Montreal Sports - Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens will welcome the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday evening, and will also be welcoming back Matt D'Agostini to the lineup. Assuming he plays Tuesday, he would be the 5th forward with time spent in the AHL. With only 1 assist and a -1 in 3 games for the Bulldogs, D'Agostiini had not exactly been tearing it up in Hamilton. His call up was likely due to the fact that Mike Cammalleri is likely gone for over 6 weeks. Pressure will be on Matt D'Agostini to perform, as he will need to either put up or pack up.

The Canucks embarrassed both the Canadiens, and BC native Carey Price who was playing in front of his family and friends, and was pulled after allowing 7 goals on 32 shots. The Canadiens lost 7-1, but still own a 72-27-13 series lead over their history.

A loss for Montreal will put them under 500 for the season, which they have not been since December 23rd. With only a few points seperating 6th place from 13th, every game is critical at this point. Vancouver has been on a tear, with wins in their last 7 games, including 6-2 against the Penguins and 5-1 against the Blackhawks. They are still 8 points away from 2nd place Chicago. The Canucks are also 6 weeks away from playing in Vancouver, due in part, to the 2 week Olympic break.

The Canucks' top line of Burrows, Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin have combined for 69 points during the 13 games played in January. By contract the best 6 offensive players (Plekanec, Cammalleri, Gomez, Gionta, Pouliot and Markov) for the Canadiens combine for 54 points over the same time span and number of games.

Gomez has been really struggling in last 3 games, with 0 points, a -1 rating, and 18 minutes in penalties.

Montreal already has the leagues worst 5 on 5 goals for average in the NHL. So, when you take away the Canadiens leading 5 on 5 goal scorer in Michael Cammalleri (22 of his 26 goals), the Canadiens are going to be in a lot of trouble if they cannot try to generate more power play opportunities.

MontrealCanadiens.com game preview

Tags: Cammalleri \ Gionta \ Gomez \ Halak \ hockey \ Markov \ Montreal Canadiens \ NHL \ Plekanec \ Price \ Vancouver Canucks