Gold: Canes heading into hostile territory

By Adam Gold radio host 99.9 the Fan

The Montreal Canadiens reached the Stanley Cup Finals a year ago. They avoided a sweep with an overtime win in Game 4, but ultimately fell in 5 games to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Still it was a remarkable run for Les Habitants, who finished 4th in the pandemic altered North Division and whose 59 points was last among the 16 playoff teams.

Montreal is 0-4-0 on the young season and has scored just 3 goals so far. Forward Jonathan Drouin has two and defenseman Chris Wideman one while last spring’s sensations Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki have yet to register a scoring point in four games.

It’s with that as a backdrop that we point out that the Bell Centre will be angry more so that the home team has been miserable so far this year than Carolina Hurricanes forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi is making his return to Quebec after spending the first three years of his career with the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge.

Make no mistake, the Montreal fans will remind Kotkaniemi that he did not play like the 3rd overall draft pick from 2018. And, there's no doubt that their tushes are still a bit enflamed by the $6.1 million offer sheet that wrenched "KK" from their roster over the summer -- especially since their gambit for Sebastian Aho three summers ago failed to connect. But, their fuel will truly be the disappointing start to the season from the Canadiens.

Because there was no inter-divisional play a year ago, these teams are meeting for the first time since February of 2020. However, since the 2016-17 season, the Canes are 9-2-1 against Montreal. And, then there’s the matter of a pair of soul-crushing playoff series defeats in 2002 and 2006.

Wait, did I neglect to mention that for about five years Montreal radio has perpetuated the myth that the Hurricanes de Caroline were moving to Quebec City? How could I forget that part of the backstory?

So, to sum up the depth of the feud. We have perpetual, unfounded relocation rumours, a pair of restricted free agent battles, two Carolina playoff series wins -- including the Miracle at Molson and Carolina's comeback from losing the first two games at home in 2006 -- AND a 9-2-1 edge in the season series over the last four normal seasons.

Oh, there’s beef between these two franchises.

Based on having scored just three times in four games it might not surprise you that Montreal is 0 for 13 on the power play. Couple that with the Canes being 7 for 7 on the penalty kill and that’s a bleak outlook for the Habs’ man advantage.

And, while Carolina is coming off an 0-fer of their own, they do have a pair of power play goals to their credit in nine tries and Montreal has allowed a whopping SEVEN power play tallies in 17 disadvantage situations.

None of this really matters however since sports often happens.

Nino Niederreiter leads the Hurricanes with 7 career goals in 20 games against Montreal. Andrei Svechnikov has scored three times in a half dozen matches against the Habs. Rod Brind’Amour has two good options in goal if he’s basing tonight’s starter on past performances. Both Frederik Andersen (10-4-2, 2.61 GAA/.920 SV%) and Antti Raanta (5-1-0, 2.61 GAA/.921 SV%) have played well against Montreal in their careers, but the bet is that Andersen will get the nod with Raanta making his Hurricanes debut Saturday in Columbus.

Jake Allen, Montreal’s presumptive starter, is 3-2-0 2.45/.910 vs Carolina.

The Habs are a banged up bunch. Already without stalwart Shea Weber on defense, the team is without star goaltender Carey Price for at least a month, speedy forward Paul Bryon is also injured as is former Hurricanes defenseman Joel Edmundson. Eddy is also dealing with a personal matter as his father was recentlly diagnosed with cancer. The Canes will see one former teammate, however, as Cedric Paquette signed with Montreal in the offseason.

Lining up

Based on the practice lines, we should see a few tweaks to the Hurricanes combinations.

Kotkaniemi-Aho-Teravainen

Svechnikov-Trocheck-Necas

Niederreiter-Staal-Fast

Lorentz-Stepan-Martinook

Slavin-Bear

Skjei-Pesce

Cole-DeAngelo

Andersen

Note: The previous was merely a guess based on Wednesday’s practice.

Tune in at 6:30 for Storm Watch starring Alec Campbell on 99.9 the Fan. The play-by-play with Mike Maniscalco and Tripp Tracy follows at 7:00. And, don’t forget to stay on the lookout for the Canes Corner Podcast which drops the morning after every Hurricanes game. It’s available wherever you get your podcasts.