Avalanche vs. Canadiens: 3 things you need to know
Montreal Canadiens legend Patrick Roy and his Colorado Avalanche will roll into Le Centre Bell to face Les Habitants on Saturday night in a game that pits two clubs on vastly different early-season trajectories.
While the Avalanche are banged up and struggling enormously in the early going, the Canadiens are riding high after a convincing beatdown of the Boston Bruins on Thursday night. The Canadiens are looking to cement themselves as one of the teams to beat in the Eastern Conference.
Here are three things you need to know about Saturday's game:
Can the Avalanche set the table?
The Colorado Avalanche have finishing ability in spades and good goaltending, but they're pretty much woeful at even-strength.
When healthy - which they're not - they can expect above-average goaltending from their duo of Semyon Varlamov and Reto Berra, which covers up a lot of sins. With Berra and Varlamov on the shelf though, the Avalanche don't have that margin for error.
Like last season, the Avalanche are being outshot by a wide margin (only four teams are being outshot by a wider margin through five games). But unlike last season, they're not winning.
Goaltending hasn't been the culprit in the early going for the Avalanche, but it might be with Varlamov and Berra nursing injuries. The problem so far has been a lack of goal scoring, in addition to the club giving up far too many quality shots against at even-strength.
With talent like the Avalanche possess the offense will surely come, but this early season lull has shined a bright light on Colorado's complete inability to control the flow of games.
The Avalanche will need to tighten up against Montreal, especially because it's unlikely their third-string netminder - Calvin Pickard - will come out ahead in a goaltending duel with Montreal's Carey Price.
Parenteau vs. Briere
The Canadiens and Avalanche swapped players this summer, as the Canadiens sent aging forward Daniel Briere to Colorado in exchange for dynamic two-way winger P.A. Parenteau. So far, that deal is looking lopsided in Montreal's favor.
Early this season, Parenteau has logged second line minutes for the Canadiens, while factoring in on the club's first power play unit, and he's producing offense at a point per game pace. In addition to his offensive contributions, the Canadiens are controlling over 56 percent of even-strength shot attempts with Parenteau on the ice - an indication that his two-way play has been extremely strong.
In contrast, Briere is playing third-line minutes for the Avs, and is on the second power play unit. The cagey 37-year-old has a goal and an assist through five games, but the Avalanche are controlling a brutal 41 percent of even-strength shot attempts with Briere on the ice. Briere's play without the puck just isn't what it used to be.
Will Briere make the Canadiens regret their decision to trade him on Saturday night? Or will Parenteau show Roy and the Avalanche that they undervalued him enormously?
Bet on the latter.
Powerless Plays
The Canadiens and Avalanche can probably feel safe gooning it up on Saturday night, since neither club has looked particularly potent with the man-advantage so far.
The Canadiens have managed just 18 shots in over 24 minutes of five-on-four play this season, giving them a bottom-10 power play shot rate. The club has managed just one goal in five-on-four situations, and will need to take more looks and make opposing goaltenders and penalty-killers work harder if they hope to take advantage of their power play opportunities at a more efficient clip.
Though the Canadiens power play is struggling, Colorado's has been even worse. The Avalanche have logged over 28 minutes with the man-advantage so far and have managed an atrocious 13 shots on goal in that time, while scoring just one goal. Colorado's top-five power play was a major reason they were able out outperform their even-strength issues last season, and they'll need to get back on track if they hope to keep pace in the loaded Central Division.