Game 82: Habs vs. Wings

Montreal 3, Detroit 2 (OT):

FIRST PERIOD:

- Well this is really baffling. With literally half the regular lineup not playing tonight, you'd have figured Galchenyuk would be a cinch to be playing up the middle tonight. But, nope:

Byron/Danault/Gallagher

King/Shaw/Lehkonen

Galchenyuk/Ott/Martinsen

Flynn/Mitchell/McCarron

Incredible.

- Hockey is going to be dreadful in this game tonight. I should get hazard pay for watching this.

- Mrazek robs Galchenyuk, who crashes the Wings netminder hard. Early on, Galchenyuk playing with a little meanness. Wonder what might be inspiring that ...

- Not sure how it's even possible, but Habs have been more dangerous tonight than at any point last night against Tampa. Maybe the Habs issues Friday were too many players going through the motions. Doesn't appear to be the case early on.

- Oof shift by Ott and Martinsen, the Wings storm the Habs zone, and after incompetent puck movement, finally Nielsen tucks the puck past Lindgren. 1-0. We're just getting started.

- Just have to keep reminding myself, this is just one of those stupid games we have to muddle our way through watching, and that Ott and Martinsen and Flynn aren't going to be playing next week. At least, they better not be playing (or we're hooped).

- This is horrible hockey. Not even AHL-level quality. Not even midland AHL level quality. To Detroit's credit, they're playing a lot of their kids tonight, but the net result is a game with little flow or intensity.

- The game is beyond any sort of criticism or analysis. It's mainly consisting of broken plays, bad passes, players falling, pucks dumped - it's a B-level beer league scrimmage.

- 20 minutes in the books. I guess the Habs aren't going to lose 12-0 tonight? With a lineup consisting of too many mediocre or bad hockey players, we're getting exactly what we expected. Wings only slightly less bad than the Canadiens. No way else to describe it.

SECOND PERIOD:

- Habs first period CF just over 42% (as anticipated, bad). Galchenyuk/Ott/Martinsen line a putrid 16% combined. Heat map stuff, scoring chances were 11-4 Detroit (again, bad):

- Habs powerplay finds the back of the net, and it's Nathan Beaulieu, which is nice to see. There are a handful of players on this Canadiens roster who will need to elevate their game for the playoffs, and Beaulieu might be at the very top of the list - at least, if Montreal wants to go very far in the post-season.

Beaulieu steps into one and blasts it past Mazek #Habs pic.twitter.com/klAJJeIUgi

— Shayne Pasquino (@shaynepasquino) April 9, 2017

- Lernout a little more self-contained tonight - maybe he's playing with less nervousness. Mistakes have been notably reduced.

- Mike McCarron needs to score one tonight - at least for the family in the stands. He's put up with a lot being shuffled in and out of the lineup to make way for nobodies like Martinsen, Ott and King. I the hockey gods be watching, let this happen.

- Habs send out fresh 4th line, who promptly get caught badly up-ice, Larkin a one timer that eats Lindgren up 5 hole to make it 2-1.

- Lehkonen ties it up off a Nesterov shot. That's his 18th goal of the season, which is extremely impressive for a rookie winger who's been shuffled around the Habs lineup most of the season.

Lehkonen wins the battle out front, gets rewarded with the goal #Habs pic.twitter.com/9XErpSwgnM

— Shayne Pasquino (@shaynepasquino) April 9, 2017

- Better second period for the Habs than the first, which is to say the Wings are pretty awful. Gonna be long 3-4 years ahead for Detroit hockey fans. For the Habs, it's one more period to endure.

THIRD PERIOD:

- Habs bounce back 2nd period, CF at even strength was 63%, high danger scoring chances 5-0 for the Canadiens:

- Lehkonen putting up some excellent possession stats tonight, and this is with two line mates he's had very little time playing with this season. I'm not sure if Habs fans, generally speaking, have grasped just how good he's been this rookie season.

- Lindgren doing lots of flopping, Beaulieu swoops in to sweep the puck away as it's entering the net. An exciting play! That just happened!!

- I mean, good grief, why even give him the start instead of a night off? This is ... abysmal:

- Charlie Lindgren still has lots to learn about playing in the NHL - which includes it's generally a bad idea to come out 20 feet to stop a shot attempt from the point:

Ayoye pic.twitter.com/1b6KyVPYZw

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) April 9, 2017

- Last 2 minutes were actually enjoyable. Good end to end action. The rest of the game? Thank god it's over.

OVERTIME:

- Gonna be interesting, I suppose - with the Habs barely any capable forwards playing tonight. 

- Let's just let the Wings win this, for the fans. 

- Brutal give away by Green to Nesterov, who feeds Galchenyuk for the game winner. How ironic. Habs win the final game of the season, and Charlie Lindgren has never lost a game in the NHL.

Nesterov slides it to Galchenyuk who wires the OT winner home #Habs pic.twitter.com/a8tmzPjoB6

— Shayne Pasquino (@shaynepasquino) April 9, 2017

GAME PREVIEW: FINALLY. IT'S OVER. 

Yay. Game 82. No more regular season pregames to write. No more game blogging. Just syrupy anticipation for the first game of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

That is, unless, you're a Detroit Red Wings fan. Your season, in fact, your arena, has just two games left in an otherwise miserable year.

For whatever reason, the NHL saw fit to have the Wings play their final game at Joe Lewis Arena against the New Jersey Devils, the League's most boring team, instead of a rival or original six team. Seems almost a crime they're going to shutter the doors after playing Jersey. What about Toronto? I mean, com'on NHL. Think about it.

Anyway, the Habs, after rolling out the red carpet last night for the Tampa Bay Lightening behind a Canadiens defence that bore a distinct resemblance to anorexia nervosa, will put forward an even more pathetic lineup tonight against Detroit. This means, no Shea Weber, Jordie Benn, Alexei Emelin, Carey Price, Tomas Plekanec, Max Pacioretty, Andrei Markov AND Alex Radulov.

That hardly any regulars will be playing tonight also means opportunity for others to get some NHL game time. This includes Charlie Lindgren, who'll get his second start of the season with Al (Tony) Montoya as backup. It also means one more game experience for blue chip prospect Mikhail Sergachev, who'll play his first game since October 20th of last year.

So with all of these players out of the lineup ... I'm guessing Alex Galchenyuk will get to play centre again, and ... really, it's anyone's guess at this point how Claude Julien will craft a lineup out of whatever's left over.

The only thing we can say with great confidence is that Lindgren will see plenty of puck tonight. Let's hope the final score isn't too much of a humiliation.

Puck drops at 7:10 EST.

Game 10: Canucks vs. Habs

THIRD PERIOD:

- Habs/Canucks after 40 minutes. Habs CF (5v5) just 35.5%, Fenwick 36.4%. The score is Montreal 2, Vancouver 0.

- During the intermission, Habs announced that John Hanley and Andrew Carr as callups. Now the Habs finally have full roster of bodies. Elected, for whatever reason, to leave two slots unfilled for tonight's game.

- Habs being very cautious and conservative in their zone, a whole lotta chips and dumps to repress any sustained Vancouver pressure. Canucks are generating plenty of shots, now up to 37 with 8 minutes gone in the 3rd, but noting especially dangerous, and rebounds have been few and far between.

- 5v5, the Sedin twins are +15 in SA tonight. And that's not even among Vancouver's best.

- Ericsson golden chance, stoned by Price. Against a mere mortal, the game would be 2-1. But against Carey Price, whatcanyado?

Price save on Eriksson pic.twitter.com/awhQw12UN8

— Stephanie (@myregularface) November 3, 2016

- 4 minutes left, Canuaks have hit a wall, haven't generated a shot on Price the past four minutes.

- Canucks will have to start taking huge gambles here, somehow find a way of beating Price. Opportunity may be around the corner for the Habs.

- Habs get empty net goal credit after Canucks interfere with a break by Radulov. Lights out.

- Shutout for Price, an absurd win for the Habs, who were out-shot by 2-to-1 margin, the possession stats were even worse. Okay, go watch the baseball game. We'll talk more about the Habs rocky road ahead which starts after Saturday night's game, when they start playing good teams.


SECOND PERIOD:

- Habs and Canucks after 20 minutes. Keeping in mind that Vancouver has one of the thinnest lineups in the National Hockey League, the Canadiens CF (5v5) in that period was 34.9%, fenwick 26.7%. A nightmare:

- I suppose the upside for the Habs in the 2nd period is that it couldn't possibly be any worse than the 1st. Right?

- Pretty bad night for Habs defence, Weber excluded. Canucks are being allowed to crash Price with relative ease, and little price (pun alert!!!) to pay.

- More aggressive attacks by the Canucks, Petry, who's really struggled tonight, gets nailed for a hook in front of Price. Penalties like that from defensemen a sure-fire signs that they're overwhelmed.

- One area the Canucks have not done well tonight is their powerplay. Their dump and chase setup is predictable and easily defended.

- 6 minutes into the 2nd period, the Canucks have seven, yes, SEVEN times the SOG than do the Habs. SEVEN.

- How's the baseball game tonight? At this point I'm feeling a little embarrassed spending time blogging this hockey game.

- A weak wrist shot from the point by Weber is caught by Miller. Habs register their first shot on goal in the period, with 12:28 left. Total shots are 24-4 Vancouver.

- Desharnais is ripe for demotion - right out of the hockey arena.

- Absurd. Just absurd. Habs score first. Galchenyuk with a load of speed with shot on Miller that's totally misplayed creating a huge rebound and open net for Nathan Beaulieu. Incredibly, the Habs lead 1-0.

- Habs with absurd demonstration of being totally outplayed virtually every square foot of the ice surface, except in goal, and still finding themselves ahead on the scoreboard. This cannot continue if the Canadiens hope to maintain a winning record this season.

- Canucks are bad, but they're still a mystery. To be this bad at shooting, even though we're only 10 games into the season, begs questions. Selection? Position? Setup? I have no idea - but they're horrible at it.

- Canucks defensive breakdown, Torrey Mitchell chips home a Danault pass, and it's 2-0. Just, wow.

- I can't explain it. Habs are getting out chanced nearly 2-to-1, but are winning the game. Canucks seem to make poor choices in taking shots. They have volume, but little quality. That's all I've got. Otherwise, Habs in the 2nd were much like they were in the 1st. Dominated.


FIRST PERIOD:

- Is anyone watching hockey tonight? We are, So yeah, forget baseball (peeks over at Fox).

- Hey, Shea, that's Carey's trophy. Hands off.

- Radulov takes a very very nasty slash from 4th liner Derek Dorsett. Radulov is fuming, and rightfully so. Hopefully he's okay.

- Doresett will never amount to anything as an NHL player, so I guess he's trying to "leave his mark", on Radulov's wrist.

- Habs look pretty listless tonight, not a whole lot of energy in their legs - first powerplay was aimless. Hope this doesn't bode for the rest of the night.

- Carey Price, is per usual, sharp. Keeping his otherwise aimlessly playing team even on the scoreboard.

- Even with Dorsett's cheap shots, Canucks 4th line looking pretty effective so far. Doing good job forechecking, keeping Habs anemic period even more anemic.

- Just a horrible, horrible period of hockey by the Canadiens. Therrien, if there was ever a time to shake up your lines next period, this is it.

- Desharnais/Pacioretty/Shaw ... whatever they had going the past 2 games has completely left them tonight. Utter lack of communication and chemistry out there tonight.

- Just a wretched period of hockey for the Habs - they were outskated, out chanced, out-hit, out-everything ... except, as usual, in goaltending, where Price has done everything possible to keep his team in the game, while Ryan Miller was given a 35 minute siesta.


GAMEDAY GAME PREVIEW:

- Lines, lines, lines. Vancouver's lineup same as their practice lines yesterday (see below. Habs, same as below.

- Mike Condon! He's likely now the main reason why U-Haul is profitable. Mike was traded this morning from the Pens to the (haha) Sens. Too bad Mike. You were for once, a member of a good hockey team - for about 3 weeks. That's all been taken away from you.

- Alright, in anticipation of tonight's game between the Canucks (4-4-1 - 4th Pacific Division) and the Habs (8-0-1 1st Atlantic Division), let's dig into the stats:

CF (5v5): Vancouver: 46.6% (25th), Montreal: 49.5% (15th).
GF60: Vancouver 0.87 (30th), Montreal 2.97 (4th)
GA60: Vancouver 1.56 (5th), Montreal 1.25 (1st)
PP%: Vancouver 10.7 (26th), Montreal 21.9 (14th)
PK%: Vancouver 81.0 (18th), Montreal 88.6 (6th)
PDO: Vancouver 98.2 (21st), Montreal 105.7 (1st)
Sh%: Vancouver 38.2 (30th), Montreal 9.69 (8th).

These baseline stats tell you:

- Vancouver's had a dreadful time offensively, not even scoring 1 goal per game per 60, yet somehow winning 4 of its first 9 games. How is this possible? Well, mainly because the Canucks have enjoyed some very good goaltending from Jacob Markstrum (.952 SV%), and tonight's starter Ryan Miller (.939). Without those two, this Vancouver team could actually still be winless.

- Habs continue to enjoy the luck of puck, although at a slightly more sane 105.7 PDO (still way too high - much will adjust there still). Canucks relatively low PDO reflects their pathetic shooting percentages, sub-4%.

- There is no good reason for the Habs to lose tonight's game, other than the puck luck bites them squarely from behind. Then again, if this season is just a mirror of last, where the Habs bulldozed their opponents up until the end of November, losing only their first regular season game to ... taa daa - Vancouver, then a loss tonight to the Canucks would only make perfect sense.

Puck drops at 7:40 EST.



TUESDAY NEWS 'N' NOTES:

Hey, it's November! How was your Halloween? I was completely overrun by candy-starved kiddies last night - TWO big bulk boxes of chocolate I picked up at Costco GONE before 7 p.m. Some of the trick-o-treaters were suspiciously tall, if you catch my drift. Hey people who should be in College: TRICK OR TREATING IS FOR KIDS. Get a life already.

Lineups! We have practice lineups today! First, let's start with the Canucks:

D. Sedin/H. Sedin/Hansen
Granlund/Sutter/Eriksson
Baertschi/Harvat/Virtanen
Burrows/Gaunce/Dorsett

Edler/Tanev
Hutton/Gudbranson
Sbisa/Tryamkin

Ryan Miller 

That, folks, is a destined-for-last-place lineup. Still trying to figure out what Loui Eriksson's thought processes were this summer. He could have gone *anywhere* at what he's being paid for playing in Vancouver, yet he still signed on with the hopelessly-going-nowhere Canucks.

Meanstwhile over in Habsland, they're holding steady with:

Radulov/Gachenyuk/Gallagher
Pacioretty/Desharnais/Shaw
Byron/Plekanec/Lehkonon
Danault/Mitchell/Flynn

Weber/Emelin
Markov/Petry
Pateryn/Beaulieu

Carey Price

Other newsworthy stuff:

- NHL announced their players of the month for October, and guess who's one of them? Shea Weber! Yeah, yeah ... it's still a terrible trade. Anywho, Weber was runner up, not too shabby, to Connor McDavid. Florida's Jonathan Marchessault was named the other start for October.

- The League also announced the October rookie stars, and HAHAHA Toronto, Austin Matthews didn't win!! HAHAHA .. the honours went to William Nylander of the .... oh ... hmmm. Well I'll just leave now.

To be serious for just a moment, as we noted during the live game blog Saturday night, Nylander looked faster, more agressive and more aware than did Matthews. The Leafs have got a pretty sweet thing going on right now. Except they have almost no defence. We think Toronto might end up becoming Edmonton 2.0.



MONDAY NEWS 'N' NOTES:

This announcement at noon today:

Mikhail Sergachev cédé à son club junior https://t.co/Nxu4wSXFDR

— La Presse Sports (@LaPresse_Sports) October 31, 2016

Bonne chance, Mikhail! See you at training camp next September.

Habs are likely to recall Mark Barberio sometime before Wednesday, possibly even today.

Also, it's Halloween!! Be generous handing out the candy.

Game 4: Coyotes vs Habs

FIRST PERIOD:

- For 330 days, we've waited for this moment, and now it's arrived. Hello, Carey Price.

- Keep an eye on Sergachev's time tonight - he didn't play 10 minutes against the Pens. That's not enough. If this time is part of his learning experience, then play him. Otherwise, send him down to get decent time, if even in the minors.

- Slow start for the Habs, Arizona looks to be the faster team - Galchenyuk line looks good early, though.

- Ryan White mucking it up, which is par for his course. Never thought he got a fair shake in Montreal - even today he'd be an upgrade over the guy he was agitating, Torrey Mitchell (or Brian Flynn, for that matter).

- Radulov was brought in for his scoring ability, but he's arguably an even better playmaker, based on the excellent shifts we've seen this season.

- Habs powerplay getting closer, but still just not quite clicking. Perhaps too focused on pretty plays, this unit would be better served to just get a greasy one in, and build from there.

- Emelin shows Weber how it's done with a goal from a point shot, his first in nearly two years. 1-0.

- Since about the 5 minute mark, Habs have dominated puck possession - also doing line matching in an attempt to mitigate the Hanzal line (so far, so good).

- Solid period of hockey for the Canadiens, adjusted CF over 60%. Petry and Beaulieu with a particularly strong period - same could be said for the Desharnais line (yes, believe it or not) for the second consecutive game. Coyotes had a fast, aggressive start to the period, but seemed to get stuck on 2nd gear by some good line matching by the Habs, and pretty good zone coverage. Price didn't face more than one difficult shot the whole period.


SECOND PERIOD:

- Adjusted CF (5v5) in the period, favouring the Habs 61.8%.

- Sergachev got just 3:43 of ice time in the period, which as expected, is the least among blue liners, but less then I'd like him to receive. If Habs are able to pad their lead, there's no good rationale from keeping him from getting anything less than 12 minutes.

- Galchenyuk with a totally unnecessary high stick in his own zone to kill the Habs powerplay just as it started. 

- Coyotes guilty of some pretty lazy zone coverage, as Beaulieu carries the puck in, and makes a beautiful pass on the tap of Torrey Mitchell's stick, a one timer blast that puts the Habs up 2-0. Arizona is a young team, full of potential but more apt to make those kind of preventable mistakes.

- Ryan White, who I complemented just 30 minutes ago, tries to troll the Galchenyuk line into take retaliatory penalties. Ends up getting 4 minutes, and luring only Emelin into the box. That's not what he's supposed to do.

- And finally it happens. Off the White penalty, the Habs and Shea Weber finally strike, with Markov setting him up for an absolute howitzer that Domingue can only wave at. 3-0.

- Habs have padded their lead. Now would be a good time to loosen the reigns on Sergachev's shift restrictions.

- Galchenyuk dances in, 35 wrister than Domingue must stop, and it's 4-0 Habs. Justin Peters now in goal for Arizona. Habs can pretty much cruise home from here.

- Hrm .. Sergachev with an unforced error, giving the puck away behind his net placing the puck right in the slot, and following a mad scramble, Chychrun scores his first NHL goal. 4-1. That play, of course, won't help the case for giving the young Habs defenseman more ice time, alas.

- Great shift by the Mitchell line, not only hemming the Coyotes in their zone, but able to do an entire line shift without surrendering the zone. That's hockey at another level of excellence.

- Sloppy, sloppy d-zone puck control - with Beaulieu coughing up the puck in front of Price, and Dauphin tucking in a rebound. That seemingly unassailable Habs lead isn't so safe any more, it's 4-2.

- Habs had this game pretty much salted away, and then started getting lazy, making unforced mistakes deep in their own zone - there's still no good reason for Montreal not to win this game relatively easily, but with Price working off some rust, the Canadiens will need to be a little more aware in the 3rd if they want to make sure they get 2 points. Another excellent period for the Galchenyuk line, while Radulov continues to impress. Easily the best game the Habs have played this season - at least the first two periods.


THIRD PERIOD:

- Habs and Coyotes after 2 periods, with Habs CF (5v5) at 58.6%

- Not sure what Radulov has more of - strength or speed, but whatever it is, together they give opposing defensemen fits.

- Credit to Peters for at least keeping his team in this game - it really ought be a three or four goal lead for the Habs right now.

- Habs certainly more aware first half of this period than they were last half of the 2nd - being cautious in their own zone, but not turtling their way through the period, either. Pretty good balance. 11 minutes left.

- Habs for sure salt this game away, Lehkonen with a wrister off a nice pass from behind the net from Plekanec to make it 5-2. As we mentioned, Habs have had a nice blend of playing cautiously in their own zone, but not so much as to stunt their offence. Very impressive display tonight all around.

- Relatively uneventful 3rd period, which is all the Habs wanted and needed - an impressive win tonight, with many fine performances, including Galchenyuk, Radulov, Petry, Plekanec, Desharnais, Pacioretty and Markov (among others). Price was fine too, even though he wasn't really tested often - which is exactly what the Canadiens would have wanted - a straightforward game to ease Carey into the regular season. Habs get a well-earned day off tomorrow, after a couple of solid wins to open their season at home.

________________________________________________________

Hey everyone, we have some news for you:

Carey Price - starting tonight against the Coyotes. It's official.

— A.J. Bassett (@HabsGameBlog) October 20, 2016

GAMEDAY NEWS 'n' NOTES:

 Lines, lines. We got lines:

- Pacioretty/Galchenyuk/Gallager

- Lehkonen/Plekanec/Radulov

- Byron/Desharnais/Shaw

- Danault/Mitchell/Flynn

Mikhail Sergachev, he who was benched for a good portion of the 2nd and 3rd periods during Tuesday night's win over the Pens, thereby raising speculation that he'd be returned to riding the busses this week, is back in the lineup tonight.

Meanwhile, on the other side:

- Duclair/Hanzal/Domi

- Rieder/Strome/Doan

- Martinook/Richardson/White

- Crouse/Dauphin/Vrbata

Ekman-Larsson-Murphy

Goligaski/Schenn

Chychrun/McBain

Domingue

That's a pretty decent Arizona lineup. More about them in a bit.

Game 3: Pens vs Habs

HABS LIVESTREAM:

FIRST PERIOD:

- Habs PR full throttle fan-first tonight for homecoming ceremonies. They're not dumb. They know there's a lot of hurt out there about Subban's departure.

- Huge applause for Shea Weber. Huge.

- Oh, wow. Jacques Demers. That's heartbreaking.

- Let me grab a drink, whoops, 1-0 Habs. Max Pacioretty picks up a lose puck in a very loosely defended Pens zone, a shaky start for Andre Marc Fluery (shoulda gone with Mike Condon, guys), and zoom, it's 1-0.

- More soft slot defensive coverage, Weber caught out of position, but Montoya is able to cover up. That's something we saw quite a lot of the first two games - Habs inability to prevent high danger scoring chances - and one of the major reasons why, so far in this young season, the Habs are getting out chanced quite badly.

- That said, Pens aren't exactly clamping down in front of Fleury either, Max coming within a couple inches of making this 2-0.

- So this Al Montoya, sure looks like a pretty good off-season pickup. Making his team look way way wayyyyyy better than they actually are. At least, so far.

- Phantom penalty on Pacioretty for ... skating? Not sure what that's about, but it puts the Pens on one of their dangerous powerplays.

- Pens really owning the puck this period, Habs just too tentative, choosing to play their usual chase system that we saw so much two years ago. Looks like the period will end at about a 60/40 split, which means holding a slim lead is practically impossible.

- Malkin and Kunitz have been monsters this period - you think it's only a matter of time before their names start hitting the scoresheet tonight.

- Meanwhile, Plekanec line is really struggling - more fodder for the argument that Radulov and Lehkonen would benefit playing beside Galchenyuk.

- Habs play so fast an loose in front of their net, very poor coverage, and its giving the Pens tons of high quality chances from the slot. Montoya handling at lest three shots from 20 feet or under the past 5 minutes.

- TVA showing how Habs have been focusing hard on faceoffs during practice this week, which truth be told, is one of their lesser issues.

- Habs finally getting some shots on Fleury again with 5 minutes left in the frame. They've been pretty much an invisible team unit since the 2 minute mark.

- Andrew Shaw totally robbed by Fleury on cross ice one timer. I'd say a first or second line winger would have probably buried that puck.

- Pens puck dominance simply unsustainable, as the Habs wind down the first period with more than a couple good scoring attempts.

- Another puzzling penalty, this time Galchenyuk for interference. Pens outskating the Habs, which usually draws those kinds of penalties, but at least call 'em if they're committed, guys.

- Habs came out storming, looked great first 2 minutes of the game, and then just kind of got overwhelmed by the Pens forecheck and speed. Same problems hampering the Habs tonight as they had the first two games. Poor-ish zone coverage surrendering too many high quality scoring chances, while the offence continues to play too much of a system that doesn't utilize some of the skill that the younger players bring to the lineup. Meanwhile, Al Montoya keeps playing better and better and better. No criticism for Montreal's goaltending so far, to be sure.


SECOND PERIOD:

- Habs defence really slow to react to speed along the wing. Too many opposing wingers are driving the net without obstruction.

- Not very many bright spots for the Habs offence in this game, Pacioretty has been very involved, and uhhhm .. Andrew Shaw? I'm kinda at a loss.

- More bad Habs habits, getting pinned in their zone, not being able to work the puck out properly, instead relying on low percentage long bomb passes that 9/10 result in icings. This is a very losing formula.

- Radulov with a very careless high stick that sends Sheary sprawling to the ice and eventually to the dressing room with a face injury. 4 minute infraction.

- Halfway through the 2nd period, Habs have but one shot on goal, which gives you a pretty accurate picture of how this game has gone.

- Shea Weber has delivered some thundering checks tonight, but positionally, he's been very poor. Habs are getting soundly out-chanced just about every shift he's had.

- Habs just defying gravity, as Desharnais is left all alone in front of Fleury, and puts home a very nice feed from behind the Pens net courtesy of, go figure, Max Pacioretty. 2-0 Canadiens.

- One big weakness for the Pens tonight not unlike the Habs - zone coverage has been pretty sloppy, and it's cost them two goals.

- Hey, believe it or not, Habs get a powerplay. And it looked pretty hopeless. AND DRINK.

- Habs arguably outplayed even more in the 2nd period than they were the 1st. Same old issues, but it all matters not as the Canadiens play Therrien possum hockey. Play like their dead, and put it all on the shoulders of their goaltending. If Montoya isn't excellent tonight, as he was the two games previous, the Habs would most certainly be starting down the throat of an 0-3 start. Coach Therrien continues to get lucky at the right time.


THIRD PERIOD:

- Has Sergachev found himself in the Therrien doghouse already? He's had a rough night, wasn't great agains the Sabres - not much ice time in this game.

- Habs with two man advantage powerplay, their passing is fine, but player movement is relative stagnate, which makes it easy to defend.

- That advantage ... gone, as Weber is nailed for tripping. Sigh.

- Pacioretty appears to be seriously hurt, specifically his leg. That's potentially pretty awful news.

- Festival of penalties here. Looks like we have some 3-on-3 hockey. Yum!!

- Radulov with a pretty, pretty, pretty goal hanging on forever with the puck, and turning Fleury all inside out. Problem though - Gallagher, maddeningly, bumps into Fleury before Radulov releases the shot. Another goal denied because of Gallagher's aggression?

- Good goal. Gallagher might have dodged a bullet. Habs take stranglehold lead, and Radulov scores what might still end up being the best goal of the Habs season.

- Pacioretty back on the bench. I'm wondering if he had a skate blade issue?

- Twitter message suggested to me that he had a muscle cramping issue, which I suppose makes sense. Max, listen to you mom and hydrate often!

- Sergachev clearly done for tonight, more than half of the 3rd played, and he hasn't seen a shift. Likely will be sent down tomorrow.

- Sergachev just getting a shift, I'd imagine it's to just keep the rotation fresh for the final 5 minutes of the period. While this might be his last game in Montreal for awhile, no point in benching him for the sake of sending an obvious message.

- Pens with complete zone meltdown, Keystone Cops would be embarrassed, with pretty much everybody with a red sweater getting a shot on Fluery in the span of 10 seconds, mercifully Desharnais finishing off the play, and the Penguins tonight, and it's 4-0.

- Pens' forwards were miles better than the Habs', but not being able to play in your own zone properly will cost you games. Tonight, the Pens got stomped by it.

- Habs remain undefeated in regulation because, let's face it, Al Montoya. Otherwise, the Canadiens seem to have good fortune on their side early, getting outplayed each of their first three games, but finding a way of getting at least a point because of netminding. Long-term problems and challenges face this team on road ahead if they continue to allow themselves to be outplayed and out possessed. Sure, on the short term you can duck the percentages, but over a season, it invariably catches up. Sorry folks, but colour me unimpressed by what I've seen so far.

Truth: Kessel loves country music
Truth: Kessel's dog is named Stella
Lie: Kessel is a wonderful singer
In the Room: https://t.co/xjYVhSUUiP pic.twitter.com/vVxyLiBFe1

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 18, 2016

For the umpteenth time, Phil Kessel is the best.

GAMEDAY GAME PREVIEW:

Okay, a few things in point form.

- It's ridiculously early in the season, but head coach Michel Therrien is up to his old antics again, making lineup changes that have cause a few double-takes amongst closer followers of his team. Today Therrien announced that Daniel Carr will be a healthy scratch tonight to make way for Brian Flynn, who on pretty much any NHL team, would qualify as a marginal 4th liner. With Flynn in, Paul Byron, who is, in fact, a qualified 4th line NHLer, will be moved up to play the Habs 3rd line, along side of David Desharnais

- Ah, speaking of the coach's favourtist player of all time, DD got some speciality line work tonight - centring (get ready for it) the Habs 2nd powerplay unit. Wait, you might ask, are you talking about the same David Desharnais who was ranked 2nd worst in the entire NHL last year among powerplay forward productivity, and looked utterly terrible the powerplay time he received the first two games of this season? THAT David Desharnais? YUP. THAT David Desharnais.

- Ominous signs for the Habs? In the season's first two games, and this is against opponents who likely won't qualify for the post season, the Habs scoring chance ratio was 2 to 1 ... against. Unlike the previous opponents, the Pittsburgh Penguins, who are talented, can score, and will score - a lot, are far more likely to take advantage from having twice as many scoring chances. 

- Speaking of the Penguins, who'll start in goal? What will be the lines? Nobody knows because Pittsburgh didn't have practice this morning. Conventional wisdom would dictate that Mike Condon will get the start tonight, given that the Pens played last night (and lost) to Denver. But it being so early in the season, the Pens might take some liberties and give Marc-Andre Fluery a back-to-back start.

- One other lineup change that we mentioned yesterday - with Mikhail Sergachev getting a spot back in the lineup tonight, they drew sticks and Greg Pateryn will sit.

Puck drops (likely around) 7:20 p.m. 7:50 EST while Habs ownership lets Shea Weber skate around the rink with a torch, while half the stands revisit the trauma they felt that late June day. ENJOY!

MONDAY NEWS 'N' NOTES:

YAY IT'S MONDAY! THE PENS ARE IN TOWN! That means I get to use my most favouritist Phil Kessel picture. WE STILL  LOVE YOU PHIL.

Okay, let's do a few Habs-related bits of news to help gear you up for tomorrow night's season opener at home:

- Carey Price? He lives! Yup, Carey was on the ice this morning for practice, and this time, no intervenes tube was attached! That's the good news. Not so good news? He won't start tomorrow because, according to coach Therrien, Carey lost about 90 pounds during the week he spent hacking up his lungs.

- So Al Montoya one more time! That's not a bad thing, considering Al's SV% the first two games is .942. Here's an even cooler thing: The Pens are playing tonight, and Andre Marc-Fluery will start. So if the Pens decide, as most teams usually do these days, to avoid playing their 1st string on back-to-back nights, this means tomorrow the Habs might see ... Mike Condon! Coolness.

- Habs practice lines: Hey, remember that thing where Therrien put Radulov next to Galchenyuk mid-way through the Ottawa game Saturday night, and then moved Gallagher next to Plekanec, and then benched Lehkonen, who had just scored a goal and was generating scoring chance after scoring chance, and then he demoted Galchenyuk to centre the 4th line? Remember that? Well, guess what? The forward lines are right back to where they used to be:

- Pacioretty/Galchenyuk/Gallager

- Lehkonen/Plekanec/Radulov

- Carr/Desharnais/Shaw

- Danault/Mitchell/Byron

Meanwhile on defence, the Habs announced that Mikhail Sergachev came back from Russia and will be starting tomorrow night, which begs the question, Mikhail Sergachev WENT TO RUSSIA?! He was just here ... with the team ... playing (?!?). I'd love to see his frequent flyer points.

More Habs stuff if we get anything.

Game 2: Habs vs. Sens

OTTAWA 4, MONTREAL 3 (SO): FIVE ONSIDE HABS POINTS

- Plenty of post-game musings about some of the line shuffling done by Michel Therrien - a good chunk of it negative. My reactions were mixed. I was fine with switching up Radulov with Gallagher, putting the young Russian next to AK27. It's a pairing that had been advocated by Habs followers long before last night's game. What was puzzling was Therrien's decision later in the game to demote Galchenyuk next to Paul Byron. Don't get me wrong - I like Byron, he brings a good measure of speed and tenacity that makes him a good 4th line winger. But next to the guy who's supposed to be the 1A center? That's just bad deployment.

- Speaking of deployment, more puzzling moves by the esteemed coach. Coming off a very impressive 2nd powerplay, in which the Habs came agonizing close to scoring, on the team's 3rd powerplay, he deployed David Desharnais, who's played two pretty terrible games to start the season. The results were predictable - Desharnais was uninvolved during most of his shift because, unsurprisingly, the Habs were unable to even possess the puck in the Senator's zone. 

- More Therrien criticism was heaved over the player selection during the shootout, which I didn't think was as nearly a big a deal as his regular time and OT player deployment strategies.  Sure, Desharnais muffed up his shot, but he was used during the sudden death portion of the shootout. The shootout by itself is a crapshoot - viewed through that lens, I'd say to Habs fans, chill out. The only reasonable critique would be the order of shooters, the Habs best player in this format is Galchenyuk. But Therrien put AK27 3rd, and instead chose to start with Radulov (who, granted, scored - but that's beside the point). The main point here is in these coin-flip events, you always start with your best. Always.

- After a subjectively so-so performance Thursday night, Shea Weber had a better game against Ottawa. Except for a very ill-advised pinch with just seconds left in the 1st period, which very nearly cost the Habs what would have been a killer Sens goal, Weber did an excellent job shoring up the Habs PK unit - and played a key role in two significant game events - the 2nd period 4-on-3 kill which Weber was out for the entire 2 minute duration, and an even more significant 1:43 second 5-on-3 kill almost midway in the 3rd.

- Yes, it's only two games, but the Habs seem to have made a very good pickup in Al Montoya, who saved his team's bacon more than a few times last night, especially in the 3rd period. The Habs, with Montoya, were able to replicate their winning "formula" of 2014-15, by picking up 1 or 2 points against an opponent who readily outplayed them. Except last night, it was against the Ottawa Senators, a team that probably won't be playoff competitive. Tuesday night, the Canadiens won't have the luxury of playing a lesser opponent, as they host the Crosby-less Penguins at the Bell Centre.

FIRST PERIOD:

- In case you didn't read the pregame preview, keep an eye on the Senators defence - it's easily their weakest spot. Habs should have the talent to expose and exploit this deficiency  - the only question is, do they have any effective strategy in place?

- Petry will be paired with Markov, not Pateryn as we posted earlier. Okay!

- Fairly physical start to the gam e, Ottawa seems to be wanting to shore up its defensive issues by taking the body early and often.

- That's the downside from focusing mainly on hitting - you start taking penalties. It's Methot who goes for a hit without any puck around, and gets nailed for interference.

- After keeping him on the bench for a good chunk of the first game, Therrien puts Desharnais on the powerplay, and looks utterly lost.

- Turnover on the Sens blue line, Shea Weber gets completely lost on the play, creating a break for 4th liner Dingel, who has the time to tuck in his own rebound, and it's 1-0. That's pretty typical Shea Weber faire. He's prone to getting caught wildly out of position from time to time. 

- Habs a pretty awful so far with 8 minutes gone - passing is poor, speed is lacking. Puck is mostly being dumped and chased, which is the prototypical Therrien losing formula. 

- Not sure if it's a European thing, but Plekanec line is easily the Habs best at cycling the puck.

- Al Montoya looking much more tentative tonight than he did Thursday. Beaten clean by a 45 foot slapper, post saves the day.

- Habs still 0-for on their powerplay, really pushing for Weber one timers. Problem is, his windup is so huge, his shots are getting blocked. When they're not, they're going wide of the target. So far, so futile.

- Bad break, as Zach Smith shot deflects off Pateryn's blade in the slot, and past Montoya. 2-0. Onwards!!

- Weber with insanely stupid pinch to keep the puck in with just second left on the clock, creating a 2-on-1 Sens break that's only stopped by a Torrey Mitchell hold. 

- Habs basically manhandled in that period by a mediocre Sens team. 5v5 - it was nearly total ineptitude for the Canadiens, with only one slight bright spot being their 2nd powerplay in which Weber couldn't hit the net. Have the feeling this could be a long night.

SECOND PERIOD:

- That early period powerplay doesn't net a goal, but Ottawa has at least carried the resulting momentum. Things continue to be very one-sided.

- Montoya doing a belly flops (bad!!) in a futile attempt to cover the net. If not for a Weber block off a flop, it would be 3-0.  Please tell me Carey is gonna be alright, okay? 

- Alex Radulov looks pretty solid - this time carrying the puck and making a very sweet pass on the open side to Max Pacioretty, who can't bury the puck into a gaping net. 

- Galchenyuk, who hasn't had a stellar start to the season, with an ill-advised hook near the Sens blue line to give Ottawa a dangerous 4-on-3 powerplay.

- Been rough on Weber tonight, so credit on helping to kill that powerplay - out the entire 2 minutes, blocking at least two high danger Sens shots.

- Not sure what Guy Boucher was thinking, but putting out Chris Neil on that 4-on-3 powerplay didn't make much sense. A third Ottawa goal pretty much ends this game. For now, the Habs, as badly as they're playing, still have a hope.

- Therrien making a key adjustment here, taking Gallagher off the Galchenyuk line, and replacing him with Radulov. Gallagher is now playing with Plekanec.

- Habs 3rd powerplay, a mess. I guess the last time out was just a fluke.

- Hey look at that, they moment after I post my previous comment they score. On the powerplay. Petry (yeah, Petry) with a cannon from the line. So anyway, that Habs 24th Stanley Cup. I guess that was just a fluke.

- Habs managing to find some game, seemingly after that big 4-on-3 penalty kill, a large part because of Weber's fine PK work. Canadiens seem to be finding more open ice to pass and carry the puck more easily. Also approve of the move to put Radulov next to Galchenyuk - this was a combination many were hoping for leading up to, and continuing through training camp. Hopefully Therrien will still with this for a little while - I have the feeling he'll see some positive results.

THIRD PERIOD:

- So after having an excellent game Thursday night, Alexei Emelin has been pretty wretched tonight - Senators outshooting the Habs 8-0 tonight with him on the ice.

- Pretty good start by the Habs, first 2 minutes anyway. Carrying the zone well, passing seems to be more accurate, utilizing speed ... generating decent scoring attempts in higher danger locations.

- And there we go, and it's Lehkonen banging home a loose puck to pot his very first NHL goal. The kid is making quite an impression this week with hard work, and determination to look for pucks in front of the net. Tie game. 

- Pacioretty given an absurd interference call to give the Sens a nearly two minute long 5-on-3. Crazy bad call.

- A magnificent 5-on-3 kill. Habs outstanding job blocking shots and covering passing lanes. And here we criticized them Thursday night for their PK. Fully rescinded tonight. That was excellent. Weber, Markov and Plekanec were beasts.

- Sens play a very loose box on their PK, for fear of a Weber shot. It's opening up a ton of space low in front of Anderson. When Weber is on, that is.

- Petry ... has he been working out this summer? Another absolute cannon shot as the powerplay ends, with Anderson screened, and the Habs take the lead. 

- Such is the game of hockey, the Habs have fed off the momentum not from their powerplay, but from their penalty killing unit tonight. The Canadiens got a huge boost after a key penalty kill in the second that eventually got them on the board, and now feeding off an enormous 5-on-3 kill, the Habs have stormed back to take the lead.

- A shaky first, but Al Montoya has been huge this period. Key saves and key times, shutting the door in the 3rd. That pickup looking better and better every minute played.

- Byron nestled with Galchenyuk, which is either Therrien giving him a promotion, or giving Galchenyuk a demotion. Either way, it makes little sense.

- Radulov might have a reputation, but he can't be criticized for work ethic - at least from what we've seen so far.

- Sigh. Unforced error turnover by Byron at centre ice, gives Sens odd man break, and ex-Hab Tom Pyatt tucks one in under the crossbar. Lead, and possible win, slips away.

- Good question to ask Therrien after this game if anyone cares - why were you putting out your 4th line that late in the 3rd period with a one goal lead?

- The plan was to scale back Andrei's old legs this season. What happened with that? 21 minutes tonight is still way too much.

- So off to OT we go. Maybe let the young kids get their shot? Radulov and Lehkonen have by far been the Habs big offensive spark plugs. 

OVERTIME:

- Answer to my question is nope, at least not starting off. Therrien puts out Pacioretty, Plekanec and Weber to start.

- Galchenyuk with Radulov!!

- Therrien puts out Markov, which is all kinds of foolish.

- Keeping with that theme, Desharnais gets a shift. It goes nowhere. 

- An entertaining, but frustrating OT ... Therrien had four sets that he was rotating through, one with Desharnais, and also putting out the clearly exhausted Markov. Almost trying for a loss, with that kind of strategy. On to the shootout.

- Turris scores, and a beauty response by Radulov, with sweet soft hands and a backhander to tie the shootout. Pacioretty misses, and ... he's terrible at breakaways. Don't see the logic there.

- Karlsson with the game winner, and the Habs cough up a point. 

- David Desharnais, another lousy choice, fittingly, totally muffs his attempt, and the Sens take the extra point. Oy.

GAMEDAY GAME PREVIEW:

The Montreal Canadiens complete their early season mini-road trip tonight as they take on the Ottawa Senators in Kanata. Both teams are coming off opening night victories, the Sens a 5-4 OT win over the Leafs, the Habs a 4-1 victory over the Sabres.

Tonight's game will feature the season debut of defensemen Jeff Petry. To make way, the Canadiens announced that rookie defensemen Mikhail Sergachev, who struggled in his NHL regular season debut, as a healthy scratch.

Also of newsworthy consideration, Carey Price continues to battle what has been described as a "severe case of the flu" at home in Montreal. According to team doctors, Price is on antibiotics - there's no timetable for his return. Al Montoya will start tonight for the Canadiens.

So here's how the Habs lines break down for tonight's game:

- Pacioretty/Galchnyuk/Gallagher
- Lehkonen/Plekanec/Rudulov
- Carr/Desharnais/Shaw
- Danault/Mitchell/Byron

- Beaulieu/Weber
- Markov/Pateryn
- Emelin/Petry

- Montoya

Meanwhile, the Sens will start the same lineup as they did Thursday in their win over Toronto:

- Hoffman/Turris/Stone
- Smith/Brassard/Ryan
- Varone/Pageau/Pyatt
- Dzingel/Kelly/Neil

- Methot/Karlsson
- Phaneuf/Ceci
- Borowiecki/Wideman

- Anderson

From the Senators perspective, keep an eye on the Phaneuf/Ceci pairing, with Phaneu, who's been awful the past season + (and a terrible acquisition by the Senators last season), being a likely liability. Habs, who saw strong performances by their 2nd line, specifically Tomas Plekanec and Artturi Lehkonen, might attempt some line matching strategies to exploit Ottawa's defensive weaknesses.

Also, while the Senators did manage an extra time victory, it was a shaky night for starting netminder Frederik Anderson. Big question is how he'll fare against a more competitive Habs team.

Puck drops at 7:10 EST.

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.