Game Twenty-Eight: Habs vs. Devils

First Period:

- Oh yes, Chris Lee will ref tonight's game. Oh, joy. First Habs game Lee's worked this season. I assume he's been saving up his usual menu of terrible calls for this game.

- Let's hope the last 57 minutes aren't as dreadful as the first 3 have been. Zzzzz ...

- Devils' offense so far really working hard to feed the point for long shots at Price, looking for redeflects and rebounds, I'd reckon.

- May fall asleep soon if something resembling exciting doesn't happen soon. Both team defenses are dominating so far.

- Thank goodness. Colby Armstrong finally gets his name on the goal scorers column. Habs score that critical first goal. Congrats to Colby. It's already a big night.

- Pretty goal actually by Armstrong. Great forecheck created a giveaway followed by a great wrister up under the bar. Hedberg didn't have much of a chance.

- Even though I think the Habs would have little difficulty, please, oh please, I hope these two teams don't meet in the post-season. I don't think I could handle two weeks of this.

- Hedberg dropped his stick and while trying to pick it up off the ice, Gorges took a shot from the point, the puck grazing the post. Devils very fortunate there.

- Habs strong in the circle so far, leading 14-7.

- 15-7 now. That observance underscoring the Devils' biggest roster weakness, a lack of depth at centre.

- Pacioretty looking dangerous tonight. Watch for that.

- Good puck movement by Habs on their first powerplay.

- PP doing its best to set Subban up for the cannon, but he's done a mini-wiff on his two tries.

- Good road period for the Habs, basically controlled much of the tempo, Devils with 7 shots on Price, none of them particularly dangerous.

Second Period:

- Chris Lee show begins, terrible call on White for holding the stick.

- It only figures that the Devils strike on the powerplay. Eller flagrantly tripped right in front of the official trying to shoot the puck out of Habs zone. No call made. Three seconds later, goal. Bad officiating more often than not has a direct impact on the final score.

- Just wow. With the puck at his feet, Moen called by Lee for smothering the puck. And on it goes.

- Subban out for every second of Habs 3rd powerplay.

- Plekanec furious, believe he was hit in the face by a high stick. If so, it was, of course, missed.

- Following that penalty, it now appears that White has more or less been relegated to bench duty.

- Good push-back period for New Jersey, the Habs once again have a 2nd period mini let-down. I'm at a loss to explain this phenomenon and why it's happen so frequently this season, but it's robbing the Habs of "cruise" games against clearly inferior opponents. Tonight is a classic example.

Third Period:

- Devils' Harrold, with visor, takes a puck off the nose courtesy a Markov shot deflected by Pacioretty. Ouch.

- Devils have picked up right where the 2nd period stopped, and that's bad news for the Habs.

- Got the feeling Price will have to deliver a few game savers before this one is done. He struggled with that his past half dozen starts.

- Yowza! Wretched clearance by Devils Zidlicky up the middle, Tinordi intercepts and wastes no time firing at Hedberg, Plekanec the deflection to give outplayed Habs 2-1 lead. Tinordi, who's been very solid tonight, might have just earned himself a few more starts.

- Feeding off that goal, Habs turning on the jets, Devils pinned in their zone.

- Therrien recognizing and rewarding. Tinordi now getting more shifts.

- Subban at 20 feet, 100 mph. Not sure if Hedberg is brave or insane for coming out hard to block that shot.

- Devils just don't have the horses on forward. How they're in 6th at this point is fascinating.

- Kinda hoping for one more. Just to make sure about this thing.

- Habs D holding steady here. Devils' chances have been mostly limited and contained.

- Icing waved off for some reason, Devils nearly score, Price with a nice save. 1:24 left. Critical faceoff here deep in Habs zone.

- Price with those big game saves the final minute. And so we return to normality.

- Excellent road win for the Habs, their 5th in a row, and they vault back into first in the East. Habs defense particularly good, providing Price with clear vision for most of the New Jersey attempts, making most of them harmless. Canadiens get two days of rest before facing cellar-dweller Sabres.

Pregame Preview

Oh dear, we're no longer in first.

The Habs aren't getting a whole lot of help in their attempts to create some distance in the race for first place. The Bruins won again today, 4-1 over the hapless Caps. The Sens won today, 4-3 in OT over the even more hapless Sabres. The Pens won today, their (gulp!) eight straight, 3-0 over the pathetically hapless Rangers. Remember how just about everyone had New York as their pre-season Stanley Cup winner? Pretty sure almost nobody who picked the Rangers then is still riding that train now.

Then again, who picked the Habs for first? Don't bother googling. Nobody did. Not even yours truly. We (well, mostly I) got burned big-time last year by thinking the Habs were going to be very competitive. Well that's all in the past. We live for the present, and right now, the only thing we have be concerned about is our playoff spot.

Oh yeah. And injuries.

We've got another one, sad to say. Mike Ryder is out tonight with a lower body injury. I guess that confirms speculation during the Sens game that something was wrong. Hopefully, he won't be out long, because for the most part, Ryder has been a terrific acquisition.

The usual injury suspects include Bourque (out who knows when), and Diaz. Bourque, in case you missed it, has been practicing with the team, but there's no timetable for return.

SO ... tonight! Habs are taking on the Devils, sans Martin Brodeur (whew), who's reportedly close to return from his back injury, but not close enough to start tonight. Johan Hedberg will probably get the start, although I wouldn't be shocked in the Devils go with their backup backup Jeff Frazee.

Habs are hot, hot, hot - not Pittsburgh hot mind you, but still, they're gunning for their 5th straight win. Devils, after their fast start to the season, have come back to the pack a bit, sitting 6th in the East with 32 points. That's not too shabby given the general consensuses among the experts was that the Devils would be sitting somewhere near the bottom, mainly because their offense was deemed far too thin to compete.

Some considerations. Habs powerplay is ranked 8th in the League with 9th ranked offense overall, Devils 19th on the man advantage, 14th ranked offense overall. Penalty kill is mediocre both sides, Montreal 17th, New Jersey 19th overall. One stat to keep an eye out for, first goal winning percentages. When Habs score first, their winning percentage is ranked 12th, while Jersey is ranked 6th. When opponent scores first, Habs winning percentage is ranked 4th (nice!), but Jersey is ranked wayyy down in 23rd place. So New Jersey does not play well when trailing. In other words, in case I haven't over explained this enough, the first goal between these two teams looks pretty important.

Carey Price will start for the Habs tonight. Of course.

Puck drops 7:10 EST. For FIRST PLACE AGAIN!

Game Sixty: Devils v Habs

Happy Sunday! It's Hockey Day in America (whatever that means - I guess it means just having a bunch of games south of the border, and NBC showing a couple of them ... otherwise, did anyone notice?).

So last night!! Caps lose! (again). Leafs lose! (again, again). I watched the Canucks/Leafs tilt. Not sure if Vancouver was that good, but yikes, does Toronto look bad. I mean, really bad. I cannot fathom how a team playing that poorly will maintain a tenuous grip on a playoff spot.

And the Caps? The Hockey News pre-season pick as Cup champions? Offense is just ... gone. Ovi continues to be a shell of his former self. I just don't see how they'll also stay above the playoff bubble for much longer.

So the iron is hot for striking! As of this posting, the Habs could move to just 4 points of 8th place with a win over Brodeur and the Devils tonight. FOUR points, which is actually quite amazing when you consider that three weeks ago, this team stood 13 points back of 8th place (and just a single point away from being in 15th place).

Tonight, Price will start, Leblanc will sit (flu). Will Cunneyworth play the 7 defensemen routine (which means Campoli would start ... ugh). And Brodeur ... will this be his last ever visit to Montreal? And Martin, if you're reading this, can you cut us some slack tonight? I mean, nearly 20 straight years of owning us ... could you just give us this one? Please??

GOAL DIFFERENTIAL: This one is a tad perplexing. At the moment, the Habs goal differential is -2 ... which is certainly not great, but it's interestingly not as bad as teams that sit above them in the standings:

In the East, here are some notables that have (roughly) the same or worse differential (and their current standing in the Conference):

Habs -2 (13th)
Toronto -4 (8th)
Washington -4 (9th)
Florida -16 (3rd!?)
Winnipeg -21 (10th)
Islanders -29 (12th)
Tampa Bay -32 (11th)

Surely the Panthers are an anomaly - you can't have a differential that far under the line and be leading - but then again, Florida plays in easily the worst Division in the League, so that helps.

But the teams the Habs are competing against, the Jets, Islanders, Bolts, have a significantly worse differential, while the Leafs and Caps aren't any better.

The point being, with a little more than a quarter season left to go, differential becomes a far more conspicuous start for predicating success. By basic attrition, don't be surprised if in the next 2-3 weeks, the Conference will begin to separate a bit, and the clubs left seriously competing for that 7th-8th place spot are the Leafs, Caps and Habs.

And if you're going to bring remaining schedules into the equation, then matters shape up even brighter for the Canadiens, who have a much easier road to the finish than either Toronto or Washington.

First Period:

- Habs good early pressure generates a powerplay, which goes nowhere. Devils are too good at that stuff, the game will be won by whomever makes the fewer mistakes.

- Price good as lucky so far, aided by two posts. But still a tad shaky on a couple of close-in chances.

- Pacioretty with game face and skates on, really driving the net nicely.

- Ouch. Plekanec's shot right in Volchenko's face. Very slow to get off the ice.

- Habs might not register 5 shots in the period.

- Excellent hard-working shift by Gomez. The more he produces the greater our chances of getting a playoff spot.

- Winning faceoffs so important in defensive zone. Another first opposition goal scored from shot at line deflected in by Parise. Oh man, Parise. What a Habs-killer. How much would it take to sign this guy in July?

- Subban with a rocket (finally) from the line. Brodeur didn't stop it clean, but just enough.

- Habs with their hands full tonight. Devils really cover their zone efficiently, so goals will a premium. Just 4 shots in the period. That simply won't do it.

Second Period:

- Big first and second shift for Jersey. Habs reeling. Do the Canadiens understand the opportunity at hand?

- Totally lopsided action here. Canadiens in dump and retreat mode.

- Cunneyworth gave everyone the morning off, and he's being rewarded by an absolutely lackluster effort, especially by the forwards. Energy guys need to be given priority here to spark some kind of a fire under these sleepy butts.

- Nice shift by Gomez line. We have signs of life.

- Dammit Brodeur. Can't you have just ONE bad game in this city?

- Habs slowly inching back into this, momentum-wise. Need a goal soon, though.

- We're officially on pace for a 12 shot game. Habs going to PP. Hopefully we can reach the 5 mark this period.

- Terrible ice conditions weren't helping Habs on that man advantage. Surely in Montreal they have the capacity to get the ice right?

- Ugh. Every time I see Larry Robinson behind the Devils' bench, with all that knowledge and record of coaching success, I am reminded of what could have been.

- Cole getting shadowed pretty hard by Jersey, so he's attempting to contribute with a few good hits.

- Hate to second-guess the bench management, but what is Cunneyworth doing ending the period with Campoli on the ice? Clarkson tips home a point shot, largely because Campoli played him too soft in the crease. At some point you just have to shake your head.

The late goal, this with just 15 seconds left in the frame, are game killers. Down two entering the third against a team like Jersey, virtually no chance.

Third Period:

- White draws a penalty, Habs get their third PP. Can't fault the Canadiens discipline, so far no penalties.

- Pacioretty! His 25th off a mad scramble. Habs continue to demonstrate excellent puck movement with the man advantage. The longer they can keep their PP working, the better chance this team has of salvaging a playoff spot.

- Pacioretty has scored 14 goals since January 1st, which puts him in the top four in the League. Already established himself as a critical cog in this team's future.

- Habs have 17 minutes to even this up. If they can pull this game out of the fire I'll be pretty impressed.

- Gorges with a somewhat risky pinch to keep the puck in the Devils' zone. Habs play remains relatively aggressive.

- Forwards very tight in Brodeur's face. More, please.

- Desharnais. I've said it before, I'll more than likely say it again - shoot the puck. Right now the book is out on you. You always pass, and opposing defenders play retreat and check when you have possession.

- Cole is hurt. Gone to the room for medical attention. This is not good.

- Plekanec critical errors. Two chances to clear the zone go nowhere, and Weber makes the final mistake by screening Price from a point shot by Taormina.

- That shot apparently shattered the net camera. They're cleaning up the mess in front of the net.

- Pretty quiet in the rink. I think we're now in resigned to defeat mode.

- Cole out there right now. Playing hurt? We'll see if he does more shifts.

- Energy the team had starting the 3rd is largely gone now. Just too much to ask this team to beat Brodeur three times.

- Devils called a 30 second timeout. Actually got 2 minutes before the puck was dropped.

- Devils just blanketing the line. Can't get anything going. Why can't we do this? Why haven't we been doing this all those occasions when we held a third period lead (and blew it).

- Critical opportunity to get closer to a playoff birth was missed tonight. Habs simply didn't have their mojo. Even with the morning off they played tired. They looked tired. Friday's game against the Caps in Washington looms large.

Game Fifty-One: Habs v Devils

Happy Wednesday!! Did you enjoy taking Tuesday off? What's that? You had to work? It wasn't a stat holiday ... or something like that? Somebody shoulda told the Canadiens' lineup, because most of 'em booked yesterday off.

Well, everybody except for maybe Carey Price and Erik Cole and maybe ... Max Pacioretty? Emelin had that incredible 2nd period shift when he laid a licking on Jason Pominville behind, and seconds later, made a great block to keep his team in the game. I love this guy. Yeah, the season has been a pretty big disappointment, but what with Emelin, and Gorges, and Diaz and Subban, man ... that Habs blue line sure is shaping up nicely. NEXT YEAR!

Anyway, Cole was our best player on the ice, for the umpteeth time this season. Here's a nifty little article of just how valuable he's been to the club this season (and how Cunneyworth is one of his biggest fans).

Anyway, Cole ... easily the best free agent signing this club has made in 20 years. EASILY.

HOW COME WE CAN'T GET BREAKS LIKE THIS? Seidenberg last night against the Sens. Really?

MARKOV WATCH UPDATE: He skated this morning. That's two days in a row! And today it was for 20 minutes, which is 5 more than yesterday! My body is already tingling with excitement! Oh, wait. Nope. I'm having a stroke. Nevermind.

LET'S LET EVERYONE IN THE PLAYOFFS: Oooh this looks interesting. An article about expanding (wait, what?) the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs? It looks REALLY interesting, but you have to pay to read it? Bah. Somebody tell me what it's about, 'cause it looks really interesting!

JANUARY TRAFFIC UPDATE: The stats are in, and this humble little page saw an 239% increase in the number of visits compared to December. Wow. THANK YOU ALL for stopping by and giving me a reason to keep doing this revenue-negative page for no real reason other than I have a huge generous heart and brilliant Habs-related observations to share with everyone! (seriously .. .thank you all for coming by, I hope you've marked the page and will come back again in the future!)

DRUNKEN ZAMBONI UPDATE: If you've had a few, it's probably not a good idea to jump into that Zamboni for a little joy ride into the boards. Just. Don't. Go. There.

RYAN WHITE NOT QUITE BACK UPDATE: Andreas Engqvist didn't have the greatest game last night, taking a unnecessary 2nd period penalty, and generally struggling to adapt to the Sabres checking scheme (as was Cunneyworth, I suppose), so he got shipped back to Hamilton this morning. Louis LeBlanc has since been recalled, so it's fair to assume that White won't be back for tomorrow night's tilt against the Devils.

I'm thinking maybe Saturday? We'll see.

GM UPDATE: All I can say to this is NOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooo ooooooooo oooooo ooooo.

Seriously, this would be a pretty messed up appointment. Let the faithful now pray that it never comes to fruition.

CRAZY GAME LINES UPDATE: From the Twitteruniverse @JFChaumont: Louis Leblanc jouera au centre du 4e trio avec Andrei Kostitsyn et Yannick Weber.

Huh? Did Andrei do something really awful to the Cunneyworth family the past 48 hours??

SHOCKING STAT THAT ISN'T ACTUALLY A CORRECT STAT UPDATE: Apparently some guy who has access to the internet says there's a team that's been worse than us in shootouts, and it's the Philadelphia Flyers??

Say huh? The Flyers have won just one shootout this year, which is um ... exactly the same as us ... and they've lost six ... which is ummmmm .... one less than our seven? Soooo yeah .. the Flyers are totally worse than us?!? #shrugs

LEADING CANDIDATE FOR SILLIEST STATEMENT EVER ISSUED BY AN NHL GENERAL MANAGER UPDATE: You know something has hit the fan when you see this put out:

"Those clocks are sophisticated instruments that calculate time by measuring electrical charges called coulombs -- given the rapidity and volume of electrons that move through the measuring device the calibrator must adjust at certain points which was the delay you see -- the delay is just recalibrating for the clock moving too quickly during the 10 - 10ths of a second before the delay -- this insures that the actual playing time during a period is exactly 20 minutes That is not an opinion -- that is science -- amazing devise quite frankly."

Hah. It's an amazing devise!! Wait, what the heck is a devise? Devise and conquer? COULOMBS! What?? Is this a coulombs? Eh. Whatever. This story just keeps getting bigger, and the NHL has done an AWFUL job in responding to what was certainly a huge screw up. The bottom line is this: The Kings were awarded two points for a game they didn't win. The League could have simply awarded each team a point, and ordered both teams to play a special overtime period the next time they meet this season, and be done with it.

But no, the League basically said "the Kings won, that's the end of the story."

Hmm, something tells me this won't be the end of the story.


First Period:

- Lineups: Max Pacioretty – David Desharnais – Erik Cole

Mike Blunden - Lars Eller - Mathieu Darche

Rene Bourque - Tomas Plekanec – Scott Gomez

Yannick Weber – Louis Leblanc – Andrei Kostitsyn

Yup. Andrei gets moved down to the fourth line. Cunneyworth sticking to the Pleks/Bourque/Gomez combo which had nothin' going against the Sabres.

- Wow. Didn't know Brodeur had a sub .900 SP. Has it ever been that low this late in the season?

- Ah, the dreaded Chris Lee wearing the stripes tonight. Habs catching all the breaks /eyeroll.

- Bourque simply wouldn't be denied on that one. Brodeur a bit floppy. 1-0 Habs.

- Okay, I'm going to boldly predict that tonight, Gomez finally breaks the streak. Just because I said so.

- From watching the replay, it sure looks like Bourque's shot deflected in off of Desharnais' face. Colour me impressed. Habs winning by a nose.

- RDS just showed Cole leaving the ice for the dressing room. Oh man. What next?

- No better way of rubbing it in the coach's face than by scoring on your second shift. Kostitsyn gives Habs a moderately surprising 2-0 lead. Devils call time.

- Jersey's zone coverage has been pretty much atrocious so far. We'll take it.

- Oh Carey. Don't let them back in this with stuff like that.

- Cole back on the ice and seconds later is sent to the box. We'll take it. Wonder if it was an equipment problem?

- Jersey leads the League in shorthanded goals (11). #justdeclinethepenalty

- Watching the Habs PP actually makes me drowsy. Not joking. I'm feeling sleepy right now.

- Good grief guys. Don't make this any harder than it needs to be. Shoot. The. Puck.

- Habs period, really should be up by two, sans the gift goal.

Second Period:

- Wow. Devils really should have scored shorthanded there. Price in la-la land tonight. #justdeclinethepenalty

- Sheesh. Plekanec AGAIN with a shorthanded break, and AGAIN he doesn't convert, but Darche is there to clean up. Habs lead 3-1. Killer deflating goal from the Devis' perspective.

- Wow. Cunneyworth really has the hate on Kostitsyn. After going out and scoring on the demoted 4th line way back in the first, he's been given just two short shifts since. Dunno what's going on there.

- Cole just missed an empty net off the rebound. 4-1 would have been the killing blow. As it stands, Jersey still with time and hope.

- Kostitsyn finally gets a shift, and seconds after stepping onto the ice, is robbed of a goal by Brodeur.

- Marty keepin' his team in this.

- I have to question Cunneyworth's player management skills here. Kostitsyn got demoted to the 4th line, obviously the message being sent that his effort level recently isn't up to par. All he's done tonight is work his butt off every shift, scored a goal (nearly two), and yet Cunneyworth has kept him mostly stapled to the bench. What's the message being sent? Try hard and still not be acknowledged or rewarded?

- Kostitsyn at least now getting a few more shifts, but still mired on that 4th line.

- Shot from the line pinballs past Price. What are ya gonna do?

- That Cole empty net miss now looking bigger and bigger.

- Habs now making regular visits to the box. Not good.

- Eller with an excellent shift on the PK.

- And Cole with his best shift of the night, seemed like he was everywhere he needed to be.

- We've been here before countless times. Habs leading by one headed to the 3rd. How will they lose this one?

Third Period:

- All Devils so far. Habs have barely touched the puck. Ut oh.

- Sorry, I clearly don't know my New Jersey Devils history. Why is Gomez so roundly booed the (few) times he has the puck?

- Habs must score quickly, cause Devils are gonna tie this.

- And there it is. Oy. Price wiffed it?

- Naw. Shot was deflected in by Zubrus. Price had no chance.

- Devils winning nearly every battle for the puck. A loss seems inevitable.

- Habs get a PP. Great chance to grab a quick nap.

- Does Subban have the most blockable shot in the League?

- Habs just pass the puck around and (eventually) shoot from a low percentage place. This is why they're 12.4%

- The empty net miss by Cole in the 2nd. Just writing that again out of spite.

- In case you missed it, Blunden after taking a pretty good smack from Elias in the first, has a lower body injury. Only had one shift in the 2nd.

- Oh my goodness. Subban just destroyed Adam Larsson with a monster (clean) hit.

- Larsson in a whole lot of trouble. I'm not sure he's aware of what time zone he's in. Still trying to get off the ice.

- Devils really can't respond to that. Subban's hit was totally clean. They have to respect that.

- Elias gives Subban a taste of his own medicine along the boards, but not nearly as hard.

- Parise scores and Cunneyworth is going nuts thinking the play was offside. It wasn't.

- So yeah. How would the Habs blow this? We have our answer. The usual way. They are simply unable and unprepared to deal with opposition pressure.

- Larry Robinson, the guy who nobody in Habs management would return a phone call two years ago, gives the players direction behind the Devils bench. Cunneyworth behind the Habs bench. That is all you need to know.

- Habs lose. But then we saw it coming, and watched it happen, every agonizing second.

Game Thirty-Three: Devils v. Habs

It just never gets dull around here, does it? For those who might still be rolling out of bed, Jacques Martin was summarily dismissed as head coach this morning, and Randy Cunneyworth has taken over as "intern" head coach.

I have to admit, I'm pretty surprised about the firing. While Martin was by no means on solid ground, considering how an amply talented Habs team has struggled to establish itself as an Eastern Conference contender, I didn't think the ground of tenure was quite that shaky. Nonetheless, Pierre Gauthier made the move, almost certainly because he (like I) was not satisfied with the team's progress (or lack thereof), and because he's probably getting strong signals from his bosses that's he's on the plank and will be the next body to be dismissed.

Myself, I wasn't particularly enamored with Martin - never really have been, but I certainly would never be counted amongst the coin-tossing mob that's been continually pounding the drum for Martin's (and Gauthier's) firing since last summer. Martin is/was a pretty good coach, but he was ultimately hampered by his own lack of flexibility. The tough love approach to young players, the steadfast determination to play the veterans (regardless of how poorly their performances were), and the unmoving devotion to his "system" which would never (and perhaps more accurately could) be modified. The primary focus on puck control, which has tremendous benefit to helping mediocre teams play competitive against good teams, never really played into the Habs core strengths over the past few years - which has been speed. Yes, game in, game out, we've been taking some of the League's best clubs - the Flyers, Bruins, Sharks - to the cusp of defeat, but because the Habs style was so conservative, we never really were able to clinch the winnable games. For that, I think Gauthier and Habs ownership probably took the view that Martin's style had run its course, and the team had nowhere to go but sideways or down as long as he remained behind the bench.

So yet another new era has dawned in Habs Land. It's Cunneyworth's baton to run with - at least for awhile. And who knows? He might turn out to be another Lindy Ruff or Barry Trotz - two guys who came from different directions, but had the hockey background and knowledge to become great NHL coaches. Maybe Cunneyworth is that guy. Or maybe not. He'll have 50 or so games to prove his worth, plus perhaps get some playoff games to boot. All we can do is hope.

7:17 EST update: I tweeted Les Perreaux, a reporter from the Globe and Mail and old alumni contact, whether Cunneywoth's hiring signals the continuing demise of separatism in Quebec. Ever the responsible journalist, Les tweeted back "if you could just float that with some other national newspaper on Monday I'd greatly appreciate it." Point taken!

First Period:

- As these things usually go with a new coach behind the bench, Habs storming out of the gate, while Brodeur and the Devils hold on and wait for the storm to pass.

- So much NHL inexperience standing behind that Habs bench right now, the Martin haters might end up not wanting what they long wished for. Time will tell.

- That PK unit is just unbeatable. And Darche does a nice job shot blocking.

- Take a shot, and you never know what happens. Such was the Devils' first goal by Sykora, which appears to have caught Price off guard. 1-0.

- Even though the Habs came out hard they register only thief first shot on Brodeur at the 10 minute mark.

- Desharnais line just delivered Habs best shift of the game. So far.

- First big benefactor from the Cunneyworh era is Kostitsyn, who is promoted to first line duty.

- While there is plenty of speculation that this will be Brodeur's final season, and while he's not quite as nimble as younger years, he's still pretty damn nimble.

- Nokelainen, 30 feet separated from everyone else on a breakaway, misses the net. Such is to be expected from a career 4th liner, I suppose.

- Cole could easily face supplementary discipline from the League following that hit on Larsson. Elbow made contact with head in what might be construed as intentional, although in Cole's defense, Larsson did move his head down before contact was made.

- A disappointing first for the Habs, inconsistent offense and a general lack of discipline.

Second Period:

- Subban connects on the PP, in what can only be described as a one more starting point in a long road to return to his form from last season. Game tied.

- Subban's first PP goal of the year by the way. Almost nobody would have believed it would have taken him until Dec 17th to do it.

- Cole gets called for interference, the wrong call as it was Parise who skated into him.

- And the Devils cash in. Really hate to see goals generated by blown calls.

- Campoli, of all players, with a cannon blast past Brodure for his first as a Hab. And Hall Gill with an assist? Wowserz.

- Oh what a pretty tic-tac-toe score, Eller finishes it off, and Gill another assist? Wowzerrrrrz.

- It might be presumptuous, but Habs offense seems a bit more free wheeling and relaxed tonight - certainly so in this second period.

- Weber not really helping his case to play on the PP unit with yet another bad pinch/misplay at the line.

- Oh dear. Habs make an absolutely wretched line change, Hal Gill very slow getting off the bench, and Devils the game on a goal by Clarkson that ought never be scored in the NHL.

Third Period:

My connection failed, but really, there wasn't much to say about the third period other than if this team hasn't reached bottom, it surely scraped the barrel. The team looked as lost as it did disinterested in front if Price. It very well may have been the worst period of hockey I've seen in 10 years.

The blame really goes all around. After the game the locker room was reportedly closed for an extended meeting, where one can only assume some frank assessments were made about the direction this team is going and the efforts (or lack of) by many of the players.

It really was that bad. So bad that it's conceivable that player moves are made in the forthcoming days.

Lars Eller made some pretty blunt statements tonight on Twitter about that third period. His words really do sum up just how far this team has fallen so fast.

Game Thirty: Habs v. Devils

Well, there's never a dull moment, is there? Still lots of talk about the acquisition of Kaberle from the 'Caines for Spacek, with the usual crowed calling for PG's head for making what is deemed a "desperate" deal.

I actually don't mind the deal. It actually makes a lot of sense. Sure, Kaberle has struggled badly the past year or so, but there really wasn't any spot left on the line for Spacek, what with the emergence of Diaz and Emelin as two pretty reliable guys. The only way Spacek could reasonably have found his way back is if he was deemed capable of revitalizing the Habs woeful powerplay, which as we all know, he couldn't. So enter Kaberle.

Both Spacek and Kaberle were earning roughly the same salary, so I don't quite understand the criticism that the Habs are taking on an extensive player whose contract, aside, can just as easily be buried if Kaberle does prove to be ineffective.

Anyway, it's a very low risk deal, with plenty of upside *if* Kaberle can get the powerplay going again. And it's the powerplay that's kept the Canadiens from competing for the Division - indeed it's been so bad that it's putting the entire season in jeopardy.

First Period:

- So here we go, the 29th ranked PP facing Martin and the number one rated PK in the NHL. Kaberle wearing #22, just finished an uneventful first shift.

- I know Price is a pretty confident guy, but the passes he makes behind is net to returning forwards in front of the net surrounded by opposing players, is downright frightening.

- Eek. Kaberle way out of position giving Devils 2-on-1 break, Clarkson set up perfectly, but whiffs on the puck. Shoulda been 1-0.

- Habs record their first shot 8 minutes into the game. Not good.

- Hoo boy. Kaberle again way out of position giving Devils golden scoring opportunity. Is it too early to pull the plug?

- Devils doing a nice job pass blocking in their zone, preventing the Habs from setting much of anything. Goals could be few and far between today.

- Don't wanna harp so much on this but Kaberle is playing way too soft in front of Price. In any case, Montreal about to go on PP. Let's see if the returns are immediate.

- Kaberle looked pretty good on the man advantage. Made some nice passes quarterbacking the line, helping to set up a couple of decent chances. Unit now 1 for past 37, but something's gotta give eventually.

- Habs just had an awesome PP to close the period, did everything *but* score, but it sure looks miles better with Kaberle as QB. This unit *will* score. Eventually.

Second Period:

- And there you have it, Habs PP strikes for the first goal, Kaberle an assist on Pacioretty goal.

- Devils awfully undisciplined today, Habs PP unit gets another try.

- Cammalleri snakebit today, has missed two sure-fire setups this period.

- Interesting. It appears that Martin is intent on double shifting Kaberle on the PP, perhaps to maximize his time on the unit, thereby limiting his 5-on-5 duties? I approve, if today's game is any indication of Kabele's PP strengths and even-strength weaknesses.

- Eller with a nice alert play handing his stick to Gorges on the PK. Also Emelin now being rewarded for his strong play being used on PK's first unit.

- Desharnais doing a nice Cammalleri impersonation today whiffing on an open net. Should be 2-0.

- Price really in a groove, square on shooters, making tough saves look easy. Golden opportunity to win today, just to create some separation by actually scoring.

Third Period:

- Ho hum. Will the Habs sit on another 3rd period lead? The answer so far is no, with Cole depositing the puck into an open net following a scramble. 2-0. Now will they sit? Better not, 'cause there's still 14 minutes left.

- Just about zero flow in this period, which suits the Habs just fine, but it's agonizing to watch. Zzzzzzz ...

- Kaberle releases his check, Palmieri, who flips one past Price top corner. Oy. Kaberle is soooo soft in front of his goal, I'm not sure how long I can stand it. 2-1, and Habs yet again in danger of letting a game that was largely in hand, slip away.

- In the span of 30 seconds Habs had a 3 on 1 and 2 on 1 break, didn't even come close to getting even a shot on Brodure. Now Diaz has taken a foolish slash. Oh boy.

- Dunno whether to laugh or cry. Moen blows easy opportunity to clear the zone and now Gorges called for putting glove on the puck in the crease giving Devils a penalty shot.

- Price with insane reaction of joy/relief after stopping Parise on the penalty shot. Wild finish here.

- Devils just jamming the goal looking for a greasy goal. Price holding on.

- They won? Wow. Am I breathing again? Not yet.