Dec 16 5 Habs Questions vs the New Jersey Devils

The Franchise takes a look at tonight's match up in New Jersey between the Montreal Canadiens and the Devils. Montreal is coming off three consecutive 1 goal losses against the Penguins, the Thrashers, and Monday night against the Sabres. The Canadiens did manage to stay offensively competitive against arguably the hottest goaltender in the league right now, Ryan Miller, but now they take on arguably the league's best ever in Martin Brodeur. The Devils have won 5 of their last 6 games, and are coming off a win against the Flyers. Most importantly, Brodeur recently tied the league record for most shut outs in a career, and would love nothing more than to break the tie against the Montreal Canadiens. Like Buffalo, the Canadiens are facing a team who have played 3 less games so far this season, and only have 15 games in the month of December while the Canadiens have 17 games.

Question #1

What happened to Andrei Kostitsyn and how can the Canadiens do the same to a few other players? Andrei has 4 goals and 5 points in his last 2 games. In fact, 6 of his 8 goals on the season have come in the month of December. He's been very accurate as well, scoring on 43% of his shots.

Question #2

Cammalleri also has 6 goals for the month of December, but even if both of them are on the same line, is it enough to score against Martin Brodeur?

Question #3

As good as Carey Price has been down the stretch, unlike Brodeur, Price will not get you a shut out. Can the Habs get scoring somewhere other than their 1st line? Montreal is undefeated when leading after the 2nd period in 8 attempts, but has only rallied twice to win in 16 tries when behind.

Question #4

Can Gomez find a line buddy outside of Brian Gionta? With Gionta in the lineup, Gomez had 2 goals, 9 assists and was a +2 in 19 games. Since Gionta went down, Gomez has had 2 goals and 3 assists with a - 3 in 11 games.

Question #5

Are the Canadiens the worst team in Eastern Canada right now? The Toronto Maple Leafs have made a tremendous come back since Phil Kessel made his debut with them. Even former Hab Mike Komisarek seems to have returned to his old form when he was the Canadiens #2 defenceman behind Markov. And as bad as the Senators have played lately, they still have more wins in their last 10 games, and sit 3 points ahead of the Canadiens in the standings.