5 NHL questions: Canadiens face Red Wings without Price
A daily feature that asks five questions about the days NHL games. Will they be answered? (And no, that doesn’t count as one of the questions.)
Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE
Carey Price was already expected to have the night off on Wednesday against the Detroit Red Wings, but the fact he's going to be miss at least two games because of a lower body injury is a little bit of a surprise. How will the Canadiens do without their starting goaltender on Wednesday? It's a pretty big drop from Price to Peter Budaj.
2. What will Pavel Datsyuk do for Detroit?
Barring any setback Datsyuk will play for the Red Wings on Wednesday against the Canadiens. What sort of impact will he have? Before the Olympic break Datsyuk had appeared in just two games since New Year’s Day and was clearly less than 100 percent during his appearance for Team Russia in the Olympics. He has 15 goals to go with 18 assists in 37 games.
3. Will Boston beat Buffalo without Tuukka Rask?
You would think so, but bad teams beat good teams all the time. Coming off his bronze medal performance at the Olympics Tuukka Rask is going to get the night off for the Bruins with backup Chad Johnson getting the start for Boston. Buffalo just played on Tuesday (a 3-2 win over Carolina) and is also starting its backup goalie, Jhonas Enroth, which should make this an even more winnable game for the Bruins.
4. Can the Kings get a win?
Before the Olympic break Los Angeles had won just two of 11 games, with only one coming in regulation, and had scored just 15 goals over that stretch. That included three shut outs and three games where they scored just a single goal. Can they get back to their winning ways against the Avalanche?
5. Can Jaroslav Halak make his case to keep the Blues' No. 1 job?
St. Louis is one of the teams rumored to be in the mix for Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller, so it's going to be up to Jaroslav Halak to show that he's still capable of being the guy in net for the Blues. What will he do on Wednesday in Vancouver?
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