Habs Start Western Canada Road Trip in Calgary

In tonight’s game, forward Joshua Roy is expected to make his season debut with the Canadiens on a line with Joe Veleno and Zack Bolduc on the team’s 3rd line. After a strong start to his season with the Laval Rocket, he earned himself a call-up in place of Owen Beck, who struggled to make an impact during his two-game stint with the team. Tonight starts a prime opportunity for Roy to show the Canadiens that he truly belongs in the NHL. He definitely has the skill to be an everyday NHL player; it’s just about whether he can put in consistent effort and utilize all his tools. 

Last year was a nightmare season for Roy, who often looked out of place when playing in the NHL, after a terrible camp where he had a spot on the team that he lost for not being in the right shape. This is why this past summer, he worked on being ready by working on getting in the best shape of his life in the gym. Unfortunately, it didn’t work in training camp, and he was among the first cuts, but starting the AHL season on a roll, it’s time for him to get his chance again. 

Could Roy be a player who helps Bolduc get back to making an impact offensively again? The more we watch Bolduc, the more we realize he needs a skilled passer to get him the puck to create offense. Time will tell if that could be Joshua Roy, or maybe he eventually gets to play with Ivan Demidov and Oliver Kapanen, who are continuing to show their amazing chemistry.

Last season, the Habs struggled to beat Flames starting goaltender Dustin Wolf, who allowed just 2 goals in the 2 meetings last year, which included a shutout where he made 26 saves in a 1-0 win over the Canadiens in Calgary. The other meeting between the two teams finished with the Flames winning 3-2 in overtime. Despite how good Wolf, who has been announced as the Flames starter tonight, was against the Habs last year, his .867 save percentage and 3.91 GAA so far this season are showing severe signs that he is having a major sophomore slump to start the year. With that being said, the Habs may be able to figure out Wolf this time around.

As for the Habs netminder, it appears that Dobes will get the start for the 2nd game in a row. This will be the first time that the Czech goaltender will get a 2nd straight start in the NHL. He currently has both the 3rd-best save percentage and Goals Against Average in the NHL. As long as he stays among the hottest goaltenders, he should continue to get the bulk of starts. 

Given the tough start to the year for the Flames, the Habs are listed as slight -115 road favorites for tonight’s matchup. As opposed to last year, the Flames and Wolf have given up the 3rd most goals in the NHL so far this season. Meanwhile, the Habs have scored the 2nd most in the entire NHL thus far. This is why betting on the Over 5.5 goals for tonight makes a ton of sense. My player prop for tonight is a Cole Caufield goal, who will be looking to get back on the scoresheet after not scoring in 2 games. The sniper’s line to score tonight is listed at +150. Combine these three lines to boost your odds up to +425. 

Tonight’s game should be a challenge as the Flames will be hungry to turn things around, but if the Habs can stick to their game of speed, they should be successful once again to get this road trip started on the right foot. 

Will the Canadiens be able to get off to a good start on their road trip?