Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
Game 16: Montreal Canadiens vs. Los Angeles Kings
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Kings region: FanDuel Sports Network West
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
The Canadiens have had a hard time versus the Los Angeles Kings, unable to break down their trapping style to get time in the offensive zone let alone generate much in terms of offence. In recent years they haven’t had the needed puck-moving quality to turn defence into offence, and structured teams have taken advantage.
Things are different this season, on both sides of the ice. The Canadiens have replaced David Savard with Noah Dobson and that’s about as big an upgrade as a transition game can get. They also have Jayden Struble and Arber Xhekaj playing the system more comfortably and helping to make Montreal a team that can get through the neutral zone no matter which duo is on the ice.
Los Angeles doesn’t have the depth of quality it once did, thanks to new general manager Ken Holland’s latest venture being to fill out his defensive depth with players who can’t play that style of game. Off-season additions Brian Dumoulin and Cody Ceci make up L.A.’s third pairing, and have expected-goal shares of 45.2% and 45.7%, respectively, by far the lowest of their defence corps. There will be plenty of chances for Martin St-Louis to take advantage of this unit on home ice, but with the way his top three lines are going, the Habs should be able to pounce on their own.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
Left Wing
Centre
Right Wing
#13 Cole Caufield
#14 Nick Suzuki
#20 Juraj Slafkovský
#15 Alex Newhook
#91 Oliver Kapanen
#93 Ivan Demidov
#76 Zachary Bolduc
#77 Kirby Dach
#11 Brendan Gallagher
#17 Josh Anderson
#71 Jake Evans
#90 Joe Veleno
Left Defence
Right Defence
#8 Mike Matheson
#53 Noah Dobson
#47 Jayden Struble
#48 Lane Hutson
#72 Arber Xhekaj
#45 Alexandre Carrier
Starter
Backup
#35 Samuel Montembeault
#75 Jakub Dobeš
Injured: Kaiden Guhle, Patrik Laine
Los Angeles Kings projected lineup
Left Wing
Centre
Right Wing
Joel Armia
Anze Kopitar
Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala
Quinton Byfield
Alex Laferriere
Andrei Kuzmenko
Phillip Danault
Trevor Moore
Warren Foegele
Alex Turcotte
Corey Perry
Left Defence
Right Defence
Mikey Anderson
Drew Doughty
Joel Edmundson
Brandt Clarke
Brian Dumoulin
Cody Ceci
Starter
Backup
Darcy Kuemper
Anton Forsberg
