Dec 26 Five Keys to Victory Vs Maple Leafs

The Montreal Canadiens play their 4 straight game on the road, and hope to win their 4th straight game at the expense of long time rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs are coming off 2 straight losses, but have been a much stronger team since Phil Kessler came off the injured reserve.

Here are the Franchise Five Keys to Victory:

1 - Start the hottest goaltender: Gustavsson has been on a tear in his last 5 games, with a 94% save percentage and a 1,57 GAA. So instead of going with his "number 1 goalie", Habs coach Jacques Martin has opted with Halak who has been even better with a 97% save percentage and a 1,32 GAA.

2 - Get Under the Leaf's Skin: Not only does Montreal have the league's best power play right now, but Toronto has the league's worst penalty kill. The Canadiens may not be that great at playing disciplined hockey, as they also lead the league with most short handed situations, but they will need to focus on making the Leafs spending the extra 2 minutes in the box.

3 - Find a Sniper on the 2nd line: If there is one thing the Canadiens are missing when Gionta is out of the line up, is that player who will charge the net and go for scoring chances. The Canadiens may have found that in Benoit Pouliot, who, despite being kept off the scoresheet, played a very aggressive game against Carolina. Pouliot will start this game on the 2nd line with 2 pure playmakers in Gomez and Sergei Kostitsyn.

4 - Drop the Gloves!: BGL has been looking to find his place on the team, and if he is only going to get under 3 minutes of playing time a game, it might as well be because he is in the penalty box. The Canadiens will need him to be a physical presence and setting the tone early with a big win using his fists. Maybe he needs to call good friend GSP for inspiration, I don't know, but really laying out a guy like Colton Orr will put that extra candy in the stockings for the Habs to win this game.

5 - Contained Energy from The 3rd Line: The line of Pacioretty, Metropolit and Moen will probably get a bit more ice time and be counted on to really shut down the Leafs top line of Ponikarovsky, Stajan and Kessel. They need to use their speed to fight speed, and Martin's system to frustrate without getting frustated and taking bad penalties.

Prediction: 4-1 Canadiens.

Tags: hockey \ Montreal Canadiens \ NHL \ Toronto Maple Leafs