Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs rekindle their old rivalry
One of the oldest rivalries in the NHL gets set to resume when the Montreal Canadiens take on the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Saturday 20 November.
Previous meetings and recent games
The Canadiens and Maple Leafs have met over 700 times in their histories. Last season they each won three games against each other in their six meetings. For the second year in a row the two teams met in the season opener with the Maple Leafs winning back
on October 7 by a score of 3-2.
Since that opening loss the Canadiens have been one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference and currently lead the Northeast Division, and are third overall in the conference. They recently saw their four-game win streak snapped by the Nashville Predators
when they were shutout 3-0.
After getting off to a good early start to the season, progress really slowed at the end of October and into the early part of November for the Maple Leafs. At one point they went as many as eight games without a win and spent some time at the bottom of
the division. They managed an improbable 5-4 comeback against the Nashville Predators after being down 4-1 two games ago, and most recently defeated the New Jersey Devils to put a small win streak together.
How they match up
When the Maple Leafs were losing games they turned to their farm team and called up 20-year-old prospect Nazem Kadri who was impressive in Toronto's most recent 3-1 win over the Devils collecting two assists.
Phil Kessel got off to a torrid scoring pace early this season, but cooled down significantly while the Leafs were losing games. He's gotten himself going again recently with two goals in his last three games.
Toronto's off-season acquisition of Clarke MacArthur is paying dividends as he has been the team's most consistent scorer and leads the team with 17 points in 18 games
For the Canadiens, the one point of consistency has been the play of goaltender Carey Price who has been one of the hottest goalies in the NHL for the month of November.
Price has collected two shutouts this month, but the Canadiens have also been on the opposing side of a couple of shutouts as well, including Thursday's 3-0 loss to the Predators. Tomas Plekanec has been the team's most effective scorer justifying his six
year contract. Until Thursday's loss, Canadiens captain Brian Gionta had rediscovered his scoring touch and had scored a point in his previous five games.
What to expect
Six of the last seven meetings between these two teams have been decided by a single goal, with five of the six meetings last season being decided in overtime or shootout.
After the Maple Leafs took the season opener at the Air Canada Centre, the Canadiens will be looking for a win on home ice against their bitter rivals. After getting shutout in their last game the Canadiens forwards will also be extra eager to light the
lamp.
Canadiens will win 3-2.
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