Game Sixty-Five: Habs vs. Kings

OVERTIME:

- Well, whatever happens, even just getting a point was an accomplishment. Or a miracle. Or a crime, depending on your perspective.

- Eller with a desperate OT shift, I suspect trying to make amens. We're all pulling for him.

- Tokarski with a disasterous shootout, and that was that. Carey Price Saturday night.

THIRD PERIOD:

- Habs improved their possession to 32% in the second period. Yeah. "Improved". I suppose if you dig the hole deep enough, you eventually see sunlight.

- Habs actually off to a spirited start in the period, first three minutes anyway. Zone entries improved. Puck maintenance is better. Blue line defense much cleaner. Uh ... kay?

- Well. I'm fit to be tied. Jeff Carter was some kind of space cadet, allowing Desharnais to make a sweet pass behind Carter to a totally unmarked Pacioretty for an easy tap in. The Canadiens lead the game 3-2. Stupefying. 

- Pacioretty called for playing with a broken stick, even though he didn't. Chris Lee! 

- 9 minutes left, Habs would be very unwise to sit on this, although given how their lead is already grand larceny, it would seem only fitting they coast to victory. I still, however, think the Kings have one more goal in them before the clock runs out.

- Petry has looked great tonight. Looks just as much a first liner on this Habs team as he did for the Oilers. Great command of th puck, picks the right time and place to use his body. We gotta re-up this guy.

- 2 minutes left. Crunch time. Kings having trouble gaining the zone. Not a good point of the game to be struggling in that area. Just slap it at Tokarski. It might go in.

- Oh, Lars. Oh, Lars. With 95 seconds left. Oh, Lars.

- And Gaberick ties it up. Oh, Lars...Tokarski needs to do better there, but still. Oh, Lars.

SECOND PERIOD:

- First period possession was 17%. Two more than my original projection. Still. LOL?

- Habs zone entries, the few times they actually have control of the puck, are absolutely horrible. Even more so than usual. This looks like a team that hasn't practiced in a month, or is holding practices that are clearly poorly organized. This is baaaaaaad.

- It wouldn't be a complete Habs game without one badly surrendered clear-cut breakaway for the other guys. Literally 8 seconds later, they do it again, but this time, De LamRose hustles back to break it up, which is an even greater indictment of the defense.

- Tom Gilbert, of all players, with a magnificent solo effort to score a pretty goal to put the Habs on the board. Their 7th shot, with 4 minutes left in the second period. You know you're in trouble when it's Gilbert who has to set the example.

- Gallagher, off a juicy Quick rebound. Astoundingly, incredibly, the Habs tie the game. I'm not sure for how long they'll stay on even terms, but this game is already completely ridiculous.

- If I'm a Kings fan, I'm ticked. Very, very ticked. But then they've done this all season in coughing up two goal leads, haven't they? It's certainly been one big reason why the Kings find themselves fighting for a post-season spot. In any case, with the Kings outshooting the Habs 21-9 through 40 minutes, there's no good reason why the Habs should even have the scant whiff of a victory tonight. Maybe the 3rd period will tilt the scales back to normality, and L.A. will put in two or three more. Otherwise, it's been a crazy night.

FIRST PERIOD:

- Annnnnnnnnd ... even with all of these trade deadline pickups, Dale Weise will start the game playing on the number one line. Okay. Breath. Everything will be okay.

- No. No it won't be okay. Chris Lee is a referee tonight.

- Annnnnnnnnd ... it takes Lee just over two minutes to make his first terrible penalty call.

- Annnnnnnnnd of course, the Kings score on that powerplay. Tokarski had no chance, for what it's worth. Redeflected in.

- Weise forgets his check (Carter) who's all alone in front of Tokarski for a tap-in goal. 2-0. Not even nine minutes gone. This might be a slaughter. 

- Another awful Chris Lee penalty call, this time for interference on Prust. Replay shows the call was indeed, absurd.

- Well, then. We thought Monday was a low point? We ain't seen nothing yet. Habs outshot 13-2 in the first period. Possession will be somewhere around 15%. Michel Therrien hockey. TO THE EXTREME!!!

GAMEDAY GOO:

Should we even bother staying up late one more time? You know how this is going to end, don't you?

We're suckers for punishment. So the live blogging will go forward.

Some notes:

- Dustin Tokarski will start. He hasn't looked particularly sharp the past couple of months. Maybe this is the night he turns it all around?

- Mike Weaver will get a rare start tonight. Sergei Gonchar will sit.

Are you really sure you wanna stay up for this? Sleep is good for you. Watching the Habs get stomped on a west coast trip is not.

Puck drops at 10:40 EST. That's pretty late.

Game Seventy-Four: Sabres vs. Habs

THIRD PERIOD:

- Just a dismal effort to start the 3rd. The Sabres are just doing their thing, Habs going through the motions.

- Bad clearance, delay of game, Habs get their 5th powerplay chance. Only four lousy shots to show for it.

- Habs far too tentative on the man advantage. It's now in their heads.

- Hackett seeing everything. Habs not getting in front, creating anything resembling a screen.

- Myers crashes into Price and then goalpost. In considerable pain. Not good.

- Looks like he took it right in the ribs. Hopefully he's okay.

- Hackett 30 saves, but maybe 2 shots have been difficult. He's seen them all. Every single one.

- Doug Murray. Hook. It had to be him, of course.

- Last 20 shots of this game, 17 have been by the Habs. Still, Hackett has been able to cruise.

- Conacher allllll alone in front of Price, but shot it just wide. Bullet barely dodged.

- And back the other end, Pacioretty taps it past Hackett, and the goosegg is broken. Finally. That's Max' 100th career goal, by the way.

- Now Habs will go into huddle mode. Clinging to this lead. Against the Sabres.

- Habs have outshot Buffalo 24-7 since start of the 2nd period.

- What the heck ... Hodgson sprung on a shorthanded break, and Price has to bail out his defenseman.

- Briere, salts this one away. Finally. Beauty shot, top shelf.

- Well, mission accomplished. Habs take out the Sabres, now sitting with 89 points, 8 games left to play. Two more wins should get them across the line, three more wins will for certain. Not an overly impressive performance tonight against the woefully overmatched Sabers, which means the Canadiens will have to put forth a significantly better effort Thursday night in Detroit.

SECOND PERIOD:

- Four words you've heard a thousand times before: "Rene Bourque just misses". Wait ... make it a thousand and one.

- Tinordi aggressive push in from the line, nearly scores. Wish Habs would do this more often, especially against weaker opponents.

- Quality of Habs scoring chances (at least) improving in the 2nd, but they still haven't scored. Hackett pretty solid, this Sabres team playing with nothing to lose.

- Vanek's speed and skill draws a hook. Nice.

- Two more tacked on for unsportsman. Habs get 4 minute advantage. Now ... now they must take advantage.

- Therrien elects to put out Markov/Emelin first shift on the man advantage. Because ... ?

- Habs shooting a ton into Sabers legs. Right into the shooting lanes. Powerplay going nowhere.

- Bourque ain't helping much either. Therrien putting out some odd line combos, Weaver on the line? Who knows. Habs come out totally empty.

- The playoffs are three weeks away. Montreal needs to get this specialty unit back on track, and quickly. No way this team has a hope if they're hovering around/below 10% efficiency.

- Price's side of the ice still pretty clean. Habs have owned the period, possession-wise, but haven't really peppered Hackett with a particularly dangerous shot.

- Vanek is a ridiculously potent sniper. Playmaker? Not so much.

- Mostly Habs 2nd period, but sans the late Desharnais shift, Montreal didn't test Hackett with grade-A shots. Habs can pretty much waltz across the playoff finish line with a win tonight, we'll have to see how badly they want that luxury in the 3rd.

FIRST PERIOD:

- Well, that ain't good. Sabers with most of the play the first 10 minutes, few bright Habs spots so far ... Galchenyuk looking extra fast so far. Otherwise, not much else.

- Carey Price just makes it look so easy, these tough saves are a result of he playing angles so efficiently.

- Vanek is not the type to blast shots for goals. He's a sniper. Ergo, he's useless going wide along the wing.

- Solid shift by the make-do 4th line, Bournival nearly tucking a rebound under Hackett. All season long, this team's fortunes have long been determined by the effectiveness of its 4th line.

- TSN Lucic "just gave him [Emelin] a little extra". So spearing is okay, as long as it's a little extra? Got it.

- Amazing how the #Habs can look so utterly intense one night, 24 hours later, largely indifferent.

- One might say both teams are playing a close checking first period. No. The Sabres are overmatched by inexperience can't finish, the Habs, at least a good portion of the roster, are cruising. This ought to be two very easy points in the bag. Canadiens are making this far more difficult than necessary.

- Ho hum first. Price solid, few brights spots for the Habs: Galchenyuk, Weaver, Plekanec. Everyone else just going through the motions against an opposition that would probably have trouble beating an upper-tier AHL club.

GAMEDAY ROSTER UPDATE:

- Welllll ... lookie here. We were all concerned that the injuries to Travis Moen and Dale Weise would mean the return of George Parros, but ... NO!  Habs will insert Ryan White and Lars Eller for 4th line duties tonight, while Jared Tinordi will take Frankie Bouillon's spot. So ... progress?




VERY HAPPY TUESDAY!

Alexei Emelin, you keep doing that, and we nay-sayers will just forget about that contract extension. Deal?


GAMEDAY NOTES:

- Josh Gorges skated this morning - not much of a revelation, since it's his hand that's mending. Still .. progress.

- No word yet on the prognosis for Travis Moen and Dale Weise. Expecting something later this morning or early afternoon. UPDATE: First word out on Weise, and it's a tendon injury. MRI is being performed today to determine if it's torn. Needless to say, he won't be playing tonight (meaning George Parros will probably have to dig his skates out his basement).

- "I never speared the guy". Uh-huh. If you need any reminder of who's the most classless organization employing the most classless players in the National Hockey League, we give you this:

Game Sixty-Five: Habs vs. Coyotes

Third Period:

- Mike Smith flopping, altnough this time to make a desperation save on Gallagher rather than the usual attempt to draw a penalty.

- Habs might be the only dump and chase PP unit in the League, and it almost always goes nowhere fast.

- Terrible turnover by Tinordi, whiff by Budaj, and it's goodnight from Arizona. 4-2.

- Timordi has not looked good on this swing. Now we wonder if this means Bouillon will get into the rotation, or if Beaulieu will return.

- 5-2. Soft shot from the line, I guess Budaj was screened. Doesn't matter much though.

- Carey Price ... update?? For the love of gawd when will you be back??

- Oh well. Shoulda had this one, but sloppy play and poor netminding undid the Habs tonight. Well they got 2 in Anaheim, they can do the same in San Jose, right? Uh ... right?

Second Period:

- ahh I see we're down 3-1. I also see that among the Habs 6 defenseman, P.K. Subban got the least amount of ice time. Because, bench management.

- Emelin no goal correctly assessed. Desharnais interfered with Smith. Still, it adds to an amazingly high total of goals Habs have scored that have been waived off this season.

- Habs seem to be doing well, tempo-wise. I don't see this game nearly out of reach. Yet.

- Habs are moving their legs well, and Phoenix is getting nabbed for hooks and holds. Waiting for this PP to actually start scoring, though ...

- One of the Habs' biggest PP struggles of late has been making clean and accurate feeds to the point. Way too many zone possessions have been lost since the start of the break.

- Is there any other player in the NHL who falls down for no apparent reason, than Rene Bourque?

- Another hook, another Habs PP. They gotta score sooner or later.

- Okay, delay of game, and it's a two man advantage. They totally gotta score now. Vanek??

- Finally. Subban. 3-2. Wait, it's Galchenyuk. Anyway. 3-2!!!!

- Something says the fancy stats through 2 periods will be comfortably in favour or the Habs. They're been the much better team this period (can't attest for the 1st period though).

- Habs outshooting 11-1 in the period. Yeah, you read that right. Although trailing by a goal, one more period like the 2nd, and the Habs should be in good shape.

First Period:

- We'll be posting game blog notes at the start of the 2nd period, as I'm currently occupied watching my son's peewee playoff game. Priorities!!!

GAMEDAY NEWS 'N' NOTES: Are we pinching ourselves this morning afterimage  what happened yesterday? Is Thomas Vanek really a Montreal Canadien? (yup). Did the Habs, in front of their 3rd string goaltender, really beat the best team in the NHL last night? (yup!). Maybe it's because we're edging close to a warmer change in the season, but I felt a little spring in my step this morning. I presume I wasn't alone in that sentiment amongst Habs fans. It's amazing what a difference 24 hours makes.

Okay, some notes (we'll add as the day progresses):

 - Not ALL good news, Josh Gorges tested positive for a fractured hand last night. No word on how serious the fracture is, or whether he'll be out of the lineup. - Nothing on the Carey Price front. Still hurt, still no word on any possible return. Peter Budaj will start tonight.

- Along with Vanek, expect Mike Weaver to make his Habs debut tonight. Who'll sit is anyone's guess, although it'll probably be Tinordi.

- P.M. UPDATE: Gorges has flown back to Montreal to have his hand further examined. Which means he's out for the rest of this trip (at least).

- Here's a screen grab of Gorges after he was injured. I'm not doctor, but judging by the blood and swelling on that hand, it's not a fracture of the minor variety. Ouch: