Game Sixty-Six: Habs vs. Coyotes

THIRD PERIOD: 

- Poor start to the period by the Habs, agressive start by the Coyotes. Carey Price with a head standing save, the puck very nearly crossing the line. Canadiens are going to get mowed into mulch if they don't start moving their legs, and fast. 

- Okay, much better. Desharnais line with a momentum changing shift, De La Rose robbed by Smith with a high hard snapper that Smith somehow gloved.

- Another good shift by Eller, Habs maintain the newly found momentum.

- Officials have been very generous tonight towards the Coyotes in crashing and bumping Price. Therrien fuming at the bench about this.

- Gallagher has managed to self-generate about four or five high quality, in close scoring chances tonight. Not rewarded on the sheet - at least not yet.

- Habs in full-fledged icing mode now, which is another way of saying they're dumping the puck with every opportunity they get. Classic lead sitting behaviours here. Just asking to get burned by arguably the worst team in the NHL right now.

- Combined, Paciorerty, Gallagher and De La Rose have been robbed about a dozen times tonight. Really should be a 3 or 4 goal Habs lead, but Smih has responded very well.

- Haven't really mentioned Price tonight, but he's been fantastic as usual. We've gotten so used to him being great that we've arrived at a point that we no longer recognize it while it's happening.

- Habs totally floundering in their zone, Arizona coming very close to tying the game, but Price with more key saves, as usual. Canadiens looking a lot like the same team that coughed up the lead against L.A. with less than a minute left.

- Terrible icing by De La Rose with just over a minute left. Gives Arizona a chance to pull Smith and set up their play deep in Montreal territory. Habs have iced the puck 5 times the final six minutes of this period.

- Make that six icings. 

- De La Rose out there for the final minute. That's quite a vote of confidence by Therrien.

- Make that seven icings.

- Gallagher ices it, Carey Price his seventh shutout of the season. Habs with an "okay" win against some pretty lowly opponents. But we'll take it, and thus ends this horrible western road trip. Finally, we go home.

SECOND PERIOD: 

- Habs with something that looks like a decent transition from their own zone, which is something we've seen very little of all season. 

- Habs continue to play too passive in their zone, it's given Arizona wingers a few good rips at Price, who's being unnecessarily tested. 

- Arizona's forwards have significant scaled up their forechecking in the Habs zone, and the Canadiens continue to look flat footed. Now Gonchar gets nailed for a bad hook, largely because of Montreal's inability to adjust.

- Another meek Arizona powerplay. No threat to score tonight.

- No lack of effort tonight by Gallafher, even more so than usual. He's a man on a mission the way he's been skating and hitting so far tonight.

- Another point blank slot save by Smith on Pacioretty, but this one way more impressive and difficult. Smith a great job flicking out the left pad to keep this game scoreless.

- Well, hey hey there you go. Lars Eller opens the score, nice work and pass by DSP to feed Lars, who finally releases a shot that goes in. We called it for you, Lars!

- Habs kind of taking over this game with four minutes left in the period. Smith doing his best to keep his team in this, but you have to wonder how much longer he can do this.

- Good grief David Desharnais. No more passing. Try a damn shot. Just once.

- Well, good enough, I guess. Two competent periods against a terribly inferior opponent. Just the one goal for the efforts, but at least it was Eller, who was sorely overdue for a break. Here's hoping that one goal sparks a bit of a run for him, even while he contines to be misplayed as a winger.

FIRST PERIOD: 

- Gonchar slots back in tonight, after getting a night's rest for his ancient, tired legs.

- Weakish holding call on De La Rose. Don't like it when the officials penalize players for doing their jobs.

- Dreadful first powerplay for Arizona, viciously they've been watching too much tape of the Habs.

- I just remembered how unbelievably annoying that coyote howl is in their arena. 

- Solid first five minutes for the Habs, even with the Arizona powerplay, out possessing and chancing their opponent.

- Okay, this is finally going to be Lars Eller's night. It's gotta be. He looks great out there so far. 

- De La Rose's hockey IQ is sky high - he's nearly always where the play is developing, one major reason why he's been a fantastic checking forward since being called up.

- Nice point blank save by Smith on Pacioretty, who's a bit overdue for a monster scoring game..

- Desharnais' nagging don't shoot bad habit appears to be surfacing again. 

- Habs pulling the trigger a lot so far, 13 shots in 15 minutes, but very few of them have tested Smith. Increasing volume is not necessarily a solid formula for success.

- Habs are being a little too casual coming back to their zone - guys, yeah it's Arizona, but you still have to respect any NHL opponent.

- Again, Habs played a decent enough period, but their offensive woes still look pretty pervasive. Yes, they moved the puck with more authority than they have in more recent games, and were able to generate 16 shots on Smith, but they weren't particularly dangerous tries. Not good enough, fellows. Against a team that's 39 points behind you in the standings, you don't pussy foot around.

ARE WE HOME YET? ARE WE HOME YET!? WHAT ABOUT NOW?!

We all knew this was coming. We all looked at the calendar, and pointed at the first week of March and said "there". Well in advance, we realized that this western swing was going to be a killer. And ho boy, has it been a killer.

Tonight, finally, mercifully, it all comes to an end, as the Habs visit Glendale to take on the Arizona Coyotes.

The Habs come into the game against the lowly desert dogs riding a three game losing streak, all of the losses happening in California. Meanwhile, Arizona finds itself a viable candidate in the race for last place in the League - most recently they won a shootout against Vancouver, but previous to the victory against the Canucks, the Coyotes were on a 10 game losing streak. With all of those losses, they now find themselves only two points clear of Edmonton, and six points ahead of the Sabres for last place overall.

Leading up to and on the trading deadline, Arizona did the NHL equivalent of a five alarm fire sale of most of its roster, shipping out Antoine Vermette, Zbynek Michalek and Keith Yandle for picks and prospects. With most of its veteran core now stripped away, Arizona is basically icing an AHL equivalent team, meaning that on most nights from here on out, they ought to be on the losing side of the scoreboard.

Tonight though, they're taking on a "first place team" that doesn't really play like a first place team, especially against opponents that for a "first place team", would be easy pickings. The Habs have been hampered with problems all season long dealing with bottom-feeder clubs like the Sabres, Oilers and Coyotes. So while one should readily expect the Habs to end this dreadful road trip on a winning note, nobody would call you crazy if you were to lay down a couple of Andrew Jackson's on Arizona to win.

The Habs problems are, of course, offense. It's spotty and irregular like ... well ... let's not finish that simile. Let's just say, they're struggling. Even with new bodies brought into town at the trading deadline, coach Michel Therrien appears to be struggling with constructing consistently productive lines, perhaps because he continues to fiddle with combinations. From one game to the next, it's anyone's guess as to who will play, and where. Tonight is no different. As I write this preview, nobody has a clue who will be starting.

One person that we know for certain will be starting is Carey Price. In fact, as we look at the rest of the remaining regular season schedule, the Habs have just one more set of back-to-back games, so it's a pretty fair assumption that of the 17 games left, Price will probably start at least 14 of them, and depending on how the Habs perform (and how much they want to finish at a lofty place in the Conference standings), as many as 16 of the 17.

Puck drops tonight at 7:15 EST.

Game Forty-Two: Habs vs. Blue Jackets

THIRD PERIOD:

- Adjusted Fenwick through 40 minutes nearly 60% for the Habs. The game has become a whitewash except for one area - the scoreclock. Plekanec line easily Habs best tonight. 

- Plekanec line has been a monster tonight. Still doesn't let Therrien off the hook for mucking up the rest of the lineup.

- Sekac is now with Galchenyuk and Bournival, Parenteau demoted. That's a good step in the right direction.

- Been awhile since I've seen the Habs swarm puck control in their opponent's like I have tonight. However, it's still not producing shots that are testing Bobrovsky.

- Subban given an atrocious penalty. Called by the official after a very long delay after the supposed violation. Official saw it was Subban and only then raised his arm. This is targeting, pure and simple. It's disgusting, discriminatory and totally unacceptable.

- And OF COURSE the Jackets score. What a god damned disgrace. 

- Well, hell yeah. Pacioretty scores, hold on to something, on the powerplay. Habs are clearly miffed and angry right now - very fired up and determined to take this game back - I suspect over the Subban penalty.

- It's goaltender interference. Except when it's against Carey Price, of course.

- One of these years, Beaulieu is going to score. He's well overdue.

- What a crazy game. Subban, and it seems only just, ties the game with a cannon from the point ON THE POWERPLAY. Tie game. 

- Habs, it should be noted, scored both powerplay goals with two defensemen out. Four offense unit was, let's be honest, a mess.

- Another dumb, dumb Columbus penalty. They deserve to lose this game.

- THERE YOU GO. Pacioretty ON THE POWERPLAY. Habs lead 3-2.

- Galchenyuk can't be pretty in his zone. Terrible turnover creates great Columbus scoring chance. 

- Columbus pressing, trying to salvage a point. Desperately pressing.

- Habs win. A satisfying win. The powerplay making a difference, this time, finally, for the positive. Columbus, in addition to being soundly outplayed, shot themsleves squarely in the foot with terrible third period penalties. Habs defense also, for the most part, were very sound, especially in the second and third period. Habs sixth straight road win, the first time they've done that in 33 years.

SECOND PERIOD:

- Price took a long time stretching to start the period. He most certainly does not appear to be 100%. Michel Therrien sweating bullets. So are the rest of us.

- Dale Weise on the powerplay. That just happened.

- Habs shifting Plekanec to the line on the powerplay. Thus ends this Parenteau era at the point. Anyway, another man advantage flies past the board. 1 for the past 24.

- Habs getting beaten by the same game they've used all year. Seems only just, I guess.

- Canadiens have owned puck possession, but their zone control is pretty meek. Puck is consistently being forced to the perimeter, which is generating slim good scoring chances. When the Habs do muster something, Bobrovsky bails his team out.

- Very good shift by the 4th line - the Blue Jackets defense really struggling to stay in touch with faster Habs puck carriers. Bobrovsky, though.

- Sekac another strong game, mired on the 4th line. Decision makers making their terrible decisions.

- Price might not face five shots in the period. His health status is almost irrelevant tonight.

- Another tired legs penalty for Columbus. Their fifth tonight, fourth in this period. HABS POWERPLAY.

- Good lord. How does this team manage not to score with the man advantage. How? How has Bergevin not fired someone for this? How?

FIRST PERIOD:

- Galchenyuk taken away from Pacioretty, Sekac dropped to the 4th line. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

- Columbus strikes on the first shot of the game because the Habs continue to insist on clearing the zone by shooting the puck up the boards. It creates totally avoidable turnovers, and in this instance, creates an opposing scoring chance. Ugh... 

- No way you'll convince me Bergevin wouldn't trade Emelin and Desharnais away in a heartbeat - for next to nothing in return. But those contracts ... those awful, awful salaries ...

- Wow. Jackets got called for too many, and then the call is reversed. I've never ever seen that before.

- Plekanec, Gallagher and Galchenyuk look pretty strong, but puck bounces seem to be going the wrong direction. Gallagher with plenty of mustard so far.

- Oh man, if Gallagher gets robbed by this ... puck on the line. Wow.

- Why doesn't the NHL net use transparent string on top of the net? Gallagher denied.

- Anyway ... so many puck bounces going against the Habs in this period - one begins to resign oneself that this one is going to end badly, no matter what.

- Habs resoundingly outplaying Jackets in the period - Columbus defense getting a little tired, and now drawing holding penalties.

- Powerplay. Shield your eyes. 

- Habs desperate - use four forwards on their powerplay, Parenteau at the line, who has a disasterous shift. That man advantage was a total mess, and Price looks injured off a brutal breakaway surrendered.

- Weird period. Habs the better team, Columbus gets all the breaks. And Price might be hurt. A possible nightmare scenario tonight.

PREGAME PREVIEW. ONLY HALF-NAKED BEER DRINKING FAT MEN MAY APPLY TO READ

Well, great. Do you smell another huge losing streak coming down the pipe? I sure do. Pissing around with a powerplay that hasn't produced in a year, putting together line combinations that make little sense, or reflect badly against reality. To make the woes even more woeful, a stretch of games against some of the toughest/hottest teams in the League. Columbus tonight, then the Islanders Saturday, then Nashville. The Rangers next week. Oy.

What to do? This Habs team's offense has been in sputter mode since coming off an impressive win against the Pens on January 3rd. Just three goals scored since that time, which has generated plenty of second-guessing among the belly gazers that this team is due another lineup shakeup. Move Desharnais back to center! (a mistake). Demote Gallagher! (another bad call). Trade Eller! (one of our most consistently effective forwards the entire season).

It won't get a whole lot easier tonight as the Canadiens take on one of the best in the goaltending business in Sergei Bobrovsky, who was tossed onto the garbage heap just two years ago by the forever inept Philadelphia Flyers franchise, only then to win the Vezina trophy the following season with Columbus. This year his numbers have come down (from a .932 to a .923 SV%), but he's still a very tough netminder to beat on any given night. Matched up against a team like the Habs, and there's plenty of room for hope tonight for the Jackets.

Although ... the Blue Jackets have been hit hard, ridiculously hard, by injuries this season. Through last night, Columbus has lost a mind-boggling 255 man games, the most of any team in the NHL (Anaheim, interestingly, is 2nd). I know, you're asking, how many for the Habs? Glad you asked. It's 34. Yeah. That's the actual total. 34. Another feather in the cap for the argument that the Canadiens have been just as lucky this season as they have been good - realistically, a LOT more lucky than good.

The decimated Blue Jackets lineup means they have few bodies to depend on to produce offense - Nicky Foligno and Ryan Johansen comprise their two top scorers, but after them - well .. there ain't much. Three of the team's top six point producers are defensemen. Then again, those six players (Foligno, Johansen, Scott Hartnell, Jack Johnson, James Wisniewski and David Savard) comprise basically all of those on Columbus' roster this year who haven't missed (many) game to injury. It really has been that bad.

So add it up, and you're looking straight down the teeth of what should be a pretty low scoring game. The Habs, who can't score, up against Bobrovsky, versus the Blue Jackets, who don't have enough healthy bodies to score, up against Carey Price.

I'm thinking ... another 2-1 final? We'll see.

Puck drops at 7:10 EST.

Game Twenty-Six: Habs vs. Avs

THIRD PERIOD:

- Pretty good couple of shifts by the Pleks line, they and Eller, as usual, are the two best overall lines tonight. Desharnais could be there if it wasn't for, you know, Desharnais.

- Elller with another of those terrible lazy hook/trip penalties in the offensive zone. Those always seem to come back to haunt.

- MaxKinnon missed a pretty gaping net off a rebound on the PP. Remember that miss.

- Catious back and forth third finally broken from the noose of this tie, Pacioretty along the wing snaps one high and home. Big goal by someone the Habs can actually count on.

- Avs getting really aggressive now, pinching for every ounce possible and it's resulting in a trove of odd-man rushes for the Habs offense. Need to convert one to seal this deal.

- Price desperation flop somehow keeps the puck out. Habs defense way too soft around their netminder with the Avs storming.

- Pat Roy pull with 3 minutes left, Tangradi somehow misses the empty net from the red line.

- Blown offside call at the line hurts the Avs. Officials can't afford to miss those.

- Desharnais on with a minute left. Why?

- Jesus. Pacioretty misses from the blue line. Why???

- Ah well. Means nothing. Habs hold on for the win, Price nice saves towards the end. Still, a rather unconvincing win against yet another poor opponent, the trip will now get very difficult headed into St. Paul. Habs, playing as they are, can't realistically hope for much success on this trip. Tonight was merely the easy part.

SECOND PERIOD:

- Reminder: The Avs are a terrible possession team. They really shouldn't stand much of a chance against a team supposedly as "good" as the Montreal Canadiens.

- The Markov/Emelin pairing is frustrating. And it isn't working. When Emelin isn't putting himself way out of position, Markov is getting caught up ice, and is taking his sweet merciful time trying to cover his tracks. It's a formula for giving up some pretty shoddy goals. O'Reilly makes it 2-1 right off the bat to start then 2nd. Here we go.

- A ... powerplay goal? Markov sneaking in the backdoor? He actually scored? ON THE ROAD. Anyway, tie game. Feeling better now even though we're being outplayed (again) by an inferior team.

- I ... don't ... even ... a 4-on-1 Avs break? What is happening to this team? Only Gilbert properly playing his position, but you can only do so much with four guys storming down at you. 3-2 Avs.

- It's been a goalfest this period. P.K. Subban, off of cross ice pass, blasts it home. Prust doing some excellent muck work in the high slot to cause enough distraction to allow for the cross-ice pass. Tie game.

- So Markov with a backdoor goal for the first time since ... who knows when? Subban with a cannon goal. It's like the good ol' days. Except for the actually winning part.

- Going towards end of the second, combined times, Therrien is playing Emelin/Gonchar twice the ice as Weaver/Gilbert. Really perplexing decision going on.

- Really, really, really perplexing, sending out the slow-footed Emelin/Gonchar duo to play against the MacKinnon line. That's basically just asking for a slough of problems.

- Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy period for the Habs, they're fortunate to be playing the Avs tonight, because against even just an average team, they'd be getting their clocks cleaned. Fortunate, even at that, to be tie headed to the 3rd period.

FIRST PERIOD:

- With Allen out and Gilbert in, seriously there really shouldn't be any excuses tonight for the Habs not to squash the Avs like little tiny bugs. 

- Ah, Jiri Sekac, you are the tonic that cures my ails. Beautiful shot off the post, he's got such a tenasciois approach to this game and great offensive smarts. A future Pacioretty light, perhaps? Still think he ought be on a line with Max. Maybe eventually. 1-0 Habs.

- Eller line really motoring tonight, their speed and skill advantage giving Avs defence more than they can handle. 

- Yeah I know the Habs are blessed with plenty of fourth line depth (ergo the Moen trade), but it still doesn't justify whatever rationale is being used to play Weise on the top two lines. He's not built for that kind of assignment.

- It had to be Briere didn't it? Looks like he just won the Cup judging from his reaction. Dan, you had no business playing in Montreal in the first place. Just sayin'.

OH GAWD WE CANNOT LET THE AVS WIN TONIGHT

This cannot stand. We cannot allow Mike Haynes, the worst play-by-play hockey broadcaster on the planet, to savior victory. Michel Therrien: NO MORE BRYAN ALLEN.

CELEBRATORY GAME DAY UPDATE: 

- Tom Gilbert in. Bryan Allen out. PRAISE JEEBUZ.

Game Twenty: Pens vs. Habs

THIRD PERIOD

- I think it's pretty simple - if Desharnais is unwilling to shoot, he simply must be kept off specialty units. It's exhasperating to watch his linemates continuously setting him up, and he continuously refusing to attempt a score.

- I'll say this, if Fleury gets the shutout, it'll be from the benefit of many lucky bounces. Anyway, the Leafs are losing 8-0 tonight, so this game really doesn't look that bad. Actually, it wasn't. The better team won, but it was no slaughter. Habs played well from halfway mark on, which is to say, as usual this season.

SECOND PERIOD

- Bowman got 2 minutes playing time in the first, which begs the question, why even bother? Emelin the most at 8+ minutes, which begs the question, did somebody slip something into Therrien's water bottle?

- Haha. Habs Fenwick close was 36% in the period. Did I not estimate 65% for the Pens?? So close. So very close. 

- Gallagher with a poor pass in the neutral zone, then fails to cover his man on the resulting Pens rush. Sutter makes it 3-0. Gallagher works like a horse but struggles adapting to opposition transitions. 

- Some pretty casual and soft coverage receiving the Pens rush, and it's generating some crazy good chances for Pittsburgh.

- Still think an Eller-Pacioretty-Sekac power/possession line would be worth trying. Each of those three are momentum generators, at the very least.

- No three goal lead is ever safe. Not with Fleury in net. Just sayin'.

- Habs PP, Fleury down, puck clearly loose, Tim Peel inexplicably blows it down. Yeah. Tim Terrible Peel.

- Anyway, aside from that, Habs man advantage looked terrible. No scoring threat. Same old.

- Per Arpon Basu, Desharnais registered his 20th shot in the second period. Of the season. For the supposed number one centre. Yeah. That's pretty dismal.

- Habs second powerplay a little more zip, but no dice. On well. Just not happening tonight.

- Crosby. Powerplay. That'll do it once and forevermore. Might as well start Tokarski for the third.

- Slightly second period, but that's not saying much. Pens are a far more organized and disciplined unit, they eat teams like Montreal alive. One thing's for certain, when the Habs lose, they lose big.

 
FIRST PERIOD:

- Pretty low energy start by this Habs team. Very much looking like a back-to-back team tonight, as opposed to last week's two games within 27 hours.

- Ouch. Beaulieu with a cardinal sin giveaway via a bad pass through the middle, intercepted easily by Bennett, and a wrister beats Price high.

- Poor Beaulieu is going to be lucky if he sees anything north of four more shifts the rest of this game. Therrien never forgets, never forgives.

- Hoo boy. Pacioretty with a soft play in his corner, another bad turnover, and in a split second, the Pens take a 2-0 lead, Letang to Downie.

- Sekac looking fast and involved again tonight. He's also carrying the zone - he refuses to do otherwise, which makes me love him all the more.

- More good work by Prust, who's really found his game the past few days.

- Um, anyone assigned to checking Bennett tonight? Anyone??

- Price looking very scrambley in goal tonight, not that I can blame him, Pens forwards are swarming the Habs crease pretty much unopposed. Some soft defending tonight by Montreal.

- I'd estimate a good 75% of the play in this period has been on the Habs side of centre ice. A good 65% in their zone. Not a pretty sight.

- Yeah. Not a good period. Habs just not even close to competing, slow and sloppy, especially in their own zone. No real quality scoring chances generated on Fleury - it's just like pretty much every other first period we've witnessed this season. So they're gonna dominate from here on out, right? Uh, right??!



GAMEDAY NEWS 'N' NOTES:

- Hey, ho ... Carey Price will play tonight. Back to back starts for the first time this season.

- Jiri Sekac may or may not play tonight. If he starts, that's cool. If he doesn't, grab the pitchforks and fire up the torches.


HAPPY TUESDAY!!

Okay, Habs lineup for tonight:

Line 1: Pacioretty-Desharnais-Parenteau Line 2: Galchenyuk-Plekanec-Gallagher Line 3: Prust-Eller-Sekac Line 4: Malhotra-Weise Markov-Subban Emelin-Gonchar Gilbert-Weaver Beaulieu

More in a bit!

Game Ten: Habs vs. Flames

Overtime:

- Guys, do this for Carey. You owe him, big time.

- Habs line caught here, unable to change.

- They escape. Barely. Breath.

- Desharnais should be paid by the shot. Then he might actually do it.

- Huge last minute push by Habs, just barely missed with a flurry of point blank chances. Shootout. Blah.

- Price with three spectacular saves in the shootout, Parenteau scores. One of the most preposterous Habs wins I've seen in awhile. Habs living on some borrowed time, which is very worrying. They can't keep playing like this and hope to win more than they lose.

Third Period:

- If Habs somehow win this debacle everyone owes Price a dinner. Heck, they already do.

- Flames, the lowly Flames, simply owning the third. Price standing on his head trying to salvage a point. It's a disgrace to see how his teammates are responding to such an outstanding performance. No pushback. Nothing.

- Flames practically given a free pass to tee up on Price. Laregly because Habs forwards are so badly being outworked in their own zone.

- What a hit by Tinordi on Stajen. Goodness. Looks like knee on knee. Don't think it was intentional. 

- Don't understand why that's a penalty. Both players collided, it's just that Stajen got the worst of it. Lacroix again.

- Another Flames powerplay, although this time the call on Parenteau is legit. Not Lacroix this time, of course.

- Backlund with an obvious dive, Lacroix gets suckered. This is embarrassing.

- Flames have pretty much been 5 on 4 last 10 minutes of the third.

- That choking sound is the Calgary Flames powerplay tonight. I can't believe they might not win this.

- Tie game. Incredible. Carey Price with a ridiculous performance. Calgary handed powerplay chance after chance after chance. I'll be stunned if Habs get two points. 

Second Period:

- Four-on-Four is supposed to favour the Habs, but Gallagher (not for he first time) blows his coverage, Girodano allowed to take the high slot and wrist a beaut over Price's shoulders. 1-0 Calgary.

- Habs had definately shot clock advantage last night, definately not so tonight. More or less a horrible 2nd period for Mintreal, 6 minutes in. Team need a game changing shift.

- Price keeping his undeserved team in this game. Can't be expected to do it all. Somebody needs to generate a spark. Volunteers?

- Abysmal half hearted effort by just about the entire Habs lineup tonight. It's as though everyone except Carey Price is thinking about going home.

- Habs actually have a shift where they don't look like the sleeping undead. Now headed to a powerplay that will of course, not score. But maybe momentum can be generated at least. Grasping straws over here.

- Man, Habs just need a bounce. Something. Anything.

- And there it is. Gilbert fires it on net and it somehow finds its way home. Tie game.

- Pacioretty with a 30 hockey IQ tonight. Shooting it into the opposing goal well after the whistle? Stupid, stupid.

- Flames push hard final 30 seconds pinching the blue line but Price keeps the game tied. Habs for the most part were badly outplayed that period, and committed a series of bad penalties to boot. And Thirthey end up scoring the only goal. Shrug shoulders. Sometimes it makes little sense.

First Period:

- A goaltender interference call in the Habs favor. That actually happened.

- No road powerplay goals this year. Looks like the strategy is to feed the point and have the forwards (all three) crash the net. Worth a shot I guess.

- Dan Lacroix is terrible. Getting fed up with the lack of officiating quality.

- Pretty lame two man advantage powerplay for the Flames. That's their weak spot. Can't produce offensively consistently.

- Wonderful pass from Weise on the tape of Rene Bourque's stick for clear-cut break. You know the rest of the story ...

- Lacroix with another perplexing call - a hook on Gilbert for ... well, there was absolutely no hook. Oh well.

- Seems like the ice just tilts towards the Habs every time Galchenyuk takes a shift. So difficult to even begin to estimate his future peak. But it looks absurdly great.

- First period was a basic wash, some fairly poor calls, mainly by one official (as is usual). Habs don't look quite as sprite as they did last night, but not bad either. Still, it's feeling a lot like this team is entering a scoring funk, which means the Habs will be awfully reliant of Price for victories.

Gameday Game Preview:

Ahhhh .... so all that stuff yesterday about how we were all in your face about being first place overall, and how the Canadiens were the greatest hockey team in the world, and Montreal City Hall better start booking off St. Catherine's street next June for a parade? All that stuff? Yeah. Can we all forget about it?

This western road swing. I tell ya. 8 wins the past 31 games. One more tacked on last night courtesy the Edmonton Oilers, who even with their 30th rated defense, managed to keep the Habs from scoring a single goal. Hoo boy.

Now, it's all not vinegar and iodine (whatever that means) for the Habs. A more-or-less competent game was played last night, impacted negatively by a couple of factors that can't be controlled. First, there were more than one or two questionable penalty calls against the Habs (and for that matter, non-calls against the Oilers) courtesy officials Brad Watson (who ought to know better) and Derek Nansen, who only officiated his 6th NHL game last night, and to be quite frank, seemed to have difficulty in discriminating between actual penalties, and non-penalties.

The other factor? Luck. The Habs, who've been riding the wave of good fortune for all that it's been worth since game one, seemed to have nothing go right last night - in addition to the poor calls, the bounces just never seemed fortuitous, and the one time when the puck was put past Edmonton starter Ben Scrivins, it was waved off (correctly) because Brenden Gallagher drove the net, sending spilling Scrivins to the ice an instant before Max Pacioretty wristed the puck home. Sans that no-goal call, the Habs would have taken an early lead, and who knows ... might very well have gone on to win the game.

Anyway, everything moves 300 km south tonight, as the Habs take on the rebuilding Calgary Flames. On paper, one might think the Habs ought not have too much difficulty getting back on the winning track. The Flames are anticipated to finish near or even at the bottom of the Western Conference standings this season, although to date, they've gotten off to a respectable start, 5 wins in 10 games. Calgary's Joe Colborne, in what can only be described as a statistical anomaly, has scored zero goals so far this season, but still leads his team with 8 points (all assists, of course).  The talented Mason Raymond, whom the Leafs didn't attempt to resign during the summer, holds the team lead in goal scoring, 5 so far in 10 games. So Habs fans would best be advised to keep their eyes focused on numbers 8 and 21, respectively.

For the Habs, fans should keep their eyes on Rene Bourque, who continues to struggle to produce (same old story), and while he demonstrated effort at the start of the year, he looks like he's now firmly in a rut. There's an awful lot of disinterest in his game performance right now, and with Michael Bournical and Jiri Sekac chomping at the bit to get some time, Bourque's leash of chances may now be very short.

For whatever reason, Nathan Beaulieu will not start tonight, even though he played very well last night against Edmoton. Jarad Tinordi will be reinserted into the lineup. As will Carey Price, making his first start since last Saturday's win against the Rangers.

Puck drops at 9:10 EST.

Game Four - EC Quarterfinals: Bolts vs. Habs

Here's P.K. being awesome signing autographs at Brossard on April 21st. My son is (barely) visible in the blue cap. There were literally a dozen pairs of hands shoving a variety of objects into P.K.'s face. He took and signed each and every object.

GAMEDAY PREVIEW

Well, this feels different. Up three games to none? You've probably already read or heard that the Habs haven't been in this position since 1993 when ... well ... you know what happened that year. Anyway, it's a luxurious place to be, but it's a position that does bear some responsbility: To finish the job as quickly as possible.

The Habs are in terrific position to gain a massive playoff advantage by being the only team in the first round to advance in four games. The advantages are pretty obvious - at least a week to ten days without having play, giving the entire roster ample time to rest and recover. It'll allow the Habs current list of injured bodies with sufficient time to fully recover, including the likes of  Alex Galchenyuk and Travis Moen. And, it will allow players who almost certainly are playing through injuries the opportunity to reach something close to 100% health - the list including Brandon Prust, and (likely) Alexei Emelin, Andrei Markov, Lars Eller, Brenden Gallagher, and Josh Gorges.

The time off will also give the Habs coaching staff with more than ample opportunity to prepare for their next opponent, whomever that is. This could be the most significant advantage, especially in light of how remarkably well the Habs prepared for Tampa in the first round.

Regular readers here should know I've been a frequent critic of Michel Therrien and his staff this season - my main beefs being this team's rapid decent in their possession rating as the season progressed. From a top five team to a near bottom five team at season's end. I've also been terribly distrought over Therrien's player usage - prefering to play dregs like Doug Murray and Frank Bouillon over the likes of younger, just-as-capable talent like Nathan Beaulieu and Jarred Tinordi.

But then something odd happened as we shifted into playoff mode. The Habs have suddenly transformed themselves to a team that much more resembled their early season selves. Instead of being a team that barely managed to crack the 43% Fenwick line, the team has suddenly become a possession monster again, putting together a 56% Fenwick, 54% Corsi rating in their opening round series, which not only matched, but actually beat their early season numbers.

So what happened? I think it starts and ends with how this team prepared for their opponent. The Lightening are built two significant attributes - speed and skill. That means the more they possess the puck, the more difficult they are to beat. So the Habs put together a gameplan based on frustrating the Lightening off the puck. The centerpiece to the strategy has been a focus on dominating the neutral zone. The Habs have been stacking their forwards at centre ice, which has prevented Tampa from organizing anything resembling an effective transition. Instead of having their forwards flying towards the Habs line, a fearsome sight for any defender desperately scrambling to keep pace, the Habs have blocked passing lanes, positioned bodies to slow Tampa's flighty forwards, and the odd time when the Lightening have worked the puck into the Habs zone, the Canadiens have done a very good job not only clearing their zone, but in working the puck up to their forwards.

Tampa hasn't been able to answer the Habs counter strategy, because they can't answer. The team is so heavily dependent on speed and blistering the puck into their opponents zone, that any adjustment would require a total rebuild of how this team plays the game. You can't do that in a day, week, month or even in a year. Tampa has placed their chips on one marker, and they've little choice but double down and hope for the best. It's a desperate hope, at best.

Of course, there have been extenuating circumstances which have only added to Tampa's woes. The injuries to Bishop and Palat were devastating. Imagine the Habs' chances with no Carey Price in net - not good. But injury considerations aside, the Habs overall approach to the series was pretty much exactly what it needed to be, so even with a healthy Bishop and Palat in the lineup, I don't think the results would have been much different. The Habs have dominated thoroughly.

So tonight? Why should anything change? The Habs will continue to play the same lines, push the same strategy, leverage their biggest advantages, and feed off the insane noise and energy the exudes from the Bell Center.

Puck drops at 7:10 EST. I'll be posting live from the Bell.

====================================================================


GAMEDAY NOTES:

Hey - happy gameday. Habs look to sweep the series tonight at home, while Tampa seeks to live another day, and maybe get a few very hurt bodies back into their lineup. Let's see what's happening this morning:

- Tampa's practice this morning, here's their lines (very similar stuff):

Line 1: Palat/Johnson/Stamkos
Line 2: Killorn/Filppula/Callahan
Line 3: Purcell/Thompson/Crombeen
Line 4: Pyatt/Paquette/Brown

- Oooooh guess who practiced this morning? Ben Bishop!! Jon Cooper already ruled him out for game 4 ... beyond that .. well ... I guess the Habs might be wise to wrap this up ASAP.

- Controversy aside from him playing a period after suffering a head injury, Steven Stamkos is reportedly a go tonight.

- Optional Habs skate this morning, the following showed up: Starters: Gallagher, Gorges, Weaver, Briere, Bournical, Emelin, Subban, Markov. Scratches/Backups: Murray, Moen, Parros, Tinordi, White, Budaj. 

- Hey, guess who's the referee tonight? Yup. CHRIS LEE. Habs have been drawing some pretty crappy officials this round. First Tim Peel, and now Lee. Yay.

Game Forty-Eight: Habs vs. Sens

OMG OUTRAGE! THIS MUST STOP! HOW DARE HE??

Fair to say P.K. Subban's post-goal celebration didn't go over well. #Sens
— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) January 17, 2014

@SunGarrioch making a save there was "necessary".
— Jeff O'Neill (@odognine2) January 17, 2014

Hey Bruce, I've one more response to your pathetic trolling. From last night:

OH, SO NOW THEY CALL THEM UP?

 - Habs announced this morning that Nathan Beaulieu and Joonas Nattinen have been called up. Nattinen to (finally) ensure that Parros doesn't play, and Beaulieu to hopefully (forever) replace ... Doug Murray.

UPDATE: Oh of course. It's not like the coaching staff were motivated to do the right thing by calling up Beaulieu. Seems as though the flu bug is running through the team - both Lars Eller and Raphael Diaz are home today trying to get over the bug.

So Nattinen and more importantly, Beaulieu might just be protection if either/both Eller and Raphael can't play.

IOW, Murray ain't going anywhere.

Ugh.

- We got a biggie post coming up that examines how this year's roster is playing compared to last year's roster. Are we better? Worse? The same??

Stay tuned.

HAPPY FRIDAY

Montreal 5, Ottawa 4 (OT)

Overtime:

- Okay boys, do it for Carey. No way this game ends 4-4 through 60 minutes without Price's performance.

- SUBBAN. Habs grand larceny complete. Unbelievable.

Third Period:

- Really wonder if Bergevin can continue to look the other way with respect to Therrien's tenure if the Habs do indeed go on to lose.

- Doug Murray's shots from the line I'm sure aren't much faster than 20 mph. What's even the point of trying?

- Plekanec is horrible at these breakaways so Cowan decides to help out. Insane. Tie game.

- Well at least the third hasn't been completely lopsided in Ottawa's favour. Sens maybe guilty of sitting on this too much. Habs would be incredibly fortunate to get out of here with a point.

- Bourque with lazy, sloppy turnover at centre ice creates great scoring chance for Turris. Just keep him off the ice, already.

- Well, we got a point. Gladly taken. Can Price steal us one more?

Second Period:

- So good to see Plekanec on the ice to start the period. Habs were outplayed in the first, but the scoring chances weren't ridiculously lopsided: 9-6 in favour of Ottawa.

- Gorges with two consecutive failed zone clearances there - Continutes to struggle with making successful transitions.

- Seems inevitable that the Sens are going to tie this - Habs will need a lucky bounce or two to stay in front. That's unlikely.

- Above all, Bourque does a lousy job working himself into a clear scoring position. Most of the pucks/passes fed his way are usually broken or cleared away by opposing defense.

- It's been years since I've seen a Habs defense so collectively poor at feeding passes forward. It's suffocating this team's offense to death.

- Price can't hold the floodgates indefinitely.

- Sens on pace for 60 shots. Not a typo. 

- Death pool for when Ottawa ties this up. I'll say at 15:30 of this period.

- Carey Price. On Bobby Ryan. An astonishing save. His performance tonight has been incredible.

- Price on Stone. I can't believe my own eyes. Incredible.

- At some point in this game the Sens are going to go insane, thanks to Carey Price.

- Floodgates finally breeched. Ryan. 3-3.

- Gallagher 5 shots tonight, nearly half of all the Habs shots.

- Turris. Price can only do so much. Habs defense in completely disarray, not being helped by shoddy backchecking. Sens should pull away easily in the third.

- Totally abysmal period for the Habs. Price did all he could but really, there's only so much one person can do. Scoring chances line should be embarrassingly one-sided for the Sens. The Habs in general are embarrassing.

First Period:

- Figures that given how horrible the Habs PP has played of late that they'd get offensive production from their PK unit. Plekanec makes it 1-0.

- Carey Price. Oh my. What a glove save on Greening on the break. He couldn't believe Carey made that save. Neither can I.

- Habs might have the early mark, but Sens look to be in full motion. Price will have to steal this one. If he's good, it won't be good enough for the Habs to win tonight.

- Plekanec down after taking a very hard shot off the leg. This is not looking good, and potentially disasterous for the Habs since Pleks has been playing out of his mind the past two weeks.

- Ottawa dominating this - Habs haven't registered a shot in 8 minutes.

- Oddicials just won't call it the Habs way - whether it's disallowed goals or pucks fired into the crowd that are clear-cut delay of games.

- Doesn't matter. Pacioretty with a rocket one timer snap shot top corner, 2-0.

- Good news - Habs lead 2-0. Bad news, Pacioretty is nearly almost the only player on the roster who's scoring goals.

- Holy moly. Sens totally reeling as the gates are opens up for Desharnais to waltz right to Anderson, beats him like an old rug, and the Habs take a 3-0 lead. 

- Well huh. MacArthur with a redeflect that Price really ought to have stopped. Habs are terrible at these 3-0 leads, so here we go again.

- Karlsson. Unchecked. Moen in la la land. 3-2. Yup. Sigh.

- Habs got an incredible start on the board, but coughed it up. Habs gave up one he shouldn't have. Habs yet again soft in their zone, and what seemed like a cruise game has turned right back into the Sens' favour. 19-7 shots on goal., Habs will have to do much much better, or an Ottawa comeback will be inevitable.

=========================================

Gameday Goo

Okay, stop me here if I lose you, 'cause I don't understand the math.

With David Desharnais a *big* question mark to start tonight's game, the Habs are dressing just 11  forwards. We hope.

This against a very, very red hot Sens team, which has lost just one of its past 10 games?

I don't get it.

Could be a suicidal mission tonight. I'm feeling bad for Carey Price already.

More in a bit.

Game Twenty-Nine: Habs vs. Devils

Shootout:

- So Schneider isn't very good at these shootouts. Hmmm can we dream of a possible Habs victory??

- Holy cow, really?? Devils are 0 for their last 20 shoutout attempts?? I really like the Habs chances here - somebody is even worse at this than us.

- Boucher. Scores. Because, of course. Good grief.

- Eller. What a shot. Top corner. Beautiful.

- Zajac, nopes. Opening for Habs.

- Desharnais, hero so far. Can he do it one more timeeeeeee ..... YES!!!

- What the heck has happened to Desharnais??? Remarkable turnaround in his fortunes in the span of 10 days.

- Elias. NO!! Great save by Budaj, and Habs find a way of winning. Wow. Just wow.

Overtime:

- Completely wild so far, Pacioretty sprung on a clear cut break and his stick snaps in two as he releases the shot. Good grief. Devils barely miss on the return rush, and then Gallagher clangs the post coming back the other direction. 

- Le sigh. Shootout. My least favourite part of hockey.

Third Period:

- Loktionov with relatively harmless snap shot catches Budaj off guard and ties the game. I suppose that's the difference between he and Price - Carey is far less likely to have those mental lapses.

- Oy, Briere particularly brutal with his defensive assignments tonight. Budaj has bailed him out at least three times with fine point blank saves on unchecked wingers.

- Incredible shot by Ryder, after Gallagher fails to clear the zone, and the a Devils, outplayed tonight, take the lead. Hockey gods evening the score tonight.

- Gallagher not having one of his better nights, constantly getting outmuscled tonight, very unlike him.

- Habs PK just won't surrender a thing, another penalty killed and it gives the Habs a little boost generating a PP opportunity.

- Habs need some urgency here, aren't displaying any.

- When in doubt, send out the Eller line, who display that urgency and push the crease, generating a rebound finished by Eller. Tie game with less than 4 minutes left.

- Horrible giveaway by Subban who turns the puck over right in front of Budaj, Elias pots what appears to be the winner. Hoo boy. What a way to lose a game.

- Sigh. Let the "should P.K. play on the Olympic team?" nattering continue. That won't help in shutting up the stupid debate.

- Road points are so hard to earn - losing one like that is maddening.

- Gionta!!! With the shot from the line!! Game tied! 

- Desharnais may have tipped that shot, they're reviewing it to see if it's legal.

- Habs are looking at this anxiously. I wonder if this will count.

- It counts. Crazy third period. 

- Looking at the replay, Subban played a key role by interfering with Elias, bringing him to the ice, which left Desharnais uncovered to go at the net. Subban not called though (he could have been).

Second Period:

- At what point can Michael Ryder start being thought of as a free agent bust?

- Devis offense looks a lot like the Habs' during their slide a month ago - they can't finish.

- Pace picks up, long time between whitles, Devils draw their first PP of the game.

- White with a tremendous goal saving shorthanded backcheck - simply hasn't received enough credit for his play this season.

- Budaj excellent so far, positioning has been nearly perfect, Devils few good chances frustrated. 

First Period:

- Looks like there's about 3,000 in the seats to start the game at the Meadowlands. Tops.

- Prust didn't like Janseen's hit on Galchenyuk along the boards, mainly clean, and drops the gloves. They exchange punches for about 90 seconds. Exhausting.

- Budaj continues to look so much like a chip off the Carey Price block, so cool and calm in net. Really has made tremendous progress in the span of a season.

- Schneider hella lucky to have that Markov point shot which redeflected twice, into his glove.

- Horseshoes ringing both ends of the rink, Budaj cleanly beaten by a wrister glove side, post hit.

- Daniel Briere with fantastic carry and perfect feed to Gionta, who finally .... finally scores for the first time since October. 1-0. Briere continues his fine form of late.

- Beyond the first line, Devils got nothng working right now. They look far more sluggish tonight than Monday. Way more.

- Pleks line really hummin' in the period. Looking for more scoring from that unit tonight.

- Fairly close checking period, pretty dull hockey. Devils had a couple of decent chances but nothing overtly dangerous. Habs look like they have a step on New Jersey.

Gameday Game Preview

Alright, couple of important game-day notes to clear out of the way. AS WE PREDICTED on Monday night, Frankie Bouillon will get the start tonight, pushing Doug Murray off the lineup sheet. Okay, fine.

Secondly, Peter Budaj, who was eeeeeeh .. okay, in his last start, a shootout loss to the Caps, will get the call, which was entirely predictable since the Habs (if they don't have to) won't play Carey Price back-to-back. He'll start tomorrow night in the biggie game of the week, when the Candiens take on the Bruins - POSSIBLY ... just possibly, with first place on the line.

Okay, tonight. The Habs have to be better than Monday - way, way better than Monday, because let's face it, they stole two points from the much better Devils team, who were passing the puck around with remarkable efficiency for most of the game. So that means, so slouching out of the gate, no lazy backchecks (hello Briere?), no shoddy positional coverage (hello Murray ... oh wait .. you're scratched tonight), and having something further north than a 2% Fenwick.

Also, Martin Brodeur didn't have one of his better nights, but he's eight hundred and seven years old. So what else could Jersey have expected? SO ... Cory Schneider tonight, right? It's gotta be.

Setting aside the not-so-great effort on Monday, hot Habs are stayin' hawt. Mad Max scored another one, P.K. Subban played his mind out, and also showed Carey Price a thing or two about goaltending. Good grief, TSN has A POLL UP about whether Subban should be on Team Canada?!? The insanity ... Subban is the BEST DEFENSEMAN IN THE GAME OF HOCKEY. Just, enough already. He'll be playing is Sochi, and he'll be great. Please find another dead dog to kick around, guys.

Okay, word of warning. Tonight's blogging will be tape-delayed, NOT LIVE. Sorry guys (all three of you that read this site), I have a life.

Puck drops at 7:10 EST. I'm counting on a Habs win to set up an epic showdown Thursday night at the Bell Centre. Anyone got a spare ticket?