Tuesday 29 January 2013

Snapshot Preview: Habs VS Jets - January 29th 2013

Montreal Canadiens (3-1-0) vs Winnipeg Jets (3-1-1)
Puck drop is at 7:30pm EST (RDS, TSN-HABS)

PK Subban who signed a contract to return to the Montreal Canadiens will not be in the lineup tonight as the Habs play host to the Winnipeg Jets. Subban instead will join the team tomorrow in Ottawa, not likely to play before this weekend at the earliest.

Yannick Weber looked like a player who hadn't played in awhile against the New Jersey Devils on Sunday, and with 4 games for the Habs over the next 6 days it will be interesting to see how head coach Michel Therrien juggles his defensemen. I would expect Francis Bouillon to get at least one night off, and I don't expect Thomas Kaberle to stay in the press box.

Peter Budaj will start one of the next four games between the pipes for Montreal, but Carey Price will get the nod in goal tonight. Price is off to a terrific start this season with a .936 Save Percentage and a minute 1.73 Goals against through 4 games. Historically he has done well against then Winnipeg (Atlanta) franchise racking up 19 of a possible 28 points.   


I expect Al Montoya to get his second start in goal tonight for the Jets, who like Montreal are riding a three game win streak. Montoya is 1-1 lifetime against the Canadiens with a 2.88 Goals against and an .897 Save Percentage.  He stopped 21 of the 25 shots he faced en route to a victory in his only other start of this season.

Onndrej Pavelec had the night off for the last Jets' game on Sunday, but has not played well against Montreal historically. In his last 5 games against the Canadiens, Pavelec has just one victory for his efforts. He has lost his last 3 starts at the Bell Centre going 0-3-0 with a 4.01 GAA.

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