Canadiens' Michael Pezzetta: Serving as extra forward
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Pezzetta has played in three of the Canadiens' first 12 games after sitting out Saturday's 3-1 loss to the Penguins.
Pezzetta's three appearances so far correspond with Juraj Slafkovsky's absence with an upper-body injury. That pretty clearly paints the picture of Pezzetta being purely an injury replacement at forward. He has no points, one shot on goal, nine hits, four PIM and two blocked shots so far. Aside from injuries, Pezzetta could eventually offer a challenge to Emil Heineman or Oliver Kapanen for a fourth-line spot. When in the lineup, Pezzetta offers hits and PIM, but he's never had more than 15 points in a single season.
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Canadiens' Michael Pezzetta: Set for training camp
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Pezzetta (upper body) is expected to be fully fit ahead of training camp, Eric Engels of Sportsnet reports Monday.
Pezzetta suited up in 61 games for the Canadiens last season in which he tallied three goals and nine helpers while dishing out 242 hits and 29 blocked shots. Despite not playing in a full 82 games, the gritty center still finished in the top 10 in the NHL in hits. Given his limited offensive upside, Pezzetta won't be much of a target in most fantasy formats but could certainly offer some value in banger formats.
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Canadiens' Michael Pezzetta: Won't return to Tuesday's game
Rotowire
Pezzetta (upper body) won't finish Tuesday's game versus the Red Wings.
Pezzetta will end the campaign with 12 points in 61 appearances. He rarely saw anything more than fourth-line minutes with the Canadiens this season. Pezzetta is under contract for 2024-25, so he should be in contention to once again fill a bottom-six spot.
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Canadiens' Michael Pezzetta: Ends goal drought
Rotowire
Pezzetta scored a goal on one shot in Thursday's 6-2 loss to the Senators. He also had one block, three hits and five penalty minutes over 8:47 of ice time.
Pezzetta trailed on a rush and buried a loose puck past Joonas Korpisalo for the final tally of the game. It was Pezzetta's second goal of the season and ended a 24-game run without hitting the back of the net. By now, fantasy managers probably realize the fourth-line forward does not help as a scorer, but Pezzetta is tied for 10th in the NHL with 115 hits and tops the league with 26.29 hits per 60 minutes.
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Canadiens' Michael Pezzetta: On scoring burst
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Pezzetta logged an assist and two hits over 9:01 of ice time in Wednesday's 3-2 shootout loss to Philadelphia.
Pezzetta was still on the ice during a line change, and he and Juraj Slafkovsky combined to help on David Savard's goal. It was the third assist in the last four games and the fourth in the last seven for Pezzetta. He has one goal, seven assists, 29 shots, 105 hits, 14 blocks and 28 PIM through 29 games.
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Canadiens' Michael Pezzetta: Garners assist, eight hits in win
Rotowire
Pezzetta had an assist and eight hits over 8:25 of ice time in Saturday's 4-3 shootout win over the Rangers.
Pezzetta won a puck battle on the side wall, which led to Mitchell Stephens feeding Joel Armia for Montreal's third goal. The hard-working Pezzetta has three assists and 27 hits over the last six games.
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Canadiens' Michael Pezzetta: Helps in win
Rotowire
Pezzetta had an assist, two shots on net, two blocked shots and eight hits over 10:46 of ice time in Tuesday's 4-3 win over the Stars.
Pezzetta made a nifty pass off the boards back to Johnny Kovacevic, whose slapshot rebounded to Kaiden Guhle for Montreal's second goal. It was the second helper in four games for Pezzetta, who's known more for his grit than enabling scoring chances. The eight hits raised his total to a team-high 91 over 26 games (7:46 TOI per game).
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Canadiens' Michael Pezzetta: Helps in loss
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Pezzetta had an assist, one blocked shot and two hits over 6:12 of ice time in Wednesday's 4-3 shootout loss to Pittsburgh.
Pezzetta and his fourth-line mates had a strong start -- they were on the ice for Montreal's first two goals during the first period. That unit dogged the Penguins into a turnover that produced David Savard's unassisted marker, then Pezzetta and Jesse Ylonen assisted on Jayden Struble's tally. Pezzetta has four points (one goal, three assists) and 70 hits over 20 games.
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Canadiens' Michael Pezzetta: Slides nifty assist
Rotowire
Pezzetta had an assist, two blocked shots and one hit over 7:17 of ice time in Thursday's 6-5 loss to the Golden Knights.
Montreal's fourth line provided a pair of goals Thursday, both by Jesse Ylonen. On the second of those goals, Pezzetta retrieved a puck behind the net then slung a nifty backhand pass to Ylonen for the Canadiens' fourth goal. Known more for his grit than ability to generate scoring chances, it was the type of play rarely seen from Pezzetta. He has three points over 13 games.
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Canadiens' Michael Pezzetta: Logs assist in loss
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Pezzetta recorded an assist, one shot on goal, one blocked shot and two hits over 6:17 of ice time in Tuesday's 5-2 loss to New Jersey.
Pezzetta's shot off the rush was saved, but the rebound went directly to Justin Barron, who buried his second goal in as many games. It was a mostly quiet game for Pezzetta, whose typical fantasy contributions come in the hits and PIM categories. He's been active in four straight contests following Kirby Dach's season-ending knee injury.
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Canadiens' Michael Pezzetta: Inks two-year extension
Rotowire
Pezzetta signed a two-year, $1.625 million extension with the Canadiens on Friday, Sportsnet reports.
Pezzetta drew into 63 games with Montreal in 2022-23, picking up seven goals and 15 points while averaging 9:19 of ice time. The 25-year-old forward should continue to post similar numbers while skating in a bottom-six role over the next two campaigns.
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Canadiens' Michael Pezzetta: Two points in loss
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Pezzetta had a goal and an assist in a 5-4 loss to Boston on Thursday.
The points snapped a 12-game drought. Pezzetta is an energy guy, so points aren't a regular occurrence. He finished the season with seven goals and 15 points in 63 games.
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Canadiens' Michael Pezzetta: Works hard for goal
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Pezzetta scored a goal on three shots in Thursday's 9-5 loss to the Panthers. He added six hits and one blocked shot to his line over 10:36 of ice time.
It was goal befitting Pezzetta's style. He laid out on the ice to keep the puck in Florida's end, then was back on his skates when Anthony Richard's shot was deflected, and he managed to redirect with the shaft of his stick. The goal was his sixth, establishing a new career high for the fourth-line forward who has 13 points over 50 games.
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Canadiens' Michael Pezzetta: Two-pointer in loss
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Pezzetta scored a goal on two shots and assisted on another in Tuesday's 4-3 shootout loss to the Hurricanes. He also had four hits over 8:28 of ice time.
It was a big night for Montreal's fourth line, which scored two of the team's three goals. Pezzetta picked up an assist on a tally by Alex Belzile, who was in the right spot after a rebound. Pezzetta later crashed the net and finished a nice feed from Chris Tierney. The two-point night was the third of the season for Pezzetta, who has a career-high 12 points through 45 games.
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Canadiens' Michael Pezzetta: Manages helper Sunday
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Pezzetta posted an assist, four hits and two PIM in Sunday's 4-3 loss to the Golden Knights.
Pezzetta has two helpers over his last eight games, but he hasn't scored a goal in that span. The 24-year-old has been a fixture in the Canadiens' lineup on the fourth line, a role that doesn't lend itself to much fantasy relevance. He's collected 10 points, 157 hits, 48 PIM, 47 shots on net and a minus-1 rating through 44 contests overall.
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Canadiens' Michael Pezzetta: Big effort for assist
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Pezzetta recorded an assist, one shot on goal, six hits and one blocked shot over 13:56 of ice time in Friday's 5-2 win over Philadelphia.
Pezzetta made the hustle play of the night. He beat Flyer defenders to negate a potential icing then, while falling down behind the net, backhanded a feed to Chris Tierney for a late first-period goal. The points are rare for the fourth-line forward but not the hits. Pezzetta, who's recorded 73 hits over the last 15 games, is second on the club with 143 thumps while averaging 9:00 TOI over 39 contests. On a hits-per-game basis, Pezzetta ranks sixth in the NHL with 3.66.
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Canadiens' Michael Pezzetta: Starts scoring in loss
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Pezzetta scored a goal on three shots in Thursday's 6-2 loss to Carolina. He added seven hits and four penalty minutes over 10:25 of ice time.
Pezzetta's first shot was stopped by Antti Raanta, but he was able to bat the puck in midair past the goalie to open the scoring. The fourth-line forward is known more for his aggressive style but has shown an offensive side of late. Pezzetta has five points (two goals) in the last nine games, during which he's delivered 46 hits.
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Canadiens' Michael Pezzetta: Two-point night
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Pezzetta had a goal and an assist in Thursday's 4-3 overtime loss to Detroit. He also had two shots on net, eight hits and blocked one shot over 13:43 of ice time.
Pezzetta took advantage of a carom off teammate Rafael Harvey-Pinard's skate to backhanded the puck for Montreal's first goal. He later returned the favor by setting up Harvey-Pinard's game-tying goal late in the second period. Multi-point nights are rare for the fourth-line forward, who has two two-pointers over 30 games.
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Canadiens' Michael Pezzetta: Helps on game-tying goal
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Pezzetta had an assist, six hits and one blocked shot over 11:05 of ice time in Saturday's 3-2 overtime win over the Maple Leafs.
Pezzetta had the primary assist on Rafael Harvey-Pinard's second-period tally to tie the game at two goals apiece. It was an assist emblematic of the hard-working forward, who dived at a loose puck in front of the goal and was still prone on the ice when Harvey-Pinard scored. Offense is not his forte, but Pezzetta averages 3.3 hits per game. The 24-year-old forward has dressed in four straight games as the Canadiens deal with numerous injuries at forward, and he's dished out 23 hits over that span.
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Canadiens' Michael Pezzetta: Gets first two-point game
Rotowire
Pezzetta scored a goal and drew an assist during Friday's 4-2 loss to the host Stars.
Pezzetta started his career effort by earning the primary helper on Jake Evans' first-period, power-play marker and then added a second-period goal off an odd-man breakaway. Pointless since he scored against the Canucks on Dec. 5, the 24-year-old left winger secured his first career power-play point and multi-point outing, adding two shots, four hits and two PIM. Beginning Friday on the third line, Pezzetta previously posted an assist during each of the final three games last season (April 24-29).
