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Big Storylines Heading Into Golden Knights vs. Canadiens Series
What are the major storylines between the Montreal Canadiens and Vegas Golden Knights heading into this playoff series?
Monday night, an NHL playoff series between the Montreal Canadiens and Vegas Golden Knights kicks off and there are a handful of running storylines worth watching. From the goaltending, to the heavy blue lines, to the Max Pacioretty and Nick Suzuki trade debate, the media, fans and the players will be watching multiple narratives.
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Strong Goaltending
This series will feature Carey Price (Canadiens) versus Marc-Andre Fleury (Golden Knights). Two Vezina-caliber goaltenders, this series could come down to who plays better in between the pipes. So far, both have been great. That said, one is bound to outshine the other.
During the Canadiens series against the Jets and Maple Leafs, Price became the goalie most fans figured he wasn’t any longer. He was incredibly reliable and helped shut down two offenses. He’s 8-3 in the playoffs this year with a .935 save percentage. Meanwhile, Fleury has been everything you could ask for and the one-two of Fleury and Robin Lehner. He’s 8-2-2 with a .923 save percentage.
Heavy Blue Line
The talk about the Canadiens now is that GM Marc Bergevin built this team for the postseason and while it didn’t always equate to a win during the regular season, the blue print for success is starting to show itself in the playoffs . With players like Shea Weber and Joel Edmundson on the blue line for the Habs , the team has out-heavied that of their opponents.
Don’t discount Vegas in this area though. When Brayden McNabb came back, it added a lot to their blue line. The top-four in Vegas is incredible with Alex Pietrangelo, Alec Martinez, and Shea Theodore. These are two strong defenses and it will be interesting to see if this is a series with a lot of goal scoring or one where chances are limited.
Pacioretty vs. Suzuki
Sometimes a trade is a huge win for both teams. The Golden Knights were acquiring the right now when they added Pacioretty. The Canadiens we’re looking to the future when they had Suzuki worked into the deal. The question in this series will be if Suzuki is no longer a player with future potential, but can outplay the person he was moved to acquire.
The deal in question sent Max Pacioretty to Las Vegas in exchange for Nick Suzuki, Tomas Tatar and a second-round pick at the 2019 NHL Draft that was later dealt to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for a third-round pick (Mattias Norlinder) and a fifth-round pick (Jacob Leguerrier). No doubt, the Habs have loved the way the trade worked out.
But, the Golden Knights have made the playoffs all three seasons since acquiring Pacioretty. He’s gone 24-27-51 in 48 regular-season games this year, while Suzuki had 15-26-41 totals in 56 games. and Tatar had 10-20-30 in 50 games. Pacioretty has 4-4-8 totals in seven playoff games after missing the first six games of a first-round series against the Minnesota Wild. Suzuki has 4-4-8 totals in 11 playoff games.
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