Game 19: Leafs vs. Habs

LIVE GAME STREAM:




LIVE GAME BLOG THIRD PERIOD:

- Remember last year, when Michel Therrien drove many a Habs fan insane by constantly deploying players who weren't performing more than he was deploying the players that were contributing most? Well, take a lookie here after 40 minutes:

CF (5v5)
Shaw (36.4%) - 10:52
Pacioretty (44.4%) - 11:05
Danault 62.5% - (8:29)
Gallagher 66.7% - (9:30)

Spot the pattern?

- Joel Hanley is not having the night he needed or hoped for to make the case that he should stick with the big team as the 6th defenseman. Will Barbario get the next shot?

- Alex Galchenyuk has been doing all that centre is supposed to do, and more, scoring in 15 of 18 games this season. But he needs to get off the setup train, and be willing to shoot the puck when the opportunity arises. There's selfless, and then there's smart.

- Leafs defence much more involved this period, pushing the puck deeper than they were able to the first two periods. It's generating more puck possession events in the Habs zone, which is not a thing you want if you're holding just a one goal lead.

- 10 minutes left, it's a nasty storm brewing, with the Leafs being more aggressive in Montreal's zone, and the Canadiens being much more defensively passive. Makes for a very, very tenuous one-goal lead. Don't be surprised if Toronto manages to find the back of the net at least once more before the final siren is played.

- 8 minutes left, a thought occurs - maybe the Habs' legs are just giving out, since they played last night, took a late plane back to Montreal. That could be the factor.

- Joel Hanley loses a foot race and an icing, because of hustle. Leafs very nearly score on the resulting blow play. This will not help him earn a spot back in the lineup any time soon.

- Matt Martin with uber-ugly and dangerous blindside board on Beaulieu. This is the kind of play that should be 5 + game. One day the League will (hopefully) wake up and make it so:

Well that was ugly by Martin. pic.twitter.com/GtChOcOlUo

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) November 20, 2016

- Hudon nailed with a questionable interference penalty with just under 4 minutes left. Hang on to your hats, Leafs might tie this thing up after all.

- Habs do a pretty good job killing the penalty, Andersen out of the goal. Now it's hang on for your lives.

- Therrien burns his timeout, for reasons that can only be described as puzzling ...

- Empty net, maybe Gallagher can end his drought??

- Habs hang on, barely. Leafs with a very good 3rd period where they totally outplayed their opponent, but it isn't quite enough. At least the losing streak is stopped at a manageable 3 games, but the Habs will still need to sharpen their efforts in the coming week, and clamp down on not making the same avoidable mistakes committed tonight. The Leafs, with all that talented youth, are still not a very good team, so positivity from tonight's win is reserved.


LIVE GAME BLOG SECOND PERIOD:

- Habs and Leafs after 20 minutes, with Canadiens SA CF (5v5) at 62.1%:

- Did we mention enough how badly that first period went for the Leafs' Hunwick and Polak? If the Habs are paying attention, they're matching up the speed of the Galchenyuk line against Toronto's more glaring defensive weakness tonight.

- More poor defensive play by the Leafs around Andersen, they barely escape as Emelin fails to put the puck into a pretty much gaping net. Bozak gets a penalty, Habs to the powerplay.

- Takes Habs 4 seconds to score on the powerplay, another sweet pass by Radulov on the tape to Galchenyuk who, unlike Emelin moments earlier, does not fail to miss open nets. 2-0.

Weber ---> Radulov ---> Galchenyuk

2-0 #Habs pic.twitter.com/VQIrnOJlnc

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) November 20, 2016

- Leafs with a nice push here, but they have another problem: Carey Price.

- Not an hyperbole here - I cannot think off hand of any Habs in recent memory who passes the puck as efficiently and accurately as Radulov has demonstrated this season. Maybe Saku Koivu? It's pretty heightened company.

- Bad holding penalty by Pacioretty. Hockey can switch on dime, which means it's critical that avoidable mistakes are avoided.

- Carey Price is simply brilliant handling the puck - so much so it's almost not a PK when it's a PK.

- Nylander scores off a failed Price poke check, and Pacioretty's dumb penalty hurts the Habs, losing half their lead in an instant.

- Pacioretty stupidity has a two-fold effect. First, Leafs score, and second, they generate momentum that up until that dumb hold, they didn't possess.

- Radulov - an incredible season so far. A game-changing player. Having a monster game tonight. When he's not making perfect passes, he's hustling back to break up the Leafs transition. This Habs team is unquestionably completely different, for the better, with him in the lineup.

- Credit where it's due, Emelin takes a puck to the face off a point shot, goes to the bench, refuses assistance. Won't miss a shift. That's pretty hockey tough.

- More even period, largely because Habs, who were controlling this game, made too many avoidable mistakes, the most glaring was Pacioretty's holding penalty which lead to a Leafs PP goal, and gave Toronto desperately needed momentum. Then Danault with a bad hooking call in the offensive zone. These are easily avoidable plays. So here we have a game that the Habs ought be comfortably ahead, but instead, find themselves ahead one tenuous goal. Not good.


LIVE GAME BLOG FIRST PERIOD:

- From 4th liner to healthy scratch and then all the way to 2nd line centre, I have no idea how David Desharnais manages to defy the laws of hockey gravity, but that's where he's playing tonight, with Pacioretty and Shaw on his wings.

- Radulov is confirmed to start, so the Habs lines will be as thusly:

Bryon/Galchenyuk/Radulov
Pacioretty/Desharnais/Shaw
Hudon/Plekanec/Gallagher
Danault/Mitchell/Terry

Daniel Carr is the healthy scratch, to make way for Radulov.

- As we boldly predicted last night, Greg Pateryn will be a healthy scratch, which means Joel Hanley slots back into the lineup. He'll pair up with Nathan Beaulieu.

- Ah, Saturday night Leafs and Habs hockey, we can't get enough of you. Really nice hard, fast start to this game.

- A return to sanity? Habs first powerplay line, Galchenyuk/Radulov/Gallagher.

- Pretty good first attempt, Habs puck movement was good, but that's in large part because the Leafs defence is so green. They're struggling to keep up with the speed.

- And Chris Terry draws a hooking penalty, in large part because Leafs defence can't react quickly enough as Terry carries the zone. Habs right back on the powerplay.

- Torrey Mitchell just got a shot on goal. So what, you might ask? It's his first registered shot since early November.

- 2nd powerplay a bit of a mess, mainly because Habs were very poor simply gaining the Leafs zone. That's a sure sign the unit is heading into a funk.

- Anderson can't handle a Weber bomb from the point, which one can fully understand and sympathize with, Byron tucks in the big rebound. Habs rewarded for having held the bulk of opportunities this period.

- Habs getting back to a better formula this period - more bodies to the net, working to expose the mostly inexperienced Leafs defence. If Andersen gives up more rebounds, there could be more good scoring chances ahead for the Habs tonight.

- Leafs weak link defensively is clearly Matt Hunwick and Roman Polak. They're getting roughshod by speedy Habs attack.

- Considering this is the 2nd of back-to-back for the Habs, that was a pretty good period - perhaps aided by the Leafs defence. Regardless, Habs controlled much of the period's tempo, pushed the net, and used their speed much more effectively than they did earlier this week against the 'Canes and Panthers.


GAMEDAY NEWS 'N' GAME PREVIEW:

- Habs announced this morning that Sven Andrighetto has been banished back to the rock that passes for Newfoundland. That means 1) Charles Hudon impressed enough last night to keep from being banished himself again, 2) Alexander Radulov is probably gonna play tonight.

- Lines, lines, lines. We got lines for tonight's game. First, da Leafs:

Komarov/Kadri/Nylander
van Riemsdyk/Bozak/Marner
Hyman/Matthews/Brown
Martin/Smith/Soshnikov

Rielly/Zaitsev
Hunwick/Polak
Gardiner/Carrick

Frederik Andersen

And over in Habsland - we're not sure, tbh. Radulov isn't confirmed at the time of this posting, so the final forward lines are a total guesswork.

- Here's a nice little bit of CF% from last night's losing game against the 'Canes:

Galchenyuk, Alex: 65.9
Gallagher, Brendan: 67.7
Byron, Paul: 58.1
Shaw, Andrew: 53.6

So, who got the most ice time?

1. Shaw, Andrew: (19:45)
3. Galchenyuk, Alex: (16:38)
6. Gallagher, Brendan: (15:03)
7. Byron, Paul: (14:50).

Folks, those are poor deployment choices.

- Okay, it's mid-November, which means we're well overdue to REV UP THE EXCUSE MACHINE:

#Habs Therrien: "You need breaks to win, that's always how it is in sports. Lately, we're not getting them."

— Chantal 📎 (@pucksnlife) November 19, 2016

HAHAHA ... Michel Therrien is complaining about puck luck. HAHAHAHA ...

Yeah, the Canes scored a couple of nifty goals off some pretty crazy deflections, and yeah, Al Montoya let in a softy that proved to be the game winner, but really now - you're complaining about the lack of breaks? YOUR TEAM'S WINNING RECORD HAS DEPENDED ALMOST ENTIRELY ON THEM.

- Okay, other side of the ice, hey remember that first round pick that media, which just so happened to all be located in the centre of the universe better known as the Greater Toronto Area, were falling all over themselves in hailing as hockey's second coming?

Remember that guy? Austin .. somebody or the other. YEAH. THAT GUY.

He hasn't scored in a month.

- Andrew Hammond. Remember him? He was riding the wave less than two years ago, leading the Ottawa Senators' charge against the Habs in the first round of the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs. Anywho, Sens waived him this afternoon.

- Puck drops tonight at 7:10 EST. Special note: refs are wearing head cams!!!

- UPDATE: With just over 2 hours before puck drop, Radulov is not confirmed to start. Apparently he'll be a game-time decision. So lineups still pretty much impossible to determine in advance.

Game 32: Sharks vs. Habs

THIRD PERIOD:

- Habs and Sharks through 40 minutes.

- Andrei Markov with perhaps the roughest night amongst Habs defenders, one has to wonder if he's being asked to work more than his body is capable of handling, at this stage in his career.

- Habs powerplay now 0-20, again looking good with puck control and passing, but generating almost no shot attempts from the slot. Opposing PK's will give you all day to hold the puck if all you're willing to do shot from the line.

- Habs now riverboat gamblers - pushing defence in aggressively, pinching hard not only in the Sharks zone, but at centre ice. Condon will probably have to make a couple of odd-man rush saves, if the Habs don't score their second goal soon.

- Don't be shocked if Subban gets something close to 12 minutes in the 3rd period. Markov appears to be having his time shelved in the frame. Not even a minute played with clock nearing halfway mark.

- Well, Andrighetto is back with 27-81, which marks progress. A little too late for tonight's game, it would appear.

- 6 minutes left, Habs will need to go full gambling phasers on at this point. Time's-a-wasting'.

- Since getting paired with Beaulieu, Subban ha become a monster, carrying the puck zone to zone, which on a Michel Therrien team, is very unusual.

- Well, what can you do - Habs arguably the better team tonight, but the story is simple - Sharks took advantage of their chances, Habs didn't. On the bright side, Beaulieu/Subban looks like a pretty serious thing - they looked terrific together the final half of the game - so one wonders, will this become a more permanent fixture?


SECOND PERIOD: 

- Habs and Sharks through 20 minutes. What else can you do other than shrug?

- To be fair, the PDO gods do owe the Sharks a few, but this is getting a little silly. Pavelski tips a soft wrister past Tokarski barely 30 seconds into the period, and it's 2-0.

- Dale Weise, hands of Moen (a few hard-core fans might know what that means).

- I suspect we'll get some separation as the game progresses, but Habs are really rolling all four lines tonight, ice times are almost identical amongst the forwards as we hit the halfway mark.

- Ouch, Dustin Tokarski. Misplays the puck behind his goal, then turned into yesterday's gravy trying to cover up in his net, with Zubrus finishing the turnover off, and it's 3-0. Tokarski out, Condon in.

- Suffice to say, P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov are not putting out stellar performances tonight. That Zubrus goal, both defenders were totally out of position, behind the Habs net. Sure, Tokarski had some blame, but he was left totally out to dry and all three San Jose goals.

- And Therrien has apparently separated those two aforementioned defensemen - Subban is with Beaulieu, Markov with Gilbert. Hmmm ...

- Well, hey now, it pays off? Subban with a nifty carry and shot/pass deflected in by Weise to put Habs on the board. We have life?

- Subban and Beaulieu look like they've been playing partners their entire lives. That combination really clicking so far.

- Habs switch up their defensive line combos, and suddenly come to life - nearly making the game 3-2 before the 2nd period buzzer. Sets up an interesting 3rd period in which Montreal, at the very least, has a half-decent shot an pulling a point out of the night.



FIRST PERIOD:

- Keep an eye on Martin Jones. He's only had two games this month where his SV% was above .900. Its been very up and down for him the past while.

- Still can't figure out Therrien putting Andrighetto on the 4th line. He was doing some excellent work on the top line, giving opposing defences fits with his, and Paciorettys speed, coming at them from both directions.

- While the Sharks do have a decent possession game, they don't like carrying the zone. Very much a dump and chase offence, which (was) very much the Habs template from 2012-15.

- Habs powerplay continues to play dreadfully, and Therrien continues to use Desharnais and Weise as primary offence, which is just all kinds of bizarre. Desharnais can't/won't shoot, Weise can't finish. And Subban on the wrong wing continues to just go nowhere. Madness all over the place.

- Subban just doesn't seem the same - in particular his slap shot, which I'm positive, doesn't have anything close to the velocity it did last season. Not nearly as dangerous as he used to be - NHL netminders are turning him away easily. Ergo, just 1 goal so far this season.

- Watching the Sharks first 13 minutes, this team is struggling - mightily. Really don't like their dump and chase system, it significantly limits their ability to generate much, if any, decent scoring attempts. Habs are pretty much suffocating them so far, even though Montreal has stumbled to finish their scoring attempts.

- Still waiting for the Pacioretty goal explosion - he's due for a bundle. I think we're on the cusp of that happening.

- Barclay Goodrow, a nothing player, takes a run at Subban, hurting him. Officials don't call a board, but Torrey Mitchell, who is awesome, dishes out some fisticuff punishment. Referees really need to crack down on this dirty, dishonourable play.

- Subban with a bad pinch at the Sharks blue line, generating 2-on-1 break for Jan Jose, and Marleau slips the punk past Tokarski off a nice feed from Ward. Outshot so far by a ration of 5-to-1, San Jose maddeningly has the early lead.

- Watched the replay, Galchenyuk has to do a much, much better job getting back to cover Subban, who was simply making an aggressive play in a period that the Habs have owned.

- Eller really fighting the puck of late - he's struggling.

- Welp, what can you say? Habs shot attempts were 22-4, which .. yeah. What can you do? Just keep plugging away, keep playing the same way. No way Sharks should have the lead, but that's more indicative of the bounces of hockey, and the Habs inability to finish. Montreal's powerplay also becoming a pressing issue. Something needs to be done there, and quickly.


PREGAME NOTES:

- It's hard to believe, but San Jose hasn't won in the month of December. Last win came November 28th against Calgary. In fact, the Sharks have only won twice since November 22nd, and the last time they won against an opponent with a .500 or better record was November 13th. OUCH.

- That San Jose has struggled so much lately is a bit of a puzzler, since the Sharks are the League's 3rd rated team for generating high percentage scoring opportunities (only Dallas and ... yes, Carolina are better). Their possession numbers are also very respectable - 53.7 score adjusted Fenwick.

- Interestingly, of the 14 wins by San Jose this season, 10 have come on the road. This team really is a puzzler.

- Torry Mitchell is back for the Habs! That certainly won't hurt the Habs, given how well he played before injury.

- Dustin Tokarski will get another start. He's played two very good games in a row. Third time's a charm?

- Puck drops at 7:40 EST.









HAPPY GAMEDAY! ADD ANOTHER ONE TO THE SHELF

News 'n' Notes for the game day, some important news, for once.

- Congrats to Carey Price, who was announced today as the 2015 receipient of the Lou Marsh Award, which goes to the best Canadian athlete. Apparently this year's award was a "tough choice", because of course, it's a real struggle giving this award to the guy who's currently the best hockey player on the planet, coming off one of the greatest seasons ever had by an NHL goaltender.

- Habs Zack Kassian was cleared by the NHL this morning to return to hockey, after successfully completing its substanec abuse program. The Habs immediately put Kassian on waivers. Assuming he clears, he might, just might, get a chance to actually play in a Habs uniform if, and only if, there's an instance where he's required (which would only be as an injury replacement).

- Hey, speaking of returning, Habs finally are getting some wounded bodies back - Torrey Mitchell, who's been excellent on the Habs 4th line up until his injury, will return to the lineup tonight. Charles Hudon will be a healthy scratch, to make way for Mitchell.

We'll post a game preview in a bit.

Game 31: Sens vs. Habs

THIRD PERIOD:

- Here's the rundown for Habs and Sens through 40 minutes:

- Sens buzzing to start the 3rd, the Habs, again, playing much to cautiously, letting Ottawa bring the attack to them. Canadiens' defence far less engaged as the game has progressed.

- Emelin lays into Karlsson, which looks great, and gets the Sens all mad, but bodies were hit while the Sens were carrying the puck into the Habs zone, which means Emelin's check left the Canadiens with just one defenseman back. What I'm saying is, it was a dumb play.

- Sens getting nasty right now, slashes, trips and knee checks. The officials are refusing to call anything, so as long as their whistles stay silent, Ottawa will continue to hack away.

- Habs are going to need one more, just to make this game comfortable. Right now, it's not. It's very, very not.

- 10 minutes left. We're approaching the stage in the game that's been Montreal's undoing the past 10 days. Will history repeat itself?

- Pacioretty easily Habs best forward tonight - while Lars Eller has been largely invisible for most of the game.

- Habs on their heels, right at the 12 minute mark. Just like Boston and Detroit. And now having to kill of a penalty. Here we go again?

- Ryan goes down rather suspiciously with Pacioretty's stick just brushing him, but whatever, the officials call a penalty, and now Ottawa has a 2 man advantage. Get ready to hold on to something.

- Habs survive, but only just. Plekanec breaks his stick after the 1st penalty expires, essentially putting the Habs right back at 2 men short. I've never understood the "strategy" of keeping players out there, sans a stick, instead of having them dash a mere 30 feet to the bench to either change or be handed a stick.

- Habs powerplay again comes up zeros, but with plenty of puck passing and shot attempts. Still not seeing nearly enough aggressive traffic in and around the opposing crease during these things. Habs need a dirty powerplay goal, with the unit now sinking fast, 0 for the last 16.

- Well, it wasn't exactly pretty, given how good they looked in the first period, but the Habs win. As noted in our game preview, Habs may not have received any actual goal support from their powerplay, but the did get a key "big" save early from Toakarski on Hoffman, which would have made the game 1-0 Ottawa, and might have send everything in a totally different direction. In any case, a strong outing for him - you'd have to figure that he'll get the next start, and will continue to be the defacto number one as long as he continues to play well.



SECOND PERIOD:

- Habs and Sens through 20 minutes. Incredibly one-sided, 5v5 CF Habs 71.1%, Sens 28.9

- It will be fascinating to see how the Sens respond in this period. I'm pretty sure they were read the riot act during the intermission, with Erik Karlsson playing a period so terrible, he might lose Norris trophy consideration (okay, maybe it wasn't that bad, but he did struggle mightily).

- Oh yeah - Pageau took a stupid roughing penalty to end the 1st period, so the Habs will start with the man advantage on a clean, fast sheet of ice.

- Not much on that man advantage. Habs are now 1 for their last 18, 0 for their last 14.

- Not a night to remember for Karlsson, as he again gets caught up ice, the resulting rush for the Habs, Petry with a wrister that beats Anderson blocker side, and it's 3-0. At this point, Ottawa might as well through all caution to the wind.

- 4-0 ... almost. Max Pacioretty knocks the puck into the net with his glove, as the Sens totally collapse in their zone, utter chaos around Anderson. Regardless, Anderson is removed from the game - I think he's had enough of the nonsense of his team's performance, and it's hard to blame him.

- Pageau, of course Pageau, puts the Sens on the board, with Gilbert making a perplexing pinch deep into the Sens zone, with his team up 3-0.  Ottawa has life.

- Well, that Pageau goal has certainly had its effect. It's given Ottawa some reason to believe, and it's made the shell-shocked Habs, because of their recent slide, very wary - far too wary, in their zone. Habs playing far too conservatively trying to protect a 2 goal lead before we've even reached the 3rd period.

- Habs nearly surrender another goal as the period comes to a close - they looked great to start the 2nd, but a silly play by Gilbert to free up an odd-man rush for the Sens leading to a goal for Pageau has put a different complexity on this game. Sure, the Habs remain overwhelming favourites to go on to victory, but the mental awareness of his this team has found ways of losing the past 10 days surely will have an impact in the 3rd. It is essential that the Canadiens remount an aggressive approach that made them so successful in the 1st. I'm not advocating dumb plays like Gilbert made, but controlling centre ice and maintaining a strong forecheck should give Montreal all they need to finally seal a victory.


FIRST PERIOD:

- So, Andrighetto gets bumped down to the 4th line, Byron in his spot on the first line next to Plekanec, Carr bumped up to the 3rd line next to Desharnais. Make whatever of that like as you will, but whether these jumbled lines will produce actual goals for the offence-starved Habs, we'll have to see.

- Byron with a speedy first shift, Therrien seemingly hoping both his and Pacioretty's tremendous speed will be too much for Karlsson and the Sens to handle.

- Tokarski just robbed Hoffman, with a great move left to right to rob him with the pad. That's the kind of save that's been missing from Condon's game for a solid month.

- Nathan Beaulieu returns, and immediately has a big impact, carrying the puck in from the line around behind the Sens net, and feeds a wide open Flynn for a slam dunk goal. Beautiful play by Beaulieu, great work by Hudon to help set up the goal. 1-0.

- Still hard to believe Therrien had the audacity to scratch Beaulieu Thursday night. The kid makes a nice in-your-face statement by setting up that goal.

- Pretty hard not to like how this period has gone for the Habs - outshooting Ottawa 14-4 halfway through, Karlssoon gets called for a hold, basically because Montreal is vastly out skating and outworking the Sens.

- Habs first powerplay dangerous, good puck movement, but lots of shot attempts blocked, and no real presence close to Anderson, save Desharnais who  was top of the crease with 6 feet of open net, and managed to whiff on a sure-fire goal.

- Habs dominance of centre ice this period has been nothing short of astounding.

- Ahh, Mad Max finally strikes. Was beginning to worry this dominate period go for naught, but Pacioretty left all alone on the week, and beauty pass by Plekanc. Habs lead 2-0.

- That was about as one-sided a period as you'll see played, anywhere. Habs totally and utterly dominated Ottawa both ends of the ice, and everything else in-between. Craig Anderson immediately skated off the ice at the buzzer in disgust. He's right. It was a pretty disgusting period of hockey by the Senators. Crazy possession stats in favour of the Habs, as we shall see.




 
I'M SORRY BUT I CAN WILL NEVER GET ENOUGH OF THIS VIDEO: HABS AND SENS GAMEDAY GAME PREVIEW

Hey, it's another showdown between the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators, or as Sens fans like to call it "our Stanley Cup". That's because beating the Habs is pretty much the only big achievement in the cards for the Sens and their poor fans. WE BEAT THE HABS!!!! ... yeah okay Bucky, congrats ... enjoy your parade.

I'm sorry to say all is not well in Sensland. Ottawa is on a small slump (something Habs fans can relate to), largely because Ottawa is receiving contributions from pretty much two lines, and only two lines. Ottawa coach Dave Cameron has been riding the Sens two top lines of Mike Hoffman, Kyle Turris, Bobby Ryan, Zack Smith, Mika Zibanejad, and the aforepictured, Mark Stone.

A big controversy in Ottawa right now is the way Cameron has been handling Hoffman, who was royally benched on Tuesday night, even though he's had an excellent season so far, scoring 15 goals for 27 points. It's highly unusual for any NHL coach to bench a player who's currently in the League's top 20 in scoring, but that's exactly what Cameron did. To make matters worse, Cameron took Hoffman off the Sens top line, the conspiracy theorist in me thinks the Sens are attempting to slow Hoffman's scoring pace down a gear, since he'll be a free agent come next summer. Stranger things have happened.

Of course, much of this is being offset by the great play of Erik Karlsson, already the runaway favorite for the Norris trophy, and might actually be a Hart trophy candidate. Karlsson and Marc Methot have done a fine job commanding the Sens transition game, which has bolster point totals for guys like Ryan, Stone, and Hoffman.

This all means the Habs, whose defence hasn't been playing particularly well the past couple of weeks, which has had a direct effect on creating an anemic offence, will see the return of Nathan Beaulieu, who was inexplicably scratched on Thursday night, because Michel Therrin doesn't seem to have a firm grasp on who's been making actual, positive contributions. While it's great news that Beaulieu is returning, unfortunately it comes at the expense of Greg Pateryn, who will sit tonight. Alexei Emelin will play.

Keys for the Habs tonight are pretty much threefold. 1) the defence needs to be more engaged and disciplined, 2) Habs powerplay has to be productive again, 3) Montreal is going to need some timely goaltending. Dustin Tokarski, who had a pretty good start against the Wings, will get another chance to prove that may he deserves the Habs backup job again.

Puck drops at 7:10 EST.


GAMEDAY NEWS 'N' NOTES

Stuff around the League today, mainly Habs-related.

- Dustin Tokarski, who had a strong outing Thursday night, has earned his second straight start, as Michel Therrien this morning announced that he'll play tonight against the Sens.

- Speaking of Therrien, the Pens fired their head coach Mike Johnston this morning. Mike Sullivan will take over duties. The last head coach the Pens fired mid season was - you guessed it - Michel Therrien. After dumping Therrien, the Pens then proceeded to win the Stanley Cup.

- Hey ho, Nathan Beaulieu is good to go. Therrien will insert him back into the lineup tonight, and to make room, the coach announced that Alexei Emelin will be a healthy scratch. HA HA HA .. just kiddin'. Did you think Therrien would actually do the right thing? Greg Pateryn will be the guy sitting in the press box.

- Were you thinking what I was thinking when you read that above paragraph about what the Pens did today? I know you were.


GAMEDAY LAFF OF THE DAY


Honestly, sometimes this stuff writes itself. This actual article with its actual swear-to-god headline appeared on the Globe and Mail late Friday night. I smirked. I'm sure you will, too.


Mr. Klinkenberg, in case you were wondering, is an Edmonton-based correspondant for the Globe. Thanks for that Marty. As always, we enjoy your continuing coverage of all things sporting from Alberta's capital, better known as the City of First Round Draft Picks.


HAPPY FRIDAY!

Are you still bummed out about last night? Remember, today it's Friday! Also, this is kind of nice, as a pick me up:

Dreams come true,you have to keep believing and keep working hard. Thanks everyone who believed in me #habs #DreamsComeTrue #keepworking

— Charles Hudon (@KidHud_10) December 11, 2015

Kid, you played well your first time out. Welcome to the NHL!