Game 76: Stars vs. Habs

Montreal 4, Dallas 1:

FIRST PERIOD:

- McKenzie picks up a the rebound off his own shot off the backboards, and slips the puck past a somewhat slow-moving Price to give the Habs the early lead. Goal originated from a broken play, with Beaulieu making a poor outlet pass from his zone. 

- Habs utterly chaotic to start this game, the Stars with plenty of zip and flow you sometimes see from teams that have nothing to lose. 

- Jamie Benn appears to be the early centre of attention, insofar as Habs checking and hitting is concerned.

- Rough 1st half, much better 2nd, the Habs finding their forecheck footing, giving Dallas headaches escaping their zone. Good shifts by the Shaw and Danault lines.

- Arttrui Lehkonen, as per usual, sneaky good so far in this 1st period. Seems to always be at least 1/2 step ahead of the play. One of the most hockey-smart guys to suit up in a Habs uniform in a long time.

- Habs swarming the Stars net, big rebounds being surrendered, Dallas incredibly fortunate to still be leading this game. 

- First 5 minutes were awful, next 5 minutes were "okay", last 10 minutes were total domination by the Habs over the Stars. So, more of that next 40 minutes or so, and the Canadiens should eventually overtake Dallas on the scoresheet.

SECOND PERIOD:

- Kari Lehtonen earning his pay check tonight, in particular from the 10-minute mark forward. Habs SA CF (5v5): 53.7%. But in the last half, it was 88.4%. Wowzers.

- Shot heat map right now heavily in favour of one team - that's trailing on the scoreboard.

- Hab might be pelting Lehtonen with the puck, but they haven't done a good job at making shot attempts while creating traffic, the strategy so far has been mainly looking for rebound attempts. That's not working, Lehtonen is easily handling everything he sees.

- Stars are rag dolling this period, just waiting in the high weeds for a Habs defensive mistake (there have been a couple of biggies this period, but Price has shut the door). Got the feeling this might be one of those nights - outplay the opponent in every way possible except on the scoresheet.

- Just not enough traffic bothering Lehtonen. Habs are aggressively pursuing the puck around the crease, but most NHL goaltenders are going to make primary and secondary saves if they have clear sight of the puck.

- Finally, it's Pacioretty with a backhander after Radulov makes a nice zone entry that handcuffs Lehtonen to get the totally-dominating Habs on the scoreboard.

- Carey Price doing his Carey Price thing - making saves on shots that are usually goals surrendered by mere mortals. Having Price on your side is a competitive edge that's impossible to calculate.

- Anther outstanding period for the Habs, picking up where they left off from the 1st period, Lehtonen the difference maker tonight. Habs bolstered by strong performance by their 1st line, which hasn't had much of an impact the past two weeks, and yet another excellent effort by Artturi Lehkonen, who's been all around Lehtonen most of the evening, but has (just barely) been foiled from hitting the scoresheet. One more period like that, and the Canadiens ought come away with a victory. 

THIRD PERIOD:

- Habs SA CF (5v5) in that 2nd period was 72.0%, which is not sustainable (or even advisable) if you're the Dallas Stars. Kari Lehtonen has been giving up plenty of rebounds, but has managed to find a way of keeping his team in this hockey game.

- Check out the shot heat map through 2 periods. It's a bit extreme, but it underscores one area of improvement under Claude Julien that doesn't get nearly enough attention - the Habs have vastly improved in making shots from high percentage scoring areas. Under Therrien, on most nights, the Habs were badly outplayed in this area. Now the reverse is true.

- Habs start the 3rd period much like they started the 1st - running amuck in their own zone. Canadiens very fortunate not to be down again on the board, with Andrew Shaw lending a goaltending hand to keep the puck out of the net.

- Well, these aren't the Dallas Stars we've come to know - at least tonight. Big push out of the gate this period, Habs reeling in their own zone.

- Woah, what a shot by Brendan Gallagher, under the bar from a seemingly impossible angle along the boards, Lehtonen might have done better, but still, what a play - what a shot. 2-1 Habs.

- It's been an up and down night for Lehtonen, but he's still making difficult saves to (only barely) keep his club in the game. Lehtonen again buzzing the Stars zone, and the Danault line easily having its best game in nearly a month.

- Plekanec gets caught, forced to take a hold. Stars get first powerrplay of the game, 10 minutes into the 3rd.

- Price holding the fort this period. Not bad for a guy who woke up this morning thinking about how he was going to pass the time sitting on the Habs bench.

- Stars make a bad pass up the middle, picked off by Markov, who passes to Lehkonen whose knuckler fools Lehtonen to make it 3-1 Canadiens. Lehkonen has been working his butt off all night long, and richly deserves a goal.

- Andrei Markov, future Hockey Hall of Famer, gets standing ovation from the crowd. 2nd all-time in points among Habs defensemen. An incredible career.

- Stars know they're stuffed. Nobody is beating Carey Price 3 times tonight. Just going though routines now as we kill the clock to end the night.

- Stars throw in the town, Alex Radulov says thanks I'll score too. 4-1. In addition to Markov's watershed night, and Lehkonen's excellent performance, Radulov's goal finishes a very successful evening for the Danault line. If they're scoring again, watch out.

- Habs mop up in a game that really wasn't much of a contest, with the Habs mostly dominating this game from half way through the 1st period forward. Canadiens had a few shaky moments in their zone, but Carey Price made the necessary saves at the necessary times to allow his team to eventually overtake the Stars on the backstretch, and eventually pull away. With the Sens losing in a shootout tonight, the Canadiens increase their lead to 4 points, which means assuming At Montoya is healthy again, he'll start Thursday against the Panthers (who had a tough loss in Toronto tonight). That aside, the Canadiens surely will be happy with their top point producers scoring again - you get the feeling that Claude Julien's work on ridding his team from 4 years of bad habits leaned during the Therrien years are starting to pay off. The next week should give us a good idea whether or not this team has finally righted their offence in the right direction.

NIGHT OF THE BENNS. THIS IS THE NIGHT WE'VE SPENT OUR LIVES WAITING FOR

FINALLY. Jordie versus Jamie. TO THE TAPE. FIRST UP ... IN THE RED CORNER ... JORDIE:

Magnificent. Those golden locks nearly reach his clavicle. Neatly trimmed and rounded, soft yet intimidating. We are in awe.

IN THE BLUE CORNER ... JAMIE:

Uhm, WHAT in the hell is that? It looks like something you might grow coming off a weekend bender in Vegas. One of the shameful, pathetic growths we've seen in a long time. Sorry Dallas, we got the best Benn you had to offer. We can't hardly wait to see Jordie bury his burly bush in Lord Stanley's mug this coming June.

Anyway, before any marches on St. Catherine's, we've got a game to play tonight, so here are the necessary notes:

- Dallas is playing out the string of what has been a very disappointing season. The Big D were reckoned to be a competitive force in the Central Division this year. Instead, they're hoping to get a decent pick in the upcoming entry draft. Not helping their cause of late has been two wins over the Devils and Sharks.

- Habs hoping to do the Stars a favour tonight by handing them a loss, while maintaining their 1st place edge in the Atlantic Division. While tonight's game marks the end of a 5 game home stand for the Canadiens, the remainder of their schedule is still favourable - Montreal will not face another playoff team this year until, well, the playoffs.

- News out of practice this morning, Al (Tony) Montoya went down with a lower body injury during skating warmups (huh??), so the Habs have made an emergency call up with Zach Fucale (remember him??) to back up Carey Price tonight.

- Habs lineup tonight:

Pacioretty/Danault/Radulov
Lehkonen/Plekanec/Gallagher
Byron/Shaw/Galchenyuk
Martinsen/Ott/Mitchell

Weber/Markov
Emelin/Petry
Benn/Beaulieu

Carey Price

- Stars lineup tonight:

Benn/Eakin/Hemsky
Elie/Seguin/Ritchie
Dickinson/Faksa/Shore
McKenzie/Cracknell/Spezza

Lindell/Klinberg
Pateryn/Nemeth
Johns/Hamhuis

Kari Lehtonen

- Yeah, it's pretty cheeseball, but we'll leave you with this:


- Puck drops tonight at 7:40 EST.

Game 39: Habs vs. Stars

Montreal 4, Dallas 4 (OT)

FIRST PERIOD LIVE GAME BLOG:

- Bobby Farnham gets his season debut start for the Habs tonight, he'll slot in on the left side on the 4th line. 

- I trust nobody is watching Canada right now, right? Okay. Good.

- Dallas gameplay apparent early - ice the puck every opportunity. You may have switch over to the team Canada game already.

- Plodding start of the Habs to start this game - likely indicative of playing last night, and this being the 6th game of a very long road trip.

- Gallagher continues to do the right things - much more aggressive positioning in front of opposing goal, something that was very absent during his extended scoring drought. Still hold the opinion that he was playing through an injury and was taking precautions avoiding high contact areas of the ice.

- Danault does the dirty work winning puck battles along the board, Pacioretty feeding Beaulieu who pinches in a beats Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen with a wrister to give the Habs a 1-0 lead. Dallas is the rested team tonight, so there's little excuse for losing battles. 

- Antoine Roussel, who's back from a few days off from injury, is flying for the Stars this period. Habs would be wise to keep a close check.

- So ... Bobby Farnham - yeah ... I'm not sure I'm understand this start he's getting tonight.

- Seguin. We warned you Habbies earlier today, but you didn't listen. Tie game.

- Dallas definitely the faster team tonight - Habs having trouble keeping up while defending their zone. 

- More or less a draw of a period, which for the Habs is an okay result given this is 2nd part of a back-to-back. Canadiens will need to do a better job containing Seguin and Roussel next two periods - because both are clearly on their game tonight. 

SECOND PERIOD LIVE GAME BLOG:

- Habs continue to be impressive with possession, 61% CF in that first period:

- If I'm on the Dallas bench, I'm not exactly enthralled with confidence in Lehtonen. Goaltending has been another issue with the Stars this year, whether or not that'll factor into who wins tonight - we'll see.

- Habs fans are fully versed in Alexei Emelin's uncanny ability to do stupid things on the ice, but one area that he's improved on this season are outlet passes to his forwards. Any progression in transition helps significantly with puck possession, of which the Habs have slowly but surely become one of the best in the NHL. 

- Stars smarty get the Spezza line out against Barberio and Johnston, and if not for a couple of good Montoya saves, it would be 2-1 Dallas. Ryan Johnston continues to demonstrate that he's not NHL-calibre or capable. Very soft and shaky in his own zone.

- Al Montoya has been rather lucky tonight, misplayed two shots, one just from Seguin that Montoya wasn't remotely ready to handle, but caught a break as Seguin's shot hit is blocker. 

- Byron out with what we assume is a head injury from a blind hit he took from Patrick Sharp in the 1st period. Habs injury woes might be getting even worse before they get better.

- Soft penalty on Gallagher, Dallas takes advantage off the faceoff, with Klinberg beating Montoya with a 55 foot wrister. 2-1 Stars.

- Habs miffed that Spezza wasn't called for a pick after the faceoff that resulted in the Klinberg goal, and the ref calls Therrien for mouthing off. Stars back on the powerplay. Looking at the goal reply, the Habs have a point - Spezza pretty clearly tripped Plekanec off the draw, which prevented him from covering his mark, which would have been Klinberg.

- Maybe Montoya's all distracted by his newly minted contract extension, but he's just not on his game tonight - very scrambly with saves, mostly unnecessarily so.

- That was not a good 2nd period for the Habs, who I think are just plain out of gas. Montoya looking a little shaky, combined with a couple of questionable calls by the officials that led to Dallas's second goal. Tough road to haul for this team, especially in light of Byron's game-ending injury suffered during the 1st period. 

THIRD PERIOD LIVE GAME BLOG:

- Habs 2nd period totals not good. As we mentioned previously, pretty clear indication this team is just plain tired. So much travelling, back to back games - four straight OT games - it's all adding up.

- Habs powerplay going nowhere, until Alex Radulov steps on the ice, splits the Dallas defence, and slips a sweet backhander past Lehtonen to tie the game. As pretty a goal as you'll see in the game of hockey, by one of the League's best forwards.

- Eventually Radulov is going to get talked about for League MVP consideration. He's really been that good. 

- You can't be serious - Weber absolutely nailing Gallagher in the hand with a slap shot - the same hand (I believe) that was broken last year. Good lord. Terrible.

- Pacioretty scores with a brilliant snap shot top corner to give the Habs a 2-1 lead seconds after Gallagher is injured. A hefty price paid. 

- Yup. Same hand. Weber's shot was clocked at 100 mph, and it likely shattered Gallagher's hand into many pieces. That's a massive loss for the Canadiens. Almost certainly long-term.

Gallagher takes a Weber shot to the hand. Not a doctor but that doesn't look good... #Habs pic.twitter.com/E9MrhQObmU

— Shayne Pasquino (@shaynepasquino) January 5, 2017

- Not a doctor, but this looks bad. Very, very bad: 

- Anyway, back to the game. Dallas should be skating the Habs into the ice right now, with the Habs down two forwards, on zero rest, 4 straight OT games on the 6th game of a 7 game road trip. But they aren't. 

- Halfway through the 3rd, Stars have twice as many shot attempts in the period, but two goals scored by the Habs. That's hockey for you.

- 5 minutes left, Habs, maybe because they're road weary, trying to grind this game to a halt, lots of dumping, not much chasing. 

- Just under 4 minutes left - can the Habs cross the finish line with lead in tact? It's going to be very close.

- Dallas applying considerably more pressure here, Habs hunkering down around Montoya.

- Nope. Just not enough juice. Rousell ties it up. Too many bodies in front of the net, too many exhausted Habs players unable to clear the way for Montoya to see the shot.

- I think the Habs would be pretty happy to take the single point. Forget OT. This team is totally spent.

- Wow. Patrick Sharp missing a totally open net with 40 seconds left, hitting Montoya in the head. Incredible miss, and it gifts the Habs at least one point in the standings. Kudos to the Habs for at least picking that up tonight, I have the feeling the OT won't last very long.

OVERTIME LIVE GAME BLOG:

- 5th straight OT for Habs. Even more reason why their chances of winning the extra point are almost entirely resting with winning via a shootout. 

- Max Pacioretty after the Stars complete misplay a deep zone faceoff, sprung on a break, and incredibly the Habs win in OT. What an incredible victory, but oh - at what cost?? Now we await the prognosis for both Byron and Gallagher, the later appears to have sustained a long-term hand injury.

GAME PREVIEW: WATCH OUT HABBIES. TYLER SEGUIN IS COMIN' AFTER YOU

Tyler Seguin. Whooot! Aren't you a pretty one? Say, is that how you practice on your off days? Shirtless with those slim fit khaki's? You're so cool. And what's that? When you're not training that hard, greased up bod, you like putting your feet up and crackin open a cold one?? Well, aren't you special. My mom would like you.

Truth be told, with shirts on or off, Seguin likes playing against the Montreal Canadiens. With exception to the Winnipeg Jets and Philadelphia Flyers, no team has been scored on more by Seguin than the Montreal Canadiens over the span of his 7 year career.

Which is to say, the Habs would be well-advised to keep an eye on the Stars's leading point getter this season - 38 points in 38 games. Just your typical production levels for one of the League's best forwards.

So while Seguin continues to do what Seguin does best, it's been a slightly disappointing year for Dallas. The Stars, who have spent the past few years attempting to build from within, this season it's been, Seguin aside, their lack of scoring which has mainly led them to a less-than-mediocre 16 wins in 38 games.

The Stars enter tonight's game with a 1.92 GF60 average, only good for 25th in the League. That contrasts loudly with Dallas' 2.42 GF60 average they spotted last season, which ranked as the League's 3rd best offence.

What's the root of the problem? Likely it's a combination of factors. The Stars have a meagre 6.55 Sh%, 5th worst in the NHL, a stat that tends to become magnified when you're not a very good possession team (the Stars are ranked 18th in 5v5 CF%). Other issues? A disappointing season so far for Jason Spezza, who has just 22 points on 7 goals in 39 games. If you consider that Spezza has averaged around 1.0 PPG in every season since 2005, 2016-17 is the first real indicator that his decline as an NHL forward has begun.

Complicating the Stars offence issues tonight will be the loss of captain Jamie Benn, who's out day-to-day from an ankle injury. With Benn out, the Stars lines will look like this:

Sharp/Spezza/Seguin
McKenzie/Faksa/Ritchie
Hudler/Eakin/Eaves
Roussel/Shore/Cracknel

Lindell/Klingberg
Hamhuis/Johns
Oduya/Benn

No indication yet as to who the Starts will start in goal.

Meanwhile over on the Habs side, no changes in the lineup tonight - it's difficult to argue otherwise, as the Habs have play magnificent possession hockey the past month, rising all the way up to 3rd in the NHL in 5v5 CF percentage. The only difference tonight is that Al Montoya will start in goal, with Carey Price getting a well-earned rest after an outstanding outing last night in Nashville.

Puck drops 8:10 EST.

Game 67: Stars vs. Habs

FIRST PERIOD:

- Scrivens gets the start, which makes all kinds of no sense, unless tanking is the main objective. 

- Lots of empty seats in the Bell Centre, at least by Montreal's standards.

- With all the missing bodies, it's kind of absurd McCarron isn't getting a top-6 slot. 

- Galchenyuk line, to noone's surprise, a very strong first shift.

- Decently strong start for the Habs, lots of young rested legs out there. Totally overmatched on paper against the Stars, but ya never know. 

- Of course Dallas scores first, off their first chance of the game. Emelin fruitlessly chasing Hemsky, while Demers is left completely unmarked in front of Scrivens, Pateryn distracted by someone or something else. Poor structural defence. Same old Habs story.

- Galchenyuk line looks like the only one even remotely capable of scoring for the Habs. Depth out there pretty razor thin.

- Really hoping somebody from the media could query Bergevin on what he saw/sees in Matteau. I don't see anything other than a very marginal fourth line plugger, of which this organization has an over abundance.

- Habs have had two strong minutes. The first two of this period. Since then, Dallas more or less skating circles around their opponent.

- Hey, ho, Habs score and guess which line it was? Guess who won the faceoff deep to help set up the goal? Therrien's past decisions looking even more ridiculous with every passing game.

- Whelp, not a catastrophe as far as periods are concerned, thin Habs lineup doing a reasonable job, although zone defensive play looks pretty shaky. One would expect with someone like Ruff behind the bench that Dallas will make the necessary adjustments moving forward to help them to convert on their scoring chances, of which they have a clear edge over Montreal. Eventually Dallas should pull away on the scoreboard.

SECOND PERIOD:

- Scrivens special, as Spezza from along the boards, beats him clean glove side. 2-1. Scrivens continues to play poorly.

- And the beat goes on. Andrighetto with nice work along the boards, scoops the puck out front to who-know-who, the Habs tie the game up almost immediately. My observation that the Habs might have only one scoring-capable line continues to hold. 

- Andrighetto has a pretty decent future ahead of him, but one area he needs to improve on is receiving passes. Too many times he's missed quick passes because his blade isn't on the ice. Not a mistake you want to see by an NHL player.

- Mike Brown is in the lineup tonight, another wasted spot that could go to a young player whom actually has a future in this League.

- Woah, Habs be scoring some fierce goals, Danault banks home the puck off the backboards, and very suddenly, Montreal takes the lead. Scoring fast and furious in the period, some from hard work, some from lucky puck bounces.

- Scrivens, sometimes I wonder how he managed to crack the NHL, so undisciplined is his goaltending. Just waiting for the other shoe to drop for another iffy Dallas goal.

- Galchenyuk and his line is, quite simply, on fire. He's taken the baton of centre and has run away so fast, not even Michel Therrien dares take it away.

- McCarron hammers Demers along the boards, can't imagine how painful that must feel. One area this 6'6" frame could probably benefit from would be a bit more physicality. You hate to not use a big body like that to full effect.

- Still can't fathom Habs holding this lead. Not with Scirvens in goal. That said, it's been an excellent period for the Habs, definitely the faster and more physical team.

- Galchenyuk feelin' it. Playing with mountains of cofidence. You can see it with every shift. It looks like, maybe for the first time all season, that he's having fun while playing.

- Scirvens bleeding quite a bit from his fingers. Have no idea how that happened, or how serious his cut is. Anyway, pretty breezy period for him, really only one semi-difficult shot, that being Spezza's goal, which he should have stopped.

- Saw replay of cut on his glove hand. Looks pretty nasty. Still no idea how it happened. He's staying in.

- And there it is. Scrivens fails to cover the post, moving left to right, Hemsky with a pretty easy wrap around goal even though he carried the puck all the way around behind the net. Terrible netminding. Just terrible.

- And just like that, Habs work in getting the lead this goes poof because Scrivens can't stop simple scoring attempts. It's a demoralizing turn of events, the Habs bench almost certainly will be drained of any sense of momentum the third period. Who can blame them? Why work your butt off if your netminder can't do his own job?

THIRD PERIOD:

- Kind of hoped Condon would get the start for the third period, but then I remember we're in tank mode. So Scrivens back in net is fine.

- Bartley is sooooo slow its agonizing. Another one of those pickups that I'd love to hear Bergevin's rationale for having interest in the first place. I'd be inclined to just bench him and rotate Barberio into the Pateryn/Emelin pairing.

- Stars continue to pick apart and exploit poor Habs structure in the neutral zone - they're gaining some pretty free-wheeling transitions and getting good looks at Scrivens, who looks really shakey with his glove hand. Once again, it seems almost inevitable that Dallas will eventually score towards sealing victory.

- One possible salvation for the Habs tonight - their powerplay, which has actually looked pretty decent (with Galchenyuk line out there). Opportunity at hand with 12 minutes left.

- Never mind. Galchenyuk gets nailed for a hook (soft call) while on the man advantage. Oh well. 

- Ruff has made the necessary adjustments, heavily deploying his checkers against the Galchenyuk line. With most everyone else MIA for Habs offence, it's pretty much nullified Canadiens' scoring chances this period. We sit, and wait for Dallas to score next.

- Quiet night for Plekanec, who's been primarily used to keep an eye on Tyler Seguin.

- Well, credit where credit is due, vastly undermanned Habs manage to squeeze a point against the Stars. So we'll give 'em that. Still, Dallas heavy favourites to take this in extra time, which are more often than not, determined by whomever has the superior goaltender.

OVERTIME:

- WIth all this open ice, pretty sure it won't take long for a goal to be scored in OT, and very sure it won't be the Habs who score it.

- Just play Galchenyuk and Pacioretty. Hey, why not. Worth a shot.

- Plekanec/Byron? Um ... ok. 

- Ooooooooh Galchenyuk to Pacioretty for a one timer. So close. Almost made me look like I know what I'm talking about. Almost.

- OH MY GAWD. Stars' Russell has his stick shatter in the defensive zone, thereby essentially making it a Habs 3-on-2, and Markov feeds Galchenyuk perfectly for the one timer, and victory! Holy crap. They won. 

PREGAME QUICK STUFF BECAUSE THE GAMES REALLY DON'T MATTER MUCH

- Habs don't have anyone left to play anymore. Carey Price, Jeff Petry, Tom Gilbert, Nathan Beaulieu, David Desharnais, Brendan Gallagher, Daniel Carr, Brian Flynn, Lars Eller, seven of the Bell Centre's gate attendants and the ghost of Howie Morenz (who passed away 79 years ago) are all injured and won't be in the lineup tonight. In their place are warms bodies. Anything with a pulse. Volunteers. Maybe a couple of hostages.

- No way the Stars lose tonight. No way. If they lose, Lindy Ruff should cancel Christmas of the entire Dallas lineup for the next five years.

- We ain't blogging live again tonight, in part because nobody really cares much anymore about this season, in part because my kid is in a minor league playoff game tonight (goaltending, of course).

- That said, full game blog will be posted probably late tonight, early tomorrow morning.

- Puck drops at 7:40 EST. Starting goaltender will probably be Mike Condon, or maybe the Habs will instead hammer a couple of boards across the posts.

Game 34: Habs vs. Stars

SECOND PERIOD:

- Habs and Stars through 20 minutes. The pattern holds. The Canadiens the better team, but keep rolling snake eyes.

- Benn, it's 2-0. Emelin loses puck battle, Condon playing way too deep in his net. Habs may never win a game again. It sure feels that way.

- Sharp, deflects one in, bounces are going against the Habs both directions. That, and turning the puck over at your blue line is probably a bad idea against a team with an offence like Dallas. 3-0.

- The Sharp deflection was pretty nifty, and perhaps impossible to stop, but Condon is playing his position very, very deep. That's a sign of a goaltender fighting confidence.

- Dallas doesn't seek perfection when it come to goal scoring. They put the puck on the net. The Habs don't seem to be able/capable/wanting to just fire the damn puck. Net result - lots of wide shots, posts and crossbars hit, and Dale Weise constantly missing wide open nets.

- Therrien running the line blender full tilt. Hard to keep up with all the combinations happening out there tonight. We apparently have a stable 4th line, and everyone else drawn from the coach's hat.

- McCarron is a boulder in front of the net. If only he could have some shots coming is way that he could screen.

- Carr tucks in a rebound, on ... get ready for this ... the powerplay. Habs ... wat .. scored? Yes, they actually did. 3-1. Now ... if only they could get some production out of the guys expected to score ... we might have something.

- Laughable holding call on Beaulieu. Phantom call. Threatens to undo all their momentum.

- Possible big break? Goal waived off, goaltending interference called on Demers.

- Forget about it. Benn mauls Petry along the boards in a play that was blatantly interference, Seguin snaps a shot over Condon, who again, is too deep in his net. 4-1. Montreal can't have anything nice.

- McCarron called for a rough merely for bumping into someone along the boards. Words escape me tonight. Officiating has been absolutely horrible.

- Dallas, too many on the ice, not called. I'm giving up on this game. Officiating has been a disgrace.


- FIRST PERIOD:

- Nice little acknowledge by Dallas for Dickie Moore.

- As we noted in the pregame preview, the Stars aren't invulnerable. Their defence isn't particularly  good with puck movement, in particular out of their own zone. A good strong forechecking game by the Habs could reap some benefits (i.e., actually scoring a goal).

- Emelin can't stand still like a pylon at his blue line with the Stars mounting a rush.

- And we're off. Spezza easily gains the zone off a rush, does a nice little shot fake, and makes Condon look ... well ... not good. 1-0 early.

- So now the Habs are chasing the lead early, which is just about the last place you want to be when you're offensive starved to death. It's too early to take big chances, but that might be what's required so that this team can at least remember what it's like to score a goal.

- Habs don't seem very perturbed from surrounding the early goal. Strategy appear the same - maintaining possession. Their forecheck so far, though, isn't nearly as strong as I think it ought to be.

- They acknowledge Dickie Moore in Dallas ... Texas. Nothing in Toronto tonight, because Toronto and their big-league organization is, and will always be, terrible.

- Strong shifts by the Eller line so far, Lars really skating well, and doing an excellent job getting the puck towards the net, which is the intended strategy with McCarron in the lineup.

- Past half way mark, same old story. Habs are doing the right things, but not putting pucks in the net. Also, part of the same old story, players who haven't been producing any raw offence are continuing to get lion's share of shifts.

- Habs powerplay. Eventually this unit will score. Before the end of time. Tonight? Well, let's see who Therrien puts out there.

- Therrien puts out McCarron out first unit, with Plekanec and Pacioretty. Galchenyuk not part of the primary unit. Okay, then.

- Habs 2nd powerplay, Therrien repairing Markov with Subbban, and Andrei rings a snap shot off the crossbar. Sweet jesus, they'll never score again.

- And Weise misses a wide, wide, wide open net. Because, Dale Weise.

GAME 34: HOO BOY, NOW IT REALLY GETS DIFFICULT

We knew looking at the schedule, even way back before the season began, that December would be a challenging month for the Montreal Canadiens. Now nearly 3 weeks into the month, and those original concerns have borne out, with the Habs winners of just 1 game.

Believe it or not, that one win came during the easy part of the schedule. Now things get tough. Really tough. The Habs play in Dallas tonight, the League's best team - to kick off an 8-game road trip, which will take Montreal through some of the toughest arenas in hockey, with stops in Nashville, Minnesota, Washington and Tampa Bay.

In fact, the Canadiens won't even see home ice again until the 2nd week of next year.

The big problem for the Habs, in case you haven't been following the past while, has been their offence. It is, to put it generously, anemic. Realistically, it's a disaster. Montreal has scored a meager 15 goals over their past 9 games during their slide, which unsurprisingly, coincided with the loss of Brendan Gallagher.

Compounding the Habs goal-producing woes, has been the manner in how the Canadiens have attempted to get out of their offensive funk. Specifically, the manner in how Montreal has been deploying their forwards. For the most part, and for reasons that are only known to him, Michel Therrien has scaled back ice times of players who have been point producers, while increasing ice times for those whose outputs have been near zero.

Let's bring forth, Exhibit "A", and it's a doozy:

Since Gallagher injury: Galchenyuk: 2.8 Points/60, 15.4 mins per game Desharnais: 0.3 Points/60 17.4 mins per game.

— Andrew Berkshire (@AndrewBerkshire) December 19, 2015

I've been on Therrien's case the past couple of games about deployments - in particular the amount of time he's been giving David Desharnais, whose production has fallen off the face of the planet since November, while scaling back time to forwards that are actually generating goals. Forwards like, say, Alex Galchenyuk.

Therrien's penchant for Desharnais is mystifying. Surely, even he must see the bottom line? Surely even he must understand that giving a forward who's not clocking in at even half a measly point a game, with top line times, is counter-productive for a goal-starved team?

The rationale? I've no idea. Perhaps Therrien believes that putting Desharnais out for more than 17 minutes a night will help him "play through" his funk, but after a while, you have to call a spade a spade, and cut your losses. By stubbornly giving Desharnais so much time, its causing profuse bleeding to the Habs offensive wounds.

Whether or not Therrien will finally understand the error of his deployments, and change course, bears to be seen. In the meantime, the Habs have called up another young body from Newfoundland, and it's none other than Mike McCarron, the once highly-touted winger who brings plenty of size to the rink. With McCarron about to play his first NHL game, the Habs lineup tonight will look like this:

1: Pacioretty/Plekanec/Galchenyuk
2: Fleischmann/Desharnais/Weise
3: Byron/Eller/McCarron
4: Carr/Mitchell/Flynn

So (thankfully) Byron is mercifully pulled off the Habs "top" line (although given how Therrien deploys, who's the number one line is always up for debate), with McCarron slotted next to Lars Eller.

At this point, anything is worth a shot - but only if those who aren't producing are allocated an appropriate number of shifts.

In any case, the Habs will have their hands full tonight in Dallas. The Stars are bolstered with the League's top-rated offence, 5th rated powerplay, and 7th rated possession. If there is a weak spot to be found in the Stars armor, it's their defence - rated a mediocre 14th in the League, and an weak-ish penalty kill, rated just 20th.

Oh yeah speaking of which - the Habs powerplay. It's currently on a 0-23 streak. If there's a good time for it to emerge from hibernation, tonight would be a good night.

One other possible bright spot. The Habs PDO in December is just 94. This means the Canadiens are, offensively speaking, overdue big-time.

Puck drops tonight at 7:10 EST.

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 Forty-Two: Habs vs. Stars

Third Period:

- Habs PP looked pretty decent in their 2nd period attempt. Let's see if the unit can get an insurance marker.

- Habs need to win a damn faceoff on the powerplays.

- There it is - Gallagher finally finds the scoresheet, lucky puck bounce for Habs off the backboards to give Habs 2 goal lead. More importantly, Gallagher scores.

- Don't know how bad this team's collective memory is, but now is not the time to sit on the lead.

- Good grief. Habs sit and Stars swarm the net, puck somewhere around Price, they're reviewing to see if it went in (officially originally waved his arms).

- Nonetheless, Stars generate a powerplay from the Habs' retreat and scramble.

- Lost count number of missed empty nets for Dallas tonight. 

- Seigun, under the crossbar from the blue line. One goal game. Here we go ... 

- ... and Dylan, his first goal in nearly two months, slapper from the blue line. Tie game. Sure didn't see that coming.

- 5-4 Dallas in 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

- Scratch that. Eller with a brilliant shot side wrister that had no business getting past Lehtonen. 5-4 Habs.

- Game is now end to end, which is not how you want to play a one goal lead.

- Habs are gonna need one more to cinch this, and Desharnais missed two golden opportunities to salt it.

- If there's one guy who I'd bet money on tying this, it would be Cole.

- Habs 33% in the faceoff circle tonight. #terrible

- Pacioretty into the empty net. Subban has 4 points tonight.

- Longest road trip of the year mercifully is OVER. Habs get home with 52 points. We'll take it.

Second Period:

- Desharnais. Subban doing incredible work wiling the puck to the Dallas slot, while Gallagher was creating chaos with two Stars players in front of the net. Gallagher sprung Desharnais free, Subban did the heavy lifting. 2-1 Habs.

- Stating the obvious but Subbban is on fire tonight. Erik Cole had a terrific first, robbed twice by Price. We'll see what either has to contribute to the second half of the game.

- Moen is a pretty good argument why George Parros was completely unjustified.

- Have no idea why that was called a penalty shot, as Nichushkin wasn't clear when checked by Gorges. He converts, of course. Tie game.

- P.K. Subban answers my question from earlier in the period. My goodness. 3-2 Habs.

- 10 minute mark: Gionta 9:53. Bourque: 8:57. Bournival: 2:50. Sorry, but no way you'll convince me Bounival is playing any worse than the others.

- Habs PP - Desharnas, Gallagher and Pacioretty had Stars on the ropes. Couldn't bury.

- Habs have significantly intensified their forecheck this period, and it's helped create many Dallas turnovers. Canadiens with good possession numbers this frame.

- Bournival stapled to the bench, still at 2:54. Galchenyuk barely 6 minutes. I'd throw up my hands but I've done that far too many times this season.

- Habs blue line, notably Markov, struggling to get fairly clear shots on net tonight. Another chronic Habs-related challenge this season.

- Josh Gorges showin' Carey Price how that goaltending thing is done. Stars totally robbed late in the frame.

- Good period for the Habs - they competed, and did well in the circle. P.K. doing what P.K. does so well - he, unlike any other Habs player in more than a generation, has the capacity to dominate a game. Tonight - he's dominating, and it's having positive spin-off effects on the rest of his teammates - at least the ones Therrien is willing to play.

First Period:

- Having tremendous trouble receiving a feed tonight, but a couple of troubling indicators - one being the Stars dominated most of the period, outshooting the Habs 11-6, but the ridiculous manner in how Dallas completely dominated the Canadiens in the faceoff circle, winning 15 out of the 17 drops.

Now, I'm not sure why the Canadiens struggle so much in the circle, but it has been hurting the team this season, especially in faceoffs deep in their zone. The Stars' opening goal in the first? Scored after winning the draw deep in the Habs' zone.

Who is responsible, I'm not sure, but if there's guy on the Habs' coaching staff who's responsible for faceoffs, I'd either have him reassigned or fired.

Canadiens are fortunate to be even through 20 minutes.

Pregame Goo:

Happy gameday. Happy New Year!

A few little notes about tonight's game.

- Grats to Max Pacioretty for his selection to the U.S. Olympic team. Way to go Max! We hope you'll have a grand time playing for the 5th or 6th place finishers in this year's tournament!

- Danny Briere is a healthy scratch again. 

- Here's a biggie - Doug Murray will start tonight - in place of (gulp!) Alexei Emelin, who's already made Bergevin look like quite the fool since signing his four year extension last month.

- Emelin being scratched means that Frankie Bouillon will also get a start. He'll play along side P.K. Subban, because Michel Therrien has no idea what he's doing.

- George Parros is seeing a concussion specialist - the speculation being he's still feeling the effects of his opening night injury, I guess.

Game Thirteen: Stars vs. Habs

Quick. Who is this? It's an ex-Hab. Com'on, don't you recognize? Why, it's George Laraque (in his Halloween costume).

You know, I gotta admit it. He makes one fine lookin' bride.

Thursday News 'n' Notes:

- Well, here's some good news. According to Therrien, George Parros will start Friday night's game against Minnesota, while Max Pacioretty will likely start Saturday night in Denver (although he might possibly start Friday as well).

The bodies are coming back!

- Habs announced this morning they've signed Alexei Emelin to a 4 year, $16.4 million extension. Now, there's plenty to introspect from the deal. One, considering the fact Emelin sustained a pretty traumatic knee injury, the extension is a risky move - but it reflects a confidence from management that he's progressed very well from surgery. Secondly, the signing helps the Habs to solidify its blue line looking for next season, with P.K. Subban headed towards restricted, and Andrei Markov heading towards unrestricted free agency. Assuming P.K. receives his huge payout, the Habs will be faced with some tough decisions with respect to Markov. Do they resign? Is there cap room? And if the Habs to attempt another Markov extension, then others will have to go. At this point it appears a near-certainty that Brian Gionta won't return. Also Francis Bouillon (hopefully). But perhaps also Raphael Diaz?

I still think that Bergevin, considering the current depth he's got, free agent considerations, could be moving a blue liner before the trade deadline.

Wednesday News 'n' Notes:

Couple of observations from last night's win over Dallas.

First, Carey Price just keeps on rolling along. Yeah, the one goal he allowed in was a tad "iffy", but he again made key 3rd period stops, including a sparkling glove save on Eakin with 3 minutes left to preserve the victory.

Also rolling along and seeming getting stronger is Thomas Plekanec, who's really turned his game around since stumbling out of the season gate. He's producing significant offense while fulfilling his checking responsibilities. The past two weeks have reminded those who might have forgotten that Plekanec is undoubtedly the team's #1 center, and that status won't be changing anytime soon.

A decent outing by David Desharnais last night - he didn't pick up any points, but he was involved in the play, pushing the crease, and actually winning a battle or two for a loose puck along the boards. If he can continue to play this way, then eventually the points will start to roll in, and the critics will focus their frustrations somewhere else.

Speaking of criticism, I've two pieces to offer. First, the Habs 4th line isn't working any more. Since Travis Moen and Brandon Prust went down to injury, callups Mike Blunden and Patrick Holland have done their best to pick up the slack, but their fringe NHL abilities aren't sufficient - in particular Blunden, who's really struggling to keep pace. Last night the line was particularly dismal ... 0 for 15 Corsi.

Ryan White is a qualified 4th line NHL center, but he's not good enough to carry both Blunden and Holland on his shoulders.

Secondly, Doug Murray. Oh, boy. Yeah, I know Bergevin signed him up as a rather expensive insurance policy, from which we're already cashing because of the injury bug, but wow ... his numbers so far are bad, bad, bad. Setting aside the atrocious speed, his Corsi last night was 2-for-15. And yet, for some unknown inexplicable reason, Michel Therrien had him out there for the entire duration of the final 60 seconds. Fortunately, Dallas didn't score to tie the game, but you just have to wonder sometimes what game Therrien is observing compared to the rest of us. He certainly doesn't seem to be looking at the stat lines as the game is progressing, to see who's performing well, and who's stinking up the joint.

Murray - we must be honest here, hasn't been an aromatic bed of roses. 

 

Third Period:

- Habs 60% combined Fenwick through 40. Yeah, seems about right.

- That Subban rush was beautiful. Blunden's gotta cash that home. Stick on the ice ... stick on the ice.

- Loss of Moen has really nullified the 4th line's grinding effectiveness. 

- Dallas really kept in check so far in the period - no momentum, no real urgency, no real threat to tie this game.

- Refs firmly putting their whistles away. Two petty clear Stars penalties for crosschecking and tripping are ignored.

- Stars have played 230 third period minutes this season. Three goals scored over that period of time.

- Oh man, Leblanc with a great pass to streaking Desharnais all alone in front of Lehtonen. Misses the net.

- Sleugh-footed Murray gets nabbed for interference. Late stages of the 3rd, why's he even out there?

- Speaking of "why the hell is he out there?", Bouillon - first line PK.

- Habs sitting on it here, it's worrying.

- Gorges/Diaz easily the best defensive tandem tonight for the Habs.

- Bouillon and Murray out there at the same time. Can't watch.

- That goaltending interference call in Gallagher was utter nonsense. 4 on 4 helps Dallas, opens ice. Yuck.

- What a glove save by Price on Eakin. That might be the clincher.

- Therrien puts Murray out there with 40 seconds left. I'm baffled.

- Whew. That was a close one. Habs defense might get the credit for the team's impressive GAA, but it's really been Price and Budaj that have made this team exceptionally difficult to score on.

Second Period:

- Bournival has been awarded the goal, 3rd of the season. Diaz back to a goosegg on the scoresheet.

- Blows my mind when these announcers talk about "automatics" for the Olympic team that Subban isn't on that list.

- Bournival's passing is excellent. To have this guy emerge as a top 6 forward is a huge blessing to the organization near and long term. Bergevin has some tough choices of who goes and stays headed his way.

- Yeahhhh ... I dunno if this Doug Murray thing is gonna work out. The slowness is just ... too much.

- Markov looks great tonight. Offensive slump the past two weeks but that won't last much longer if he keeps it up.

- Fine powerplay for the Habs. Stars really haven't had much going - resemble the Habs Saturday night against the Sharks - hanging close on the scoreboard but being dominated on the ice at both ends.

- And the Desharnais line strikes, not surprisingly. Bourque shovels in the loose puck, Desharnais nice job driving the puck deep. 2-0.

- Just remembered that Daniel Briere plays on this team. Bournival has made me totally forget.

- Habs now comfortably outhitting, out-blocking and are +4 on takeaways.

- Stars having trouble making accurate passes, also making Habs defense look better than they actually are.

- That won't help Price's Olympic case. Eakin cuts the lead in two with a 40 foot wrister blocker side. 

- That Eakin goal was disappointing, but it was still a pretty one sided period of a one sided game. Habs with a "comfortable" one goal lead, if such a thing were possible, headed into the 3rd.

First Period:

- Two netminders at the very top of their game going head-on-head tonight. Over/under on more than 4 goals scored?

- Desharnais actually just won a battle for a puck behind the opposition net. Can't remember the last time that happend. It eventually generated a quality scoring chance for Leblanc.

- Bouillon is a positional mess. Therrien is just asking for trouble every time he sends him out.

- That Bouillon/Diaz combo is going to be an adventure tonight.

- Throw it at the net, never know what might happen. Diaz' first of the season, Plekanec continues to pile up the points. 1-0.

- Another good shift by Desharnais line. Leblanc looks pretty confident out there.

- Outstanding save by Price on Seguin on 3-on-1 break. Shot was labelled for top corner. 

- Speaking of Price, Ruff, in case you'd forgotten, is going to carry plenty of weight over the final Team Canada selections. 

- Leash is pretty tight on Doug Murray. Markov and Subban can expected a 25 minute night.

- Another boring hockey night. Fairly close checking, Price looks in usual fine form. Desharnais hasn't been awful, which is encouraging. Bournival and Leblanc also quite good. Habs depth really shining through.

Gameday Game Preview:

The Montreal Canadiens return home tonight after enduring what was possibly one of the most boring hockey games in the history of the everything, a 2-0 shutout win last night over the hapless New York Rangers. Please, please, let us never speak or think about that game again. It's over. Done. History. We move on.

Tonight le boys take on the decidedly mediocre Stars from Dallas. In just about every meaningful hockey stat, Dallas ranks somewhere between 11th and 18th in the League. They're not a terrible team, they're not a good team. They're ... MEH. Borderline playoff fodder.

So what's the deal, Dallas? Well, they are still a rebuilding franchise, so their return to truly competitive hockey is still a couple of years out. But they do have the new colours and uniforms! Amiright?

Actually, both are pretty wretched - the logo looks like it was done by an admin assistance using Microsoft Word, the colours reminded me of big green lollipops. Mmmm ... Halloween lollipops ...

Anyway, there IS upside. First they nabbed a great coach in Lindy Ruff, who happily managed to get fired out of the disaster zone that is now the Buffalo Sabres. They DID acquire Tyler Seguin from the Bruins for a bunch of nothing (we here in the Eastern Conference thank Dallas for that little bit of robbery). They DO have a pretty good netminder in the form of Kari Lehtonen. It's just that this year they've been very medicore in how they've assembled these pieces to produce great moments in mediocrity.

SPEAKING of ... Erik Cole. Yeah ... the Habs shipped his attitude out of town in exchange for an even worse attitude in Michael Ryder. Oh well, at least the payroll was slimmed down. Anyway, Cole hasn't had the greatest of starts to the season, just one goal in eleven games for a guy who's greatest attribute is as a sniper. Maybe tonight's the night for Cole. He's certainly victimized the Habs plenty in the past (can we forget the job he did on the Habs in the '02 Eastern Semis? Oy).

Over on the Habs side, same lineup as last night. Still lots of bodies on the mend, although Max Pacioretty skated today. Louis Leblanc had a pretty decent effort last night, even though he was saddled next to David Desharnais. Patrick Holland seems to be settling in nicely on the Habs 4th line. And Michael Bournival is pretty much solidified his spot on the Habs top 9 - which means once those injured bodies start to return, somebody's gonna get demoted (*cough* Desharnais? *cough*)

Carey Price returns to action against Lehtonen. Puck drops at a more reasonable time of 7:10 EST.

Tuesday News 'n' Notes:

- Nifty little stat on just how well Carey Price and Peter Budaj have performed this season. Habs have the second best save percentage in the League, coming in at a sparkling .943. Even just at the 12 game mark, that's exceptional.

- Not much to write about this morning. No practice today because of the 24 hour separation between games. Max Pacioretty, hamstring and all, did some skating this morning. So his healing progress continues. Otherwise, all is relatively fine in Habsland. Solid victory last night in New York, a pretty solid performance by Louie Leblanc, and of course, Peter Budaj's stellar backup performance and well-deserved shutout.

Tonight's opposition, the Dallas Stars, are a different, and more difficult kettle of fish. More on them later today.