The Montreal Canadiens’ injuries have been stacking up and they are without the two big cogs of the team in Carey Price and Brendan Gallagher since November 25th versus the New York Rangers and November 22nd versus the New York Islanders, respectively. Along with those two, the Canadiens have also had Devante Smith-Pelly, Torrey Mitchell (still injured), Alex Semin (still injured), and Alexei Emelin sit out with various injuries in November. Price and Gallagher will be out until mid-January at the very least, while Mitchell should be returning within the next week.
Despite the injury bug going around, the Canadiens are still sitting second in the NHL overall, just one point behind the Dallas Stars, with a record of 20-5-2. They are also still leading the league in goals differential with a spectacular +32, 7 goals behind second place Washington Capitals. The Canadiens have scored 92 goals, tied for first in league, and have allowed 60 goals, tied for sixth best.
Despite Canadiens Injuries, Team Piling Up Points
In the past six games, they’ve collected a total 9 of 12 possible points and stayed in the thick of each game, losing two games by just one goal. They haven’t lost by more than one goal since the November 14th blowout loss versus the Colorado Avalanche.
So how have the Canadiens managed to stay on top despite missing their all-star goalie and top right wing? Because of Marc Bergevin and his undeniable talent of acquiring depth, thanks to his Boy Scouts motto “Always prepared”, along with top players racking up points and Mike Condon giving the team a chance every game.
Condon, in lieu of Price has a record of 9-3-3, 2.17 GAA, and a SV% of .915 and has been great for the team. He’s still a rookie and will make mistakes along the way, evidenced by Thursday night’s second goal for the Capitals. He’s a much better option than Dustin Tokarski, who is still in the minors on a conditioning stint until after Saturday night. Condon has been a big part of the Canadiens competing in close games and continuing to be among the league’s best without the reigning MVP.
Sven Andrighetto, Christian Thomas, Daniel Carr, and Bud Holloway were called up when Gallagher, Semin, Smith-Pelly, and Mitchell went down with their injuries, but only Andrighetto, Thomas, and Carr remain on the team. Carr has yet to play a game. Andrighetto started his second stint with the team on a roll, scoring in two consecutive games but has been held pointless since. Unlike last year though, his ice time has been consistent, hovering around 13-14 minutes TOI a game, and has been getting pucks to the net and creating chances, which wasn’t visible last year.
Thomas, on the other hand, hasn’t been as noticeable. In Thursday’s game, he played a measly 5:22 TOI and hasn’t had a shot on goal since his first game on November 28th. If the pair don’t show some better play after Saturday night’s game versus the Carolina Hurricanes, it might be Carr’s chance to step in.
Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec, and Alex Galchenyuk have been picking up the slack in the past 5 games with Pacioretty and Plekanec each having 5 points and Galchenyuk leading the way with 6 points, 4 of those points coming in 2 separate games. P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov have had 2 and 1 points respectively but have played solid. Subban’s only goal this season came from the October 24th win versus the Toronto Maple Leafs, and his absence of goals is starting to garner some criticism but he’s still 3rd in defensemen scoring league-wide and has taken 70 shots on goal, 6th most among defensemen.
The Canadiens have a tough month ahead of them, playing 23 games from December 5th until January 26th, 2016. They have four back-to -back series in that time, along with playing eight games from December 9th to December 22nd. This stretch will show whether or not they can perform under pressure without their two most influential leaders on the ice.
Mike Condon will also be getting as many starts as he can crammed into a short amount of time and as a rookie, and 25 years old or not, it’ll be tough. But as long as the team can dominate and keep the games close, they should still be in playoff position by the time the injuries diminish and Price and Gallagher are back on the ice.
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