Canadiens Game Day: Carey Price in goal, Victor Mete back in lineup – Montreal Gazette

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Carey Price will be in goal for the Canadiens when they face the Maple Leafs Saturday night in Toronto (7 p.m., CBC, SN, CITY, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM), while defenceman Victor Mete will take Brett Kulak’s spot in the lineup.

Corey Perry was with one of the Canadiens’ power-play units during the team’s morning skate in Toronto, but coach Claude Julien said during a video conference he had yet to decide if he would make any lineup changes with his forwards.

Price, who has lost his last two games, has a 4-2-2 record with a 2.84 goals-against average and a .896 save percentage. Backup goalie Jake Allen has a 4-2-0 record with a 2.01 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage.

The Canadiens (8-4-2) are in second place in the North Division and trail the first-place Maple Leafs (11-2-1) by five points.

The Canadiens are 1-3-0 in their last four games while scoring only six goals. The Leafs are 8-0-1 in their last nine games while outscoring the opposition 37-21.

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“We haven’t liked the way we’ve played the past couple of games, but we’ve got a big game tonight against a team that’s on top of our division right now,” Canadiens defenceman Joel Edmundson said Saturday morning.

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The Canadiens didn’t practise Friday in Brossard before flying to Toronto, instead holding a meeting and video session.

“After a back-to-back, you want to stay off the ice,” Edmundson said about the Canadiens losing 4-2 to the Leafs on Wednesday and 3-0 to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday at the Bell Centre. “A big game tonight, so we want to be fresh for it.

“We had some good meetings yesterday, went over some systems,” Edmundson added. “Just little things that we could do better. The coaches did a good job of breaking down film for us and just showing us what we did at the start of the year that we didn’t do in the past couple of games. I think you’re going to see a different team tonight from us.”

After Saturday’s game, the Canadiens don’t play again until next Saturday when they will face the Leafs at the Bell Centre.

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“We have a week off after this game, so nothing to save it for,” Edmundson said. “We’re facing these guys two games in a row, so four big points here.”

This is the third of 10 meetings between the Canadiens and Leafs this season. The Leafs won the first two games, including a 5-4 OT victory in the season opener on Jan. 13 in Toronto.

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Transition game stalls

The Canadiens relied on their fast transition game early in the season when they went 7-1-2 in their first 10 games. Opposing teams seem to have now figured out how to slow them down.

“I think anticipation is a huge part of our game,” the Canadiens’ Nick Suzuki said Saturday morning. “If we can read plays well and intercept plays in transition, that’s pretty much the best part of our team. It’s just that anticipation, playing on your toes. We don’t want to sit back and watch them skate and stickhandle around us. We want to be in their face, taking away their time and trying to get on the offensive side.

“I think some games we’ve done really well in the defensive zone and that’s really translated into good offensive time,” Suzuki added. “But I think the last four games we’ve struggled a little bit. Just got to get better stripping pucks, taking away time and space for the other team in the offensive zone.”

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Edmundson was asked what advice he might have for his team’s forwards to snap out of their offensive slump.

“To make a defenceman’s life tough, just get pucks deep and work it down low,” he said. “I know it sounds cliché, but it really works and it wears down the defencemen. Just more puck time in the O zone. I think the past couple of games we’ve been more of a one-and-done type team. Just work down low, protect the puck with our bodies and get those greasy goals. Lots of the goals in this league are scored within 10 feet of the net. So just get those greasy goals and get to the inside.”

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Danault still looking for first goal

Heading into the game, Phillip Danault and Paul Byron are the only two Canadiens forwards yet to score a goal this season.

Danault has 0-5-5 totals and is plus-1 while winning 52.8 per cent of his faceoffs. The fact this is the last season of Danault’s contract with a $3.083 million salary-cap hit seems to be weighing on him with reports he turned down a six-year, US$30-million offer from the Canadiens during the off-season.

“I think as a centreman we all want to see each other do well,” Suzuki said when asked about Danault. “We’re all there for each other. We’ve definitely been talking. I know he hasn’t been that happy with his game, but he’s been doing other things that’s going to help the team win. He’s been playing against other team’s top centres and top lines for basically all year. Even though he doesn’t have a goal, he’s helping the team win in other ways.”

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Edmundson leads NHL in plus/minus

Edmundson’s plus-14 heading into Saturday’s game was tied with St. Louis Blues forward Justin Faulk for the best in the NHL.

The 6-foot-4, 227-pound defenceman says he feels very comfortable now with the Canadiens after being acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes during the off-season.

“Spent some quality times with my teammates and just getting used to the system and the coaches,” said Edmundson, who has 1-2-3 totals and is averaging 18:24 of ice time as Jeff Petry’s defence partner. “It’s been a great transition. It’s definitely coming around and I feel real comfortable right now. That road trip at the start of the year really helped out all of us new guys mingle with our new teammates and get to know everyone. Talking with all the new guys, we’ve all really enjoyed it so far.”

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Petry has 6-8-14 totals and is plus-12.

Rookie defenceman Alexander Romanov has also looked comfortable with 1-2-3 totals and a plus-3 while averaging 18:30 of ice time.

“I think it’s definitely a big transition for him coming over from the big ice,” Suzuki said about Romanov, who spent the last two seasons with CSKA Moscow in the KHL. “I think he’s getting more minutes over here, too. It’s always going to be a big transition, especially for a defenceman. I think as a forward it might be easier to come into the league. But he’s been doing great for us. He’s always reliable and solid back there. I think he’s gotten better as the season went on.”

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Matthews leads NHL in goals

The Leafs’ Auston Matthews leads the NHL with 11 goals in 13 games.

“I think he utilizes his size very well,” Suzuki said about the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Matthews. “It’s like going up any other bigger guy than yourself, you got to find ways to manoeuvre around that. I get to go against some big guys on our team in practice, so I’m used to that. But it definitely gives him an advantage at some points.”

“Offensively he’s a great player so you have to be aware of him all over the ice,” Edmundson added about Matthews. “We just got to make sure we’re physical on him.”

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Senators trade Galchenyuk

Former Canadiens forward Alex Galchenyuk is joining his sixth NHL team.

On Saturday, the Ottawa Senators traded Galchenyuk to the Carolina Hurricanes, along with centre Cedric Paquette, in exchange for centre Ryan Dzingel. In eight games with the Senators, Galchenyuk had one goal, no assists and was minus-6.

The Canadiens traded Galchenyuk to the Arizona Coyotes on June 15, 2018 in exchange for Max Domi. Since then, Galchenyuk has been traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Minnesota Wild before signing with the Senators as a free agent during the off-season. Now he has been traded yet again to Carolina.

The 27-year-old Galchenyuk has a one-year, US$1.05-million contract.

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What’s next?

The Canadiens will fly back to Montreal after Saturday night’s game and enjoy an off-day on Sunday.

They have practices scheduled for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday next week at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard before facing the Leafs again next Saturday night at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., CBC, SN, CITY, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).

scowan@postmedia.com

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