Game Thirty-Four: Rangers vs. Habs

First Period:

- Rick Nash gets his first start of the night. Just our luck. Anything to help the Rangers' ridiculously awful power play.

- Rangers were supposed to be where the Habs are now, so methinks Tortorella and company will be playing a little desperate tonight. Carey Price will start, hoping he'll get his game back on track after a tough 40 minutes in Boston.

- Full disclosure, I'm currently on a flight to Montreal so my blogging will probably cease somewhere in the second period.

- Michael Ryder continues his excellent play, Rangers get caught on a line change and 47 seconds in, Habs grab the lead. Terrible start for New York.

- 25 points for Subban now, and this for someone who missed three weeks of the season and had no training camp. That's why he's now a prominent Norris trophy candidate.

- For the most part Rangers have responded well to the Ryder goal, they're being very aggressive with the forecheck in Habs zone, doing their best to crash in front of Price.

- 8 shots for Rangers in 8 minutes. That's got to be concerning for the Canadiens.

- Plekanec line looks excellent early going. They've already scored one, fully expecting more.

- Price solid so far, his SP against the Rangers this season now over .980. Think he's got their number?

- Gorges and Emelin can't let Gabarik sneak behind them like that. Price bails then out, but he can't do it all night long.

- Rangers power play fails to produce again, but unlike previous games this season against the Habs, tonight it actually looks dangerous.

- And the Plekanec line does indeed strike again, this time it's Plekanec along the wing on a 2-on-1, and Biron ... ehhh ...

- Crazy as this sounds, Rangers were the better team in that period, generating numerous quality chances, but Price was excellent, and Habs offense meanwhile, capitalized. Tortorella must be awfully frustrated. It's just not the Rangers' year.

Second Period:

- Well, my flight is being called, so the end is near for updates. Just hoping Price continues his excellent play for 40 more minutes, and the Plekanec line keeps stormin' along. Still thing Rangers are more than in this game, they just need to bury their chances.

- Price continues to be solid, just made fine save on Richards off the break, but this game is starting to settle in a bit now.

- For so many times this year, it starts with a Subban rocket from the point, this time Desharnais and Gallagher swarming for the rebound, Gallagher cashing in. Rangers really in tough now down 3-0.

- Gallagher playing extra fearless tonight, driving Biron crazy when he's not also busy driving Rangers' defense crazy shot blocking.

- Solid 2nd period for Habs, they're simply too much for New York, whose offense looks cursed. They are a team missing fundamental chemistry. Goes to show you can throw big money at big names but if the bunch doesn't gel, wins come very hard.

Gameday Game Update:

- This just announced a few minutes ago, Habs have placed Thomas Kaberle on waivers, saving a mere $900,000K off this season's cap. Yeah, we knew he was untradable, but still, trying to figure this move out. Saves virtually nothing on the cap, we have two others injured, Weber and Diaz (the later might be season-ending), which leaves a significant burden on the two very young guys - Tinordi and Beaulieu.

Huh. There's gotta be something else about to happen.

Roster Moves

Interesting stuff this morning. First, the good news. Brandon Prust will be playing tomorrow night against the Rangers, meaning he'll play on the third line along side Eller and Galchenyuk. Colby Armstrong will be shifted down to the fourth line, which will greatly benefit Eller, who struggled to adapt to Armstong's general offensive incompetence. Not a slag on Colby, but his role has and always will be to bolster grinders.

Now the interesting moves. Jarred Tinordi has been sent back to Hamilton, which many assumed would mean either Yannick Weber or Tomas Kaberle would start Saturday night. However, late this morning Nathan Beaulieu was called up. What to make of that? With the Habs now entering an extended period of home dates, is Bergevin wanting to see if Beaulieu is NHL-capable? Or, is a trade being prepared that involves Weber? Or is Beaulieu, who is frequently mentioned as the "prospect candidate" involving a trade, being showcased?

More later.

HAPPY THURSDAY!

Sheesh, Tuukka! Why so mad bro? OH RIGHT, THIS:

The Boston Bruins. LOL.

More later.

Game Twenty-Three: Habs vs. Islanders

First Period

- Plenty of pre-game fears that there would be a letdown after the big win in Boston, and so far Islanders are skating harder.

- Never mind. Ryder (wasn't he supposed to play the sniper role?) does all the hard work creating the turnover behind the Islanders' goal, feeding the puck to Plekanec for the early lead. Ryder continuing to pay dividends.

- Habs playing a much more cautious style in their own zone. They haven't forgotten how the Islanders utilized their speed advantage to win in their previous contest.

- Have to say, Kaberle continues to impress. He's been excellent positionally - it's almost as though he's been reborn as more of a defensive defenseman.

- Love those two second powerplays. Methinks there was a little embellishment. But who am I to judge, that's Claude Juliun's forte, right?

- Routine period, not especially memorable. Habs clearly the better team, but again, the same was said two weeks ago after they grabbed a 2-0 lead on the Islanders. Avoid the letdowns, and all ought to be fine.

Second Period

- Islanders with their first legit powerplay of the game. This was their key to victory last time. Habs simply had no PK response.

- And here we go. Again. And guess what? It's Moulson. Game tied.

- Islanders propelled by that goal. Price making couple of key saves.

- Habs pushback. Ryder nearly potting his first as a Hab (again).

- Gorges' play of late is a mystery. He's slow, and not blocking nearly the same amount of shots. Purely speculative whether he's playing through something, but something ain't right.

- Habs simply must strive to stay out of the box. So far, they aren't complying.

- Hoo boy. Eller goes for a trip, and Islanders two man advantage.

- And the burn is applied, as Prust loses his man, and Martin is left all alone in front of Price. 2-1.

- Did I mention enough times how important it is the Habs avoid taking penalties?

- Grabner left unchecked in front (Ryder's assignment) and its 3-1. Too many Habs forwards not covering their assignments. New York eating them alive.

- How many players have a harder shot than Subban? When he's close enough and has the full windup, stopping is impossible. 3-2.

- Habs one goal away from 20,000 all time for the franchise. Lots of motivation on that bench, I'd say. Who wouldn't want the bragging rights?

- Neilsen off the bar on the 2-on-1, Price did not look confident.

- Period was a mess for the Habs. Bad penalties, sloppy zone coverage, especially by Habs' forwards. But still, the deficit is only one. Not insurmountable by any stretch.

Third Period

- Gallagher soooo close to being the 20,000 man. Had Nabokov dead to rights, puck slipped off the blade of his stick.

- Newsy Lalonde #1. Larry Robinson #10,000. Brian Gionta #20,000. How's that for the trophy case?

- Anticipating Pacioretty to have his moment here. He's been buzzing in the 3rd.

- First poor rebound control, then a 60 footer by Martinek handcuffs Price. He's fighting the puck. Has been for a week. The Habs find themselves down once more.

- Habs more aggressive puck pursuit here, opening the game up. Just 7 minutes left.

- Shots 30-19 Habs. Not for taking penalties, sloppy letdowns, and not-quite stellar play by Price, Habs should certainly be leading this thing.

- Okay, this is interesting. Play stopped suddenly. Are they looking at a possible goal scored, but unnoticed?

- Nope. Habs called for too many men. Seems only fitting that such a sloppy mistake made late in the third.

- If the Islanders were to somehow qualify for the playoffs, their powerplay alone would make them a dangerous series opponent.

- Dagger applied. Habs simply too many basic errors in their zone tonight.

- Deserved loss tonight, points streak stopped at 11 games. This team has these mysterious letdowns against inferior opponents. This must be corrected ASAP.

It's GAME DAY!

Nothing to say much for now, except WATCH THIS AWESOME VIDEO. Yeah, it sums everything up nicely.

About Last Night ...

- Hawks win again, ho-hum. Their point streak now extended to a mind-boggling 28 straight regular season games. Actually, they should have lost yesterday if it wasn't for some clunky puck clearances by the Wings' defense, giving the Hawks all the powerplay time they needed to tie it late in the 3rd, and win in a shootout. Here's hoping these two meet again in springtime.

- Rangers ever-so-slowly seem to turning their sinking ship around, beating the Sabres in a shootout. The game marred by a pathetic check from behind on Brad Richards by Buffalo goon Patrick Kaleta, who'll probably serve 3 or 4 games for the offense. Ought to be more.



- Flames beat the Canucks. Is Vancouver an elite team? I thought they were. Maybe not? The Canucks are like west coast weather, wait 20 minutes, and they'll change. So maybe by this time next week, it'll be clear sailing?

- Sens seem to be taking that inevitable tumble downwards, losing to the Islanders. Sorry guys, you can't defy gravity forever.

- Oilers lose AGAIN. This time to the uninspiring Wild. The big problem for Edmonton? They can't score. Something's going to hit the fan if this team finishes out of the playoffs.

- Speaking of Edmonton, The Leafs traded goonhead Mike Brown to the Oilers just so they could get rid of Mike Brown, I guess.

- Injuries of a significant nature are starting to creep up. Jose Theodore's out for 6 weeks. Carolina just lost Cam Ward for 6-8, and they say they're gonna ride the rest of the season out using their 2nd string and a call-up.  Let's see if they stick with that strategy once they start plummeting down the standings ... oh nevermind, who are we kidding? They play in the Southeast, the NHL's most pathetic Division. They'll probably finish 3rd in the Conference with 38 points.

- And LAST BUT NOT LEAST, LES HABS A BATTU LES BRUINS!



Oh yeah. Claude Julien? Shut up already.



I have a three word response to your nonsense: FIRST PLACE BABY. And if you want to talk about embellishment, you might want to explain that word to your own players: