But the name of Yahweh endures forever,
The power of Yahweh, through all generations.
Yahweh will vindicate his chosen team,
And have compassion on those who worship in the house of God.
The idols of those who think themselves a nation,
mere men, like Beliveau and Lafleur,
their greatness does not endure.
They have hands,
but cannot shoot;
they have legs,
but cannot skate;
they have eyes,
but have no vision
and no strength is left in their bodies.
Those who look to them for hope,
who indulge in fading memories
are presented this reality:
the Canadiens are just another team.
Let those who worship at Rexall Place call on the name of Yahweh!
Let all of you who would love his team call on the name of Yahweh!
Let every player and coach call on the name of Yahweh!
Let all of us who fear Yahweh call upon his everlasting name!
Let Yahweh be praised in Rexall Place,
and let Edmonton be his dwelling place forever!
Praise Yahweh.
Montreal Canadiens (2-2-0) @ Edmonton Oilers (1-1-1)
Rexall Place, 7:30 PM MDT
Television: CBC
More analysis after the jump...
Visiting Team Scouting Report: The Montreal Canadiens have gotten off to a rough start so far this season. I wasn't particularly convinced by them before they lost Andrei Markov to injury in the first game of the season (I have them down for 9th in the East). Replacing him with former Oiler and current French-Canadian Marc-Andre Bergeron has done nothing to instill any confidence. Although the Canadiens won their first two games of the season their team Corsi was -35 and two losses later it stands at -65. This is a team that has had some issues early on and is coming off a real drubbing at the hands of the Canucks. If the Oilers want to have a shot at the playoffs, they need to be racking up points against these Eastern Conference bubble teams. Although, for the Canadiens to have a shot at the playoffs, they need to be racking up points against the Western Conference bubble teams. Maybe we'll see another shoot-out. Everyone is happy! (note: Bruce isn't happy).
Scoring Chance Project: Most Oiler fans frequenting this little part of the internet probably already know that Dennis King is tracking scoring chances for the Oilers this year (results can be found here). If you didn't already know, some of those numbers are popping up on the sidebar here at C+B. SCF/15 is "Scoring Chances For while on the ice per fifteen minutes." SCA/15 is "Scoring Chances Against while on the ice per 15 minutes." SCDiff/15 is "Scoring Chance Differential while on the ice per fifteen minutes." These numbers are all based on the tracking done by Dennis (we trust him). Now, the thing is, Dennis has started a bit of a trend and Olivier of En Attendant Les Nordiques has been tracking scoring chances for the Montreal Canadiens this year. So, if you're interested in the "what is a scoring chance" discussion, want to get a non-Oiler perspective on the game or need a recap of the night's events I highly recommend learning French. So that you can read Olivier's report on the game (at least the numbers are in English!).
Expected Starting Lineups:
Montreal Canadiens (2-2-0):
Cammalleri - Gomez - Gionta
Latendresse - Lapierre - Moen
Pacioretty - Plekanec - Kostitsyn
Laraque - Chipchura - D'Agostini
Hamrlik - Spacek
Weber - Gill
Mara -Gorges
Price
Edmonton Oilers (1-1-1):
Jacques - Horcoff - Hemsky
O' Sullivan - Gagner - Stone
Penner - Brule - Comrie
Moreau - Cogliano - Stortini
Visnovsky - Staios
Grebeshkov - Gilbert
Smid - Strudwick
Khabibulin
Behind the Numbers: J.F Jacques continues to struggle in all areas where he's last on the team in Scoring Chances against /15 and last among forwards in Chances differential /15, bleeding 4.369 chances against / 15. He's also last among forwards in Corsi / 15 at -5.957. Ladislav Smid has benefited from the amount of time he's spent with Lubomir Visnovsky. He's leading the defense in chances differential thus far at 1.395 and his Corsi /15 is -.372. It's early, but he's showing signs of getting it.