Game 18: Habs vs. Canes

Carolina 3, Montreal 2:

FIRST PERIOD:

- Hudon in the lineup!!! Good news. Andrighetto out. Hmm ... not so good news. Desharnais in. Yeah, what can ya do?

- Fast paced start to the game, very few whistles. Could be fun to watch.

- Wow, Jeff Skinner. Did everything right, putting Montoya on his belly (tsk, bad form), but somehow failed to flip the puck into the empty net. 

- Puck luck is not strong with this 'Canes team - 24th overall PDO, mainly because of below average shooting percentage, and sub-par goaltending. 

- Definite Weber weakness, he's slow on his feet, and gets nailed for slash because he fails to reach quickly enough to Lindholm driving the net. 

- Carolina has defect powerplay, 12th ranked this season, but you wouldn't know that from that first man advantage. Habs doing pretty decent job containing Canes in the D zone - passing lanes to high danger zones have been well protected. 

- Gallagher does not look like a confident player right now - definitely goal weary, it being nearly a month (October 24th) since he last scored a goal. He'll need to get something greasy to break this drought. 

- Markov now with Weber. Not sure why of the shakeup. Possibly an injury or benching (Pateryn?)

- Pretty even period of hockey, both teams not really putting together very many good scoring opportunities - 'Canes with a couple, Habs were pretty passive. Pretty good period for the Galchenyuk line - they had some very strong shifts. Not such a great period for the Danault line - they struggled to gain puck possession. 

SECOND PERIOD:

- That opening period, which had a sprite start, really ground itself down as the 20 minutes progressed. Scoring chances were pretty limited:

- Habs first powerplay, they buzzed Cam Ward, but couldn't finish - in particular Beaulieu, who somehow missed scoring from 10 feet away with the top half of the net basically free for the picking. He's struggling, and Gallagher is struggling. These funks are clearly getting in the heads of both players.

- Greg Pateryn, unless he's hurt and his time is being limited, seems to have arrived in Therrien's doghouse. Joel Henley, start warming up your skates. You might be going back in tomorrow night.

- A Habs team with a Gallagher and Max Pacioretty producing points is a very hard team to beat. A Habs team with those two producing almost 0 points is very hard not to beat.

- Hudon hasn't had many opportunities tonight, but he just had a very good shift, including a very hard wrist shot on his off wing that tested Cam Ward. At least the kid is producing some scoring chances. Others on his team are failing even that bar pretty miserably tonight.

- Habs continues their strong play - in their own zone. 34 minutes into the game, 'Canes have just 6 shots on Montoya. Canadiens doing very good job shot blocking and covering the passing lanes.

- Controvery. Petry scores into essentially empty net after Daniel Carr runs into Ward, with Ward falling on his back. Replay shows that Carr was hit into Ward, although was it hard enough?? Close call:

Ward not happy with the Petry goal after the contact. If the goal stands Hudon picks up an assist. pic.twitter.com/Es3UrGtXs6

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) November 19, 2016

- Good goal, says NHL control in Toronto. Habs take 1-0 lead. Hudon (!!!) picks up an assist. 

- Looks like Pateryn getting very minimal shifts. Weber paired with Beaulieu, as Therrien switching pairs up to even out ice time to his defence with Pateryn stapled to the bench.

- Andrei Markov, par excellence tonight. 

- Pretty Habs dominated 2nd period - excellent defensively, and while the offence isn't exactly running on all cylinders, they did manage to crank out a goal. Just 4 shots for the 'Canes in that period, Habs lead 21-8 all. That's pretty one-sided.

THIRD PERIOD:

- Habs pretty good effort tonight, CF (SA 5v5) over 60% through 40 minutes. The Galchenyuk line has been excellent, with Alex a 85.7%, Gallagher 84.2%. Better than excellent. That's outstanding.

- Definitely better start for Canes in this 3rd period, and they tie the game with Hainsey a wrist shot that goes off Skinner's foot. Sure looked like a kicking motion to me, but it's ruled a good goal. Tie game.

- Not sure if it's Carolina making a push, or Habs not showing up for the period, or a combination of the two, but 'Canes dominating first 5 minutes of this 3rd period. Most of the play has been entirely in Habs zone.

- Habs with a little pushback here, which isn't a big surprise. That it came from the Mitchell line, is. 

- It's all coming undone for the Habs, here. Replay of their first goal, Hainsey a point wrist shot, crazy skill deflection past Montoya, this time it's Teravainen with an incredible deflect, and it's 2-1.

- Tres implosión, Rask a very simple wrister that Montoya totally muffs, and in the span of less than 5 minutes, Carolina scores 3. 

- Therrien, realizing these are not good times requiring urgent measures, finally caves and puts out a superfine - Galchenyuk/Gallagher/Pacioretty. They come within 2 inches of scoring. Gotta roll the dice, at this point.

- Obviously Habs were due for a correction - three losses in a row is a sure sign this team has begun its return to earth, not to mention with it, the puck luck. Tonight Carolina reaping that benefit.

- Now Therrien pairing Pacioretty with ... ugh ... Desharnais. Yup. He never learns. 

- Another hard wrist shot by Hudon off the wing - Ward forced to make another good glove save. 

- Habs make it interesting, Markov shot deflected by Shaw to make it 3-2. More than 4 minutes left. Plenty of time.

- Habs pouring it on. Gallagher hits the goalpost (unbelievable), Ward with a sparkling desperation save off Markov, who's been outstanding tonight. Hang on to your hats.

- Habs pushing incredibly hard for the tie, all ended with an absolutely brutal hooking call on Shaw to end the game.

- Stop me if you don't want to think about last year, but Habs dominate puck possession, shots, zone play, have to incredibly fluky goals scored against them, one bad goal let in, and lose the game. Nightmares? I'm having them already.

HABS - 'CANES GAMEDAY GAME PREVIEW

Don't look now, but the Montreal Canadiens are in some injury trouble. They've been without Brian Flynn for a week, which no offence to Brian or the Flynn family, isn't a very big deal when you're talking about someone that barely cracks the 4th line of an average NHL team. Since then, however, the Habs have had to add a few more names to the sick and wounded ledger, including Alexander Radulov, who's out again tonight from the flu (thanks, Carey), and of course, Artturi Lehkonen, who's been on injury reserve with an upper body injury, and isn't expected back until at least next week, at the earliest.

So with all of these missing bodies, the Habs lineup will look tonight much like it did Tuesday night in an overtime loss to the Florida Panthers:

Bryon/Galchenyuk/Gallagher

Pacioretty/Danault/Shaw

Desharnais/Plekanec/Terry

Carr/Mitchell/Andrighetto

Weber/Emelin

Markov/Petry

Beaulieu/Pateryn

Al Montoya.

Now, I don't want to make a huge deal out of this, but with Radulov, Lehkonen and Flynn unable to play, this seems like a perfect opportunity to give Charles Hudon, who was leading the AHL in scoring before his call up a couple of days ago, the perfect opportunity to slot at the expenses of say, Desharnais or Chris Terry. Hudon, however, will have to sit and wait and hope that his number somehow comes up, so that he might once and for all prove he's ready for the big club.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the rink, the 'Canes will stack up like this tonight:

Skinner/Rask/Lindholm

Teravainen/Staal/Aho

Stempniak/Ryan/McGinn

Nordstrom/McClement/Stalberg

Hainsey/Faulk

Slavin/Pesce

Hanifin/Tennyson

Cam Ward.

Carolina made some unfortunate news this week, specifically forward Bryan Bickell, when it was revealed that Bickell had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and is now on long-term IR. 

Otherwise, the 'Canes are currently on a 2 game wining streak, both impressive victories over good teams, the San Jose Sharks and Washington Capitals. So like Tuesday night struggle against the Panthers, the Habs might have their hands full against Carolina.

Carolina players to keep an eye on: Cam Ward, who did post a nifty 1-0 shutout against the Sharks Tuesday night, hasn't exactly stormed out of the gate this year between the pipes - mustering up a 4-4-3 record with a 2.51/.908 split, which amongst goalies that have had at least 10 starts this season, ranks Ward 15th/19th out of 30 in the NHL. Ward is, as he has always been, reliably mediocre. If Ward is off his mark tonight, it could give the Habs a window of opportunity.

The other Carolina factor is their speedy second line consisting of Jordan Stall, Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen. Stall, in particular, is having an excellent season, posting a team-high (and nearly League high) 5v5 CF of 65.8%, which is the best of career. The Staal line, in combination with the Rask line, should give the Canadiens defence and their starting goaltender Al Montoya, plenty of headaches to deal with tonight.

Puck drops tonight at 7:40 EST.

HE'S BAAAAAAACK. FINALLY. 

I mean, com'on. This was long, long overdue.



GOD BLESS YOU KIRK MULLER FOR EVEN JUST TRYING



I still say he's auditioning for the top bench job. Keep working on it, Kirk!!

Meanwhile, in case you were pining for the good ol' days of the 2015-16 season, we have good news for you from Tuesday night's game!

Mmmmm yeah .... that's the stuff. Give me more of that sweet, sweet David Desharnais top line deployment. I can almost see that Cup presentation.

Game 1: Habs vs Sabres

5 #HABS THOUGHTS THE DAY AFTER

- Welcome to our new feature, 5 Habs Thoughts the Day After, which is pretty much exactly as the title suggests. We'll be doing this feature throughout the season, providing readers with a summation about the game played the night previous. So ... about last night ...

- It's always nice to start the season on a winning note, although the Habs win was, to put it generously, uneven. The Canadiens started very strong - for the first 15 minutes of the 1st period, it looked like they were going to totally overwhelm their opponent. But then the team seemed to go into a collective funk that lasted through the remainder of the period, carried through most of the 2nd period, and lasted through about the first 5 minutes of the 3rd before the Habs seemed to catch a second wind.  The Torrey Mitchell goal, which reestablished the Habs 2 goal margin, seemed to take the energy out of the Sabres legs. You'll see that often with young teams - they're easily disgruntled - and who can blame them? The Sabres really were taking it to the Habs for essentially the middle half of the game, and still found themselves trailing by 2 goals for all their efforts.

- So while the Habs letdown was not exactly a scrapbook highlight, there were many interesting positives. The brightest light of the night was Artturi Lehkonen, who played a tremendously, even more so if you consider it was his very first NHL game. Lehkonen really meshed well along side Tomas Plekanec (who played an excellent two-way game for the Habs), and if not for a couple of nifty saves by Sabres goalie Robin Lehner, would have scored at least one goal. Lehkonen demonstrated some keen hockey smarts - and seemed to have a good sense of when to drive to the net. I'm sure Habs management were delighted by what they saw from this young winger.

- Defensively, Habs also played unevenly, but they did have two very strong performances by Greg Pateryn and (surprise!) Alexei Emelin, the later of whom delivered many thunderous checks, mostly contained in the neutral zone, on Sabres forwards. Emelin's was smart with his physicality, delivering his hits in situations that didn't remove him from his defensive responsibilities. I'm sure that Therrien will go back with this duo on Saturday night, if only to see if there might be some good chemistry developing between the two. Keep in mind, 3rd line spots on the Habs blue line is very competitive this season - with the first 5 positions already spoken for by Weber, Markov, Petry, Beaulieu and Sergachev, competition for that 6th spot is going to be fierce.

- Or, maybe it won't. Speaking of Mikhail Sergachev, it was baptism by fire last night, and his NHL inexperience was pretty glaring. While Sergachev didn't make any errors that led directly to Buffalo goals, he frequently looked overwhelmed by the speed of the League, which was further complicated by some tentative passes that produced a couple of glorious scoring opportunities for the Sabres. It's just Sergachev's first game, so a lot of the criticism has to be taken with a pinch of salt, but if he continues to struggle with adapting to the NHL, certainly understandable given his age, the Habs may give him a year in the AHL to help him make the transition to the big league.

- Finally, Shea Weber. While his debut wasn't anticipated nearly as much as Subban's will be in Nashville, Weber gave a pretty standard Weber performance. Sturdy, physical, understated and utterly forgettable. What you saw last night is what you'll see for the rest of this season. Weber, unlike the player he's replacing, has little flair, flash or dash to his game. He eats time, does a decent job moving the puck forward, clears a little traffic in front, and that's it. Weber did pick up the point last night off a point shot - although ironically it came off a simple wrist shot that was deflected in by Gallagher, not off one of his notorious slapshot howitzers.

Habs now travel back closer to home to take on the Senators in Ottawa, before opening up the season at home Monday night. We'll be posting news, if there's anything worth noting, leading up to the game, and putting up a game preview later in the day.

LIVESTREAM





THIRD PERIOD:

- Habs CF% (5v5) through 40 minutes just 50.0%. Which is bad considering they were at 58% after one period. Basically the Sabres had significant majority of possession (12:18 to be exact), with shot totals accordingly showing a pretty large edge in favour of Buffalo.

- Sabres have an interesting little thing they do before the period starts, their line huddles up at the blue line, not unlike they do in football. Not sure what the purpose of this is, but it looks cool.

- Shea Weber with a disgraceful crosscheck from behind in the corner that the League really should be making an automatic game misconduct, but for whatever reason, chooses not to. Within seconds, the Sabres score, and we immediately see Weber's first game sheet contribution. Against his team. 2-1 now.

- Habs a slop fest in their own zone, horrid puck turnovers. Sabres haven't lost a step to start this period. Taking it to the Habs.

- Sergachev a little deer in the headlights in more than a couple of situations tonight. So much talent, but most of it pretty raw.

- Lehkonen has had a pretty good game - very involved offensively, and if not for a couple of outstanding saves by Lehner, would easily be on the scoresheet.

- Shea Weber just made a scoring contribution - the right kind, anyway. Sabres got all kinds of messed up in their zone, leaving their slot unprotected. Weber with a point shot, neatly tipped by Gallagher past Lehner to reestablish a 2-goal lead. Sabres inexperience showing through badly on that goal, a lot of hard work the past couple of periods undone.

- Gorges with a retaliation mugging of Mitchell, after Emelin delivered a hard open ice (clean hit). Mitchell still down on the ice, favouring his head? Hard to tell. Terrible relational by Gorges. Terrible.

- Reply shows that Mitchell kind of fell into the Gorges check, but it looked very clear that Gorges was lining him up for a blindside hit, so the dirty play still stands. Mitchell taking a knee to the head.

- After a rough first few minutes of the period, things have gradually shifted in Montreal's favour, Habs getting much more possession and more quality scoring chances, powerplays removed. 9 minutes left.

- Carr with a very dirty goal with Habs swarming Sabres net. Buffalo challenges for goaltender interference, but I don't see anything there. Likely 4-1 Habs now.

- Good goal, Habs with probably insurmountable lead at 4-1. They've dominated since 5 minute mark of this period, Sabres just couldn't keep up, and Lehner has struggled.

- Pretty decent outing for Emelin, I've counted 4 thunderous hits from his tonight, certainly much more physical than was Weber. He and Pateryn having games that exceeded normal expectations.

- Habs win, albeit it was an uneven victory. Team went into a 30 minute funk between the last five minutes of the 1st extending to the first 5 minutes of the 3rd, where the Sabres were the better team. Fortunately Montoya had a pretty solid start, and Habs did have some bright spots - mainly that of Arthur Lehkonen, who was frequently involved and if not for some excellent saves by Lehner, should have had a least one goal. Pateryn and Emelin looked sharp, and Shea Weber was ... hmm shall we say ... adequate?


SECOND PERIOD:

- Habs with defined possession edge in the first period, 57.9% CF% (5v5) in the frame.

- I suppose I should have mentioned Shea Weber right now. He was okay in that first period. Made a couple of good hits in the corners, made a couple of decent shot attempts on the powerplay. But still pretty low key performance, pretty much the exact opposite of the guy who was traded away to get him. 

- Sergachev clearly trying to adjust to a much faster game than he's every played in his life. Has made a few puck handling errors, but possesses the mobility to save himself. At least so far.

- 4th line production by the Habs which has looked pretty good tonight, Byron driving the net hard and buried into the boards as a result, Mitchell tucking home the loose puck and it's 2-0. Another spot the Habs really struggled with last year - 4th line contributions. Hopefully that's a sign of more to come.

- Habs aren't exactly squatting on this lead, but they've discernibly shifted their focus from being aggressive in the Sabres zone and centre ice, to covering their zone, and passing lanes. Sabres have had a significant edge in shots and possession since the 15 minute mark of the first period.

- Not good. Habs are losing puck fights in their own zone, and it's creating some defensive breakdowns in which the Sabres are getting good scoring chances. Montoya very solid so far, keeping Buffalo off the board. Still, this is a habit, the let downs, that we saw a lot of last year that killed the Habs season.

- Is Desharnais hurt? Unbelievably he has the least amount of ice time among all Habs forwards, a meagre 6:32 with just 5 minutes left in the 2nd.

- Sabres 2nd powerplay, Habs PK was pretty much chaos, and it not for dumb luck and Buffalo incompetence finishing plays, this game really ought be 2-1. At least.

- Habs plainly out skated and out hustled in the period - no logical explanation for the let down against such a lesser Sabres team, except that possibly the team went out to hard to start the game? I'm at a loss.

- Evander Kane who's been a bull in a china shop tonight, falling awkwardly going full steam into the corner, losing his footing as he was given a relatively mild shove by Emelin. No real penalty there, but Kane is clearly significantly injured.

- Habs might lead 2-0 on the scoreboard, but that was a very tilted period in favour of the Sabres, who were far more organized and aggressive than they were in the 1st period. Habs looked ... tired? It's absurd to speculate, but they just seemed to lose most of the battles for, and races to, loose pucks. One more period like that, Buffalo might fight their way back into this thing.


FIRST PERIOD:

- Well, here we go, game 1 of 82. Here's hoping it's the exact opposite of what we had to endure last year.

- It's EARLY going, but Sabres look ... uh ... not good. Offence is, shall we say, disorganized.

- Habs 4th line forecheck is pretty aggressive, with two forwards playing deep in the neutral zone. Not sure if that's accidental or experimentational.

- Lots of long-bomb passes blue line to forwards, same strategy used last year, to mostly unsuccessful result.

- Sergachev gets a little powerplay time, which is great to see. Looked a little nervous passing the puck, made one ill-advised pass that nearly gave Sabres a 2-on-0 breakaway. It's a learning process.

- First game goal, first season goal. It's Gallagher with a very un-Gallagher like goal, snap shot from 40 feet beats Lehner stick side. 1-0 Habs. Good passing key to the goal there, as it usually is for most NHL goals.

- There's the Shaw effect, icing called, and Shaw manages to troll Foligno into a roughing penalty.

- Habs powerplay is 0-2, but still looks markedly better than the hapless scenes we endured last year. Not sold on Markov paired with Weber - they got all kinds of mixed up at the line, creating a Sabres breakaway that was saved nicely by Montoya. When Petry returns, I'm hoping for more experimentation - with Beaulieu and maybe this Sergachev kid getting a few turns with different combinations. 

- Montoya has made a couple of nice saves this period - obviously the Habs are hoping for a bit more consistency from their backup this year - fully acknowledging that Mike Condon was forced into an impossible situation, and did the best he could given the circumstances. 

- Habs with a bit of a let-down last 5 minutes of the first period. One assumes you can only dominate a period for so long, but Sabres seem to be getting a little more organized as the period has progressed.

- Pretty one-sided period of hockey, Habs fans will be happy with what they've seen. Fast start to the game, the Canadiens carried the play through much of the first 3/4 of the period, giving the young Sabres defence fits. All said, one couldn't have hoped for much more.


PREGAME NEWS 'N' NOTES:

- The puck is dropping shortly for the first game of the year, a couple of things I'd like to mention in advance of the game. First, this site is going to be a little more content focused this year - we're going to be adding a few more pieces to provide readers with a little more in-depth content, and new features such as weekly team rankings, Habs player rankings, and a new post-game feature, "5 Points", which will offer post game summaries and observations for every Habs game. So, stay tuned and watch!!

- The news we've been hearing about all week has been, of course, the flu virus that has knocked Carey Price out of the start tonight, so Al Montoya will get the call. Which, given that the Sabres are likely the kind of team you'd start your backup against anyway, works out. 

- It'll be fun to see just how well Alex Radulov plays tonight. A productive top-6 winger on the right side will give this team an immense offensive boost that it sorely lacked through much of last year. If Radulov produces, the Habs are going to be a difficult team to beat.

- Also looking forward to seeing the new kids, specifically Mikhail Sergachev, and of course, Artturi Lehkonen. Expectations of both should be tempered - they're playing their first ever regular season NHL games, so even though both are talented, there will be a learning curve.

- Bottom defensive pairing should be interesting. Depending on how things to with Sergachev, there are too many bodies for the last pairings, with Alexei Emelin, Greg Pateryn, and Zach Redmond all fighting for one spot, when Jeff Petry makes his return to the lineup. Still think Marc Bergevin will be doing his best to move Emelin over the next few weeks, basically for anyone who'll have him, ideally for a pick or mild salary pickup in return.

- Puck drops at 7:10 EST.  But then, you knew that.


THE YEAR THAT WAS, THE YEAR THAT IS

We’ve arrived. We’ve finally arrived. The cusp of a new season, filled with renewed hopes for fans around the country that the upcoming season will bring them joy and fulfillment that goes with cheering for a winning team.

For those whose hearts are aligned with the Montreal Canadiens, the story this October is not unlike those of recent Octobers. Anticipation and belief that their championship drought will finally come to an end.

Unlike recent Octobers, this season brings a defined sense of melancholy for Habs fans, still many weeks removed from a massive deal that resulted in the heart and soul of the team, P.K. Subban, being dealt to the Nashville Predators for the hulking frame of Shea Weber. It was a trade that many had hoped would somehow be avoided, but the decision to move Subban, come hell or high water, was likely made well before the day he was dealt in late June.

Objectively, the deal likely will serve to benefit both teams – the Predators will now have a high powered, mobile blue line that will make them a force to be reckoned with, and in an instant, a viable Stanley Cup contender next spring. The Canadiens will realize an improvement in their defensive durability, and likely a slight increase in powerplay effectiveness. Whether they’ll be in the championship conversation next year is another matter altogether.

Long term, the trade will likely be highly regrettable for Montreal. While Weber is an excellent talent, Subban has 4 years on his side, and a proven ability to be an elite puck moving defenseman in a League that’s moving further away from “grit” hockey as a winning model.

Which is to say, the window for ending the championship drought in Habsland is closing rather quickly. With Subban gone, and foundation pieces like Carey Price and Max Pacioretty moving into and beyond their prime productive years, the Canadiens likely have this season and the next to be a viable Stanley Cup contender. Beyond that, with Weber’s salary cap impacting the bottom line, and making it difficult for management to retain all of their key assets, the Canadiens are likely to enter a rebuilding phase.

Setting aside the Subban trade, the off season was productive for Montreal. The Habs, credit to G.M. Marc Bergevin, managed to snag free agent Alex Radulov from Russia. Albeit carrying some behavioural baggage, Radulov, who’s been playing overseas in the KHL since 2009, solidifies what was once the most glaring weaknesses of the team, a top-6 right hand shooting forward.

Although the KHL is no NHL, Radulov did put up some impressive numbers, averaging well over a point per game playing with CSKA Moskva and Salavat Youlaev (go fighting Youlaev!). He also had an impressive and productive camp, so anything in the 60 point production range for Radulov will be a huge bonus for the Canadiens.

Radulov probably represented the biggest player acquisition this summer, although there may be a case made for 1^st round entry pick, Mikhail Sergachev, who was the OHL’s defenseman of the year in 2015-16. Sergachev, whom some expected might go as high as a top-5 pick, was still up for grabs when the Habs came to the table with their 9^th overall selection. Marc Bergevin and Trevor Timmons didn’t waste their chance and nabbed the young Russian, who they hope will eventually fill the shoes of the soon departing Andrei Markov, who’s entering the final year of a contract extension, possibly the last of his NHL career.

The big question around Sergachev wasn’t whether he was the best choice (he was), but whether he had the skill and maturity to actually crack the lineup this season. After an excellent camp, those questions were quickly answered, as the Habs announced that Sergachev would be suiting up to start the season. The only remaining question is whether the Canadiens will play Sergachev 9 games, which means this year would be counted in qualification for restricted free agency.

Speaking of draft picks, a big surprise out of camp this year was the performance of Artturi Lehkonen, who was signed to an entry level contract this May. Lehkonen, who was previously playing in the Swedish Hockey League, was picked 2^nd overall by the Canadiens in the 2013 draft. The lesson here is - players mature and develop differently – the time Lehkonen spent playing elite hockey in Europe served him well enough to earn him a starting spot this season.

Lehkonen’s gain is someone else’s loss – two Habs forwards may not hold much of a future in Montreal because of Lehkonen’s spot on the roster – Michal McCarron, he of six feel, two million inches stature, and Sven Adrighetto. While it’s likely either or both will be playing at some point this season to fill injury vacancies, their future with the Habs remains, at best, uncertain.

The Habs made a few more additions including signing UFA bottom-6 muckraker Andrew Shaw, to help, in the words of Bergevin, to give the team some “character”. While Shaw will do his best to mix things up on the ice, I don’t think his acquisition will give the Habs much, if any, strategic or “grit” advantage, largely because the grinding formula for victory has long passed in the NHL. Today, you win with speed and skill. Oh, well.

So in case you’ve lost, or grown bored reading this overlong analysis, let’s boil it down to who’s in, and who’s out:

Who’s out:

- P.K. Subban

- Dale Weise
- Tom Gilbert
- Ben Scrivens

Who’s in:

- Shea Weber
- Alex Radulov
- Artturi Lehkonen
- Andrew Shaw
- Al Montoya

What does this all mean? Well, without a healthy Carey Price, it means nothing. This, of course, is the biggest of many sizable questions surrounding the Canadiens this season – will Carey Price be healthy? If the World Championship of Hockey was any indication, in which Price helped lead team Canada to a championship, the answer seems to be a comfortable “yes”. But nothing is certain.

There are other big questions. Coaching remains a significant issue. After a disastrous 2015-16, many eyes are on Micheal Therrien, now in the 4^th year of his second stint as Montreal’s head coach. If the Habs stumble early, even with a healthy Price between the pipes, the pressure may be unbearable for Bergevin to endure, and Therrien could be an early season casualty. Which makes the off season acquisition of the adapt Kirk Muller as an assistant all the more prescient. If Therrien is turfed, Muller would likely be promoted to fill his spot.

The thing is, the Habs shouldn’t stumble early. This is still a very good hockey team that was bolstered this offseason by an excellent draft pick, the addition of a prized Russian forward, and the surprise addition of an earlier draft pick to the Canadiens’ starting lineup. This is a team that should have little difficulty in making the post season – perhaps even challenging for 1^st place in their Division. Beyond qualification, there remains only one objective that matters any more – and that is a Stanley Cup championship in Montreal – the first in what would be a 24 year drought.

Which, in case you’re doing the math, is the same number of championships won by this esteemed franchise.

It’s been a long six month wait, but we’ve arrived.

Game Fifty-Nine: Habs vs. 'Canes

Second Period:

- Pretty dismal sloppy start to the second period by both teams. Lots of poor passing generating turnovers. 

- First goal, Ruutu creating the perfect screen on Price on point shot - Habs defense yet again indifferent about opposing forwards in the crease, and this time in burns them.

- Subban was at least near Ruutu, his partner was literally off in the corner, for some reason. Yes, it was Doug Murray.

- Habs had 54% Fenwick after 20 minutes. With shots on goal this period now 8-2 Carolina, that advantage is almost certainly gone. Miserable period for Montreal.

- Habs accumulative Fenwick now barely north of 40%, which means they're probably around 73% in the second. That's how bad the Habs have been.

- Eller quite simply has lost his game. It's just totally, totally lost - and I'm not sure what can possibly be done to salvage it.

- Carolina running away with this. Habs just chasing, chasing. Fruitlessly, chasing.

- Signing off now - but the way Habs are playing, I fully expect the final score to be at least a 2 or 3 goal margin for Carolina. No contest tonight.

First Period:

- So Bouillon gets a start tonight, 7 defense dressed, for reasons that are of compete mystery to yours truly. I guess to keep Frankie from completely rusting up.

- Sums up their seasons. Bourque with empty net wraparound on the backhand, but fails to deposit the puck in because Lars Eller is standing in the way. 

- More reasons why Ryan White's value is vastly undervalued. His work on that (and others) PK.

- Oy. Pacioretty hits the Canes net hard, looks to have sustained a serious injury. Has left the game.

- Ergo the folly starting 7 defense. If a forward goes down, especially a leading one, is hurt, then you've lost an entire line.

- Weise it appears, will take Pacioretty's spot on the DD line. Habs don't have any room to maneuver.

- meek period all around. Canadiens though, are more concerned with Pacioretty's injury status. Without him, this offensively starved hockey team will be doubly affected. 

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

Game Day Yay:

Last game before the Olympic Break. I'll be covering this game. The first half, give or take. Then like the rest of the NHL, I'M OUT.

Habs look to pad their playoff lead tonight. They really ought win this game, but you know ... the Habs ...

Puck drops at 6:10 EST. LAST GAME FOR LIKE ALMOST EVER. So watch it.

Game Fifty-Three: 'Canes vs. Habs

The Problem: 2013-14 Edition

Yeah, we've battered on endlessly this year about how badly this team has been coached by Michel Therrien, and how the only hopes the Habs have left to salvage what is turning out to be a lost season would be to find a bench replacement as quickly as possible. So that story hasn't changed. What hasn't been explored enough, though, are the essential problems with the Habs on the ice.

While a considerable amount of focus has been on the Habs offense, or woeful lack thereof since November, I think that's been a misguided criticism of this team. The fundamental on-ice problem for the Canadiens this year hasn't been the lack of consistent production amongst its forwards, it's been the wretched collective performance by its blue line.

Let's look at goal differential rankings amongst the 203 NHL defensemen. Keep that 203 number in mind. It's important.

103: Josh Gorges: 0.50

Wow. Gorges isn't doing very well. He's barely in the top half of the League. Actually, he's exactly at the top/bottom half. But guess what, folks? He's the Habs top rated defensemen in goal differential. Sitting at 103rd position. Now hold on to your hats:

108: Andrei Markov: .492
143: P.K. Subban: .462
171: Raphael Diaz: .424
200: Alexei Emelin: .344
203: Francis Bouillon: .324
205: Douglas Murray: .191

That's ... terrible. As a collective group, those are just terrible, terrible numbers. Murray at .191, is the 2nd worst in the NHL for his position, and 3rd worst among all players. And yet, somehow, Habs management considers him a valuable component to the team's defense, bear witness to Therrien's post-practice comments about Murray yesterday in which he heaped praise on someone who is obviously incompetent.

The woeful blue line performances, while unquestionably the team's greatest on-ice issue, are merely a reflection of the fundamental issue this team is dealing with. Its decision makers have seemingly no idea of what is going on. They don't seem to know who's playing well (Bournival getting minimal time), or more importantly, no idea on who's performing very, very poorly.

This team, right now, is a lost cause.


Montreal 3, Carolina 0
Okay, let's break down the blue line numbers tonight. Corsi:

Murray 7-19, Beaulieu 7-19, Gorges 9-26, Emelin 20-16, Subban 10-22, Markov 21-16.

Those are not good numbers. Actually, they're borderline terrible. Murray, as usual, put up poor figures, which dragged down his partner, Beaulieu. Emelin and Markov seemed to click last night, although that's largely been the exception over the year, rather than the rule.

Gorges continues, as usual this season, to underwhelm. Maybe Josh should focus less time on buttering up his head coach, and more time focusing on his game performance.

Others (good and bad):

Prust (-11), Eller/Bourque (-9), Gallagher (+0), Bournival (+3).

So the game time observations are solidified by advanced stats - the Habs defense wasn't particularly any better than it's been the past two months (arguably just as bad), while the offense put up some medicore numbers. The kids though, played well - which for most teams would be very good news, but not this Habs team, simply because its coach has an established tendency to wrap the young players on a very short leash.

Bottom line - the Habs won because Carey Price. Nothing's changed.


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

Third Period:

- While the Habs effort is much better tonight, the club's possession line still sucks. Bottom line: The fundamentals haven't improved much.

- Desharnais has Hands of Moen goin' on tonight.

- We'll post the blue line Corsi numbers after this one is done, but I'm already speculating they might not be nearly as good as the 3-0 score might suggest.

- Carey Price won't be beaten tonight. It's just not gonna happen no matter what.

- Final score a bit misleading, a solid but not overwhelming victory tonight. A least a turnacate has been applied to the gushing wound. The Sun can now rise again in Montreal. At least until Friday morning. Numbers in a bit.

Second Period:

- Habs are keeping it simple, driving the net, and the über-soft 'Canes defense is folding like an old tent. Easy pickings for someone like Pacioretty and it's 3-0.

- Don't try to beat Price glove hand. It just isn't gonna happen.

- Dreaded 3 goal Habs lead and now they're sitting on it a bit. Uh-oh ...

- Half way through regulation and Briere has two ... count 'em, two minutes of ice. 

- Price has been beaten clean from long distance twice tonight, saved by posts. Never a good sign.

- 'Canes continue to press, Habs continue to play in a shell. Carolina scoring next almost seems inevitable.

- George Parros might play more tonight than Daniel Briere. It's come to that.

- Speaking of time played, Bournival yet again tonight demonstrating why he's more than entitled to more play than the measly 6 minutes he's been receiving since the call up.

- Another decent period, not quite as dominating as the first frame, but Habs have their legs moving tonight. The effort is there, and finally this team is looking competitive again. 

First Period:

- So two teams going in totally different directions, logic says Habs will win tonight, right? Sheyah, right.

- Prust opens the scoring. The goal made possible because the Habs were able to muster a clean transition out of their zone. Funny that, huh? 1-0.

- Bourque seems ... inspired tonight? Bergevin ought to consider trading him the day before every Habs game.

- P.K. simplify please. Just shoot it, don't overthink. It's killing the powerplay.

- Has anyone yet noticed that Price is almost certainly the NHL's best big save goaltender this season? Seems to make these in routine fashion.

- Ya know, Emelin's got a half-decent shot, I'm surprised he hasn't been utilized more frequently on the PP (instead of past dregs like Bouillon/Gorges).

- Habs have come out to play tonight, seemingly. Gallagher makes it 2-0.

- Might have been Pacioretty, but for now it's Gallagher. That was quite possibly the ultimate Brenden Gallagher goal. Just keep digging till the damn puck crosses the line.

- Easily the Habs' best period of hockey in a month. Possibly longer. We'll take it.

GAMEDAY MORNING NEWS 'N' NOTESUPDATE: Louis Leblanc was sent back down to Hamilton this afternoon, still under the weather, so probably unable to play tonight anyways.

- Just because we hate ourselves, the d-lines at Brassard right now:

1: Gorges/Subban,
2: Markov/Emelin

3: Murray/Beaulieu

And the O lines:

1: Pacioretty/Desharnais/Gallagher
2: Eller/Plekanec/Gionta
3: Leblanc/Brière/Bourque
4: Moen/Bournival/Parros

Leblanc is back, at least. Also skating this morning (not practicing though) was Ryan White and Drew (remember him?) Drewiske.

PARENTEAU FOR BOURQUE

Finally, some clarification? @LucGelinasRDS is reporting this morning of what might actually have gone down yesterday between Avs GM Greg Sherman and Marc Beregevin. According to Gelinas (and not reported by Louis Jean), the Avs were offering Parenteau in return for Bourque *and* Habs prospect Sven Andrighetto. So a day later, that outlandishly one-sided trade doesn't appear quite so outlandish.

Andrighetto is by no means a blue-chip prospect. Odds are pretty good fans in Montreal will never see him play. Still, credit to Bergevin for refusing to part with any of the kids, even if it means shedding the club of dead roster weight.


THE TRADE??

UPDATE: The report source is TVA's Louis Jean. He's not amongst the upper echelon of Habs reporters, but he's also not got a reputation for inaccuracies.

Still, I've poked around the net and there's no way this could be true. Not a straight up acquisition of Parenteau, the Quebecer who's playing as a top 6 forward in Denver, for the chronically underachieving, overpaid Bourque. There simply must be more involved. Perhaps the Avs were demanding a higher draft pick, or a chunk of Bourque's contract? There's just no way this trade report is accurate.

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

TVA Sports reports tonight that the Avs offered PA Parenteau straight up for Rene Bourque.

They are also reporting the Habs G.M. Marc Bergevin turned down the trade offer, wanting Parenteau and another player in return for Bourque.

I find this remarkably difficult to believe, and am searching for some kind of official confirmation, if that ever comes.

But if this original report is true, and again, I find it nearly impossible to believe that Bergevin could say no to this offer, then I can say with great confidence that all hell will break loose in Habsland.

Stay tuned.



"We can't just open things up, go run and gun and think that's how we're gonna win games."

"It's not his fault. It's our fault."

- Josh Gorges, January 27, 2014.

Um, okay Josh. So since we're settled on crazy talk, yeah I'll have nuts on that, please.

Josh Gorges. Making a vaulted attempt to become my new least-favorite Montreal Canadien.


PA Parenteau

For Raphael Diaz, reported speculatively.

Here are my thoughts about this:

Don't do it Marc. Just. Don't. Even. Go. There.



Happy MONDAY blah blah ... gah ... 

So I didn't bother blogging Saturday. Because I was off doing anything else which means, doing something better. I read the scoreline. That's all I needed to know - it's all that I was expecting.

So Monday. I hate Mondays - not saying anything the rest of us don't mutter each week of our lives. But this Monday morning ...  well ... just read this. Blah.

The immediate reactions to Boucher's signing in Switzerland has been "ooooh does he have an opt-out clause in case he's offered the Habs job??!?!".

But that's beside the point. It really doesn't matter if Boucher does or doesn't. His signing tells us pretty loud and clear that Habs G.M. Marc Bergevin hasn't even talked to Boucher yet, which tells us that Habs G.M. Marc Bergevin hasn't even begun the process required when you're about to fire your existing head coach.

Which tells us Habs G.M. Marc Bergevin has already made up his mind that Michel Therrien isn't going anywhere. At least, anytime soon.

Happy Monday.


News 'n' Notes:

- Louis Leblanc is out with the flu. Tough luck. Now we'll have to search high and low to find someone to replace the 4 minutes of icetime that Leblanc was receiving.

- Habs O-lines this morning. Because, insanity:

1. Pacioretty/Desharnais/Gallagher
2. Eller (relegated to wing now, ugh)/Plekanec/Gionta
3. Bourque/Briere (really?)/Prust
4. Moen/Bournival/Parros (abysmal - how long before Ryan White is healthy?).

- Habs practice D-Lines this morning. Whatever. It doesn't matter.

1: Gorges/Subban,
2: Markov/Emelin,
3. Murray/Beaulieu
4. Bouillon/Diaz

The organization seems steadfast in driving Diaz, one of the very few guys this season who's been playing well defensively, right out of town. Which is where Diaz will be heading in 4 months. I'd do the same thing.

- #FireTherrien