All-You-Need-To-Know About Tonight’s Home Opener for The Habs

Tonight’s pre-game will start with a live tribute to the late, legendary goaltender Ken Dryden, who passed away from cancer earlier this summer. Following that, each player on the Habs will be introduced onto the ice with a song of their choice. Fans attending the game are advised to get to their seats by 6:50 pm ET to make sure that they can see the whole ceremony that the team has for this year’s intros.

Samuel Montembeault is expected to get the start in goal for the Canadiens, which is the 3rd year in a row that he gets to play in the home opener. Meanwhile, they are expected to play against Joey D’Accord, who has a .968 save percentage in his two starts to date this season. Can the Canadiens be the first team to score more than 1 goal on D’Accord? He is among the hottest goaltenders in the league after the first week of the NHL season. 

It will be a challenge for the Habs to beat such a confident goaltender, but the Canadiens do have the passionate crowd at the Bell Centre that could help give them an edge that can throw D’Accord off his game. It may be the best way to throw the Kraken goalie off his game, given how much confidence he is playing with. If the Canadiens players and their fans can make D’Accord’s night just a little harder, it may be all that they need to continue their extend their winning streak to 3 games. 

Another thing that may help the Habs a lot in tonight’s matchup against the Kraken is the motivation to win after Lane Hutson’s long-term contract, which was signed on Monday morning. The team as a whole is ecstatic about the contract, which could give them that extra motivation to win their first game after the deal is finalized.

Not to mention, Hutson himself has a huge weight off his shoulder, with there being no more questions from the fans or media about how the negotiations are going. It has seemed like Hutson has been off his game in the first 3 games to start the season. The fact that his contract wasn’t signed and there was a lot of talk about the contract may have distracted him from playing the best version of his game. 

Speaking of which, with a less distracted Lane Hutson, the Habs may be able to look better on the power-play after only going 2-for-10 on Saturday. Even with the Canadiens’ two goals, Hutson wasn’t a huge part of the scoring plays despite being on the ice. Before the Canadiens make any changes to the first unit, they should see how Hutson plays with the four other players now that he’s completely focused on hockey with no distractions. The power play tonight will likely be watched very closely to see how they can bounce back from Saturday’s struggles. 

After three straight games with a goal, Zack Bolduc could be an interesting player to place a bet on to score again tonight, as he really has the hot stick. Bolduc also seems to be the main shooter on the Habs’ top power play unit thus far. He was the player who originally shot the puck on both power play goals on Saturday; therefore, it’s likely he gets a good amount of chances yet again tonight on the man advantage. Bolduc is currently listed as a +225 to score again tonight and has already registered 2 goals and 3 points in 3 career games against the Kraken.

Do you think the Habs will come out with a win in tonight’s home opener?