Game Four: Habs vs. Pens

THIRD PERIOD:

- Interesting to note that the Habs player with the least amount of ice time through 2 periods? David Desharnais. The -2 probably didn't help.

- Don't think Weise is snakebit this season, it's just that he overacheived last year, and his actual goal producing ability has come back to earth.

- Good, fast, aggressive start for Habs in the 3rd, legs are moving well, Pens are very scrambly in their zone. 

- Could see that goal coming a mile away, the Habs blistering of the Pens eventually results in a centre ice turnover, Desharnais to Fleischmann for his first ever as a Montreal Canadien. 3-2 Habs.

- Maybe reflective of larger issues, Pens defense looking really sluggish in the period - Habs speed is just killing them. Right now Pittsburgh in reactive mode, Canadiens firing at Fleury at pretty much their will. 

- Fully expecting Pacioretty to score the hat trick tonight. 

- Brad Watson with an absolutely atrocious tripping call on Smith-Pelly. He's another Tim Peel in the making. Actually, he's pretty much arrived.

- How can you tell the Pens have already opened the gates? They surrender a 3-on-1 with the man advantage. Their powerplay might actually be worse than Montreal's, which says an awful lot.

- 8 minutes left in the 3rd, Habs are kinda dominating the frame:

- Pens finally find some offensive mo', but Carey Price doing an excellent door impersonation. Habs, for a very rare occasion in this game, looking very shaky in their own zone - borderline panicking.

- Pens really struggling to exit their zone tonight - many, many passing mistakes being made by their defence. The Pittsburgh might need to look at this situation sooner rather than later, because I can't fathom this team competing if tonight is any indication of how good (or bad) their blue line is.

- Four minutes left, Habs appear to be turtling, which always means trouble.

- Carey freakin' Price, absolutely robs Crosby off a cross ice one timer. Habs passivity giving Pens the opportunity here. 

- Pens will play the rest of the remaining 70 seconds (or less) with the Crosby line, Therrien is going with the Plekanec line. Game at hand.

- Man, Pens have really struggled with their transition tonight, and zone entries. Lots of unforced errors.

- Officials very generous in giving the Habs an icing off a puck that barely crossed the line with Pens defensemen dogging it back to his zone. 12 seconds left, faceoff deep next to Price.

- Crucial faceoff won by Plekanec, Habs clear and win the game. This organization has never gone a season starting 4-0, without eventually winning a championship.

SECOND PERIOD:

- Ah, here's Plotkinov, taking full advantage of a break, with Beaulieu's point shot hitting Weise in from, and Plotkinov skates the length, beating Price stick side (weak-ish goal by Price's standards, I suppose). Tie game.

- Habs powerplay. Get ready to hold onto nothing.

- Wow. They convert. By doing what they really shouldn't be doing - killing the clock with perimeter passing. This time, however, Pacioretty snipes one past Fleury for his 2nd of the game.

- Pens just dominating neutral zone play in the period, Habs way too passive there, and it's making this period totally dominative for the Pens with puck possession.

- Crosby line being very well contained - combination of Habs 4th line, and the Plekanec line really doing an excellent job shutting down the passing lanes. Kessel one quality shot (and excellent Price save), but that's been about it. 

- That said, Habs defense, especially Beaulieu-Gilbert, extremely soft covering their slot. Pens forwards have had a couple of opportunities where their forwards have been provided the red carpet treatment right to Price. That's going to kill the Habs tonight if it isn't addressed pronto.

- Bounces have so far been strongly with the Pens, Letang with a fluttering shot that somehow evades Price. Knuckler I guess, but it's still disheartening.

- Habs with an excellent first period, and a slightly-better-than-stinker second, where they basically allowed the Pens to take their game to them at will. Puck possession was horrid, zone transitions were uneven. Really, there wasn't a whole lot to cheer about that period, except for Pacioretty's powerplay goal. One more period like that, and the Habs will be due their first loss of the season.

FIRST PERIOD:

- Hey, this is kind of cool, in a not very cool way. Combined, both teams are going into tonight's game with a powerplay running 1/21, or about 4%.  Wonderful!!

- Habs get Brad Watson tonight. Here's hoping Mr. Watson keeps his mouth shut tonight. 

- Habs defence really struggling with Pens zone entries, allowing too much free wheeling passes and it's giving their most dangerous forwards quality chances on Price.

- Nice feed by Gallagher to Paciotetty with a one timer from the line. Fleury was playing way too deep in his crease. 1-0.

- Brad Watson penalizing Desharnais for accidentally bumping into another guy. 

- Desharnais with a nice backcheck to break up a 3-on-2, but the Habs forwards will need to be more aggressive both directions or the Pens will score more than a few tonight.

- Looking more and more this game will be decided by whomever has the better goaltending. You know who that favours.

- Gilbert with sloppy passing out of his zone. Not for the first time this season.

- Very good period for the Habs. Pens came out string, but Canadiens made necessary adjustments to mostly contain Pittsburgh's transition. Especially strong period by the Habs 4th line, which did a nice job mostly containing the Crosby line. Pens have their hands full tonight.

GAMEDAY PREVIEW: WHO SAID FAT GUYS CAN'T PLAY TOO?

Is there anyone more awesome in the NHL than Phil Kessel? I mean ... LOOK at him. Look at THAT. If you didn't follow the game of hockey, or didn't know who he was, you'd swear he was that guy you contracted out a few years ago to reshingle your roof.

But no. Phil Kessel is an actual, genuine National Hockey League athlete. Actually a pretty good one, at that. But not good enough, it seemed, for the fans, and in particular the awful media people ([cough] Steve [cough] Simmons) who troll it.

So Kessel, one of the few players in the game who's a pretty sure bet to score 40+ goals on a good team (and 30+ on a bad), was shoved out of Toronto to Pittsburgh, for a few measly returns: "Addition by subtraction!" the media trolls cheered in victory.

Okay, Leafs. Whatever you want. Enjoy last place for the next couple of seasons while you struggle to score 200 lousy goals in an entire season.

The Pens won't be having any problems lighting up the score clock - now with Kessel now settled in nicely next to Sidney Crosby and Crhis Kunitz. Not only did they add Kessel to the roster this summer, they also bolstered their goal-scoring prowess by picking up Sergei Plotnikov.

However, even with all those moves designed although their aspirations for their first championship in eight years might be hampered by what certainly looks like a suspect defense.

The Pens' blue line is anchored by Kris Letang and Ian Cole, which is all fine. Beyond that, however, Pittsburgh's defense is largely comprised of pluggers, including the likes of the oft' injured Olli Maatta, and the wildly overpaid third-stringer Rob Scuderi. The Penguins defensive strategy doesn't appear much different than the one embraced by Michel Therrien and his Canadiens: Let Carey Price do most of the work. Except Andrei Marc Fluery, and let's be totally honest here - is no Carey Price.

So this Pens team is certainly intriguing, but I fear that Pens G.M. Jim Rutherford spent too much time focused on strengthening his offense, at the expense of adding some necessary blue line depth. The team he's constructed is a virtual shoo-in for a playoff spot, but I'm not so sure that in a League where defense wins championships, that the Penguins will acheive their ultimate goal of winning another Stanley Cup next spring.

So tonight, the undefeated Habs will get their first legitimate test of the young season, as they will take on the Pens for Pittsburgh's 2015-16 home opener. The Habs will be going with the same lines tonight as they had the first three games, with Carey Price starting in goal.

Puck drops around 7:20 EST, and we'll be live blogging and live streaming the game.

Game Forty-Three: Habs vs. Pens

First Period:

Pretty good start for Habs, aggressive into the Pens zone, getting quality shots on net. Fleury giving up a couple of nice rebounds.

- Cooke gets suckered by Plekanec, Habs to the powerplay.

- Wonderful puck control on the man advantage, cut short as Gallagher gets nabbed for an undisciplined high stick.

- Sutter with a softie over Budaj's glove. And here we go again ...

- Habs getting outworked, and high shot eludes Budaj, and it's 2-0.

- Third straight game with a goaltending switch? Could happen.

- For every battle won by the Habs for the loose puck, two are lost. It's a mismatch right now. Should and could be 3 or 4 nothing soon.

- Habs finally showing some life here led by the Plekanec line. But Fleury looks to be on his game tonight. Sigh.

- Gallagher sacrificed his foot to block a shot. Block was made, but at what price? He's gone straight to the room. Oy.

- Pens shooting high on Budaj. Can't blame them.

- Iginla uncovered on the powerplay. 3-0. Price to start the 2nd? Wouldn't be surprised.

Second Period:

- Merry go round is on. Price starts the second. Third straight game Habs starter is pulled. Franchise first? Betcha it is.

- Weber first line pairing with Subban on the powerplay. Is Therrien scaling back Markov's time?

- Habs defense is quite simply a disaster right now. There's nothing else that can be said. 4-0.

- Wheels have completely fallen off this team. They are simply unable to execute the most basic fundamentals, from defence out. As I said on Twitter before the game, if the Habs perform tonight the way they did against the Flyers, game could be 8-0 or 9-0. We're on the way.

- It's a team game, but since Emelin went down, this team has simply stopped hitting their opponent. They look and are playing frail.

- At this point, Price must view this game as an opportunity to regain some confidence. Salvage something from this disaster.

- There's a good step. Prust with a nice feed to the goal-staved Gionta to get Habs on the board. Baby steps, but team must fight through this infectious slump. Building blocks, make plays, score here and there, and play soundly in your own zone. Winning tonight might be out of the question, but there's opportunity to turn a negative into a positive.

- Gallagher takes another poor penalty, and Pens quickly strike against a Habs PK that looks just horrible. Add it to the list of how things have gone so far south so quickly.

- Galchenyuk. Baby steps. Baby steps.

- How long will it take for the Pens to reestablish their 4 goal lead?

- Brenden Gallagher is out of control. Therrien has got to bench him for the night.

- I dunno. Was that a good period? Pens with powerplay goals, Habs did respond a little, but the defence is just awful. Gorges looks utterly lost out there, Markov looks exhausted, Weber is doing his best but his very limited playing time this season, you can only expect so much. Subban can't do it all himself. It's just a huge mess and there's no ready solution at hand. Somehow the Habs must dig deep and fight their way though this wretched fog of undisciplined, uninspired, unfocused play, or this once promising season will be lost.

Third Period:

- 4 minute PK actually looked competent. Well, that's a good sign, no?

- Dumont scores his very first NHL goal, and Habs are within 2?? It can't be.

- Habs should we jest, playing with a spark here. The Dumont goal has boosted ... Oh ... never mind. Murray a soft shot redeflects twice past Price. Nothing going right, nothing staying out for the Canadiens. Just wow.

- What can ya do? Pick up the pieces and take it out on the Tampa Bay Lightening.

Gameday Game Preview:

So here we are. The Habs are currently going through their first bought of adversity this season, and it really couldn't come at a much worse time. Well, I suppose in the middle of a playoff series would be terrible. Still, the Habs head into Pittsburgh tonight to take on the Eastern Conference leaders, hobbled by injuries to key defensemen, and poor play, in particular by the team's blue line.
Me
After a terrible Saturday start and a shaky "rebound" game against the Flyers, Michel Therrien is going with Peter Budaj. The Habs second-stringer will have his work cut out for him, although this time around, he won't have to deal with the likes of Sidney Crosby, who's still on the mend from a broken jaw. Also ailing is James Neal who's still in the process of recovering from concussion. So the Pens will be sans two very dangerous forwards tonight - that's the good news.

The bad news is, of course, is not knowing what's going to happen with the Candadiens' defense which, since the season-ending injury to Alexei Emelin, is but a shell of its former self. In response to this, Therrien has put Yannick Weber into the lineup as the 7th defensemen, perhaps to take some of the pressure of the shoulders of the still learning Nathan Beaulieu.

Other lineup changes: After getting a night off, Brandon Prust will return to action, while Michael Ryder, who got a therapy day yesterday, is again struggling with an undefined upper body injury, and will sit tonight.

Marc-Andre Fleury, who stoned the Habs in his last start, gets the obvious call tonight for the Pens.

Puck drops at 7:10 EST.

Lineup Changes

Yannick Weber is going to get his chance tonight against the Pens. I suppose if you're going to throw the kid back into the pool, it might as well be the deep end.

Final lineups haven't been provided, but I'd reckon with White out, Therrien will be starting 7 defensemen tonight (the less likely alternative would be sitting the somewhat struggling Beaulieu).

Gameday preview shortly.

About Last Night

So can we panic now? Two thumpings on a magnificent scale in the span of 48 hours, and the City of Montreal is sent reeling into full-blown fear that the season which for so long held a promise of a possible championship, might be hurtling off a cliff towards a total bust.

I'm not sure where we can even start with how awful last night's game was, except to say this for certain - it was far worse than Saturday's loss to Toronto, where at least the loss was explained by poor netminding and lucky Toronto puck bounces.

But last night? Oy. For the first time in his career, Carey Price was pulled in the middle of a start for the second consecutive game. Fair enough - but Price's start wasn't nearly as shaky as Saturday, and the decision to remove him from the game was, I thought, Therrien getting one of his key players out of the firing line. It was a mercy decision, not a statement of dissatisfaction, at least about how Carey played.

The problem started and ended with the defense, which easily had its worst performance of the year. There's no doubt in my mind that this team is clearly the missing the presence of Alexei Emelin, whose physicality (once League hits leader) and positional awareness was a benefit that was overlooked and unappreciated. Emelin, we can now safely say, set a tone on the ice. Last night, the Habs could only muster a measly two hits through 40 minutes. That's horrible. After the game, Michel Therrien indicated that Emelin's absence has hit this team very hard. It's difficult to disagree with that assessment.

What to do? As I mentioned last night during the game, I think Therrien should go right back with Budaj to start tomorrow night against the Pens. It'll give Carey Price a little more time to clear his head, and to have him start on Thursday night against the woeful Lightening is as good an opportunity as ever to regain some badly needed confidence, with a victory, however it is against an inferior opponent. We thought it was the Flyers which would be the cure, but it'll have to be Tampa.

More later.

UPDATE: Just after my post-mortem was posted, Therrien announced that Budaj would be getting the start against the Pens. So, there you go.

RyanWhite's Last Moments as a Hab

He'll probably get five games for that, but it really doesn't matter, because White's days in Montreal are almost now certainly done.

Last night. Oh boy. Last night. More later about that.