Joe Veleno will lastly get the chance he was denied two months in the past.
The Canadiens ahead was a
wholesome scratch to start the season
and missed the top of Montreal’s opening three-game highway journey that concluded in Chicago on Oct. 11.
Whereas Veleno was a member of the Blackhawks for under 18 video games final season after a March 7 commerce from Detroit, he was stunned to be traded for a second time to Seattle on June 21. However the Kraken instantly positioned him on unconditional waivers and purchased out the ultimate 12 months of his contract, permitting the Kirkland native to
signal with Montreal as a free agent
on July 16.
The Canadiens, within the midst of a four-game homestand, entertain Chicago Thursday on the Bell Centre
(7 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN Radio-690, 98.5 FM)
.
“It’s extra of a revenge sport for me,” Veleno advised The Gazette after Wednesday’s optionally available apply in Brossard. “I assumed my time there, I used to be truly discovering my sport once more. … For the ice time I used to be given and what sort of position I used to be put in, I assumed production-wise, it was fairly good. I felt actually good over there. I actually felt comfy. I used to be clearly very sad to be traded in the summertime. I wish to put my finest foot ahead and present them what they missed out on.
“There’s positively going to be an additional edge (on Thursday).”
The Canadiens may use any benefit at this juncture of what has been, to say the least, an inconsistent season.
After what was Montreal’s finest sport thus far — a
dominant 4-1 victory on Sunday in opposition to Edmonton
, the two-time Stanley Cup finalists — in line with head coach Martin St. Louis, the Canadiens failed to provide back-to-back spectacular performances,
falling 4-1 to visiting Philadelphia
on Tuesday night time.
The Canadiens, as soon as once more, have been victimized by defensive lapses, permitting a pair of targets off two-on-one breaks. And, as soon as once more, the goaltending was inconsistent — at the very least on the Flyers’ third objective, when rookie
Jacob Fowler
confirmed indecision and hesitated, dropping the puck to Matvei Michkov behind the web. Michkov fed Bobby Brink for a straightforward rating.
“It’s positively a tough league to win in,” Veleno mentioned. “It’s 82 video games and it’s arduous to repeat these (performances). I assumed we did some good issues. Clearly, there have been a few the identical errors that ended up behind our web. I didn’t assume we gave them an excessive amount of offensively. We have been fairly regular defensively.
“One factor we may have modified (was) placing some extra pucks on the web and stepping into these arduous areas. I assumed we have been somewhat bit on the surface extra instances than not. It’s arduous to attain targets on this league. However whenever you’re not getting in entrance of the web, it’s even tougher. There have been some unlucky errors (Tuesday) however I assumed our sport was there. We’ve simply acquired to discover a method. I believe our sport general the final two video games has been fairly strong.”
As lengthy and as gruelling because the season has turn out to be, the schedule is especially condensed this 12 months as a result of the NHL will take a three-week hiatus in February through the Olympics. Thursday’s sport will start one other stretch that sees the Canadiens taking part in 3 times over 4 days, leaving little apply time. It may additionally have resulted in what appears to be an abundance of accidents.
Defenceman Mike Matheson is the most recent casualty, sidelined with an upper-body harm. He stays day-to-day.
“There’s going to be stretches the place you win 4 or 5 video games in a row,” winger
Zachary Bolduc
mentioned. “You’re going to lose three or 4 video games in a row. It’s a part of the season. For certain, you wish to keep away from dropping, nevertheless it’s a part of the sport. The opposite group is allowed to play good video games.”
Together with the scheduling grind, the Canadiens’ issues at dwelling continued. Whereas Montreal is 9-3-3 on the highway, it has struggled on the Bell Centre and dropped to 8-9-1. One of many many causes the Canadiens made the playoffs final season was their 23-12-6 home-ice report — one that’s unlikely to be duplicated.
“We’ve been a significantly better group on the highway,” assistant coach Stéphane Robidas mentioned. “Why? I don’t have that reply. That second interval, particularly at dwelling, has been inflicting us bother. We hand over two or three targets in a three- or four-minute span. That tilts the sport the opposite method. Each play issues.
“The 2 (second-period) targets they scored (Tuesday), we have now the puck on our stick within the offensive zone, they return the opposite method and it’s behind our web. The distinction between successful and dropping is so slim.”
Robidas believes visiting groups are feeding off the Bell Centre vitality that’s purported to inspire the Canadiens.
The Blackhawks (13-14-6) fell aside within the third interval Tuesday night time at Toronto, permitting three third-period targets in a 3-2 loss. Chicago is on a three-game dropping streak and is lacking Connor Bedard, who’s out with a shoulder harm. Bedard leads the Blackhawks in scoring, with 19 targets and 44 factors in 31 video games.
hzurkowsky@postmedia.com
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