Game Forty-Six: Stars vs. Habs

THIRD PERIOD:

- Habs two period possession total, 36%. Granted, the play hasn't been totally lopsided, but com'on ... against a team like Dallas with so many defensive issues - this is just atrocious and inexcusable. Habs totally deserve to cough up this game.

- Stars have had at least three empty nets tonight, because of bad bounces and slow reactions by Habs defense. Everyone involved just plain lucky the Habs are leading on the scoreboard.

- Habs again being out-possessed in the period, and Dale Weise ain't exactly helping. Unless the Habs were hoping to have as little to do with the puck as possible.

- Just mind-boggling how Dallas has failed to score tonight off mad scrambles around Price. Habs really living off horseshoes tonight.

- Crazy great blocker save by Price. A mere mortal netminder would have had no chance. Habs are being outshot by a margin of 2 to 1, shots are 38-19 as we type.

- Bad too many call on Dallas for too many. Now down five on three. See how the Habs will muff this one up.

- Annnnnnd ... there you have it. Sekac high sticks Daley. Buh-bye 5-on-3 before it even began.

- Goligoski in a race for the puck, cuts out Price's legs. He's called for a trip, Dallas is furious, but it's the correct call. Habs have a 4 on 3 for 1:25.

- Desharnais on the ice for this 4 on 3, for some insane reason.

- Major mistake by Therrien putting Desharnais out there on the 4-on-3. He doesn't shoot, and guess what, when set up with a wide open net, doesn't shoot. Crazy bench management.

- Habs really, really, really should have buried this game. Somehow found a way of giving away some incredible advantages. This game is foreboding a bad end for the Canadiens.

- Don't know if anyone else has noticed, but since Emelin was ejected, this Habs team has played a better defense game. Huh, that.

- Dale Weise capping off a craptaculour game with a bad interference penalty. Foreboding ... we mentioned it before. Here we go ...

- Somebody with a brain cramp early jump off the bench with Pacioretty coming off, and the Habs get nailed for too many. 5 on 3 for the Stars coming up. 

- Outstanding muscle play by Subban to wrestle the puck away from Seguin, and help clear the zone. It kills the 5-on-3. Worth every penny of that $7 million.

- Dallas swarming here. It's a nail biter.

- Price excellent on the powerplay. But Subban the real star on the 5-on-3 kill. That one muscle play on Seguin might have well won the game.

- Habs just barely hold on for the win. Barely. An unimpressive, but entertaining game and victory. One more night, one more game, one more "we'll take the two points although we really didn't deserve it."

SECOND PERIOD:

- Well, well, Habs powerplay manages to strike, but then again, when you've got guys like Subban, Galchenyuk and Gallagher spearheading your attack, you're in pretty good shape. 3-1.

- Hoo boy. Alexei Emelin. With a dumb, dumb, dumb CFB on Spezza, and he gets 5 and a game. Don't be surprised if a couple more games are tacked on by the League. The important part here is that the Habs will now be down 5-3 for nearly two full minutes.

- I swear, Emelin has got one of the lowest hockey IQs I've ever seen on a Montreal Canadiens hockey team. Makes way too many stupid choices - the CFB only being the latest.

- Dallas with a pretty passive two man advantage, which they fail to score. Price excellent as usual, but no real sense of urgency from the Stars.

Well never mind that. Totally brilliant carry by Seguin, who feeds Eaves who has simple tap in to make it 3-2. Almost killed it. Almost. Still, blame that on Emelin.

- No Emelin. Addition via subtraction. Betcha high percentage scoring chances on Price stop happening so frequently from this point out.

- Hate just kicking this dog 'til it dies, but lots of speculation by some that Emelin ought be traded by Bergevin, as though somebody else would actually be willing to trade for him. Thing is, nobody would. The only guy in the National Hockey League with any say who seems to think he's a competent NHL defensemen is Michel Therrien, who stubbornly pencils him in every game.

- Another dismal night for Weise on the top line. He's killing their production, possession numbers are atrocious, and yet, Therrien just keeps playing him. Maddening.

- More sloppy defensive play by the Stars defense getting caught up ice unnecessarily, and Fiddler is forced to take a hook. If it wasn't for so many sloppy, slow plays by their blue line, they would probably be ahead on the scoreboard.

- Once again, faceoff next to Price with just a few seconds left on the clock, and once again, Malhotra fails to deliver on his mission of winning a draw. Dallas nearly scores again. If Malhotra can't win faceoffs when they matter, what exactly is his purpose in this lineup?

- Habs same old formula. Outplayed, outshot, out-possessed, leave it to Price to win the game. Meanwhile the first line is drifting aimlessly with Weise pulling them under the surface, and Alex Emelin manages to finds creative ways of being stupid, game in, game out. Habsland!

FIRST PERIOD:

- Prust opens the scoring, although he shoulda scored off a brilliant setup by Sekac, who looks fantastic early. 1-0.

- Correction. It's Emelin who gets credit.

- And Emelin saves a goal on an empty net, although he was horribly beaten by Seguin leading to a wild scramble in front of Price.

- Good lord, Alex Galchenyuk, with a highlighter. Nail Yakopov who?? 2-0. Stars defense has been soft, soft, soft.

- Man, this Dallas defense, has it been this bad all season? It's a minor miracle they have 49 points.

- Dallas had better close up their passing lanes, or guys like Pacioretty are going to score three or four more.

- Desharnais carries the puck like a winger. But then we already knew that.

- Sweet Jesus. A ridiculous intentional offside call against Subban, and wouldn't you know it, the Stars score off the faceoff. Incredible.

- Therrien going nuts at the officials for that call. For good reason. Should be 2-0 after the first. 

HOCKEY IS BACK. YAY!!

Hey! Did you watch the All-Star game this weekend?!? You did? Then get out. LEAVE. There's the door. NEVER RETURN HERE AGAIN.

Wow, he actually left. Man, I just lost half my readership. Oh well. That "game" this weekend, they scored 29 goals? Com'on already. The whole enterprise is a ridiculous and unnecessary distraction. Instead of wasting a week just to play a stupid game, scrub this silly All-Star nonsense, gain a week, and actually end the season before we start buying Halloween decorations.

It feels so great to return to normality. And tonight, the season's second kicks off in Habsland with a visit by the Dallas Stars! Hey, you know who plays for the Dallas Stars? Tyler Seguin (seen above munching on his hockey stick ... com'on Dallas, feed your hockey players! Sheesh). You know how many points Seguin has scored this year? 52! You know who wishes Tyler Seguin would play for them? The Boston Bruins!

HAH-HAH. Oh man, what was Peter Chirelli thinking??? Oh well. Boston's (huge) loss has been Dallas' big gain, Seguin is having a masterful season, and while he's playing for a team that isn't going to make the playoffs this year, he's going to be a critical piece of the Stars' rebuild. This could be a pretty decent team in 3 to 4 years (although we also kind of said that about Dallas 3-4 years ago).

So tonight! Dallas rumbles into Montreal to take on the Habs, who continue to remain a very healthy team, with only P.A. Parenteau on the sideline recovering from concussion. The Habs lines will be as follows:

Line 1: Paciorety/Plekanec/Weise (OH GOD REALLY, MICHEL?)
Line 2: Galchenyuk/Desharnais/Gallagher (sigh)
Line 3: Sekac/Eller/Prust (we're okay with this one)
Line 4: Bournival/Malhotra/Thomas (meh).

Markov/Subban (yeah, yeah).
Beaulieu/Gonchar (fine, fine)
Gilbert/Emelin (sigh, sigh).

Carey freakin' Price.

So while Therrien continues to put out the wrong combinations, we say hello to our old pal and Saskatchewan boy, Travis Moen! Travis, I'd say we really miss you, but this team had way too much depth. Hope things are going well down south!

Also a welcome back to Patrick Eves, who is in his first game since December 2nd, where he sustained an ankle injury in Toronto. Erik Cole (remember him?) won't suit up tonight, he's nursing an upper body injury.

Kari Lehtonen will get the call in nets for Dallas.

Puck drops at 7:40 EST. HOCKEY IS BACK!

Game Sixteen: Jets vs. Habs

Third Period:

- Seems pretty clear this club's lack of offence has gotten into their heads. Too much focus on setting up the perfect play, not enough on getting pucks on the net. 

- That's a killer goal for Galchenyuk, the Jets defense way too soft in their slot. 2-0.

- Habs are gonna try to ice this game to death. Folly, I say. We'll see.

- It's not very pretty, but Habs doing pretty good job strangling the play. Not a lot of places for the Jets to muster a rush or find an open lane right now.

- Pacioretty and Desharnais are lousy odd man rush mates. Desharnais is judgement impaired, Pacioretty should just stick to shooting.

- Price getting good protection this period by his defense off the initial shot. The few rebounds Price gives up aren't much of a threat.

- Jets pulling a Roy with 3 minutes left.

- Enstrom with a dive in his zone, obvious dive. Refs blow the call. 6 on 4 with 92 seconds left.

- A post and two totally open nets missed by the Jets on this powerplay. Enstrom's dive had serious karma attached.

- Plekanec with the empty net as he returns to the scoresheet after a couple of weeks off. Habs win 3-0.

Second Period:

- We said they be hummin' in the first, and to no one's surprise, Sekac drives the net utilizing his speed, Pavelec surrenders a loose puck and Eller puts it home. More great Sekec. 1-0. 

- Habs PK has had one scoring chance tonight. Their PP? Zero.

- Pretty sloppy hockey resulting in poor penalties being committed by both sides. Game had flow in the first period. The second? A mess.

- Six minutes left, Jets are swarming the Habs, but Price is standing on his head. Habs forwards guilty of far too many zone turnovers.

- Kind of wondering why Subban isn't shooting. At all. Had the entire lane wide open and a red carpet to Pavelec, makes a meek and useless backhanded pass.

- Frantic end to the period on both ends, the Habs, outplayed, escape with a one goal lead. Carey Price, as he has so many times in the past, masking his team's glaring flaws - they being specialty units, forwards unable or unwilling to shoot, and sloppy puck possession. Another stolen victory tonight? Stay tuned. 

First Period:

- So Drayson Bowman gets his first NHL start of the season tonight on the fourth line, which means he'll likely get ... oh ... seven or eight shifts for the game. #TherrienEffect

- Gallagher beats Pavelec. Offside by four feet. Oh well.

- So Gilbert, who's been very good this year, is demoted to the third line, and Weaver, who's been so-so, gets promoted to the 2nd. Mmmkay.

- Eller/Sekac line be hummin' right where it left off Saturday night.

- Another terrible Markov turnover in the neutral zone, creating a Kane break. Price with an elegant blocker save.

- Price has been receipient of tough shots tonight, but looks very sharp, very cool. Could be tough customer for Jets offense tonight.

- Calling this Habs powerplay a tire fire would be an insult to burning rubber.

- New powerplay system seems to be emphatic that neither Markov or Subban are to shoot from the line. Mystifying.

- Habs get last minute man advantage, Therrien doesn't ice Markov or Subban. Results are pretty much hapless. 

- Reasonably even period, Price with key saves off tough chances, Habs specialty units are as much a mess as ever, and their neutral zone puck possession left much to be desired. Eller/Sekac look fine again, Markov and Subban ... not so much.

Habbies Acquire Gonchar

Well, hmm ... this is interesting. Habs have traded 32 year old Travis Moen to the Dallas Stars in return for 40 year old defenseman Sergei Gonchar. Moen, who's been around for five seasons believe it or not, hasn't had a particularly productive year, and has been shuffled in and out of the lineup. With Michael Bournival now established, there really wasn't a whole lot of room left.

Gonchar? Man, he's old. Used to be pretty good. But now? He's old. Experienced I guess, he'll be a UFA at season's end. Now the Habs have 8 bonefied starters on their roster. Markov, Subban, Gilbert, Weaver, Emelin, Beaulieu, Tinorodi and now Gonchar.

If Beaulieu and Tinordi are going to continue to evolve, I'm thinking somebody else is going to be moved soon. But who? Emelin? Dare we to dream?


Habs 'n' Jets Gameday Game Preview:

Welcome to the Bourqueless era of the Montreal Canadiens! Man, don't you ... I don't know ... almost feel cleaner now? Almost a little extra spring in your step almost knowing future Habs games won't be so frustrating to watch? Almost? Yeah. Almost!

I suppose we could add welcome to the Moen-less era in Montreal, but we liked Travis.

So tonight. What is with this Habs team? We suck. We don't suck. We score. We can't score. We defend. We can't defend. We're a playoff team. Good luck finishing above 80 points. We're a Stanley Cup contender. Are you on crack? On and on it goes.

Anyway, here's the Jets' lineup for tonight game:

Line 1: Ladd-Little/Frolik
Line 2: Kane-Scheifele-Wheeler
Line 3: Perreault-Lowry-Byfuglien
Line 4: Galiardi-Slater-Thorburn

Enstrom-Bogosian
Stuart-Trouba
Clitsome-Postma

There you have it. A meh roster for a meh hockey team. Still the Jets do have 8 wins in 15 games, most of them against pretty competitive teams, like the Hawks, Preds and Rangers. They could be considered, along with the Calgary Flames, to be one of this season's early surprises. Bryan Little, whose best season came last year (64 points in 82 games) is off to a solid start, 11 points to lead the team. Blake Wheeler is, as anticipated, producing (10 points). Disappointments? Dustin Byfuglein, just two goals and five points this year (.33 ppg), far below his usual output (career .56 ppg).

The BIG surprise in Winnipeg this year is goaltender Ondrej Pavelec. After consecutive years putting up numbers that would barely qualify him for a backup role in the League, Pavelec has a sparkling .928 SV% and 1.98 GAA. He's a big part of the reason why the Jets are off to a respectable start this season.

Over in Habsland, with Bourque and Moen gone, the lineup is beginning to settle. With Sekac finally (mercifully) now established, he'll be playing again along side the underrated Lars Eller. Meanwhile, it'll be the usual defensive lineup tonight, with Beaulieu slotting in, and Tinordi slotting out.

Carey Price, of course, will start.

Game time is 7:40 EST.

But, these are the Jets, and they are facing the Habs, who have beaten Winnipeg seven of the nine times these two have met since Atlanta moved north. 

Game Seventeen: Habs vs. Sens

Amusing: the Habs are 8-4 in games where Parros doesn't play and 0-4-1 in games where he does.
— Mathieu Roy (@Le_Matheux) November 8, 2013

Really? 'Cause I ain't laughing.

Hot Wet Habs Trade Rumor:

- Normally I don't pass these things on, but it's going around today, so we'd might as well address it - Jordan Eberle for Jarred Tinordi.

Dunno. It's a compelling proposition, but conditional on a couple of aspects - one, that the Habs do whatever possible to extend Markov's stay for another couple of years, and two, this organization's willingness to admit that the moves it's made the past year were mistakes. That means, a willingness to either significantly reduce or cut ties altogether with George Parros, and to sit Daniel Briere in the pressbox if and when he's invariably unable to produce the offensive numbers.

If there is a genuine weak spot on this year's Habs club, it's offensive consistancy. We flagged this earlier in the year while the Eller line was basically carrying the team's goal production. We asked, what will happen to the Habs when they invariably stop producing? The past four games, all losses, are supplying us with the unfortunate answer.

Eberle would undoubtedly give the Canadiens a significant boost at the red line, and the Oilers, who've made some incredibly poor strategic choices from the bounty of top-tier drafts pics, are beyond desperate for young, potentially very talented defensemen.

Tinordi fits that bill.

But it is enough to get Eberle?

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: A couple of people have emailed me pointing out that the Habs don't have the cap space to take on Eberle's $6 million annual salary - which is true. At the moment, the Habs' cap space is just a tad under $2 million, but their available cap space is slightly under $5 million (expanding to $11 million by the trade deadline). So while acquiring Eberle wouldn't be possible at this given moment, it technically could be possible in less than a month (by the way, only six teams are presently cap-able to take Eberle: Buffalo, Ottawa, Calgary, the Islanders, Florida and Colorado).

BUT ... and this is where it gets tricky, freeing up the space beyond this season would present some challenges. Gionta is a goner automatically. Subban is looking at a $7M annual return. So is there space left for Markov? Well, with Emelin recently rewarded with a $16 million deal, the answer is probably not. Unless Andrei is willing to provide the organization with a pretty generous hometown discount - (why should he?).

Soooooo ... in all probability, acquiring Eberle would come with a double-hit. Losing whomever it takes to acquire the Oilers' forward (say, Tinoridi), and losing Markov forever.

So how does the Habs defense look in the future, with no Markov and no Tinordi?

Not as good. Not nearly.

Above, we see Habs General Manager during last night's loss to the Senators, pondering over signing the very unnecessary George Parros, Doug Murray and Daniel Briere to contracts over the summer. He's possibly also thinking about Rene Bourque.

 

Ottawa 4, Montreal 1

Third Period:

- 2nd period close, Fenwick 51.7%, 53.5% Corsi. Not dominating, but still not reflective of the scoreboard. As per usual against the Sens.

- Subban needs 8:46 this period to crack the 26 minute mark. He'll definitely beat the 24 minute mark, unless Therrien again benches him the final 5 minutes.

- Sens in shut-down mode, Habs are driving the Ottawa net, but Lehner has been very good. Throwing hands in the air.

- Habs had Sens on the ropes trapped in their end, until Bourque was simply pushed off the puck, and Ottawa got their icing. Sigh.

- Suddenly Subban getting buckets of icetime. Therrien forced to play his biggest cards with time running out.

- Rene Bourque is officially in my doghouse. He's got to be entering Therrien's.

- Habs are +13 in shots, -2 in goals. Maddening.

- Another penalty, and that's all she wrote. Another loss, and while the pitchforks aren't yet out, the barn door has been opened.

 

Second Period:

- Subban on pace for at 21:12 night. Markov 26:00.

- Canadiens have blocked 48 shots the past 4 periods. 

- Ottawa's defense continuously setting the puck on a silver platter from these turnovers. Habs need to start cashing these in.

- Nice shift by Desharnais. That's one.

- That's two in a row for Desharnais. We're on a roll.

- I've often heard many an "expert" assert that Gorges wouldn't qualify for 2nd line defense for most NHL teams, not for a moment understanding the value Josh contributes by blocking all these pucks. The man is a machine.

- Even though it might be a shocker, I won't be surprised if Desharnais pots one tonight. Really pushing for the Sens goal tonight.

- Price surrenders a juicy rebound off a Spezza shot, and Methot cashes in. 

- Oy, the hell? Therrien sends out the 4th line after the Methot goal, and Borowiecki gets his NHL first. 

- Nothing's changed since the playoffs against the Sens, has it? Habs dominate scoring chances and puck possession, and trail by two goals.

- That's a good call?? What's Gallagher supposed to do when he's being herded into the Sens' net?

- Sigh. Frustrating period against a team we consistently outplay, but always seem to end up on the wrong side of the scoreboard. Only area where the Habs are being trounced is in the faceoff circle. Just 11 wins in 38 tries. Otherwise, I'm really starting to hate this Ottawa Senators team.

 

First Period:

- Has there been a game where so much attention is being paid to one player's total icetime? None in my recent memory.

- Wow Sens really are a turnover machine - specifically their defense. Habs have been pelting Lehner like crazy, but nothing in yet.

- Doug Murray comes with an eyelash of scoring ... on his own goal.

- Pacioretty has been hooked and mugged by the Sens defense. No calls. 

- Paciorety has his nose in most of the Habs chances so far. He's looked really good since his return, but hasn't been rewarded. At least yet.

- So Gallager gets nailed for the marginal dive? That's NHL officiating consistency for ya.

- Habs 13 for their last 13 PKs.

- Tremendous puck movement by the Habs powerplay. Markov with the shot, but the Sens defenders simply couldn't catch up with the play. Dazzling goal.

- Bouillion went chasing after the puck, abandoning his defensive partner, giving Bobby Ryan a very clear shooting lane to blast one past Price. Habs lead lasted 28 seconds.

- Habs one significant defensive mistake costing them a deserved lead. Penalties hurting the team's ability to maintain early period momentum. Still, a pretty impressive road period.

Gameday Preview:

A few considerations.

- Erik Karlsson, vs. P.K. Subban. Karlsson is off to yet another great start, even though the Senators as a complete unit, have struggled. 17 points so far. Meanwhile, the whole Therrien/Subban drama continues, with the mainstream writers finally taking note of how Subban has, or more importantly, hasn't been utilized this season. On any other team, Subban would be an icetime stud, easily racking up the icetime he's imminently capable of delivering. That is, 30+ minutes a night. Instead, he's been reigned in at just over 24 minutes on average, and perhaps even more preposterously, has been subjected to late game benchings when his team is either tied, or trailing by just a goal to the opposition.

Will the "treatment" continue tonight?

- Ottawa has so far, been an early season disappointment in the League, posting a sub .500 record to date. This from a team that many had figured would be finishing very high in the Conference. It's a long season, of course, so the Sens might reach those lofty heights after the 82nd game is played, but there's no question the team right now is in a spot of trouble, what with Craig Anderson back on the injury list after suffering a neck injury last night. Robin Lehner is no Anderson.

- This will be Lars Eller's first game against the Sens since taking that brutal broadside check in last spring's playoff series against the Sens, courtesy Eric Gryba. Maybe a little revenge is in the offering, is Lars can produce some offense tonight.

- Carey Price continues to perform ridiculously well, with the League's 9th best GAA and 6th best SV% - a terrific .933. So the Habs, if this season is any indication, have a significant advantage between the pipes.

Gametime is 7:10 EST.

 

News 'n' Notes:

- We've covered this already, but it bears restating - Travis Moen returns to the lineup tonight, which is great news. Since his facial injury, the Habs 4th line has been nothing short of atrocious - with plugs like Mike Blunden, Patrick Holland, Louis Leblanc, and Martin St-Pierre failing to stem the bleeding.

- Habs announced this morning that Brandon Prust won't likely see any game action until late November, slightly longer than was originally projected. So, blah on that.

- Sens will start Robin Lehner, whom since the neck injury to Craig Anderson, has been suddenly become the Sens defacto number one. Lehner has had four starts this year, and has posted one win.

More later.

Game Twelve: Habs vs. Rangers

Third Period:

- Leblanc drives the crease, draws his team a powerplay. Coaches love that stuff.

- Doug Murray with a Subban like open ice thumping on Kreider. That alone was worth the interference penalty. 

- Kreider called for a clear pick - fans are going nuts but that was a designed play and the Rangers got caught.

- Is there a better backup in the NHL other than Budaj? He certainly ranks up there in my biased opinion. Another quietly solid night.

- Just need one more to nail this home, but Habs red lines are playing very passively.

- Line matching, Rangers pin the Habs 4th line in their zone along with Murray, but Budaj comes up big with a couple of nice saves.

- Supurb work by Gallagher. When he wants that puck he simply goes and takes it. Sets up snakebitten Eller in front of Lindqvist. Eller once again can't finish. 

- Leblanc's got a good excuse tonight: look at who you saddled me with at centre!

- Rangers on late powerplay, looking for some urgency here.

- Habs PK doing nice job keeping the shots confined to the perimeter. Budaj can handle those easily.

- Bouillon leaves his feet to make a check that really wasn't urgent. Generates great scoring chance for Pouliot. Just say no to Francois on the PK.

- Desharnais/Leblanc two on one break. Leblanc had great position but Desharnais is so fixated on scoring that he takes a selfish shot. And misses the target.

- And there you have it. Rangers defense forced to pinch, Gallagher and Eller with a 2-on-1, and Gallagher makes the right play dishing to Eller, the puck eventually hitting Galchenyuk's skate and in. Reviewing it for intent.

- No way Gallagher intentionally kicked that in. Wasn't even a kicking motion. Right decision there.

- Budaj was excellent tonight, Habs are truly blessed in net this year. An impressive victory to spoil the Rangers' and MSG's grand opening. New York's offense is a total mess right now. Can easily see why this team has just 3 wins in 10 games.

Second Period:

- Intersting 1st period time stats. Leblanc got 3:18, which by Therrien young forward standards, isn't half bad. Markov with crazy 10:18, three minutes more than Subban. Murray clocked in just over 4 minutes.

- Both clubs' shooting accuracy has been pretty dim tonight. Point shots are generally going nowhere near the net.

- Well, I thought Anaheim's powerplay was pretty bad, but the Rangers are even worse. Game is almost torturous to watch.

- Eller line shift, three quality chances. Draw a powerplay. They're the only line out there with moving parts.

- Guess who now has the least amount of playing time so far tonight? Desharnais. 

- Rangers' combined Corsi is 57.8%, but not a single legitimately dangerous chance on Budaj yet.

- Nouillon has to do a far better job going back to retrieve the puck from behind his net. Budaj bails him out.

- Effort is still there for the Eller line, just seem a little snakebit. As long as they maintain zone pressure and generate quality chances, something will give. Eventually.

- Bournival with an absolutely beautiful play. Carries the zone, drops it back to Plekanec, then picks Mark Staal, which opens everything up for Plekanec to carry to the net, sweet move on Lindqvist, and Habs take 1-0 lead. 

- Pretty sorry period of hockey. This game has nothing to do with well performing defenses, and everything to do with two teams whose offenses are badly under performing. Just 20 more minutes left to endure .

First Period:

- Habs first PP, nothing. Hasn't looked particularly dangerous since the Winnipeg game.

- So great to see Domanic Moore out there. Gauthier's decision to let him walk I'd always believed was a significant mistake and loss that's never really been replaced since.

- Decent argument to be made that Bournival does a better job forechecking than either Plekanec or Gionta. Certainly is more tenacious.

- Habs second powerplay, Therrien elects to start the Desharnais over the Eller line.

- Two unwise penalties by Gionta this period. Habs powerplay looks as disorganized as I've seen it all season. No flow, passing is a mess.

- Pretty sloppy and uninspired opening 20 for both teams. Rangers controlled the tempo much of the first half, Habs responded well the second half. We have two teams whose offences are badly struggling, first goal wins?

Gameday Game Preview:

What an honor! I guess. The Habs are the very first guests to the newly renovated Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, as they take on the ne'er-do-well Rangers.

First. Travis Moen. He's out for a while with a facial fracture (which is probably 92 times more painful than it sounds), so here we go again with the call-ups. Pretty soon Hamilton is going to have trouble icing even just three offensive lines. So Moen goes down, and up comes Louis Leblanc, who's been tearing it up for the Bulldogs this season.

ALSO ... we have an injury return! Doug Murray's rehab came in nicely ahead of schedule, so he'll be starting his first ever game in a Habs uniform.

So those Rangers. What a start. Did you know that there were actual living, breathing hockey "experts" who picked the Rangers to finish near the top of their Division this season? It's true!

Funny stuff. Let's cut New York a bit of slack. With all of those renos happening at the Garden, the Rangers were forced to open their season with a nine game road trip. With 3 wins in those 9 games, New York finds themselves buried fairly deep in the eastern standings. The 29th rated offense. The 29th rated defense. 17th rated powerplay. 18th rated penalty kill. 27th rated Corsi. 23rd rated Fenwick. October has not been kind.

Another excuse for the Rangers - injuries. They've had quite a few to important guys. Rick Nash is indefinite with concussion. Carl Hagelin is indefinite with a shoulder injury. Ryan Callahan is gone until December. On the bright side, after losing Henrik Lundqvist to injury last week, he's supposedly been okay'd for return tonight.

The Habs. Well, Saturday night, what can you say? They played well enough against the powerhouse Sharks, more-or-less staying in the game until early in the 3rd, when San Jose took total command. Still, it was one of those "encouraging" losses, when you consider the depth of the Habs injury list, and how they still managed to play a competitive game.

With Moen out, we'll probably see Leblanc get a few 4th line shifts alongside David Desharnais and Rene Bourque on the 3rd line. The other two top Habs line remain the same, the EGG and Pleks/Bournical/Gionta.

With Murray starting tonight, it's likely Nathan Beaulieu will sit, although in this writer's opinion, the Habs true 6th man out should be Francios Bullion, who's had a string of brutal defensive performances the past two weeks.

Puck drop is ... I guess 7:40 EST? Not sure if MSG will have some kind of opening night ceremony. Yeah. They probably will. 7:50 puck drop then, in all probability.

Game Forty-Six: Habs vs. Devils

First Period:

- Habs forwards getting red carpet access to Brudeur. Jersey dedenders have made a couple of nice desperation blocks.

- Habs and Price withstand first bought of Devis pressure. Canadiens' fourth line looking awfully disorganized and sluggish.

- I dunno what else to conclude, but Markov must be playing hurt. His speed is almost down to Hal Gill proportions.

- Marty Brodeur looking so far like he's gonna stick to the Habs yet one more time. Gah.

- Terrible interference call n Bourque, negligible contact on Brodeur outside the blue paint.

- And the Devils, of course, strike. Elias gets past the uber-slow Markov and poorly positioned Weber for a break. Great shot beats Price.

- Seriously, just keep Markov off the PK. It isn't doing him or the team any favours.

- After a decent start, Habs offence has now gone into hiding.

- Zubrus. Habs Gorges and Diaz, more or less standing around watching. Price out to dry. Horrorshow showing no signs of slowing down.

- Another night, another terrible first period. Why should Price even bother dressing? Nobody else seems to be showing up.

Second Period:

- What to say? Brutal interference call on Prust after he was clearly pushed into Bordeur, and Devils strike on the Habs now totally inept PK. Markov on the ice for that as well.

- Pacioretty, but it doesn't matter. This one is done. Devils will score more than 3 tonight.

- Habs are lambs out there. No physicality, no hitting, no fight. The team's collective mentality is totally dispirited.

- Deshairnas' utter lack of production lately has to be a significant long-term concern to the organization heading into the off-season. He got the contract extension and just fell off the Earth.

- Wow, Brodeur with once in a bloody blue moon bad puck turnover behind his net allows Galchenyuk to feed a wide open Eller, and the Habs suddenly find themselves back in the game. Huh, that.

- If the Habs pull this one out of the fire I'll be fit to be tied. They have 20 minutes to demonstrate some resilience, and secure hosting the first round of the playoffs.

Third Period:

- Prust, again goaltender interference. Insanity. Habs PK ... Oy ... Here we go.

- Devils take a silly holding stick penalty almost immediately into their PP. Whew.

- More Habs defensive breakdowns, more Markov slowness, Kovalchuck free pass to Price, Carey saves the day.

- Brodeur was DOWN. AND. OUT. Plekenec wide open net, stick lifted from behind last possible moment by Zajac. Plekanec looked up in shock. Never saw it coming.

- Listless five minutes by Habs, no real sense of urgency with now 9 minutes left on the clock.

- Not happening. Habs need to shift into another gear but it is not there. Less than 4 minutes left.

- Rene Bourque more than any other Hab, has been in 2012 form since his return.

- Nope. Close but not close enough. Another L, but it had zero to do with Price tonight. Habs just couldn't recover from the bad start, the offensive legs weren't there. Here's hoping we never see Brodeur again, 'cause I've had enough.

Pregame Game Preview:

What more is there to say, really? All the big news about tonight's game WE brought to you yesterday morning. That being Moen is out, Armstrong is in. Budaj is out, Price is in. Drewiske is out, Weber is (back) in. And Therrien is going with a whole new set of defensive combinations for tonight's game against the New Jersey Devils, the start of a three game road trip that will wrap up the Canadiens' 2013 regular season.

Yeah, we know the Habs wrapped up a playoff spot nearly two weeks ago in Buffalo, but the recent bought with SUCKING AT THIS GAME has brought the Canadiens crashing back to the planet's surface, and now, suddenly, the team finds itself feeling resigned not only to finishing 4th in the Conference, but perhaps finishing 5th behind the (ugh) Leafs IF this team doesn't get its act in gear. Like, RIGHT NOW.

Under normal circumstances, facing a team like the Devils, who've won only one of their past 12 games, might be viewed as a respite. But these are not normal circumstances. Not only are the Canadiens playing some pretty dreadful defensive hockey, but they're playing against a team whose starting goaltender has owned the Habs for the past ... oh ... 20 seasons or so. Hometown hero Martin Broduer, in what may very well be his final start against the Canadiens, will aim to complete his legacy of Habs owning ... ownership ... owninginess? ... whatever, one final time. Assuming this is his last season, of course.

So tonight. Price is back in, and I and just about every hockey reporter within 100 miles of the island of Montreal will be watching him verrrrrry closely. I for one didn't think his losing performance against the Caps was terrible - most of Washington's goals were either very tough, or impossible shots. The problem with the loss was the Canadiens defense continues to allow opposing forwards to shoot from high percentage areas on the ice, or, they're failing to clear traffic in front of their net, to allow Price at least a decent glimpse at shots coming from the point. Hopefully, just hopefully, with this new defensive set, we'll see improvements in both areas tonight.

Strap on the belt. Puck drops at 7:10 EST.

 

Tuesday Gameday Goo:

- As reported here yesterday (yay us!), Therrien officially confirms that Moen is a healthy scratch tonight, Colby Armstrong is in.

- Carey Price will start.

More later.

Monday News 'n' Notes:

Happy Monday! Did you know it was almost -20 this morning in the place that I live? Did you also know that I'm wanting to no longer now be in the place that I live? Sheezus.

- Morning practice this morning, Michel Therrien is (desperately?) trying to find some of his team's defensive mojo, and it looks like he's shaking up the parings. Practicing this morning were Markov/Webber, Subban/Bouillon, Gorges/Diaz.

Have no idea what the strategy is here. Putting the more experienced guys with the less experienced guys? Seems more a dilution approach, but whatever. Something's gotta change, something's gotta give.

- Travis Moen will be a healthy scratch tomorrow night, as Colby Armstrong is expected to return to the lineup. So that's that!

- Lots of speculation amongst the scribes that Therrien will go with Budaj against the Devils. No confirmation from the team yet.

More later.