salbutera
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- Sep 10, 2019
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Excerpt from The Athletic:
Montreal Canadiens
2.07 expected goals against per 60 at five-on-five: That is the Canadiens’ expected goals against per 60 minutes of five-on-five ice time in eight games in November. In 11 games in October, that number was at 3.79, easily the worst in the league. Had the Canadiens continued playing such porous defense, they would be so far out of the picture by now that any hope of being relevant in December — let alone February or March — would already be long gone. But shoring up their defensive game this month has led to their goaltenders’ playing better and the team’s being more competitive in general, to the point where the Canadiens remain on the cusp of relevancy. It’s a significant step forward from how bad the first three weeks of the season went for them. — Arpon Basu