NHL Thursday Preview: Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins, Winnipeg Jets vs. Ottawa Senators
Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (7:00 PM ET)
Montreal is just having a bad time in the new 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season as they have managed to win only one out of their past five matchups, and that too against a team like Winnipeg Jets, who are having problems of their own.
Pittsburgh on the other hand is not doing so well either but have had back-to-back matchups and have played some of the most games recently (8), which could be tiring out an already famished team.
The Canadiens and Penguins will be going head-to-head on Thursday, October 20, 2011, at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.
Both teams at the moment are missing some of the top players, which has seriously hampered their performance, but it has also become an opportunity for the younger players to come up and shine.
Montreal is missing top forward and defender, Michael Cammalleri, who is out due to a cut on his leg from a skate sustained in a game earlier in October against Winnipeg Jets. They are also without defenseman, Andrei Markov, who underwent a knee surgery
and Chris Campoli, due to a torn hamstring. Jaroslav Spacek, having bruised ribs, has still not made a comeback while there is no news of him returning any time soon.
Top forwards, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby are still out for Pittsburgh along with Brooks Orpik and Tyler Kennedy.
"It seems some bad luck keeps happening to this team. We keep battling through it and I think we are doing a really good job", Pittsburgh defenseman, Zbynek Michalek, told the team's official website. "We are not a fancy team right now by any means. We just
try to do the dirty work, play good defensively and rely on our goaltending".
Winnipeg Jets vs. Ottawa Senators (7:30 PM ET)
Winnipeg fans are still waiting for the Jets team to live up to their expectations, but the newly relocated franchise is having trouble adjusting to the new atmosphere which certainly shows with their 1-5 record at the moment.
Ottawa being a renewed team with its numerous acquisitions over the offseason have not been any better, as they won only a single contest in the past six, in a shootout with Minnesota Wild, and remain winless in regulation.
"It's six games", Senators defenseman, Erik Karlsson, said, who leads the league with seven assists. "I know I can't keep up this pace for the rest of the season. It's going to be really, really tough".
Ottawa is depending on Milan Michalek and Jason Spezza, who at the moment are the teams’ highest shooters and will be the deciding factors in case Ottawa manages to win another matchup, improving their status in the Eastern Conference.
Winnipeg will be playing most likely without defenseman, Ron Hainsey, and Eric Fehr, who is still on injured reserve for the team. Other than that, Jets have a healthy roster.
Sergei Gonchar might be ready to play for Ottawa on Thursday after sustaining a bruised foot and missing their previous match with Philadelphia Flyers. Forward, Jesse Winchester’s status is also uncertain since he is still day-to-day since injuring his shoulder
during training camp.
Both teams have high hopes vested in this season and performing well early on is the key to sustaining a better position over the others later on.
Tags: