Canadiens Game Day: Habs will face full house as series opens in Vegas
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The Vegas Golden Knights had a 21-5-2 record at home during the regular season this year — and that was without a packed house.
When the Canadiens face the Golden Knights in Game 1 of their Stanley Cup semifinal series Monday night at T-Mobile arena there will be a full house with more than 18,000 screaming fans (9 p.m., CBC, SN, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM). It will be the same thing for Game 2 Wednesday night in Las Vegas.
“We have experience,” Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme said after his team’s morning skate Monday when asked about the fans in Las Vegas. “I mean there’s no surprise to our guys. Obviously, having a good start is always a key, but we were saying the same thing when the buildings were empty. Having a crowd — for sure a big crowd like this — is something positive on the other side and hopefully we can have the same in Montreal, or close to.”
The Canadiens have been allowed to have 2,500 fans at the Bell Centre. Quebec Premier François Legault is looking at whether that number can be increased with the Canadiens playing Games 3 and 4 (and Game 6, if necessary) of this series at the Bell Centre. Legault said Sunday he had raised the issue with public health director Horacio Arruda.
“I’m pushing Dr. Arruda, but we have to be fair,” Legault said, noting that many festivals have been cancelled or curtailed because of the pandemic and the Bell Centre should not receive special treatment. “ We have to look if we can (have) more people (while) respecting the rules that are necessary, because we need to go gradually in order not to see a bump (in COVID-19 cases) in the next few weeks.”
The Golden Knights started the season on Jan. 14 without any fans in the building. By March 1, they were allowed 2,605 fans. That was bumped up to 3,950 fans on April 3, then 7,567 fans on May 7 and when the Golden Knights opened the first round of the playoffs against the Minnesota Wild they were up to 8,683 fans. The Golden Knights eliminated the Wild in seven games and for Games 5 and 7 attendance at T-Mobile Arena was increased to 12,156. After losing the first two games of their second-round series against the Avalanche in Colorado, the Golden Knights were permitted to have a full house for Games 3, 4 and 6 at T-Mobile Arena. They won all three of those games, along with Game 5 in Colorado.
“I don’t think there was a person in the hockey world when we were down 2-0 that would predict that we would finish this off in six (games) at home tonight,” Golden Knights head coach Peter DeBoer said after beating the Avalanche 6-3 in Game 6 last Thursday to win the series and advance to the Stanley Cup semifinals. “That was real. There was a lot more talk about us being swept and embarrassed and could we even win a game. I think we’ve got a group with a lot of pride. They just blocked out the noise and went to work and battled and scraped and scratched and found a way. What a night.
“The other thing I would be remiss if I didn’t mention was the advantage of the full rink in Games 3, 4 and 6,” DeBoer added. “Huge to our group. Honestly, if we don’t have full capacity and the rink rocking like it was in those games I’m sure we’re playing a Game 7 here on Saturday night. So huge shout out to T-Mobile and our fans and the governor (Steve Sisolak) for allowing it.”
Heading into Game 1 against the Canadiens, the Golden Knights had a 5-2 record at home in the playoffs after winning their last four games at T-Mobile Arena.
The Canadiens’ Josh Anderson said his team can also feed off the crowd in Las Vegas.
“We got a little bit of a taste at home with the Bell Centre, just having 2,500 fans in there felt similar to a packed house,” he said after Monday’s morning skate. “So coming in here with the building fully packed it’s going to be exciting and a lot of people are thinking that it’s going to be an advantage for Vegas. But listen, we haven’t played in front of a (big) crowd all season long, so I think we’re going to be very excited to feel the energy from the crowd and take full advantage of it.”
Shaking off the rust
The Canadiens have gone six days without playing a game and it will be interesting to see what kind of an impact that has on them in Game 1 against the Golden Knights.
The Winnipeg Jets had eight days off after sweeping the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the playoffs and then got swept by the Canadiens in the second round.
“I think it’s time to go now,” Ducharme said after Monday’s morning skate. “We’ve done what we needed to do. We had the rest we needed, we had some good practices. Now I feel that it’s time to go. I feel our guys are anxious to start. I think we’re at the right spot mentally. We know what to expect. Now it’s just a matter of time but it’s time to get going now.”
The Canadiens will be missing injured defencemen Jeff Petry and Jon Merrill, along with forward Jake Evans. They all took part in the morning skate but were wearing non-contact jerseys. Ducharme said he wasn’t sure when the three injured players would be able to return.
Video: NHL Playoff Preview: Montreal Canadiens – Vegas Golden Knights (Global News)
NHL Playoff Preview: Montreal Canadiens – Vegas Golden Knights
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“Every situation is different with them,” the coach said. “But we had some positive signs this morning and hopefully we can count of them as soon as possible.”
Anderson said the Canadiens are excited to get the series started.
“We’re ready to go,” he said. “Having (six) days off and trying to work on some things just to be better and sharp. But these last couple of days have been business like and we’re ready to go into tonight’s game and start the right way, for sure. I think we have a lot of excitement in our dressing room, a lot of confidence, so we’re excited.
“We have a really good opportunity right now and there’s a lot of excitement, too,” he added. “It’s hard to make it this far and we’re only halfway there, believe it or not, so we got a lot of work to do and we’re excited for the challenge.”
Habs lines
Here’s how the Canadiens forward lines and defence pairings looked at Monday’s morning skate:
Lehkonen – Danault – Gallagher
Toffoli – Suzuki – Caufield
Byron – Kotkaniemi – Anderson
Armia – Staal – Perry
Chiarot – Weber
Kulak – Edmundson
Romanov – Gustafsson
Vegas lines
Here’s how the Golden Knights forward lines and defence pairings looked at their morning skate:
Pacioretty- Stephenson – Stone
Marchessault – Karlsson – Smith
Tuch – Roy – Janmark
Carrier – Kolesar – Reaves
Martinez – Pietrangelo
McNabb- Theodore
Holden – Whitecloud
Series schedule
Here’s the complete schedule for the Stanley Cup semifinal series between the Canadiens and Vegas Golden Knights:
Game 1: Monday, June 14, at Las Vegas, 9 p.m.
Game 2: Wednesday, June 16, at Las Vegas, 9 p.m.
Game 3: Friday, June 18, at Montreal, 8 p.m.
Game 4: Sunday, June 20, at Montreal, 8 p.m.
x-Game 5: Tuesday, June 22, at Las Vegas, 9 p.m.
x-Game 6: Thursday, June 24, at Montreal, 8 p.m.
x-Game 7: Saturday, June 26, at Las Vegas, 8 p.m.
x-if necessary
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