Game Eighty-Two: Rangers vs. Habs

OVERTIME:

- There is no reason, I repeat no reason, for the Habs to gamble like gamble this overtime.

- Oh wow. Penalty shot. Gionta.

- GIONTA!!!!! Le Capitan!!!

- That. Is. An. Awesome. Way. To. End. The. Season. See you in the playoffs, folks!!

THIRD PERIOD:

- Habs 2 period Fenwick sits at 40%. That's a figure that the Leafs would feel embarrassed about.

- 4 on 4. Therrien plays it safe and sends out Plekanec. Therrien hockey.

- Bouillon with a poor decision knee, which is especially frustrating for those of us who hopes Therrien wouldn't have been stupid enough to start him tonight.

- Well, if the Habs pp is to ever score again, now would be a pretty good time.

- Both teams having a thought time stringing passes together. Ice conditions appear to be poor.

- Habs totally overthinking this man advantage thing.

- Rene Bourque has had 1 shift, 20 seconds long in the third period. 

- When did the Habs last score a goal? Were chariots used at that time?

SECOND PERIOD:

- Habs second powerplay. Let's see if it can be worse than the first.

- Desharnais line comes on, powerplay finally comes to life the last minute. Talbot is bringing it tonight.

- That powerplay might not have scored but it has given this team a boost. Desharnais line really flirting with success.

- Hard to tell for certain but that sure looked like a targeted shot by Carcillo on Gallagher. Total blindside.

- When the Habs had the hottest streak in the League last week, their PDO during a good chunk of that stretch was 106+. Now it's all turning against them, because gravity. Can't buy a goal now.

- Rangers' goon squad are clearly targeting Habs forwards. Officials need to intervene before somebody gets seriously hurt.

- Now slashes and hacks on Price, Habs take offense, and Emelin gets penalized. This is not how you control a game, zebras.

- Carcillo is hell bent on injuring someone. Out of control. Somebody needs to intervene. 

- Much better period for the Habs, the first powerplay seemed to engage their offense. Also, Bourque's icetime was severely scaled back, which doesn't hurt. We've got a real battle going down between Price and Talbot. Remember, Habs need just one point to at least keep their home ice aspirations alive.

FIRST PERIOD:

- If the Habs don't storm this period, something will be very, very wrong.

- Well at least P.K is getting some PK. That's kind of new.

- Emelin and Markov might both be from Russia, but they're on different planets when they're on the ice together. They never quite seem to know where the other period is.

- Rangers first powerplay looked pretty dangerous. Price held the fort, but it's pretty clear the Habwould be wise to avoid the box tonight.

- Linemates are trying too hard to set Paciorerty up for his 40th. Just shoot the puck guys (I'm talking to you Thomas and David).

- Habs transition game really sloppy so far. It's killing their offense and giving Rangers too many free wheeling rushes. 

- A full season full of dump and chase can make a team very terrible very quickly. Habs are simply unable to control the puck, string together two or there passes. It's ugly to watch.

- Dorsett goes after Deaharnais' knees. Subban suckers him into an extra two. Because P.K. rules.

- Gorges on the powerplay because ... who knows?

- Habs powerplay needs to do something drastic or it'll kill this teams hopes for a decent playoffs. Putting Gorges and Bourque's out there ain't working. 

- Almost Bourque. Almost received a pass. Almost kept standing on his feet. 

- Dismal effort by the Habs in that period. You'd think they're weren't playing for something that's incredibly important to their season ... like home ice advantage in the first round. Rangers literally playing for nothing, and yet, they're dominating both ends of the ice. 

GAMEDAY UPDATE:

- Well, well. Doug Murray is a healthy scratch tonight. Re-freakin-joice. And George Parros (but we already knew that). Coming in will be Michael Blunded (we knew), and Frankie Bouillon. 

Which means, Tinordi is a healthy scratch. 

Because ... as we know .... when given the golden opportunity, Michel Therrien still can't quite get it right.

- Meanwhile in a Rangers Land, New York, with basically nothing to play for tonight, are resting some key players. Martin St. Louis, Daniel Girardi, Ryan McDonagh, and Henrik Lundqvist are all healthy scratches.

In other words, the Rangers are handing this game to the Habs on an argent platter.

Habs lineup in a bit.

P.M. UPDATE: END OF THE ROAD FOR GEORGE PARROS. And so it ends? Habs announced that Michael Blunden has been called up from the Dogs, which normally would be a ho-hum announcement ... if we were in the middle of the season. But we're at the end of the season, so the Blunden call-up (and Eller's mysterious health status) spells pretty loud and clear that the Habs have no interest in playing George from here on out.

Anyway, thanks to you George, for coming out. We wish you the best of luck in the future.

Next ... Doug Murray (baby steps, baby steps) ....


A.M. UPDATE: Doug Murray reportedly won't face a disciplinary hearing. So ... hmm. Go figure.

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Happy Friday! Wait ... is it happy? Habs laid an egg last night, which is being very, very charitable. Perplexing roster decisions - inserting Parros (who contributed, as expected, nothing), to Doug Murray, who, as expected, was terrible - and to boot, committed an awful board on Johan Sundstrom, resulting in a 5 minute major. The Islanders scored two on that powerplay, and that ... was that.

No word, at least yet, on whether or when Murray will be called in for a disciplinary hearing. I'd be shocked if he didn't receive another suspension. Meanwhile, Habs announced that Alex Galchenyuk won't be available to the team until at least the 2nd round of the upcoming playoffs, which is a big IF for this organization. Guaranteed if the Habs play Tampa like they played the Islanders last night, there will be no 2nd round.

Anyway, Michel Therrien is just awful. But you knew that.

More in a bit.