The Montreal Canadiens will be looking to bounce back in their best-of-five play in series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. They do so after their lack of offence which cost them the win on Monday night in game two.
Carey Price continues to be the goaltender everyone was expecting, being lights out and doing everything to keep his team in the game. It was a lack of offence and discipline that plagued the Canadiens during game two.
The Canadiens will need to clean things up and regain their scoring touch if they want a chance at winning game three. Not only that, but putting the Penguins on the brink as well.
Keys To Victory
Stay Disciplined: The Montreal Canadiens need to stay out of the penalty box, plain and simple. So far, Montreal has given Pittsburgh 14 opportunities on the man advantage, and if it wasn’t for Carey Price, the Canadiens would be facing elimination right now.
Play on your heels, not your toes: In game one, Montreal scored first and it gave them a huge boost for the rest of the game. The Montreal Canadiens seem to be a better team when they have a lead and that will be a key factor that must be acknowledged heading into game three.
Offence needs to wake up: So far, unfortunately Montreal offence has come from two players, Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi. If the Habs top players can’t find a way to contribute, it will be very difficult to pull off another victory.
Montreal Players To Watch
Nick Suzuki: Surprisingly enough, Suzuki has been the best player for Montreal on the ice. He needs to keep it going on Wednesday and will be a key to a Montreal win.
Tomas Tatar: Tatar will be a key offensive weapon for Montreal and needs to get involved because once he does, he’s a scoring machine.
Pittsburgh Players To Watch
Sidney Crosby: The leader of the team, we saw what he could do on Monday when he led his team to a 3-1 victory. As such, they’ll be looking to repeat and the Penguins captain will have to be tamed.
Evgeni Malkin: A lethal force on the ice, he hasn’t banked in his first goal yet, but is a guy that the Montreal defence needs to keep an eye on if the Habs hope to beat them.
At Tuesday’s practice, Claude Julien hinted we could see potential lineup changes for Game 3. He mentioned to the media in his press conference that each and every player needs to step up to advance.
Puck drop is at 8:00pmET at Scotiabank Arena in downtown Toronto. The game is available for viewing on Sportsnet Ontario, NBCSN and ATTSN-PT, meanwhile, it can be heard via radio on TSN 690 and 98.5fm. It will also be carried in Canadiens region on TVA Sports to be watched in French.