northernlou
Idi Admin
Preview: Montreal at Pittsburgh
7:30 PM ET, Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Montreal Canadiens coach Michel Therrien can afford to put a positive spin on losing reigning Hart and Vezina Trophy winner Carey Price for the rest of the week thanks to the play of Mike Condon. The rookie goaltender looks to send the Canadiens to their third straight win and fifth in six outings when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday.
Condon has posted a 6-0-1 mark with a league-leading 1.57 goals-against average in the absence of Price, who received a second opinion on his lower-body injury. "He went to see the doctor (on Monday) in New York, and the good news is he got the same diagnosis. We see that as very good news," Therrien told reporters. Pittsburgh had been receiving plenty of good news as it won nine of 10 prior to Sunday's 5-2 setback to Calgary. Phil Kessel scored for the second straight contest and fourth time in his last seven overall while recording six goals and 12 assists in his 15 meetings with Montreal.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, RSN, RDS (Montreal)
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (13-2-1): Captain Max Pacioretty continued his mastery of Pittsburgh by scoring twice in Montreal's 3-2 victory on Oct. 13 to increase his goal total to seven in his last seven encounters. The 26-year-old is starting to heat up as he answered a five-game point drought with two assists in the Canadiens' 4-1 victory over the New York Islanders on Saturday before scoring a goal two nights later in a 4-2 win over Atlantic Division-rival Boston. David Desharnais has been white-hot of late, scoring in back-to-back contests and collecting three goals and four assists in his last five outings.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (9-5-0): While Condon has been downright dominant, Marc-Andre Fleury hasn't been too shabby in his own right as he has posted a 1.93 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage en route to winning seven of his last nine starts. Beau Bennett scored in the first meeting with Montreal and had been heating up with two goals and an assist in a four-game stretch before failing to notch a point during the final three legs of the team's four-game road trip. Bennett has been working on the team's top line with captain Sidney Crosby, who has scored one goal and set up three others in his last five contests after recording one tally and two assists in his previous nine.
OVERTIME
1. Montreal has scored on the power play in each of its last seven games while Pittsburgh has done the same in each of its last five.
2. Penguins C Pascal Dupuis is expected to return to the lineup after missing two games due to an undisclosed health concern.
3. Canadiens RW Dale Weise's eight goals are just two shy of matching his career high, which was set last season.
Trends
Road team is 5-0 in the last 5 meetings.
Canadiens are 22-5 in their last 27 vs. Metropolitan
Penguins are 6-0 in their last 6 vs. Eastern Conference.
http://www.covers.com/pageLoader/pageLoader.aspx?page=/data/nhl/matchups/g2_preview_2.html
7:30 PM ET, Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Montreal Canadiens coach Michel Therrien can afford to put a positive spin on losing reigning Hart and Vezina Trophy winner Carey Price for the rest of the week thanks to the play of Mike Condon. The rookie goaltender looks to send the Canadiens to their third straight win and fifth in six outings when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday.
Condon has posted a 6-0-1 mark with a league-leading 1.57 goals-against average in the absence of Price, who received a second opinion on his lower-body injury. "He went to see the doctor (on Monday) in New York, and the good news is he got the same diagnosis. We see that as very good news," Therrien told reporters. Pittsburgh had been receiving plenty of good news as it won nine of 10 prior to Sunday's 5-2 setback to Calgary. Phil Kessel scored for the second straight contest and fourth time in his last seven overall while recording six goals and 12 assists in his 15 meetings with Montreal.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, RSN, RDS (Montreal)
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (13-2-1): Captain Max Pacioretty continued his mastery of Pittsburgh by scoring twice in Montreal's 3-2 victory on Oct. 13 to increase his goal total to seven in his last seven encounters. The 26-year-old is starting to heat up as he answered a five-game point drought with two assists in the Canadiens' 4-1 victory over the New York Islanders on Saturday before scoring a goal two nights later in a 4-2 win over Atlantic Division-rival Boston. David Desharnais has been white-hot of late, scoring in back-to-back contests and collecting three goals and four assists in his last five outings.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (9-5-0): While Condon has been downright dominant, Marc-Andre Fleury hasn't been too shabby in his own right as he has posted a 1.93 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage en route to winning seven of his last nine starts. Beau Bennett scored in the first meeting with Montreal and had been heating up with two goals and an assist in a four-game stretch before failing to notch a point during the final three legs of the team's four-game road trip. Bennett has been working on the team's top line with captain Sidney Crosby, who has scored one goal and set up three others in his last five contests after recording one tally and two assists in his previous nine.
OVERTIME
1. Montreal has scored on the power play in each of its last seven games while Pittsburgh has done the same in each of its last five.
2. Penguins C Pascal Dupuis is expected to return to the lineup after missing two games due to an undisclosed health concern.
3. Canadiens RW Dale Weise's eight goals are just two shy of matching his career high, which was set last season.
Trends
Road team is 5-0 in the last 5 meetings.
Canadiens are 22-5 in their last 27 vs. Metropolitan
Penguins are 6-0 in their last 6 vs. Eastern Conference.
http://www.covers.com/pageLoader/pageLoader.aspx?page=/data/nhl/matchups/g2_preview_2.html
