Game Four: Habs vs. Pens

THIRD PERIOD:

- Interesting to note that the Habs player with the least amount of ice time through 2 periods? David Desharnais. The -2 probably didn't help.

- Don't think Weise is snakebit this season, it's just that he overacheived last year, and his actual goal producing ability has come back to earth.

- Good, fast, aggressive start for Habs in the 3rd, legs are moving well, Pens are very scrambly in their zone. 

- Could see that goal coming a mile away, the Habs blistering of the Pens eventually results in a centre ice turnover, Desharnais to Fleischmann for his first ever as a Montreal Canadien. 3-2 Habs.

- Maybe reflective of larger issues, Pens defense looking really sluggish in the period - Habs speed is just killing them. Right now Pittsburgh in reactive mode, Canadiens firing at Fleury at pretty much their will. 

- Fully expecting Pacioretty to score the hat trick tonight. 

- Brad Watson with an absolutely atrocious tripping call on Smith-Pelly. He's another Tim Peel in the making. Actually, he's pretty much arrived.

- How can you tell the Pens have already opened the gates? They surrender a 3-on-1 with the man advantage. Their powerplay might actually be worse than Montreal's, which says an awful lot.

- 8 minutes left in the 3rd, Habs are kinda dominating the frame:

- Pens finally find some offensive mo', but Carey Price doing an excellent door impersonation. Habs, for a very rare occasion in this game, looking very shaky in their own zone - borderline panicking.

- Pens really struggling to exit their zone tonight - many, many passing mistakes being made by their defence. The Pittsburgh might need to look at this situation sooner rather than later, because I can't fathom this team competing if tonight is any indication of how good (or bad) their blue line is.

- Four minutes left, Habs appear to be turtling, which always means trouble.

- Carey freakin' Price, absolutely robs Crosby off a cross ice one timer. Habs passivity giving Pens the opportunity here. 

- Pens will play the rest of the remaining 70 seconds (or less) with the Crosby line, Therrien is going with the Plekanec line. Game at hand.

- Man, Pens have really struggled with their transition tonight, and zone entries. Lots of unforced errors.

- Officials very generous in giving the Habs an icing off a puck that barely crossed the line with Pens defensemen dogging it back to his zone. 12 seconds left, faceoff deep next to Price.

- Crucial faceoff won by Plekanec, Habs clear and win the game. This organization has never gone a season starting 4-0, without eventually winning a championship.

SECOND PERIOD:

- Ah, here's Plotkinov, taking full advantage of a break, with Beaulieu's point shot hitting Weise in from, and Plotkinov skates the length, beating Price stick side (weak-ish goal by Price's standards, I suppose). Tie game.

- Habs powerplay. Get ready to hold onto nothing.

- Wow. They convert. By doing what they really shouldn't be doing - killing the clock with perimeter passing. This time, however, Pacioretty snipes one past Fleury for his 2nd of the game.

- Pens just dominating neutral zone play in the period, Habs way too passive there, and it's making this period totally dominative for the Pens with puck possession.

- Crosby line being very well contained - combination of Habs 4th line, and the Plekanec line really doing an excellent job shutting down the passing lanes. Kessel one quality shot (and excellent Price save), but that's been about it. 

- That said, Habs defense, especially Beaulieu-Gilbert, extremely soft covering their slot. Pens forwards have had a couple of opportunities where their forwards have been provided the red carpet treatment right to Price. That's going to kill the Habs tonight if it isn't addressed pronto.

- Bounces have so far been strongly with the Pens, Letang with a fluttering shot that somehow evades Price. Knuckler I guess, but it's still disheartening.

- Habs with an excellent first period, and a slightly-better-than-stinker second, where they basically allowed the Pens to take their game to them at will. Puck possession was horrid, zone transitions were uneven. Really, there wasn't a whole lot to cheer about that period, except for Pacioretty's powerplay goal. One more period like that, and the Habs will be due their first loss of the season.

FIRST PERIOD:

- Hey, this is kind of cool, in a not very cool way. Combined, both teams are going into tonight's game with a powerplay running 1/21, or about 4%.  Wonderful!!

- Habs get Brad Watson tonight. Here's hoping Mr. Watson keeps his mouth shut tonight. 

- Habs defence really struggling with Pens zone entries, allowing too much free wheeling passes and it's giving their most dangerous forwards quality chances on Price.

- Nice feed by Gallagher to Paciotetty with a one timer from the line. Fleury was playing way too deep in his crease. 1-0.

- Brad Watson penalizing Desharnais for accidentally bumping into another guy. 

- Desharnais with a nice backcheck to break up a 3-on-2, but the Habs forwards will need to be more aggressive both directions or the Pens will score more than a few tonight.

- Looking more and more this game will be decided by whomever has the better goaltending. You know who that favours.

- Gilbert with sloppy passing out of his zone. Not for the first time this season.

- Very good period for the Habs. Pens came out string, but Canadiens made necessary adjustments to mostly contain Pittsburgh's transition. Especially strong period by the Habs 4th line, which did a nice job mostly containing the Crosby line. Pens have their hands full tonight.

GAMEDAY PREVIEW: WHO SAID FAT GUYS CAN'T PLAY TOO?

Is there anyone more awesome in the NHL than Phil Kessel? I mean ... LOOK at him. Look at THAT. If you didn't follow the game of hockey, or didn't know who he was, you'd swear he was that guy you contracted out a few years ago to reshingle your roof.

But no. Phil Kessel is an actual, genuine National Hockey League athlete. Actually a pretty good one, at that. But not good enough, it seemed, for the fans, and in particular the awful media people ([cough] Steve [cough] Simmons) who troll it.

So Kessel, one of the few players in the game who's a pretty sure bet to score 40+ goals on a good team (and 30+ on a bad), was shoved out of Toronto to Pittsburgh, for a few measly returns: "Addition by subtraction!" the media trolls cheered in victory.

Okay, Leafs. Whatever you want. Enjoy last place for the next couple of seasons while you struggle to score 200 lousy goals in an entire season.

The Pens won't be having any problems lighting up the score clock - now with Kessel now settled in nicely next to Sidney Crosby and Crhis Kunitz. Not only did they add Kessel to the roster this summer, they also bolstered their goal-scoring prowess by picking up Sergei Plotnikov.

However, even with all those moves designed although their aspirations for their first championship in eight years might be hampered by what certainly looks like a suspect defense.

The Pens' blue line is anchored by Kris Letang and Ian Cole, which is all fine. Beyond that, however, Pittsburgh's defense is largely comprised of pluggers, including the likes of the oft' injured Olli Maatta, and the wildly overpaid third-stringer Rob Scuderi. The Penguins defensive strategy doesn't appear much different than the one embraced by Michel Therrien and his Canadiens: Let Carey Price do most of the work. Except Andrei Marc Fluery, and let's be totally honest here - is no Carey Price.

So this Pens team is certainly intriguing, but I fear that Pens G.M. Jim Rutherford spent too much time focused on strengthening his offense, at the expense of adding some necessary blue line depth. The team he's constructed is a virtual shoo-in for a playoff spot, but I'm not so sure that in a League where defense wins championships, that the Penguins will acheive their ultimate goal of winning another Stanley Cup next spring.

So tonight, the undefeated Habs will get their first legitimate test of the young season, as they will take on the Pens for Pittsburgh's 2015-16 home opener. The Habs will be going with the same lines tonight as they had the first three games, with Carey Price starting in goal.

Puck drops around 7:20 EST, and we'll be live blogging and live streaming the game.

Game Twenty: Pens vs. Habs

THIRD PERIOD

- I think it's pretty simple - if Desharnais is unwilling to shoot, he simply must be kept off specialty units. It's exhasperating to watch his linemates continuously setting him up, and he continuously refusing to attempt a score.

- I'll say this, if Fleury gets the shutout, it'll be from the benefit of many lucky bounces. Anyway, the Leafs are losing 8-0 tonight, so this game really doesn't look that bad. Actually, it wasn't. The better team won, but it was no slaughter. Habs played well from halfway mark on, which is to say, as usual this season.

SECOND PERIOD

- Bowman got 2 minutes playing time in the first, which begs the question, why even bother? Emelin the most at 8+ minutes, which begs the question, did somebody slip something into Therrien's water bottle?

- Haha. Habs Fenwick close was 36% in the period. Did I not estimate 65% for the Pens?? So close. So very close. 

- Gallagher with a poor pass in the neutral zone, then fails to cover his man on the resulting Pens rush. Sutter makes it 3-0. Gallagher works like a horse but struggles adapting to opposition transitions. 

- Some pretty casual and soft coverage receiving the Pens rush, and it's generating some crazy good chances for Pittsburgh.

- Still think an Eller-Pacioretty-Sekac power/possession line would be worth trying. Each of those three are momentum generators, at the very least.

- No three goal lead is ever safe. Not with Fleury in net. Just sayin'.

- Habs PP, Fleury down, puck clearly loose, Tim Peel inexplicably blows it down. Yeah. Tim Terrible Peel.

- Anyway, aside from that, Habs man advantage looked terrible. No scoring threat. Same old.

- Per Arpon Basu, Desharnais registered his 20th shot in the second period. Of the season. For the supposed number one centre. Yeah. That's pretty dismal.

- Habs second powerplay a little more zip, but no dice. On well. Just not happening tonight.

- Crosby. Powerplay. That'll do it once and forevermore. Might as well start Tokarski for the third.

- Slightly second period, but that's not saying much. Pens are a far more organized and disciplined unit, they eat teams like Montreal alive. One thing's for certain, when the Habs lose, they lose big.

 
FIRST PERIOD:

- Pretty low energy start by this Habs team. Very much looking like a back-to-back team tonight, as opposed to last week's two games within 27 hours.

- Ouch. Beaulieu with a cardinal sin giveaway via a bad pass through the middle, intercepted easily by Bennett, and a wrister beats Price high.

- Poor Beaulieu is going to be lucky if he sees anything north of four more shifts the rest of this game. Therrien never forgets, never forgives.

- Hoo boy. Pacioretty with a soft play in his corner, another bad turnover, and in a split second, the Pens take a 2-0 lead, Letang to Downie.

- Sekac looking fast and involved again tonight. He's also carrying the zone - he refuses to do otherwise, which makes me love him all the more.

- More good work by Prust, who's really found his game the past few days.

- Um, anyone assigned to checking Bennett tonight? Anyone??

- Price looking very scrambley in goal tonight, not that I can blame him, Pens forwards are swarming the Habs crease pretty much unopposed. Some soft defending tonight by Montreal.

- I'd estimate a good 75% of the play in this period has been on the Habs side of centre ice. A good 65% in their zone. Not a pretty sight.

- Yeah. Not a good period. Habs just not even close to competing, slow and sloppy, especially in their own zone. No real quality scoring chances generated on Fleury - it's just like pretty much every other first period we've witnessed this season. So they're gonna dominate from here on out, right? Uh, right??!



GAMEDAY NEWS 'N' NOTES:

- Hey, ho ... Carey Price will play tonight. Back to back starts for the first time this season.

- Jiri Sekac may or may not play tonight. If he starts, that's cool. If he doesn't, grab the pitchforks and fire up the torches.


HAPPY TUESDAY!!

Okay, Habs lineup for tonight:

Line 1: Pacioretty-Desharnais-Parenteau Line 2: Galchenyuk-Plekanec-Gallagher Line 3: Prust-Eller-Sekac Line 4: Malhotra-Weise Markov-Subban Emelin-Gonchar Gilbert-Weaver Beaulieu

More in a bit!

Game Fifty: Habs vs. Pens

Third Period:

#FireTherrien

Second Period:

- Breire's passes from behind the net are consistently awful. They appear nearly as blind as they are rushed and as a result, are badly off target. Lots of potential scoring chances are being lost from this.

- Gallagher post. Fleury seemingly having trouble with the high shots tonight.

- 3-1. Jokinen. It all started because Subban makes a poor clearance from behind his net. Price probably also wants that shot back. Pens halfway to 6.

- Past the halfway mark, Leblanc has less than 2:30. Almost tragic, really. This kid isn't getting even a fair shot at proving his worth. 

- As usual Subban the target of marginal interference calls. His nemesis St. Laurent one of tonight's officials.

- Pens PP, Crosby left totally alone, makes it look easy. 4-1. Pens two away from 6.

- Malkin. Markov having one of his worst games, possibly ever. 5-1. The route is officially on.

- So Price mercifully pulled and the Habs are getting trounced. Not like we didn't see this coming but it's still been ugly to watch. Would give an eye tooth or two to know what's going through the mind of Marc Bergevin right now. His team is falling apart.

First Period:

- Hoo boy. Here we go. How ugly will this game be?

- Pens shockingly send out the Crosby line the instant Bouillon and Murray hit the ice.

- And Murray makes a terrible unforced turnover in his zone his first shift. Buckle your seats folks.

- One of the Pens' stratagies tonight is pretty clear: don't let Subban get a shot on net.

- Mouillon on. Pens generate another great scoring chance, of course. Inevitably they're going to finish.

- It begins. Malkin catches Markov flat footed and makes a pretty pass to Jokinen. Price no chance. 1-0.

- Habs are playing like, well, the Habs. Having a wretched time getting the puck out of their zone and the Pens, specifically the Malkin line, are eating them alive. Wouldn't be shocked if Pittsburgh scores 6 or 7 before the night is done.

- Even strength or on the PK, Habs really struggling to clear their zone. That's a formula for disaster against this Pens team.

- 2-0. Murray soft in the slot. Yup.

- Wow. Rene Bourque scores. Pinching myself.

- Decent pushback by Habs last 5 minutes of the period. This game might not be a complete debacle. We'll see.

=========================================================

Good grief. The wheel goes round and round, where it stops, nobody knows.

Many of us covering the team yesterday were sparked with mild excitement, happiness even, when it was witnessed at practice that the Habs were running Frankie Bouillon and Doug Murray as the 7th and 8th defensemen.

HALLELUIAH.

So with great anticipation, Habsland began to dream of those practice lines starting tonight in Pittsburgh. P.K. Subban with Andrei Markov. Nathan Beaulieu with Josh Gorges. Raphael Diaz with Alexei Emelin. These aren't perfect lines, but finally ... FINALLY ... common sense has settled in with the braintrust. Bouillon out. Murray out. REJOICE!

Alas, it was not to be.

Michel Therrien just annouced tonight's scratches. Diaz and Emelin.

Bouillon and Murray will start.

So we have arrived. Facing one of the League's most powerful offenses, the Habs will be starting not one, but two of the worst roster defensemen in the NHL. Together. At the same time.

It is totally, inexorably and inexcusably baffling.

Here we go. The Habs, who once enjoyed a huge lead in the standings, in the span of two short weeks facing very beatable opponents, suddenly find themselves in a dogfight for a wild card playoff spot. Oh, how fortunes can turn so dark so quickly.

Tonight, it's gonna be a nightmare.

The Pens, who took a trashing at the hands of the lowly Florida Panthers Monday night, are going to unleash their fury, at the Habs expense. It is not going to be pretty, aided by the inclusion of both Bouillon and Murray.

What is Therrien thinking? The Pens with the 4th rated offense, top rated powerplay, 10th rated 5v5 - we all know the arsenal they have on offense - and matched up against the porous Habs defense, Carey Price is almost certainly looking at a 40+ shot total tonight. Possibly 50+.

This game has the possibility of becoming a circus sideshow of ineptitude for the Canadiens. It has the potential of being a complete and utter washout. It has the potential of being such an extraordinary debacle that finally ... FINALLY ... the scribes following this team will start questioning Mr. Bergevin about his determination to keep Therrien behind the bench.


A devastating loss tonight might end up becoming a magnificent gain for this organization.


I will be cheering for the Penguins. This madness must end.


Puck drops at 7:10 est. The slaughter shall probably commence shortly thereafter.

Game Thirty-Two: Habs vs. Pens

First Period:

- Dumont doing his part to set a physical tone, drops gloves with Kennedy. Habs have got to do everything possible to slow the pace of this game as much as possible.

- Close in try for Deshairnas, Fleury struggles to find and cover the puck. Habs would be wise to rattle his cage whenever possible (without drawing interference, of course).

- Puck possession essentially equal so far, but Habs defending well in their zone. Pens limited to two shots first 11 minutes.

- Yeah, I think it's time to end the Eller/Armstrong combo. I don't see the compliment or gain.

- No score, but Habs have to be delighted with first 15 minutes. Pens still stuck on 2 shots.

- Deshairnas line with great shift, had almost 100% puck possession.

- Terrific period for the Habs, Pens just 5 shots, Price untested. Playing a very close checking, patient game, just about ideal not only for a road game, but a road game against a team riding a 12 game winning streak. Just 40 more minutes of the same, and the Canadiens might come away with a win.

Second Period:

- Terrific feed by Gallagher to Pacioretty on the 2-on-1, fine save by Fleury. Habs continue to play very patiently.

- Plekanec great puck control and nifty pass to Ryder, off the inside of the crossbar. Just barely. So close.

- Not going to say the Habs are dominating this, but they are miles ahead the better team so far. Lucky charms keeping the game scoreless. Still waiting for our first powerplay.

- And there it is, Ryder a trip in the offensive zone. Oy. Pens to the powerplay.

- Pens pretty much contained on that man advantage. Still so far, so good.

- Halpern has so far cleaned Crosby's clock in the faceoff circle. Batting 1.000.

- Fleury bringing his A game tonight. Figures.

- Just wow. Flagrant interference on Ryder trying to chase the puck into the Pens zone. Tackled directly in front of the official.

- Amazingly loud home crowd for a team that's had nothing tonight. 7 shots through 31 minutes.

- So unfair. One little mental mistake and the Pens make you pay. Habs with a poor change on transition, Tinordi caught out of position (rookie error) and Crosby along the wing with a perfect wrister under the bar. Habs hard work and discipline not realizing deserved dividends.

- Tinordi is getting eaten alive by the Pens top line. Therrien would be wise to pull him ASAP.

- Kennedy falling and hitting Fleury REALLY hard in the head. Fleury struggling to stand up.

- Disappointing period, not because the Habs played poorly, but because they've played so well. Almost perfectly, really. Just one little mistake, the Pens took advantage. It's a strange game, sometimes.

Third Period:

- Wow. Fleury out, Vokoun in. Habs must pepper him as much as possible. Could be huge break, given that Fleury was making stellar saves up till his injury.

- Habs looking for sure fire setup. I think that's a mistake. Just get the puck on Vokoun with every opportunity. He's cold. Something's gotta give.

- Gorges broke his stick on the PK, Price then screamed to his forwards to hand their stick to Gorges. Fortunately Halpern kept his, and cleared the zone. Bullet dodged.

- Halfway through the third, Habs have mustered only two shots on Vokoun. Ain't gonna cut it. Opportunity wasted.

- Since the Crosby goal Tinordi has seen two shifts. May not have another tonight.

- Pens forwards blocking every shot in sight. Vokoun can practically take a nap out there.

- Plekanec with golden interception right in front of Vokoun. Just golden. Snapped a shot right on Vokoun's crest. Vokoun had no chance of not stopping that.

- Price tremendous save on Cooke. Giving Habs a chance yet.

- Oh my. Habs with circus saves, this time Subban hustling back to check his man on a rebound with Price flat on his belly. Now tie this thing up, guys.

- Pens forwards now suffocating the neutral zone. No where to go.

- Oy. So close. Habs buzzing final seconds but couldn't find the back of net. One of those "what might have been?" losses. They played an ideal road game against the Pens. If but for that one mistake in the second period, we could be playing OT. The Habs demonstrated that they can compete with the best of them, but are just a shade short. With the trade deadline looming, it will be interesting to see if Bergevin makes any more moves to give his team that extra boost - with Bourque seemingly out long-term, he just might.

Gameday Game Preview:

So this is where the rubber meets the road. We've reached the 2/3rd mark of the 2013 NHL season, and tonight, the Habs will make a very definitive statement in their continued push for first place in the Eastern Conference.

But. It's gonna be tough. Like, really tough.

The Pens, in case you've been asleep for about a month, haven't lost. In a long time. Since February 28, to be precise. After losing 4-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes on that day, the Pens then traveled to Montreal, and on March 2nd, outgunned the Canadiens 7-6 on OT. They haven't looked back since.

Not satisfied with beating the living daylights out of everyone since, the Pens added two more players to their roster this week, acquiring Douglas Murray from the Sharks, and Brenden Morrow from the Stars, in return for a significant amount of futures (something the Pens are already well stocked with). The addition of Morrow and Murray struck me as a bit odd. I can rationale the acquisition of Murray, since the Pens defense is someone off and on, but Morrow strikes me as particularly puzzling - the Pens' offense is playing gangbusters, so it seems as though the trade is daring the Pens to break something that doesn't need fixing. We'll see how this pans out for them, but Pittsburgh did give up some pretty significant future in making that deal. I suppose Pittsburgh wants "character" for the playoffs, but goodness, don't they have enough already?

Man, when I look down the roster, I'm reminded how scary they are.  Sidney Crosby might be playing the best hockey of his life right now. And then you have Chris Kunitz who's been scoring like crazy. The Habs best forward will have to play their best game tonight, in particular Thomas Plekanec, who almost certainly will be assigned the unenviable task of shadowing Crosby for much of the night. Good luck Pleks.

Habs injury list remains a concern. Rene Bourque is still out, no ETA. Same for Raphael Diaz. And Brandon Prust. And Ryan White. These aren't game-breaking players, but collectively their absenses creates problems, perhaps most glaringly it significantly reduces the Habs physicality, which dependeded heavily on both Prust and White. That really is the big problem - the Habs have to play physically tonight to slow down the Pens offensive Juggernaut. The Canadiens simply can't play the same game as they did on March 2nd. They won't be able to compete.

Pittsburgh will send out Mark-Andre Fluery, Habs Carey Price. Fluery has been excellent of late, but as always, you are never quite sure which Fluery you'll get on any given night. The Habs are hoping they'll get the Mark-Andre-vs.-the-Flyers-Fluery version tonight. They're also hoping they won't get the Carey Price we saw on March 2nd.

It's gonna be fun to watch. Can the Habs stop the Pens express at 12 straight wins? A victory tonight would send a very loud and clear signal that this season, the Canadiens are a force to be reckoned with.

Puck drops 7:10 EST.