Game 46: Pens vs. Habs

Pittsburgh 4, Montreal 1:

FIRST PERIOD:

- Habs lineup pretty much the same as Monday, with Andrew Shaw on 3rd line next to Danault, Jacob De La Rose getting another start, and the Habs continuing with slightly modified defensive pairs that were switched in the middle of Monday's game, with Beaulieu on the 3rd line with Zach Redmond, and Mark Barberio promoted to the 2nd line to play with Jeff Petry.

- Remember, the Pens can be flustered, especially if things don't play into their style as the game progresses. If the Habs are able to keep the score low and even through the first 30 minutes of tonight's game, opportunities might begin to arise.

- Pretty aggressive forecheck by the Habs to start the game - pays off with some decent zone pressure, Murray makes a couple of tough saves and also gets a little puck luck to keep Montreal off the scoreboard.

- Jeff Petry not on the Habs bench, for reasons that I didn't see. Don't recall him being the victim of a particularly hard check, no hard shots blocked. Suffice to say, Habs simply cannot function properly defensively if he's not playing.

- Looks like Petry took a shot off the inside of his right foot, although the shot itself wasn't particularly hard. Nonetheless, he went to the room at the 6 minute mark, and hasn't come back yet.

- Petry back. Breath. Habs chances of victory tonight would be extremely limited at best if he's not playing.

- It's early days, very small sample size, but Beaulieu looks considerably more comfortable next to Redmond than he had with Petry in the weeks that's followed Markov's injury. Both Petry and Beaulieu are good/very good defensemen, but together, for whatever reason, they simply didn't compliment each other.

- I guess this is more-or-less how the Habs need to play - pretty tight checking period, Pens haven't really generated significant scoring chances. Still, it feels like they're waiting in the weeds, just patiently preparing to fire their volleys.

- Whelp, there it is. Ian Cole with the game's first goal, Beaulien and especially Redmond way too passive guarding the rush, basically allowing Cole to waltz in to take his shot.

- From Redmond to Emelin, Habs defense now back to being too casual, too sloppy - traits you can't afford to demonstrate against this Pens team.

- Habs best shift comes late in the period, and it's not much of a surprise that it's sparked by Andrighetto and Lehkonen.

- An "okay" period for the Habs, burned by letdowns by their defence, which has become more and more of an issue as the season has progressed. Pretty clear Zach Redmond isn't much a solution for that 6th slot, but what options do the Habs have as long as Andrei Markov and Greg Pateryn are out of the lineup? Not much. Ergo, there might be mounting pressure as we get closer to the deadline for Marc Bergevin to find some help for the blue line - because with Markov's health a question, inconsistent play from Beaulieu, and the utter lack of dependable 3rd liners, he might have to make a deal.

SECOND PERIOD:

- Even split, possession-wise, in that first period. 5v5 CF: 50.0%

- Hard luck Habs so far in this game, offence has come close, but Murray getting more puck luck to keep Montreal off the board.

- Fehr makes it 2-0. Not what the Habs needed. Now Montreal faced with a daunting choice - do they toss out the close checking approach, looking for a scoring breakthrough, or do they open it up and take the some ill-advised chances?

- Pacioretty taken off the Galchenyuk line to play next to Danault, which makes pretty much zero sense to me.

- Half way mark of the period, Galchenyuk with what could only be described as an horrific shift, most of which was in his own zone because he was barely skating around. Tired? Hurt? Who knows. But it was awful.

- Pens taking over this game, Habs are reeling, mostly in their own zone. I mentioned it was imperative the Canadiens find a way of hanging even on the scoreboard at this point, where this season, the Pens have taken over their games. Well, same thing is happening tonight, and the Habs are down 2. This does not look good.

- Swarmin', swarmin', swarmin'. Crosby on his game - the Pens are relentless right now. Habs doing a reasonable enough job basically holding on for dear life in their zone, doing what they can to prevent high danger shot attempts. But something's gotta and gonna give eventually.

- Habs are surrounding shot attempts, looking for perfect plays. Murray isn't elite, so their rationale for looking for that pass instead of taking their shots, mystifying.

- This team is in a definite funk - and it comes at a puzzling time - what with Galchenyuk and (sigh) Shaw returning - they seem as lost as ever. Just seems like this teams' mojo has been slowly disappearing since Gallagher broke his hand again.

- Ah, there's Jake Genteel - we featured him as part of our preview, and he does a nice job deflecting a Gaunce shot to make it 3-0. That's likely lights out.

- Andrighetto gets a greasy goal from a simple wraparound. Hey, how about that? Those count just the same as pretty ones. Learn your lessons, Habbies.

- Whelp, what can you say? Pens are a better team. They took it to the Habs this period, took advantage of some pretty soft coverage around the Montreal slot, and basically salted away a win. Yeah, more questions will be asked about Carey Price after this one is done, but the reality is, the Canadiens are not playing well in their own zone, and teams like Pittsburgh are, on most nights, going to eat them alive.

THIRD PERIOD:

- Once again, attempts are pretty even, but that doesn't really express the lopsidedness of the game. Shot totals are doing that tonight, with Pittsburgh outshooting Habs 23-12 through 40 minutes. That is not good.

- Third period approach? Get the puck on Murray with every opportunity. No more fancy stuff. Pucks on net. If the Habs can't narrow the lead to 1 by the halfway mark, open the engines, and hope that Price can give you some big saves.

- Price looking a little shaky and uncertain to start the period. Just don't know what to think about Carey. One part of my mind thinks he's just having a stretch that all goaltenders go through, another part fears he's battling chronic pain from his knee injuries which have slowed him down.

- Uberweak interference call on Pacioretty sends the Pens on the powerplay looking to dagger this game out.

- Decent PK by the Habs, and Mitchell draws a powerplay by letting his face take a stick. So, a glimmer of hope here.

- Zippo powerplay, Therrien again putting out Andrew Shaw, who adds nothing, does nothing. It's absurd how he just does these things that don't work over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

- Absolutely forgettable, borderline terrible night for the Galchenyuk line. Another mystifying component of this team right now. They're simply not nearly as good, certainly not as energetic, since Galchenyuk's return.

- 9 minutes left, Habs with little choice but to start rolling the dice. Carey Price, get ready. Next few minutes could be busy.

- Pens are playing it cool, conservative. Habs have no response, no energy, no cohesion. Canadiens look lost, the Pens are more than happy to let them wander around while the clock drains down.

- Pens are checking the Habs ferociously, easily preventing even just the thought of a scoring chance. Legs are there for Pittsburgh, nothing there for the Habs.

- Petry with a bad giveaway stumbling behind his net, Maata with a relatively tame wrister that goes right between Price's legs, game, set, match.

- Yeah, more "WHAT IS HAPPENING TO CAREY PRICE!?!?" talk will be heard tonight and tomorrow and the day after that, but really, the Habs had zero chance tonight. No effort, little coordination, poor shot attempts, more sloppy play in their own zone - you're going to lose each and every game against the defending Stanley Cup Champion with what the Habs put out tonight. I'm not sure how many have taken notice, but the Canadiens are playing some bad hockey right now, which includes Carey Price, and more importantly, it also includes the guys in front of him.


GAMEDAY PREVIEW: THE PENS ARE A SCORING MACHINE. WHAT TO DO?

The Habs are back in action tonight as they take on the most powerful offensive machine in the NHL, the Pittsburgh Penguins from the Bell Centre in Montreal.

The Pens are coming off a wild 8-7 OT win Monday night over the high-flying Washington Capitals, who had their 9-game winning streak broken by Pittsburgh.

The Pens like to score goals, and they do that frequently, mainly against teams with thin or inexperienced defensive lines. Pittsburgh boasts an impressive stat line, 7th in CF (51.6), 3rd in Fenwick 5v5 (52.8%), 2nd in GF60 (2.83), 1st in shots/game average (34.7), 9th in Sh% (8.19), 6th on OZFO% (33.7), 3rd best powerplay % (23.3), 1st in goals/game at even strength ... etc, etc., etc.

Oh, did we mention the best player in the world, Sid Crosby, is on his way to possibly a 60 goal season? Or Evgeni Malkin with another 40+ goal season? The Pens' first two lines in general are pretty terrifying:

Sheary/Crosby/Rust
Guentzel/Malkin/Hornqvist

That right there is 185 points. And we haven't even gotten to the third line, which features the awesome Phil Kessel playing next to Carl Hagelin and Nick Bonino. Tack on another 80 points.

Anyway, back to the top lines - Jake Guentzel is an interesting piece - he's a top Pens prospect that's spent most of this season racking up huge point totals playing with the Scranton Penguins of the AHL. Basically, he's too good for that League, which prompted his call-up just before the Pens had their by-week. In the 5 NHL games Guentzel has played so far, he's scored 3 goals, which is pretty impressive.

Now, the Pens can score. That we've established. But what about the backend? Well ... that's where we find some vulnerabilities. After their bye-week break, the Pens lost 3 straight, surrendering 15 goals. If you factor in the 7 they gave up in their win over the Caps Monday night, that's 22 goals allowed in 4 games. But that's Pittsburgh - they like to play some pretty freewheeling, high-event hockey - they lead the League in shots taken, but they're also the 5th worst in shots allowed. It's made the season particularly busy for the Pens netminders, which has split time evenly between Marc-Andre Fleury (3.23 GAA, .904 Sv%) and "backup" Matt Murray (2.53 GAA, .916 Sv%).

How do you beat them? Simply by not playing their game. Which means low event, close-checking, run-'em-into-the-ice stifling defence with emphatic forechecking.

Which for the Habs, might be doable. They played a very tight game Monday afternoon in Detroit - probably too tight given that the Canadiens were so overtly focused on containing the Wings that they essentially forgot to apply much, if any pressure until the game's 57 minute mark.

There is an established pattern to beating the Pens this year. If you play them hard defensively for the entirety of the game, and they fail to produce goals by the 2nd period, they tend to get "anxious", and start making defensive mistakes.

Evidence? Well, the Pens have actually been pretty mediocre offensively the 1st period this season, scoring 34 goals with ranks them 17th in the League. Where the Pens thrive is in wearing their opponent down as the game progresses. They've scored 54 goals in the 2nd period (3rd best in the NHL), and 59 in the 3rd period (2nd best).

By contrast, the Pens have given up 42 1st period goals this season (3rd worst in the League), and 50 in the 2nd period (also 3rd worst). The 3rd period, however, the Pens have given up only 34 goals (5th best). Basically, by playing a fast, wide-open game, the Pens have put together a winning record by essentially shell shocking their opponent.

Keep this in mind as the game progresses - the key to defeating the Pens lays in how well you play them as the game progresses. If you're playing well defensively in the 2nd, and especially the 3rd periods, your chances of victory increase significantly.

Which also means a lot of pressure will be on the shoulders of Habs starter tonight Carey Price, who's struggled since the beginning of December, but has come off a tough loss in which he surrendered just one goal to Detroit.

Matt Murray will start in net for the Pens.

Puck drops at 7:40, EST.



HABS UPDATE: MORE HURT BODIES GETTING CLSOE TO RETURN

Hey, Happy Wednesday. Things seems to be progressing with a couple of the wounded, Greg Pateryn and David Desharnais. Here's some video from this morning:

Pateryn et Desharnais patinent ensemble ce matin. / Pateryn and Desharnais are skating together this morning. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/CRgq4XnuP6

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) January 18, 2017

We'll have a preview in a little bit of tonight's Habs/Pens game.

Game Thirty-Nine: Habs vs. Pens

SECOND PERIOD:

- You've probably done something terribly wrong when you surrender a 2-on-0 breakaway on the 4-on-4. Tom Gilbert rubs a little salt on Downie's anger management wound and makes it 3-1. 

- With exception to the Crosby line, the Pens have very little going for them right now. On some nights, that's enough. But against Carey Price? They'll have to do much more.

- Bushels of chances for Habs on a 4 minute powerplay, but Fleury keeps his team in this game. 3-1 is recoverable. 4-1 against Price? Lights out.

- Habs can't shiv the dagger by scoring on that long powerplay, which will give the Pens a boost and hope that they can salvage this game. Watch out.

- Subban needs to simplify his puck control. Trying to do too much is generating sloppy giveaways instead of scoring chances.

- Habs have pretty much free reign to carry the puck out of their zone. Pens essentially being pushed into one half of the ice.

- Pens first powerplay looked much like the Habs has been all season. Confused, disorganized, and ineffective.

 - Really surpsired by the lack of line matching by the Pens tonight. Just no form or rhythm or even momentum on their side tonight.

- Another impressive period for the Habs. You'd never know they played last night. Maybe one of their strongest games of the season? Still, there's a period left and against the Pens, a two goal lead isn't safe.

FIRST PERIOD:

- Fleury with poor rebound control, you don't do that with Max Pacioretty in front of you. 1-0. Fleury now whining that he was interfered with by Gallagher. Replay shows that's bogus.

- Pens very scrambly with puck in their zone. Agressive Habs skating is generating some very good scoring chances.

- He's frequently mentioned as bait, but Habs would be nuts to trade Lars Eller. He energizies every linemate assigned to him.

- Desharnais with a routine slapper, Fleury with weak sauce reaction. It's 2-0. 

- Well, that's one way to make a mark with your new team. Perron ties the game, largely due to some pretty shoddy slot coverage by Plekanec and Weiss. There goes the strong game start. 2-1.

- Steve Downie (rightfully) called for interference, and proceeds to punch the glass. He's a smart one.

- Price makes Therrien look better than he actually is. The Pittsburgh Penguins make Marc-Andre Fleury better than he actually is. 

- Habs might want to consider double teaming Crosby tonight. He's going full throttle tonight.

- Downie flips his lid because Emelin had the gall to bodycheck Crosby. His phasers are set to full idiot tonight.

- Really good opening period for the Habs, doing exactly what you're supposed to do on the road. Out skating, out forechecking, and out hitting their opponent. Pens looking mildly frustrated. They've got their hands full tonight,

GAMEDAY GAME PREVIEW:

Well, well, well. First place in the Conference. On the line. Tonight. Who'dathunkit?

Tonight, the Habs and Pens will have a little showdown for first place in the whole entire east, courtesy a tidy little 5 game winning streak for the Habs, 4 of them coming off their current 5 game road trip. Impressive! I mean that. Honestly.

Last night's win in New Jersey was a solid team effort, which meant that Carey Price (200th win!) didn't have to (for once) carry the team on his shoulders to victory. Tonight though ... well ...

The Pens are a, well .. a pretty good hockey team. 3rd rated league offense, 4th rated league defense, 6th rated league powerplay, 3rd rated league penalty kill ... geeeeeez ... is there anything they're not good at right now? Nopes. This team is good.

Habs though, they are riding a 5 game streak, they have been getting solid team efforts of late, which are critical when going up against a superior opponent, their defense has become markedly improved since Nathan Beaulieu was promoted and Alexei Emelin demoted, and of course, there's Price.

The key tonight? Play a really REALLY good road game. That means a strong forecheck, winning centre ice possession and puck battles, being cautious and patient, protecting the slot, shielding the passing lanes, getting offensive contributions from the 3rd and 4th lines. Simple!!

Yeah. It won't be simple. Not tonight. But ... first place is up for grabs.

Should be fun.

Puck drops at 7:10 EST.

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 Sixty-One: Habs vs. Pens

Shootout:

- Therrien making some abysmal and reckless OT decisions and Desharnais goes and bails him out in the SO. Therrien is living a charmed life. That said, I'm not forgetting how petty the coach acted tonight. How could Bergevin possibly not do the same?

Overtime:

- Last night I was at peace with the OT loss, because it was so roundly deserved. Tonight though, I want 2.

- So Galchenyuk sits on the OT bench and Murray gets a shift. Got it.

- Therrien apparently is benching P.K. for overtime. This is insanity.

- Yup. Subban was benched. Galchenyuk also didn't get a shift. Therrien has no clue. Not a single clue. Habs deserve the loss now. 

Third Period:

- Murray committs a silly and unecessary interference, again giving the Pens PP another opportunity to take control of this game.

- Habs survive, but barely. Tinordi getting some tough minutes here as second unit PK. Doesn't seem comfortable with the task.

- Pens dominating first 5 minutes, Habs just holding on here, chipping/dumping like crazy.

- Oh P.K., now we know what Babcock was worried about. With the powerplay, no less. Horrorshow.

- And Emelin, of all people, bails P.K. out. Fleury is officially stinking out the joint. We are tied.

- Murray trades penalties with Crosby. Habs win that deal by a gazillioon dollars.

- So apparently the refs have decided that hitting is now illegal. The penalty on Emelin - I don't know what the heck is going on. Huge opportunity for Pens here.

- And they convert. Crosby, assist to Murray, of course. Officials now involved in the outcome. What a shame.

- Wow. Glass gets five for an elbow. 

- And Briere ties it up - Habs still with more than 3 minutes of PP left. Ridiculous.

- So does this suddenly make Briere an attractive trading commodity? 

- Fleury is a bad rebound machine tonight. He's been terri-bad, even by his standards.

- Less than 2 minutes and Murray is sent out. So so so unwise.

- Yeah. We'll take the point. Getting two out of four on back to back nights ain't bad.

Second Period:

- Habs had 56% Fenwick in the first, but poor goaltending did them in. It's only righteous I suppose, considering how many games this team has won because of goaltending carrying them through sub 45% nights.

- Pens on the powerplay, Budaj continuing to flail all over the place. I know Tokarski has limited experience, but Therrien is just begging for trouble keeping Budaj in there.

- Even though maddeningly a dump and chase team, Habs have done a decent job still so far winning puck possession. But because of the dump and chase mentality, quality scoring chances on Fleury has been limited.

- Just shoot it on net - Briere sprung free in the slot, and top corner ties this game. Puck possession matters ... so very, very much.

- Lars Eller requires an intervention. He's just totally lost. Nearly forgone. It's getting that bad.

- Seems crazy to put Murray out there against Pens top rated PP with their first line played. Budaj bails out Murray's chronic slot softness and puck indifference.

- Maatta from the line. Redeflect? Who knows. Bottom line - you can't take penalties against this Pittsburgh powerplay unit. 3-2.

- Pacioretty, sweet feed to Desharnais and then to Pacioretty, and we be ties. Fleury was pretty positionally slow. We have hope.

- Pens are really doing a poor job protecting their slot. Habs gaining some decent scoring chances as a result. Good see the red light a few more times each end before this one is done.

- Thought the Habs played a stronger first, but they end up out scoring the opponent. Lars Eller now appears to be officially in Therrien's doghouse - but then again, so was Desharnais two months ago. 

First Period:

- Poor rebound control by Fleury, and Gallagher cashes it in. This is the Habs faint hope tonight - Fleury stinks up the joint. It's possible he might. We'll see. 1-0.

- Neal. Budaj looking very much like a backup on that one. Tie game.

- Budaj completely misplays a routine 60 foot wrist shot by Neal, but it hits the post. Um ... who's on the bench?

- Engelland. Budaj somewhere else. He's been terrible, converting two routine shots into opposition gift goals. Should be 3-1 really. I smell a switch on the horizon. Calling Tokarski.

- Relatively decent period by the Habs - certainly much better than last night's first against Detroit - all thrown away by a very poor period by Budaj. Now trailing, Habs have limited options the final 40 minutes, save Fluery returning the favor.

GAMEDAY GOO:

Hoo boy, cover your eyes, cover your eyes. This stuff is about to get real.

One of the worst one-goal losses I've seen in perhaps my life, the Habs fresh off their 35% Fenwick "performance" last night, roll into Pittsburgh tonight where they'll face a drawing and quartering, courtesy Sid Crosby and the rest of the Pens. At least it'll be quick. Painless? Well ... sorry, the Habs aren't getting off that easy.

So, let's roll out a few bullet points.

- Ryan White is sick with the flu. I think I had that last week, and the week before that, and the week before that. What I'm saying here is that I watched the whole damn Winter Olympics sprawled out on a couch, wishing I was dead. Anyway, White won't play tonight. Great.

- David Desharnais, who was mostly invisible last night when he wasn't gift wrapping pucks to the Wing's defense, got more than 23 minutes of playing time last night, because insanity. Meanwhile, Alex Galchenyuk, who looked pretty good, and was actually one of the few Habs forwards on the ice that was making any Detroit defenders break an actual sweat, sat on the bench during the two minute 3-on-3 OT session, because insanity.

- So Tinordi looked pretty good, huh? Beaulieu ... we already know he's NHL-ready. So when can we start digging Doug Murray's playin'-days grave? Like, can we do it now? Now?? HOW ABOUT NOW?!?!

- I thought Peter Budaj did another solid job last night, although the OT goal came courtesy a pretty juicy rebound. It didn't help that Gorges was all dazed and confused, choosing instead to check P.K. Subban instead of one of the guys wearing White and Red.

- Mike Babcock's contract is going to run out in the not-too-distant-future. He'd look great behind that Habs bench, no? McGill graduate, surely he knows a word or two of french? Right? Gah ... if we could only get him to change his last name to Babcockesque ... or Babcockdeau ... or Babcockpoutine.

More later. Well, no. More when the puck drops tonight, and the slaughter begins.

Game Fifty: Habs vs. Pens

Third Period:

#FireTherrien

Second Period:

- Breire's passes from behind the net are consistently awful. They appear nearly as blind as they are rushed and as a result, are badly off target. Lots of potential scoring chances are being lost from this.

- Gallagher post. Fleury seemingly having trouble with the high shots tonight.

- 3-1. Jokinen. It all started because Subban makes a poor clearance from behind his net. Price probably also wants that shot back. Pens halfway to 6.

- Past the halfway mark, Leblanc has less than 2:30. Almost tragic, really. This kid isn't getting even a fair shot at proving his worth. 

- As usual Subban the target of marginal interference calls. His nemesis St. Laurent one of tonight's officials.

- Pens PP, Crosby left totally alone, makes it look easy. 4-1. Pens two away from 6.

- Malkin. Markov having one of his worst games, possibly ever. 5-1. The route is officially on.

- So Price mercifully pulled and the Habs are getting trounced. Not like we didn't see this coming but it's still been ugly to watch. Would give an eye tooth or two to know what's going through the mind of Marc Bergevin right now. His team is falling apart.

First Period:

- Hoo boy. Here we go. How ugly will this game be?

- Pens shockingly send out the Crosby line the instant Bouillon and Murray hit the ice.

- And Murray makes a terrible unforced turnover in his zone his first shift. Buckle your seats folks.

- One of the Pens' stratagies tonight is pretty clear: don't let Subban get a shot on net.

- Mouillon on. Pens generate another great scoring chance, of course. Inevitably they're going to finish.

- It begins. Malkin catches Markov flat footed and makes a pretty pass to Jokinen. Price no chance. 1-0.

- Habs are playing like, well, the Habs. Having a wretched time getting the puck out of their zone and the Pens, specifically the Malkin line, are eating them alive. Wouldn't be shocked if Pittsburgh scores 6 or 7 before the night is done.

- Even strength or on the PK, Habs really struggling to clear their zone. That's a formula for disaster against this Pens team.

- 2-0. Murray soft in the slot. Yup.

- Wow. Rene Bourque scores. Pinching myself.

- Decent pushback by Habs last 5 minutes of the period. This game might not be a complete debacle. We'll see.

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

Good grief. The wheel goes round and round, where it stops, nobody knows.

Many of us covering the team yesterday were sparked with mild excitement, happiness even, when it was witnessed at practice that the Habs were running Frankie Bouillon and Doug Murray as the 7th and 8th defensemen.

HALLELUIAH.

So with great anticipation, Habsland began to dream of those practice lines starting tonight in Pittsburgh. P.K. Subban with Andrei Markov. Nathan Beaulieu with Josh Gorges. Raphael Diaz with Alexei Emelin. These aren't perfect lines, but finally ... FINALLY ... common sense has settled in with the braintrust. Bouillon out. Murray out. REJOICE!

Alas, it was not to be.

Michel Therrien just annouced tonight's scratches. Diaz and Emelin.

Bouillon and Murray will start.

So we have arrived. Facing one of the League's most powerful offenses, the Habs will be starting not one, but two of the worst roster defensemen in the NHL. Together. At the same time.

It is totally, inexorably and inexcusably baffling.

Here we go. The Habs, who once enjoyed a huge lead in the standings, in the span of two short weeks facing very beatable opponents, suddenly find themselves in a dogfight for a wild card playoff spot. Oh, how fortunes can turn so dark so quickly.

Tonight, it's gonna be a nightmare.

The Pens, who took a trashing at the hands of the lowly Florida Panthers Monday night, are going to unleash their fury, at the Habs expense. It is not going to be pretty, aided by the inclusion of both Bouillon and Murray.

What is Therrien thinking? The Pens with the 4th rated offense, top rated powerplay, 10th rated 5v5 - we all know the arsenal they have on offense - and matched up against the porous Habs defense, Carey Price is almost certainly looking at a 40+ shot total tonight. Possibly 50+.

This game has the possibility of becoming a circus sideshow of ineptitude for the Canadiens. It has the potential of being a complete and utter washout. It has the potential of being such an extraordinary debacle that finally ... FINALLY ... the scribes following this team will start questioning Mr. Bergevin about his determination to keep Therrien behind the bench.


A devastating loss tonight might end up becoming a magnificent gain for this organization.


I will be cheering for the Penguins. This madness must end.


Puck drops at 7:10 est. The slaughter shall probably commence shortly thereafter.