Anderson is set to miss his second straight game with an upper-body injury. The Blue Jackets have not released any type of timeline for his return, but the fact they are updating his status on a game-to-game basis suggests that he is simply day-to-day.
Price allowed five goals on 37 shots in the Canadiens come-from-behind win in Toronto last Saturday. Price, who was given last night off, has given up eight goals on 80 shots (.900 SV%) in two starts but draws a great matchup vs. the Red Wings—Price was 2-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA and .937 SV% in two starts vs. Detroit last year.
Bowey sat as a healthy scratch in the first two games but will replace Trevor Daley (lower-body) in the lineup on Tuesday. After being acquired from the Capitals last season, Bowey had four points (1G / 3A) in 17 games with the Red Wings.
Dobson was the No.12 overall pick in 2018 and is set to replace Johnny Boychuk on the third pairing on Tuesday. The 6-foot-4, 184 lbs. rookie defenseman had 15 goals and 37 assists (52 points) in 56 QMJHL games last season.
Anderson played 16:54 and 16:01 TOI in his first two games of the season but will come out of the lineup vs. Buffalo. Anderson battled a lingering shoulder injury throughout training camp but there’s no evidence that it’s the same injury. Sonny Milano will replace Anderson in the Blue Jackets lineup.
Price was peppered in the Canadiens season opener, stopping 40 of the 43 shots he faced in their 4-3 shootout loss. It was great to see Price stand-tall but the Canadiens will need to be sharper defensively to give Price a fighting chance. Tonight he faces a lethal Maple Leafs team, that he was 0-1-2 with a 3.63 GAA and .882 SV% against last season.
In 2018-19, Price was able to return to the 60-start, 30-win club for the fourth time in his career. As soon as it looked like Price’s career was on the downswing, he finished t-11th in SV% (.918). He will make his first start of 2019-20 vs. the Hurricanes, who he was 1-1-1 with a 2.67 GAA and .914 SV% against last season.
Laine is coming off of a forgettable season but gets a two-year bridge deal close to $7.0M AAV. Laine’s SH% unsurprisingly fell off of a cliff last year after shooting 18 percent in his first two seasons. Even in a “down year,” Laine still scored 30 goals, which showcases how good he is. Look for his SH% to bounce-back a little bit, making Laine a 40-goal threat again in year-4.
Montembeault was forced into NHL action last year, going 4-3-2 wth a 3.04 GAA and .894 SV% in 11 games. Montembeault currently projects to serve as Sergei Bobrovsky’s backup following Roebrto Luongo’s retirement and the James Reimer trade but things could change before the start of the 2020 campaign.
In his first season in the Canadiens organization, Belzile let the Laval Rockets (AHL) in goals (19), assists (35) and points (54). The 27-year-old centre will start 2019-20 with Laval.
Sund, 23, was an undrafted free agent defenseman from Finland, who had eight goals and 27 assists (35 points) in 60 games with Sport Vaasa of the Finnish Liiga. "Tony is a big, smooth-skating defenseman who uses a strong stick to take away passing lanes and to close plays quickly,” Sharks GM Doug Wilson said. “He has tremendous vision that made him one of the top passers and playmakers from the back-end we saw this season.”
Leskinen, 22, is a Finnish defenseman who has spent the last three years with KalPa Kuopio (Finnish Liiga). Leskinen was tied for second on the team in assists (23) and fourth in points (31) in 57 games this season.
Veleno dropped to the Red Wings in last summer’s draft, where he was selected No.30 overall. Veleno dominated the QMJHL where he was third in the league in assists (62), fourth in points (104) and seventh in goals (42). Veleno will have an opportunity to make the Red Wings out of training camp but could head to Grand Rapids (AHL) for some extra seasoning.
Price allowed two goals on 24 shots in the Canadiens win over the Lightning on Tuesday. Price has won three of his last four starts while allowing 11 goals on 113 shots (.902 SV%). The Canadiens will obviously stick with Price down the stretch as they try to leap-frog the Penguins, Hurricanes or Blue Jackets for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
