Game One: Leafs vs. Habs

Happy Friday Edition!!

This Just in From TSN ...

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This 'n' That:

A few bits and pieces of Habs news 'n' notes. Here's what we got so far:

- With George Parros out indefinitely, Habs recalled Michael Bournival on Wednesday, and with Max Pacioretty nursing an apparently injured left wrist, many were led to believe Bournival would be starting Saturday against the Flyers. However at the Habs practice this morning, Max Pacioretty was back on the ice, and Ryan White was seen playing along side Moen and Prust. Sooooo ... looks like Bournival will have to wait just a little bit longer before getting his first big-League start.

- UPDATE: In post-practice presser, Therrien indicated that both White and Bournival would likely get starts *if* Max Pacioretty doesn't feel ready to go (if Pacioretty were to take himself out, his injury is probably more serious than anyone is letting on). Likely though, Patches will start, and Bournival will sit.

Therrien also said he'd seen Parros, and that he looked "really good.". Get well soon, George!!!


- Unbelievably, somebody actually publicly defended Patrick Roy for his asinine behavior on Wednesday night which earned him a $10,000 fine. Who's the culprit? None other that Av's center Matt Duchene, who yesterday in a radio interview, called Roy's antics "exciting".

Hmm. Duchene, who's just 22 years old, probably needs a bit of history lesson about his coach. Roy's has quite the record for an inability to maintain rational thought - in recent years whether it's been directing his son to assault other players on the ice, or simply conducting the assaults himself. Or, if you prefer, all the way back to 1995 when the entitled Roy left the Habs in a huff because he didn't receive the "respect"  he felt owed to him from Mario Tremblay, who refused to kiss Roy's butt like Jacque Demers and Pat Burns were frequented to do.

Roy might coach the Avs to respectability this season, but long term, if he's unable to behave like an adult, Colorado may have just saddled themselves with a manager headed towards a personal implosion.

Afternoon Links

- Barry Trotz, who ain't no dummy, not pulling punches about Patrick Roy's abysmal behavior last night in Denver. Roy was slapped with a $10,000 fine by the League today.
- Relatively decent article about George Parros and his academic achievements. Parros ain't no goonfaced dummy, folks.
- Here's some actual cheery news. A few of the Habs players did a visit at Lac Megantic today, where that horrible train derailment happened earlier this year. Check out the crowd who came out to see the players. Wonderful!

- John Barlett, TSN Radio 690

For Your Consideration:

Here we see a 14 year old boy trapped inside the puffy body of a 46 year old man. Patrick Roy. Just. Shut. Up. Habsland is still breathing a sigh of relief that you're not our problem.

(From l-r): Awesome, Solid, THE MAN, Oh god Bergevin, WHY??

Stats Line: Leafs vs. Habs

- Corsi: Habs 70, Leafs 61
- Fenwick: Habs 53, Leafs 46

Not a whole lot to add building from the initial(correct) assessments that Habs were outplaying the Leafs, the bottom line is the Habs defense was pretty sloppy and soft, surrendering far too many high percentage shots. The score could and should have been worse, if it wasn't for some excellent saves made by Price to keep the scoreboard manageable.

Moving forward, adjustments will be necessary. Markov, who struggled, was utilized far too much on the PK - he's simply not adapt to that role given the realities of his rebuild legs. Therrien has two shut-down guys, Subban and Georges, with both eminently capable of putting out close to 30 minutes a night. Whether or not Therrien chooses to use guys like Markov in more adapt roles, 5-on-5 and PP situations, is yet to be seen. But even the casual viewer would have noticed that Andrei was out of his element and over his head, and it was a significant factor in the team's defeat.

About Last Night ...

Not a whole lot to say this morning, but thoughts continue to be on George Parros. And yeah .... it's getting harder and harder to rationalize fighting in the game that we love so much. As Deadspin notes this morning, unless fighting is removed from the sport, eventually somebody will die - and it'll probably happen in an incident much like what happened to Parros.

Parros, who spent the night in hospital, has been diagnosed with concussion, and is out indefinitely. His playing status is highly irrelevant. That ought not be our focus. Fighting in hockey though ... the debate must change its focus away from the silly rules brought in to reduce its prevelence (the helmet removing rule is pointless), towards eliminating its existence.

How you go about banning fighting is pretty significant challenge with inherently complex solutions, which you'd assume, would have to be pretty draconion.

But the clock is ticking. Something must be done to eliminate the brawling because eventually, sooner or later, somebody will die. If that happens, the game itself will be irrevocably damaged.

More later today. In the meantime, send your good thoughts for a speedy recovery towards George.

Third Period:

- Parros. Good grief. Orr sent to the dressing room. Building is like a funeral.

- Watching replay. Orr not to blame in any way.

- Game has turned dark. Doesn't seem like so much fun any more.

- Tinordi, who hasn't seen much action since making the mistake leading to the Leafs tying goal, sits in the box.

- Habs look disheartened, and the Leafs picking up the breaks. 4-2.

- Zip in Habs legs that looked so great in the first is gone. Team really hasn't recovered since Markov's big mistake.

- Therrien needs a spark. The Eller line seems the obvious solution. It certainly hasn't been the Desharnais line.

- Eller shift. Suddenly things happen. It ain't rocket science.

- No word on Parros. Assuming he's in hospital.

- Prust/Moen/Pacioretty. Therrien looking to grind out some offense. Habs are getting some mo' going here.

- Leafs having good time eating shifts here. Looking pretty disciplined.

- Desharnais' problems are pretty fundamental. He's not strong enough. Any lose pucks at his feet, he's simply pushed away. Long-term, I don't see how the Habs can carry this through. If he can't play centre, he's got a pretty limited NHL future.

- Officials can't count to six. At least this crew can't. Insanely, the Leafs get the powerplay.

- Guess what? Lars Eller. Shorthanded. Habs have hope.

- Leafs clinging to life, mugging anything in red that moves. Officials take a nap.

- Okay, Desharnais line to close it out? That one requires an explanation. 4-3 final.

- Eller line looked fantastic. Price made some huge saves to keep his team in the game. For the most part, Markov looked wretched. Desharnais line was a total zero - Briere included. On the bright side, Habs had lots of zip, pretty good puck control, but Leafs took advantage of mistakes, and that's how you win closely contested hockey games, Fenwick be dammed.

All of this, positive and negative, completely marred, of course, by what happened to Parros. Not a good opening night in Habsland.

Second Period:

- Max Pacioretty still hasn't come back after taking a hard hit midway through the first period. No reports on his status, yet.

- First period Habs fenwick 14-12, so there ya go. They did have the possession edge. Eller, who was the best player, got less than 5 minutes ice. Gallagher under 3 (ut-oh ... some things never change, do they?). Gorges almost *9* minutes, good chunk accumulated on the PKs.

- Patches back on the bench.

- Carey Price has made as many tough saves as you'd expect to get in 60 minutes, in the first 23 minutes. Stellar so far.

- Leafs defense having a lot of trouble adjusting to Habs zone passing. Creating a lot of quality chances.

- Parros with the response to Orr for his first period hit on Pacioretty, who's still yet to play a shift after getting injured.

- Pacioretty with a tentative shift. Took a (weakish) wrist shot. 

- Tinordi gets caught up ice. In the big leagues, they make you pay for those mistakes. Game tied.

- Borderline hook/hold call on Pacioretty. And that's being generous. Don't like the inconsistency of tonight's officiating, but that's old news.

- I know the early season is the time for experimenting, but still can't figure out deploying Diaz on the PK.

- Is there a reason why Therrien is severely limiting using the league Norris trophy winner on the PK? What am I missing here?

- Com'on, Markov doesn't have a diving rep. Silly silly silly call. 

- Picking up directly from last year, another quiet, uninspired night for Desharnais. 

- Speaking of, pretty impressed with Bourque tonight, really moving his feet well, driving the crease effectively.

- This new helmet penalty is silly. Not a deterrence, the coordinated synchronic removal also looks ridiculous.

- Markov with a night to forget. Yikes.

- Period to forget - Habs weren't badly outplayed persay, but got into some penalty trouble. And then Markov's huge mistake. Still, the Habs have overall been the better team, so there's nothing to suggest they shouldn't be capable of coming back in the 3rd.

First Period:

- Okay, the player intros are taking forever, but just looking at Parros sans the helmet is frightening. Hate to be the first guy who faces him in fisticuffs.

- So, so, so good to see Eller on that ice in full uniform. He is the future (and if you don't mind the cheesiness of this statement, the future is now).

- Never really understood the point of national anthems at the start of sporting events, but let's do it this way forever - only the crowd sings. Hell yeah!

- Glen Healy noting that Price was having problems handling a shot that went four feet wide. Penetrating analysis, Glen.

- The Eller line by far the best out of the gate.

- Parros is gonna make every precious minute of icetime count.

- Contrary to Healy's inane observations, Price had made two word-class saves. Leafs to the PP.

- That's three sparklers for Price, and counting.

- 5 on 3, whatareyagonnado? Wonder if that shot might have stayed out with last year's pads?

- Can just imagine the braintrust right now wearing the blue and white crying foul that Prust faked that boarding.

- Eller! Welcome back. And as noted previously, the best playing line is quickly rewarded. Excellent dish by Diaz, by the way - keep that out and I might change my position of having you as he 7th D.

- CBC good grief, who's in charge in the control room? A flock of monkeys?

- Carey Price making saves on shots that really ought to be goals. Therrien won't be pleased.

- Gallagher gives Habs the lead (same line strikes again), Leafs claiming the play was offside. Toronto defense, however, looked miserable adjusting to the transition. Habs speed is killing them.

- How does Gionta, 15 feet out, miss the net by three feet?

- Eller is a monster tonight. This is an All-Star in the making, folks.

- Healy keeps talking about how shaky Price is playing. What am I missing here?

- Excellent period for the Habs, clearly the faster, more organized playing team. Had clear edge on possession, and even though the "book" on the Habs is they can be outhit and outmuscled, they were the stronger team, especially along the boards.

WE ARE BACK. YES, WE ARE BACK.

Okay, remember how like ... five months ago I said I'd be posting throughout the summer about the Habs, being a good little blogger, doing all the analysis that earns you blogging "street cred." Remember that?? WELL SCREW THAT I LIKE SUMMER AND I SPENT IT OUTSIDE NOT INSIDE ALL DAY IN FRONT OF A COMPUTER.

Plus, I admit it ... I'm lazy.

So Sunday afternoon, I'm watching the Toronto Sports Network's little "pre-season" show about the upcoming season, really only caring about what they have to say about the only team that really matters - THE TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (kidding), and so, excuse me if I get this wrong - their "analysis" of the Habs this year went something like this:

1) Habs finished in 1st place last year, despite Carey Price not really playing very well.
2) We TOTALLY expect Price to have a big rebound season.
3) Ergo, the Habs will finish out of the playoffs!

Did that compute? I didn't think so. But then again, the TSN panel thought the Leafs will grab one of these wild card playoff spots, so hah ... you ... I .. they ... ugh. Why bother??

THIS SEASON. So Marc Bergevei loses his collective mind for a week (the last time being when he signed Desharnais to a four year extension), and gobbles up Dannie Briere who NOBODY would have been interested in. So now we're stuck with this non-productive, undersized winger for two more years, under the guise of some absurd expectation that he's going to help make Desharnais score actual points.

Le sigh. I suppose there's no point in bemoaning the acquisition, but your veritable Habs Game Blogger thinks Bergevin it's a dreadful mistake that could significantly bog down the Habs offense when, inevitably, Therrien starts moving Briere from line to line when, inevitably, Briere fails to produce the necessary numbers.

SO TONIGHT. GAME ONE! A NEW SEASON. LIFE CAN BEGIN AGAIN. And ... it's against the Leafs. Har, har. Piece of cake, right? Just like last year when ... okay. So maybe not that easy, but com'on ... the Leafs made a series of moves during the summer with the (I guess?) expectation that if you move sideways hard enough, you'll eventually move forward. I dunno. We'll see, but I don't see the Leafs landing any higher than 11th, *maybe* 10th in the East this season.

Puck drops at 7:10-ish EST. The Bell Centre is gonna be rockin' tonight.

Game Twenty: Habs vs. Leafs

First Period:

- Really like the uptempo start by the Habs, taking a much different tact than the game they lost 6-0.

- Outshooting your opponent by a ratio of 4 to 1, hurts to be down 1-0. Subban the defensive error reacting the wrong direction, allowing Mclaren free path to the net and a fluky backhander that somehow eludes Price. 1-0.

- Always sweet to have your 4th line produce. Emelin first of the year off a Leafs leg in front. Game quickly tied, important to maintain pace if you're the better playing team.

- Kaberle, I must admit, has brought his A game tonight. Impressively sturdy and physical so far.

- Brown with a terrible blind hit on Gorges who went into the corner awkwardly. Case could be made that Brown should be given 5.

- It is, indeed, a 5 minute major and game for Brown.

- Habs clearly the better team, dominated puck possession, outshot Leafs 10-4. Take that every time.

- Pacioretty might not be able to hit empty nets, but a fluky bounce will do nicely, thank you. Habs take 2-1 lead.

Second Period:

- The Toronto scribes are up in arms over the Brown call. Not a surprise there. Mike Milbury called it a clean check, which automatically tells you the Brown hit is suspension-worthy.

- Huge PP opportunity here. Be sweet to score at least one from this.

- Puck was rolling a bit, but still, Pacioretty's gotta bury that into the empty net.

- Such a huge drop-off when Bouillon and Kaberle work the PP line.

- Prust has to be smarter than that on the PP. Drawing a fight isn't worth it.

- 5 minute major added, Habs really running up the shot clock.

- Shots 9-0 Habs at the 7 minute mark of the period.

- I'd wager 8 of the 10 minutes of this period, the puck has been in the Leafs' zone. It really has been that one-sided in favour of the Canadiens.

- 25 to 5 the shots on goal. Habs should be running away on the scoreboard. But they aren't burying.

- Grabovsky isn't a speedster, but Emelin looked like molasses. Grabovsky draws a penalty shot.

- Pathetic attempt by Grabovsky. Score remains 2-1.

- McCarthur off the rebound seconds after Leafs carried the puck in blown offside call. Leafs taking advantage of their opportunities. 2-2.

- Emelin rings one off the inside of the goalpost. Karma not going Habs way.

- Habs have simply dominated 36 of the 40 minutes played do far. But the score is tied. This game might be headed with the same fate as Monday's game in Ottawa. Canadiens simply not burying enough chances, Price not his stellar usual self.

Third Period:

- Much more evenly played period, both teams with cautious offensive jabs, but defenses being very protective of their slots. Almost as though each is waiting for the other to make the first big mistake.

- Ryder with a pretty quiet first night, to be expected given he's playing with new teammates and an entirely different system.

- Right off a sloppily dropped faceoff, Gorges with a harmless wrist shot tipped by Gallagher. Habs lead 3-2.

- Habs just barely surviving post-goal letdown here.

- Leafs continue to spout venom from the bench over how that faceoff was dropped. Like they're gonna actually take the goal off the board, guys?

- Btw the poorly dropped puck made by the same official who blew an offside call on Toronto's tying goal in the 2nd period. So it all evens out.

- Toronto scribes STILL fretting over the the Bozak faceoff drop. Sharpening up the excuses for a loss, I suppose.

- BEAUTIFUL forecheck and an even more brilliant shot by Pacioretty. One of the best goal shots I've seen anywhere this season. Habs have insurance.

- Habs in lock-down mode. Doing nice job so far clearing the zone.

- Scrivens needs to wait until the puck crosses centre red line before leaving his net. Gionta with icing on the cake.

- Scribes are now silent. Habs took the Leafs out to the shed tonight.

- Nine wins for the month of February, tonight a brilliant performance to cap an outstanding month for the Canadiens. This team just keeps impressing more and more with each start, one starts to wonder when the sky is the limit.

Pregame Preview:

I know we're a little late to the trade party, but the big news out of Habsland yesterday was the deal between the Canadiens and Stars, with Erik Cole headed to the Big D, and Michael Ryder coming back for another stint with the team that originally drafted him.

A disclaimer. First, I really, really approved of the original Cole singing. He's a tremendous puck controlling winger with feast or famine offensive output. Unfortunately, it's been more famine that feast for Cole this season, and with two years left on a fairly large sized contract, I can fully understand the rationale in Bergevin's mind. Let's cut some salary, and if Ryder really continues to produce well, maybe offer him a nice little deal at season's end. Even if Ryder goes elsewhere, the Habs are still looking at about 16+m left floating on their cap space, which is ENORMOUS.  So there's lot of flexibility heading into the offseason. 

Tonight, Ryder's in uniform as the Habs will try to FINALLY beat the Leafs, whom as we all remember, and can't forget as hard as we try, pretty much handed the Habs their butt on a plate the last time the two met two weeks ago. Ryder will play along side Lars Eller and Alex Galchenyuk. Hopefullly Ryder will continue his +1 PPG pace.

We have injury problems creeping up, though. Rene Bourque apparentlyuky didn't have the flu, but was suffering from concussion symptoms. So he's a scratch for who hurt knows how long. And late this afternoon there's news that Raphael Diaz will sit out tonight because of, you guessed it, concussion symptoms. Yikes.

So in Diaz' place, Tomas Kaberle will get his first start since February 2nd. Double yikes.

Carey Price will start for the Habs, Ben Scrivens for the Leafs.

Puck drops at 7:40 EST. ENJOY THE GAME AND FOR GOODNESS SAKE LET'S BEAT THIS OVERACHIEVING LEAFS TEAM ALREADY DAMMIT.

Game Eleven: Leafs vs. Habs

Alright, so it's been a couple of days since Ryan White got a cramp in the cranial, and for the 2nd major time this year, took a double-minor penalty that contributed towards losing a game. Not surprisingly, there were plenty of calls for White's butt to be shipped off to Siberia or Winnipeg (I suppose there's little difference), because, as coach Therrien and everyone else who makes decisions in the Habs organization had readily proclaimed, there are "NO EXCUSES" if you play for the Montreal Canadiens.

So GOODBYE RYAN WHITE AND GOOD RIDDANCE.

Of course, unloading White as just desserts (I assume) serves the purposes of sending a clear message that the Habs mean business now when it comes to winning, and there are few, if any, margins for error  or forgiveness.

Problem is, punishing White beyond the expected forthcoming scratches would be a terribly counterproductive move by the Canadiens, because White has significant value, and plays an important specific role on his team. He's the classic 4th line grinder, willing to stick his nose in places most players aren't willing to go. He's prepared to dish out hits and (we hope appropriately) drop the gloves to defend his mates. He's even got some offensive ability to boot - he is capable of leading a line searching for grubby goals to propel his team over the top in those hard-fought, competitive contests.

So it makes little sense for Therrien to admonish White to permanent obscurity for these errors in judgement. Yes, they were significant errors, but they are correctable.

I'm pretty certain at this point, White knows he's got a problem, he's identified it, and he'll work on making sure it doesn't happen any more, when he's given the chance to prove himself.

And I'm very sure Therrien will give him another chance. Not tonight, probably not this week, but eventually.

TONIGHT: We gots yer Leafs and we gots yer Habs for the 700th and 65st time or whatever it is, in history. The Habs will try to put an end to this mini winless streak against a Leafs team that we're still trying to figure out. Are they good? Are they bad? Are they great? Are they horrible?

The Leafs, with their mediocre .500-esque record, haven't been helped much by the guys who are supposed to produce, namely Phil Kessel, who finally scored his first goal of the year in the last game, but is nonetheless the centre of much trade speculation. Meanwhile the Leafs defense hasn't exactly been turning heads, Dion Phaneuf has looked pretty awful on a few occasions this season. So opportunity's aplenty for the speedy Habs forwards to take full advantage on the supposed 1st line Toronto defense. Look for many drives to the Leafs net tonight.

Oh yeah. Toronto's PK? Still terrible. How many years in a row will this continue? Looking forward to the Markov/Subban duo setting off cannons from the line on the PP. Gonna be fun.

Habs, even with the mini winless streak, still looked pretty solid in defeats. P.K. Subban seems to be settling in - he hasn't played a game yet without scoring at least one point. The Desharnais line continues to be plagued with inconsistency, but you just know that once Max Pacioretty starts to get his wheels back that they'll start to produce - even considering Erik Cole's usual slow season starts.

Carey Price, he amongst the Habs netminders who is capable of covering up a loose puck, will start. James Reimer, who I guess is now for sure the Leafs #1 guy for the rest of the year(?) ... will start for Toronto.

Travis Moen will also return from his mini-injury. And yeah, Ryan White will sit.


First Period:

- Markov gets caught, can't get back, Emelin fails to cover the crease, and Leafs Kamarov scores on the Leafs' first shot of the game. Yuck.

- Eller with a ridiculously sloppy and lazy giveaway in his zone nearly costs the Habs another goal.

- Leafs gameplan pretty transparent. Forecheck like crazy. Habs should adjust accordingly, and benefit by generating odd man rushes.

- Habs 4th line with some good work keeping puck in Leafs zone. Trying to generate some much needed momentum.

- Price looks hmmm ... shaky?

- Habs are letting Leafs walk all over them in the slot, and Toronto is killing them. 2-0 and counting.

- You'd never know the Habs were a "rested" team by what we've seen the first 10 minutes. Slow and sloppy.

- Quite possibly the worst played period of the season to date right here. Boos peppering down from the seats.

- Habs haven't registered one good chance on Reimer so far. First nearly over.

- Can we just play the Galchenyuk line for the rest of the night?

- Outhustled, outhit, outchanced, outshot, outplayed. Fully deserving to be down by two after one.


Second Period:

- Habs come out strong. Clearly a message was delivered in the dressing room.

- Subban attempting to carry the puck deep, which is fine - but he tends to stick handle himself into a position where he's forced to make a pass, often blind pass.

- Not a great night for Emelin, Gallagher misses his check, and it's 3-zip. Leafs are simply cashing their opportunities.

- Need big momentum changing event here, like a short-handed goal.

- Canadiens' passing simply not clicking. Can someone explain playing the Leafs on a Saturday night this season? #maddening

- Leafs passing like a top-flight NHL team tonight. Why us?

- Cole taken off first line, Gallagher has his spot now.

- Wow. Crazy call on Gallagher. Grabbed and tossed to the ice, he's called for a dive. Wrong call.

- Why is Tim Peel an NHL referee? Too many bad calls being made by this singular official.

- 5 on 3 opportunity coming up. Chance to get back into this. Markov and Subban warming up at the line. Let's do this.

- Bourque turns the puck over with the two man advantage. Goodbye two man advantage.

- Faceoffs are 30 Leafs, 15 Montreal. Need we say more?

- Habs are only going to beat Reimer with garbage tonight. Nothing getting past.

- 16-5 SOG Habs 2nd period. Ain't happening.

- 4 minutes left, Habs simply must score before period ends to have any hope.

- Bourque gets mugged, gets called for the penalty. More officiating wow. Leafs, of course, score on the PP. That's all she wrote.

- Seen way too many poor penalties being called this year - far more than I can ever recall. There must be some explanation.

- Habs register 20 shots in the 2nd, Leafs register 7. Leafs score 2, Habs score zip. Yeah, me either.


Third Period:

- Subban in lala land, Price simply hasn't been himself, 5-0, Habs determined to be humiliated tonight. They already have been. What's the excuse going to be for this sorry demonstration?

- Price's elite GAA and SP League standing going to take a huge tumble tonight. Hasn't been the same since Eller hit him you-know-where in warmups.

- Pacioretty livid, claiming Grabovski bit his hand in a scrum. Refs, at least these two, of course, missed it. League may review this, however.

- Signing off for the night, the reverberations from tonight's shellacking are going to be interesting. Ryan White might be back a lot sooner than we thought.

Game Number 1: Leafs vs. Habs

Holy crap. Is it October already?? What oh yeah that's right. I forgot. HERE WE GO.

First Period: Who's the guy in net for Toronto? I get the feeling that might be said more than a few times this year.

- Aggressive start White line, gets penalized for the bump, and a goal is waved off. More, please.

- Lazy hook by Cole. Another Leafs PP. Fortunately their man advantage has looked pretty rusty out of the gate.

- Markov looks really sharp. This is good.

- Nice setup by Kessel. Kadri a nicer fake on Price, and the Leafs strike first. Blah.

- Galchenyuk very nearly scores on his very first NHL shot.

- Habs sloppy in their own zone, Leafs are outhustling them so far.

- Prust handles Brown EASILY. Another good sign. More, please.

- Grobovski, meet Gorges. HA.

- Leafs are ALL over the Habs so far. The Habs first line ain't exactly tearing it up.

- Another lackluster shift by the Desharnais line. No offensive spark coming from anywhere - yet.

- Habs taking too many sloppy penalties (another indication of a team that's being outworked). Price keeping his team in this game.

- Prust is gonna be a big fan favorite if he keeps dishing out the body like this.

- Pacioretty goes awkwardly into the boards, was slow skating back to the bench.

- Desharnais with their first decent shift of the night. Habs with first legit pressure in the Leafs' zone.

- Leafs finally get called for a hook. Habs go to their first PP of the season.

- Markov sweet carry and dish to Cole who can't pull the trigger. Markov will automatically make this team much more dangerous with the man advantage. A healthy Markov, that is.

- Habs looked an awful lot like last year's team in that first period. But it's just one period, and to be fair, the Leafs had much more energy. Habs need a response period in the 2nd.

Second Period:

- Prust wins faceoff and slides a perfect pass to Armstrong who backhands one wide. Best Habs chance so far.

- For Eller's sake let's hope he's not saddled with Bourque for the rest of the season.

- Sweet gawd, Markov's passes are a pleasure to watch. Right on the tape.

- Habs very sloppy and sleepy in front of their net, Leafs nearly make it 2-0.

- Armstrong couldn't have won that race even with a three second head start.

- Wow. They call Pleks for a snowshower? Wow.

- Leafs capitalize on a call that should never have been made. 2-0.

- A rare sighting. Bourque goes to the net! Almost scored, too.

- Diaz' transitional passes from his zone are just terrible. The anti-Markov, if you would.

- Kadri with a brutal dirty blindside check on Markov. Ought to be 4 minutes, but he'll only get 2.

- Kaberle ain't no 78. Oy.

- P.K.'s agent rubbing hands with delight as the Habs' PP craters. This is bad, bad, bad.

- Another poor call, this time Desharnais is the victim. I guess the officials also have some lockout rust.

- Dead quiet in Bell Centre. Go figure.

- Eller with a 2-1 break, pass to Prust three feet behind Prust's stride.

- Love that little rush and quick snap shot by Galchenyuk. Gonna be loads of fun to watch this kid play, no matter how bad this team is.

- Second period pretty much a mirror of the first - Leafs outhitting and outskating the Habs. Canadiens' offense looks hopeless, with the Desharnais and Eller line stumbling out of the gate. Habs need to come out storming in 15 minutes.

Third Period:

- Franky Boullion is 35. A few times tonight he's looked more like 45 skating back to cover his zone.

- Kaberle one-man wrecking crew tonight. Just take him off the PP, already.

- Habs PP comes to life 2 seconds after the Leafs' penalty ends.

- Finally Habs offense seems to be trying, pushing the net, getting some chances. Surely a goal is approaching.

- Scouting report on Scrivens is to shoot high glove side? Lost count the number of times Habs wingers have tried that side tonight.

- Mostly Habs first half of the 3rd, but just don't seem to have the horses to finish the play. Must maintain this pressure to break the zero. Then it's anyone's game.

- There we go!! Gionta off the rebound. And we have a game.

- Eller with a seemingly harmless wrister that jussssst about got through Scrivens. Hang on, folks.

- Habs D line has been pinching hard since about the 5 minute mark of this period. That won't be changing until a second goal is scored.

- Habs needed this third period in the second period.

- 8 seconds left, faceoff deep in Leafs zone. Welp, this is it.

- We all know that a hockey game is won in 60 minutes, not 20. Habs will have to bring a lot more energy on Tuesday night to record their first win.

- Mr. Meehan? Urgent call for you on line one. It's Marc Bergevin.

Game Eighty-Two: Leafs v Habs

Is it true? Is it possible? Have we reached the finish line? Is the nightmare of disappointment now at an end? Is this finally, really the end?

It's been quite an experience. Blogging (just about) every single minute of every single Habs game during, no less, one of the worst seasons in the 103 year history of the Montreal Canadiens.

Is this to say the whole experience, the countless hours spent posting during the game, and researching in-between contests, was futile? Certainly not - the whole experience, much like running marathons (of which I do) was entirely gratifying. Especially when you reach that finish line, look back, and remind yourself that you just ran that whole damn thing by yourself.

And anyway, beside the win/loss record, which was entirely disasterous, this was almost certainly one of the weirdest seasons in Habs history. The pre-game coaching firings, the mid-game trades of out best players, the fanatical reactions to individual abilities to speak languages, the maddening and seemingly endless string of injuries, watching and commenting on this organization while it teared itself apart in ultra slow motion was utterly fascinating.

The fun won't stop after tonight. We have a very important draft coming up featuring a very high pick. We have the highest of management positions to be filled. We have many opportunities at hand to fill glaring voids, most of them on offense, this summer via the free agent market. It's going to be very interesting process to witness.

And really, this team has SO MANY critical pieces already in place, it is more than possible - one might go so far as to say probable, for this team to make the necessary moves to make it more than playoff contenders next season. There is plenty to be optimistic about.

So tonight!!! The last game, with some matters on the line. The Oilers can still catch us for 28th, assuming they beat the Canucks (a tall order) and we lose to the Leafs (an even taller order).

It seems as though everybody was at practice this morning. Moen! Gionta! Will they play tonight? Why the heck not! Let's have at least one game of what this team was supposed to be - with Markov quarterbacking the line.

I'm going to enjoy crossing that finish line. And take the summer off, and start all over again.

First Period:

- Oh, Toronto. 5-on-3 and you still find a way of allowing Plekanec to get a break for a goal? Sigh.

- I know Phaneuf is world class with a blistering shot, but some of the careless mistake he makes, it's no wonder that Leafs fans are certified.

- Leafs doing a relatively good job with possession, movement around the Habs zone is relatively efficient, but Canadiens defense giving Budaj solid protection.

- Desharnais line really zipping so far - nice to see that line pad their stats a bit before the night is done.

- St-Denis looking really good on the PK. I maintain the competition for that 7th D spot against Weber is his to lose this September.

- Pretty inelegant period. Special teams were quite dreadful. Going to be really difficult to lose to this Leafs team.

Second Period:

- What a terrible change by the Leafs defense, and Pacioretty with a sharp angle shot that really had no business going in. Habs extend their lead.

- Paciorety's score narrows the team goal scoring gap to one. Cole better get on his game.

- Toronto looks dreadful, especially in their own zone. Headless chicken routine. Painful to watch.

- Habs caught doing another pick. Do they practice this stuff? Do they know it's almost certainly going to get spotted and called every time?

- Budaj having a pretty solid night, but the difference in mobility between and and Price is night and day.

- Pacioretty of all players, with the hit of the night.

- Komisarek. It's really astounding to see how far he's fallen since getting lured over to Toronto. Totally uninvolved, barely competent - not sure if he's playing with some physical incapacity. He certainly looks like a guy with zero confidence. The Habs really dodged a bullet when their offer was declined in an attempt to resign.

- As much as it pains me to say this, Campoli's final five games of the schedule have been the best of his season. Still not good enough to possibly rationalize his return.

- Sorry Max, you can't kick them in. Woulda tied him with Cole.

- That Pacioretty near-miss wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for a fantastic block and pass by Markov to set up the shot. I'd love to see how far this team would go with an 80 game Markov season.

- Love that penalty by Subban. If you're going to take one, do it with style.

- St-Denis becoming a bit of a PK specialist, no?

- Rene Bourque demonstrating that when he actually tries, he can actually be effective.

- Leafs hooking and grabbing everything in sight. Finally the officials can no longer look the other way.

- Plekanec simply couldn't believe that he missed that shot into a gaping Leafs net (beautiful pass by Kaberle to set him up by the way).

- Subban takes the mantle for hit of the night. Leafs enraged but it was totally clean.

- Can I say this? Toronto is terrible. No way we could possibly lose this.

Third Period:

- Leafs come a stormin' to start the period, wonder if they got a talkin' to by Carlyle in the dressing room?

- And Pheneuf with a blast that draws the Leafs draw to within one.

- Leafs really pressing. Could see this tied up soon.

- Never mind. Cole with his 35th on another stopple close-in try. Habs on their way.

- I suppose there's satisfaction to be had from handing the Leafs their butts on a stick on the last night, but it'd going to cost us a precious draft pick lottery spot, and we're still not going to finish ahead of Toronto. Oh well.

- Really?? Staubitz scores the final Habs goal of the year? Seems fitting.

- Habs win!!! And 2011-12 is a wrap.