Montreal Canadiens host the Toronto Maple Leafs
Another one of the important games on Thursday considering the play-offs is the Montreal Canadiens hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs. This is the fifth out of the six scheduled meetings due to take place between the two teams.
The Maple Leafs won the first and third games between the two sides 3-2 and 3-1 while the Canadiens won the second and fourth 2-0 and 3-0 respectively. The Maple Leafs is one that out which a lot of expected but they didn’t meet the expectations and are
outside the play-off cut for now. Though they have traded away some veterans in their roster in the last couple of weeks but it hasn’t their cause as they still are six points adrift the final play-off position.
On the other hand, the Canadiens are inside the top eight and would be looking to continue from where they left off in the last game that they won. A win would give only two points but these two points can change the outcome of the either of the team’s future
when it would come to the play-offs.
After their last loss against the Canadiens at the Centre Bell Arena, the Maple Leafs have come up with quite a show that has seen them winning three out of their last four games. One of the main reasons that the Maples Leafs has taste success is the fact
that they have improved in the goal keeping department. James Reimer, goal keeper of the Maple Leafs who is a rookie has made quite an impact in the last four games allowing only five goals.
The Maple Leafs receive a lot of boost in the offensive as their star player Nikolai Kulemin has come with some decent performances that have seen him scoring five goals and a total of nine points in the month of February.
The Maple Leafs have played 60 during the course of the season out of which they have won 26 games in regulation time, seven games in overtime to score a total of 59 points. The Canadiens on the other hand have played 61 games during the season out of which
they have won 32 games in regulation time, seven games in overtime to score 71 points.
The Canadiens had a very disappointing recent road trip during which they managed just one win against the league leaders Vancouver Canucks. They lost the rest of the two games against the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames.
However, they have a chance to pull away from the pack following them as they face the three teams in contention who are potential threats to the Canadiens the Maple Leafs, Carolina Hurricanes and the Atlanta Thrashers. Carey Price, goal keeper of the Canadiens
has come up with a decent performance during the course of the three games except for the 8-6 loss to the Boston Bruins.
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