HabsWorld.net --
Ken Dryden will be 12th Canadiens player to have his number retired prior to the Canadiens and Senators battle for fourth place in the eastern conference. Ottawa and Montreal have been teams headed in different directions all season long. The Canadiens got off to a very impressive start and have struggled mightily of late while the Senators stumbled out of the gate and have been on a tear over their last 15 games.
The Senators are fresh off an afternoon victory over the Boston Bruins and have won 12 of their previous 15 games. Much of that success can be attributed to Ray Emery who has won 6 of his last 7 starts and has a .935 save percentage in his last 13 games. Ottawa has also re located their scoring touch amassing an average of almost 4 goals a game during their 15 game stretch.
The Canadiens on the other hand have just 6 wins in their last 15 games. During that stretch the Canadiens have been shutout three times failed to score more than once on four other occasions. Cristobal Huet carried the Canadiens on his back many times during the beginning of the season has stumbled recently only once posting a save percentage above .900 in his last 5 games.
David Aebischer is set to start his 20th game of the season, he has a 4-3 all time record against the Senators and has never lost to the Senators when with the Canadiens. Ray Emery has a 5-4 record against the Canadiens which includes his first career NHL shutout.
Fun Facts
1. The Canadiens seem to have the Senators number on Monday night’s with three consecutive wins and an all time record of 6-1-1 vs. the Sens.
2. Tomas Plekanec who has been the Canadiens best offensive threat in January can match a career high four game point streak with a point tonight.
3. Daniel Alfredsson has not scored a point in his last two games, prior to that he had 14 points in 6 games.
4. Saku Koivu scored nine goals in December, but has just a single goal in January.
