulation and overtime by the same player when Ovechkin’s was 37 seconds and Rantanen’s was 38 seconds. They are saying 40 seconds for Suzuki. But at 8.4 + 29 seconds, that’s 37.4 seconds and if you round up to 9 seconds, that’s still 38 seconds.
I was thinking perhaps his was the quickest. Tough to know without the decimal on the overtime goal.
I just found this though…
So there was indeed something amiss between reality and this:
Both sources are the “NHL”. One says second quickest and the other third quickest. I had only seen the third quickest article prior.
To me, it’s still actually possible it was the quickest depending on the decimal on the 29 second goal into overtime, as well as Ovechkin’s 37.x number.
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13 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:
Looks like Suzuki is off to a decent start in April. LOL
That he is…
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Race To The Playoffs: Habs Playoff Push - Final Wildcard
in Habs & Hockey Talk
Posted
A couple of models in regards to how many points may be needed to qualify for the playoffs and what would be needed to achieve that. The consensus seems to be that it will take roughly 88-90 points to qualify.
Record needed for 88 points