northernlou
Idi Admin
Preview: Carolina at Montreal
2:30 PM ET, Sunday, February 7, 2016
Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec
The Carolina Hurricanes are in the middle of a crowded Eastern Conference playoff race and can gain some ground against one of their competitors when they visit the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday afternoon. The Hurricanes have won three of their last four contests after Friday's 5-3 triumph at Winnipeg and began Saturday two points out of a playoff position.
Carolina, which was expected to be a seller at the trade deadline later this month, has given itself a chance to be a buyer with its balanced scoring attack and an 8-3-1 record since Jan. 8. The Canadiens hope they’ve turned around their fortunes after posting their second win in 11 contests, a 5-1 victory over Edmonton on Saturday that snapped their four-game losing streak. Montreal All-Star defenseman P.K. Subban extended his point streak to five games and has collected 17 in his last 16 contests. The Canadiens lost 3-2 at Carolina on Dec. 5, ending their five-game winning streak in the series.
TV: 2:30 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Carolina), Sportsnet, RDS (Montreal)
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (24-21-8): Six players have accumulated 30 or more points for Carolina, which ranked 23rd in the league in scoring (2.43) through Friday’s contests. Defenseman Justin Faulk scored his 15th goal in the victory at Winnipeg and tops the team with 34 points, while Victor Rask and Kris Versteeg are next with 31 apiece. Jeff Skinner (team-best 18 goals) is riding a four-game point streak and Jordan Staal has notched two tallies and six assists over his last six contests, but captain Eric Staal is mired in a nine-game goal-scoring drought.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (25-24-4): Tomas Plekanec stepped up to record a goal and three assists in the victory over Edmonton to move past slumping captain Max Pacioretty for second on the team in scoring with 39 points. Subban has registered 41 to pace the Canadiens while Pacioretty (19 goals) has been managed just one in his last seven contests. Ben Scrivens made 23 saves Saturday to earn his first victory in five games since being acquired from the Oilers while Mike Condon has dropped three straight for Montreal, which has not won back-to-back games since late November.
OVERTIME
1. Carolina G Cam Ward (concussion) returned from a six-game absence Friday to make 33 saves and improve to 4-0-2 in his last six decisions.
2. Montreal C Alex Galchenyuk has recorded two goals and two assists during his four-game point streak after being kept off the scoresheet in eight straight contests.
3. The Hurricanes are just 2-for-25 on the power play over their last seven games and sit near the bottom of the league with a 16.4 percent success rate.
Trends
Canadiens currently hottest NHL franchise in Quebec
http://www.covers.com/pageLoader/pageLoader.aspx?page=/data/nhl/matchups/g2_preview_14.html
2:30 PM ET, Sunday, February 7, 2016
Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec
The Carolina Hurricanes are in the middle of a crowded Eastern Conference playoff race and can gain some ground against one of their competitors when they visit the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday afternoon. The Hurricanes have won three of their last four contests after Friday's 5-3 triumph at Winnipeg and began Saturday two points out of a playoff position.
Carolina, which was expected to be a seller at the trade deadline later this month, has given itself a chance to be a buyer with its balanced scoring attack and an 8-3-1 record since Jan. 8. The Canadiens hope they’ve turned around their fortunes after posting their second win in 11 contests, a 5-1 victory over Edmonton on Saturday that snapped their four-game losing streak. Montreal All-Star defenseman P.K. Subban extended his point streak to five games and has collected 17 in his last 16 contests. The Canadiens lost 3-2 at Carolina on Dec. 5, ending their five-game winning streak in the series.
TV: 2:30 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Carolina), Sportsnet, RDS (Montreal)
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (24-21-8): Six players have accumulated 30 or more points for Carolina, which ranked 23rd in the league in scoring (2.43) through Friday’s contests. Defenseman Justin Faulk scored his 15th goal in the victory at Winnipeg and tops the team with 34 points, while Victor Rask and Kris Versteeg are next with 31 apiece. Jeff Skinner (team-best 18 goals) is riding a four-game point streak and Jordan Staal has notched two tallies and six assists over his last six contests, but captain Eric Staal is mired in a nine-game goal-scoring drought.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (25-24-4): Tomas Plekanec stepped up to record a goal and three assists in the victory over Edmonton to move past slumping captain Max Pacioretty for second on the team in scoring with 39 points. Subban has registered 41 to pace the Canadiens while Pacioretty (19 goals) has been managed just one in his last seven contests. Ben Scrivens made 23 saves Saturday to earn his first victory in five games since being acquired from the Oilers while Mike Condon has dropped three straight for Montreal, which has not won back-to-back games since late November.
OVERTIME
1. Carolina G Cam Ward (concussion) returned from a six-game absence Friday to make 33 saves and improve to 4-0-2 in his last six decisions.
2. Montreal C Alex Galchenyuk has recorded two goals and two assists during his four-game point streak after being kept off the scoresheet in eight straight contests.
3. The Hurricanes are just 2-for-25 on the power play over their last seven games and sit near the bottom of the league with a 16.4 percent success rate.
Trends
Canadiens currently hottest NHL franchise in Quebec
http://www.covers.com/pageLoader/pageLoader.aspx?page=/data/nhl/matchups/g2_preview_14.html
