The Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators are playing live on the NHL playoffs schedule on Wednesday for the first round and the Air Canada Centre will be the venue for Game 1 and the matchup is streaming live online from the NHL Network as Carey Price and PK Subban try and get the team back to the eastern conference finals.
The Canadiens come into the game after finishing first in the Atlantic and they were second to the Rangers in points in the east and second overall in the league. The Rangers and Canadiens played in the east finals year and NY won that in six games and now the two could be on a collision course. The Lightning played very well this year too and now the Canadiens will get the Senators after they snuck into the playoffs with the Penguins.
Montreal comes into the game with Carey Price playing super well this season and he could win the Vezina and the MVP with his skills he could be key for the team this year. Some have pointed to Price as the top goalie in the league this season and he helped the team rank first in goals against this year. The team was seventh in penalty kill percentage and the scoring was ranked 20th and that could be the major key for the team this postseason.
Max Pacioretty has not yet been cleared for the Game 1 matchup and he could be out for a bit in the playoffs and that opens things up for the Senators. The Canadiens played the Senators a couple years ago and lost in five games and the team knows that Ottawa will be looking to get past them and keep Canadian hockey going in the postseason. The Senators were seventh and the Canadiens were second and favored and now that has played out again. Andrew Hammond has had a great run this year and he went 20-1-2 for the team and will be tough to beat down.
Pacioretty and his status will be huge for both sides, as he comes in after scoring nearly 40 goals and putting up 67 points during the season for the team. Montreal won only once in four games against the Senators this season, losing the other three and they were outscored in those games by five goals. Price will have to be great for the Canadiens and he expects that on Wednesday. Pacioretty scored four goals against the Senators this year and losing him for an extended stretch will be tough.
Check here for the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators live coverage.
