Game Twenty-Eight: Habs vs. Devils

First Period:

- Oh yes, Chris Lee will ref tonight's game. Oh, joy. First Habs game Lee's worked this season. I assume he's been saving up his usual menu of terrible calls for this game.

- Let's hope the last 57 minutes aren't as dreadful as the first 3 have been. Zzzzz ...

- Devils' offense so far really working hard to feed the point for long shots at Price, looking for redeflects and rebounds, I'd reckon.

- May fall asleep soon if something resembling exciting doesn't happen soon. Both team defenses are dominating so far.

- Thank goodness. Colby Armstrong finally gets his name on the goal scorers column. Habs score that critical first goal. Congrats to Colby. It's already a big night.

- Pretty goal actually by Armstrong. Great forecheck created a giveaway followed by a great wrister up under the bar. Hedberg didn't have much of a chance.

- Even though I think the Habs would have little difficulty, please, oh please, I hope these two teams don't meet in the post-season. I don't think I could handle two weeks of this.

- Hedberg dropped his stick and while trying to pick it up off the ice, Gorges took a shot from the point, the puck grazing the post. Devils very fortunate there.

- Habs strong in the circle so far, leading 14-7.

- 15-7 now. That observance underscoring the Devils' biggest roster weakness, a lack of depth at centre.

- Pacioretty looking dangerous tonight. Watch for that.

- Good puck movement by Habs on their first powerplay.

- PP doing its best to set Subban up for the cannon, but he's done a mini-wiff on his two tries.

- Good road period for the Habs, basically controlled much of the tempo, Devils with 7 shots on Price, none of them particularly dangerous.

Second Period:

- Chris Lee show begins, terrible call on White for holding the stick.

- It only figures that the Devils strike on the powerplay. Eller flagrantly tripped right in front of the official trying to shoot the puck out of Habs zone. No call made. Three seconds later, goal. Bad officiating more often than not has a direct impact on the final score.

- Just wow. With the puck at his feet, Moen called by Lee for smothering the puck. And on it goes.

- Subban out for every second of Habs 3rd powerplay.

- Plekanec furious, believe he was hit in the face by a high stick. If so, it was, of course, missed.

- Following that penalty, it now appears that White has more or less been relegated to bench duty.

- Good push-back period for New Jersey, the Habs once again have a 2nd period mini let-down. I'm at a loss to explain this phenomenon and why it's happen so frequently this season, but it's robbing the Habs of "cruise" games against clearly inferior opponents. Tonight is a classic example.

Third Period:

- Devils' Harrold, with visor, takes a puck off the nose courtesy a Markov shot deflected by Pacioretty. Ouch.

- Devils have picked up right where the 2nd period stopped, and that's bad news for the Habs.

- Got the feeling Price will have to deliver a few game savers before this one is done. He struggled with that his past half dozen starts.

- Yowza! Wretched clearance by Devils Zidlicky up the middle, Tinordi intercepts and wastes no time firing at Hedberg, Plekanec the deflection to give outplayed Habs 2-1 lead. Tinordi, who's been very solid tonight, might have just earned himself a few more starts.

- Feeding off that goal, Habs turning on the jets, Devils pinned in their zone.

- Therrien recognizing and rewarding. Tinordi now getting more shifts.

- Subban at 20 feet, 100 mph. Not sure if Hedberg is brave or insane for coming out hard to block that shot.

- Devils just don't have the horses on forward. How they're in 6th at this point is fascinating.

- Kinda hoping for one more. Just to make sure about this thing.

- Habs D holding steady here. Devils' chances have been mostly limited and contained.

- Icing waved off for some reason, Devils nearly score, Price with a nice save. 1:24 left. Critical faceoff here deep in Habs zone.

- Price with those big game saves the final minute. And so we return to normality.

- Excellent road win for the Habs, their 5th in a row, and they vault back into first in the East. Habs defense particularly good, providing Price with clear vision for most of the New Jersey attempts, making most of them harmless. Canadiens get two days of rest before facing cellar-dweller Sabres.

Pregame Preview

Oh dear, we're no longer in first.

The Habs aren't getting a whole lot of help in their attempts to create some distance in the race for first place. The Bruins won again today, 4-1 over the hapless Caps. The Sens won today, 4-3 in OT over the even more hapless Sabres. The Pens won today, their (gulp!) eight straight, 3-0 over the pathetically hapless Rangers. Remember how just about everyone had New York as their pre-season Stanley Cup winner? Pretty sure almost nobody who picked the Rangers then is still riding that train now.

Then again, who picked the Habs for first? Don't bother googling. Nobody did. Not even yours truly. We (well, mostly I) got burned big-time last year by thinking the Habs were going to be very competitive. Well that's all in the past. We live for the present, and right now, the only thing we have be concerned about is our playoff spot.

Oh yeah. And injuries.

We've got another one, sad to say. Mike Ryder is out tonight with a lower body injury. I guess that confirms speculation during the Sens game that something was wrong. Hopefully, he won't be out long, because for the most part, Ryder has been a terrific acquisition.

The usual injury suspects include Bourque (out who knows when), and Diaz. Bourque, in case you missed it, has been practicing with the team, but there's no timetable for return.

SO ... tonight! Habs are taking on the Devils, sans Martin Brodeur (whew), who's reportedly close to return from his back injury, but not close enough to start tonight. Johan Hedberg will probably get the start, although I wouldn't be shocked in the Devils go with their backup backup Jeff Frazee.

Habs are hot, hot, hot - not Pittsburgh hot mind you, but still, they're gunning for their 5th straight win. Devils, after their fast start to the season, have come back to the pack a bit, sitting 6th in the East with 32 points. That's not too shabby given the general consensuses among the experts was that the Devils would be sitting somewhere near the bottom, mainly because their offense was deemed far too thin to compete.

Some considerations. Habs powerplay is ranked 8th in the League with 9th ranked offense overall, Devils 19th on the man advantage, 14th ranked offense overall. Penalty kill is mediocre both sides, Montreal 17th, New Jersey 19th overall. One stat to keep an eye out for, first goal winning percentages. When Habs score first, their winning percentage is ranked 12th, while Jersey is ranked 6th. When opponent scores first, Habs winning percentage is ranked 4th (nice!), but Jersey is ranked wayyy down in 23rd place. So New Jersey does not play well when trailing. In other words, in case I haven't over explained this enough, the first goal between these two teams looks pretty important.

Carey Price will start for the Habs tonight. Of course.

Puck drops 7:10 EST. For FIRST PLACE AGAIN!

Game Twenty-Seven: Sens vs. Habs

Are we still in first? Holy moly, thank you Pittsburgh. We are! The Bruins somehow managed to cough up a late 3rd period two goal lead, falling to the Pens 3-2, and keeping Boston a point behind (Bruins still have two games in hand, details, details).

Tonight! The boys are home finally after concluding the roaring success that was their 5 game road trip, winning 8 out of 10 points. Their opponents tonight, the Senators of Ottawa, have managed to hobble along in the East, overwhelmed with critical injuries, but still able to win enough to keep them competitive for a playoff spot. Who knows how long that'll continue, or whether they'll stymie the Canadiens like they did two weeks ago, when 12 foot 4 inch Ben Bishop stood on his head and stopped 148 shots to steal a win in Montreal.

The obvious strategy would of course start Bishop again tonight, right? But nope, the Sens are going with backup backup Robin Lehner. I dunno. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but that call seems a bit too counterintuitive,

Carey Price will start for the Habs, as will Ryan White, while Brandon Prust spends the next week or so trying to shove his left shoulder back into its socket. Ouch.

Game time is 7:10 EST for some odd reason. I'll have limited first period postings, but I'll be joining up with the live blog full time probably early in the 2nd.

First Period

- Dumont with some nice work digging the puck up from behind the net and feeding Eller who does even better driving the net. Classic Therrien breed hockey, Habs grab the early lead.

- Sens doing a little line matching, sending out their scorers against the White line, pinning the Habs in their zone. Price holds the fort. Expect that 4th line to see very limited action tonight.

- Zibinejad a beauty feed received in the slot from Silfverberg, and the Sens tie it on the powerplay. What can ya do? Stay out of the box.

- Much like the rest of the team, the Habs PK, so solid last year while the team mired in last place, isn't nearly as effective this season, with the team settled in first. Go figure. Nonetheless, the PK must be an area of concern for Bergevin and Therrien.

- Evenly played period, Habs outshooting 17-13, but Sens were definitely the more physical team. One reckons it'll be, as usual between these two, a closely fought contest with a narrow final score.

Second Period

- Excellent interference call on Mark Stone for body checking Moen after the dump in. That's the kind of call, if consistently made, will make this League more exciting to watch.

- Sweet feed by Subban to Pacioretty who snaps it through Lehner's legs. That's 19 points for Subban in 21 games. Crazy good production.

- Class A save by Price, reaching back to cover and hold the loose puck. Markov gets penalized for protecting his goaltender.

- Gallagher has been given credit for the Habs second goal. Bit of a cheapie as it deflected off his stick but Patches shot was well on its way to going in.

- Ryder hurt? Haven't seen him anywhere near the bench.

- Subban is a machine. Now 7 goals 13 assists in 21 games. That's amazing production. 3-1 Habs.

- Price making big game saves tonight. He's right back in form.

- Ugh. Killer goal by Alfredsson with 1.5 seconds left. Should shut up about my "big save" comments. No way that goal should be let in.

- Habs basically in total control until Price gave up that goal. So instead of cruise mode, Habs will have to fight hard to close this out in the 3rd.

Third Period

- Oh Carey. I shall never sing your praises again. Weircoich with a snap shot through Price's legs. Two softies and poof, the game is officially no longer in control.

- Ryder back? Could use a powerplay goal from him here.

- Terrible decision by Emelin to break for the puck creates clear cut 2-on-1, but Price with an excellent pad save. Can't have that happen in a tie game, 3rd period.

- Habs are creating significant pressure in Sens zone and drawing powerplays left and right. Need to cash in here.

- Tremendous pressure by Habs on that PP. Sens just barely hung on. Subban's slapshot is terrifying.

- Eller can really put on a dazzling show some times. Habs would be nuts to dangle him as trade bait, as it was rumoured earlier this season.

- Oh man. What a backcheck by Eller who then feeds Galchenyuk and poings it off the post. Excellent game by Eller tonight.

- Point is a point, but that was a sure-fire "W" that slipped away. Habs with oodles of chances, 3 powerplays in the 3rd alone, but just couldn't find that winner. Overtime we go.

Overtime

- Not Price's forte, these OTs. Here's hoping that changes.

- Oh man, PK, you gotta blast that in.

- Eller just not giving up tonight. Another tremendous backcheck and nearly wins the game with seconds left on the clock. He deserves at least a try in the shootout for all the hard work he's done tonight.

- Shootout. Galchenyuk. Wow. The usual.

- Nice blocker save by Price on Alfredsson.

- Silfverberg making Price look not so good. Price was way too deep in his net.

- ELLER! THAT. WAS. MONEY.

- Price closes the door. Two points salvaged. Eller and Subban toss up for player of the night. Both were fantastic.

Game Twenty-Six: Habs vs. Panthers

Third Period

- So I've just arrived for the third, and it doesn't look like I've missed much, with the Habs handily ahead 4-0. Great to see Budaj gunning for another shutout. Actually, when was the last time he surrendered a goal? It's been awhile.

- Reading over the gamesheet, wow what a shutdown game by the Habs defense. Just 12 shots surrendered so far? Very nice.

- What's this? Ryder with a goal finally? Assist to boot. He's really been an excellent acquisition, certainly has played very well this road trip, which looks to be a huge success for the Canadiens.

- Panthers offense looks, at least from what I've seen on the 3rd, pretty disorganized. Passing also looks sloppy. Thinking Budaj's had it pretty routine.

- Goodbye shutout, as Bouillon shoots a loose puck at his own net and past Budaj. Tough way to loose the goose egg.

- White line with a pesky shift. I wasn't too crazy about the White scratches, so if there's any upside to the Prust injury (and this is pretty much it) it's that White can count on anger 8-10 starts.

- Panthers making it interesting, Matthais with a wrister that handcuffed Budaj, making him look entirely like the second string goaltender that he is. 4-2.

- Goofy holding call on Versteeg there. Emelin lost his balance trying to rotate backwards to forward. Versteeg's hand had little to so with Emelin's tumble.

- I wonder if a "make up" call against the Habs is on the way?

- Doesn't matter. Subban with a blast, Ryder the redeflect for his 2nd of the game. 5-2.

- Easy win today, Habs sweep the season set in Florida. A very, very successful five game trip, 8 out of 10 points. The Habs closing in on the point where a playoff spot is safely assumed, if we haven't reached that milestone already. Beyond that, the Habs can start preparing themselves for the postseason, where Bergevin can look to fill some needs for the playoff run. The Habs are a contender, so they must prepare as one.

About last night ...

Excellent win last night by the Canadiens, there's really no other way to describe it. The 3rd period was pure mastery, with the offense shifting to a higher gear, while the team defense essentially gave Carey Price 20 minutes of doing nothing other than standing around.

A costly victory, though. By now you've probably heard about the nasty collision Brandon Prust took into the boards after an icing chase. Stupid icing - the League needs to make that an automatic call before somebody gets killed. No word yet about the extent of the injury, but be fully prepared for the Habs to say "upper body injury, out indefinitely". It looked bad.

Tonight the Habs complete their five game road trip in Miami Sunrise. A win tonight will give the team a season sweep in their Florida swings. It'll also give them 8 out of 10 points on the trip, which would be an unqualified success.

Expect the same lineup as what we saw in Tampa, although with Prust out, it'll likely mean that Ryan White will be reinserted, and I'm thinking maybe Peter Budaj will get the start, even though the Habs face a relatively light schedule ahead with only 2 games in 8 days.

Puckdrop is early! 6:10 EST, which for yours truly, runs smack into a scheduling conflict. So likely no first period blogging, I'm hoping to join the action sometime into the second.

Other Stuff From Last Night ...

- Nobody is doing the Habs favors, the Bruins just keep on winning, a shutout over the Flyers yesterday afternoon.

- Islanders continue to be sneaky good. Another win over the "who-knows-if-they-suck?" Washington Capitals. The Isles with that hummin' powerplay, are my pick for a surprise playoff berth.

- Pens kinda blew a big lead over the Leafs, but prevailed in a shootout, 5-4. So Habs just keeping pace with the Pens, and gain only 1 point on Toronto. Stupid extra point OT rule.

- Kings are rollin, rollin, rollin. A pretty easy win last night against the slowly extinguishing Flames. Man, is there gonna be a front office bloodbath in Calgary after this season is done.

- Former powerhouse Detroit continues to chart a course towards not making the playoffs since the first term of the Clinton Administration, losing yesterday to ... holy cow ... Columbus?

Game Twenty-Five: Habs vs. Bolts

No pregame preview tonight, just to mention Ryan White out, Dumont in, and Tampa starting a relative unknown with Cedrick Dejardins. Should be interesting.

First Period

- Figures that Ryder would hit a goal scoring drought the moment he's traded to us, but he's doing his level best out there, creating turnovers and two quality chances. Tampa sloppy in their own zone early.

- Ryder with fine puck control, taking shot, he's following the Pacioretty formula - just get something in, and the gates should open. Dejardins has been pretty steady so far.

- Tampa leads 6-5 shots first half of 1st, but Habs have defined edge in puck control.

- All Habs here, Ryder buzzing, great puck control, but no shots on Dejardins.

- Habs really controlled the flow, had most of the puck, a few solid chances, but nothing sparkling. Tampa outshooting 10-7, but Price was only really tested once.

Second Period

- Habs have been a most excellent first period team this season, the 2nd period not so much so.

- Tampa is terrible with puck control in their zone. Like playing with fire, disaster usually catches up with you. Habs need to capitalize quickly.

- Stamkos relatively quiet night - so far. But that's the way he likes it, he's so stealth and then suddenly he'll strike.

- Oh man, there we go. St. Louis feeding stealth Stamkos with a pretty pass to the slot and quick shot over Price's shoulder. Plekanec lost his check (Stamkos), everyone else nearly as flat-footed. 1-0 Tampa.

- Markov with beauty feed to unmarked Plekanec in the slot, quick release bests Dejardins. Ryder with the original turnover, Tampa's zone sloppiness catches up to them. Game tied.

- Well that didn't last long. Tampa wins draw deep, and fortuitous pass redeflect springs Salo with a free path to Price, hard shot nearly unstoppable. Tampa back in front.

- Ryder has been a monster tonight forechecking deep in the Bolts' zone, causing many defensive giveaways. If he can keep that going, I don't care how many goals he scores (or doesn't).

- Habs need to win more of these defensive zone faceoffs, and quickly. They're getting slaughtered in the circle.

- There we go. Ugh. Another faceoff loss, and shot from the line redeflected twice past Price. Unstoppable. Tampa taking control, 3-1.

- Eller doesn't know you can't pass the puck back with your glove on the faceoff? He's gotta know that. Dumb, dumb penalty.

- If Tampa scores on this man advantage, might as well say goodnight and go to bed.

- PK doing a great job on the PK. Problem is, it's our powerplay.

- Well that wasn't good. Another 2nd period mini-meltdown by the Habs. At a loss to explain these mid-game meltdowns. Tampa did a nice job on their PK nullifying Habs opportunities, and converted on their opportunities. Habs have been the better forechecking team, but it hasn't resulted in offense. Dejardins fairly solid. Frustrating to watch.

Third Period

- Jesus, Markov and Subban on the point. Back and forth, back and forth. Net result: nothing. Not even a shot. STOP IT NOW, or separate them entirely.

- Woah. How was that puck not covered and called? Off harmless shot and resulting scramble, Gionta puts it in, and Habs powerplay trim the lead to one. Bizarre goal.

- Watched the replay. That puck wasn't covered, Dejardins a significant goaltending error.

- This 3rd has been all Habs. They're going all out, Tampa no response.

- Lecavalier has been very nicely nullified for much of the game, which of course frightens me to death. He's overdue.

- Nice! Gionta with the forecheck, more sloppy Tampa puck control in their own zone, and Emelin with a not-so-hot slapper that beats Dejardins. That one certainly should have been stopped. Tie game!

- Tampa has zero going right now. They're being outskated all over the ice. Habs looking for the lead.

- Prust. Ouch. Went in awkwardly into the boards on an icing chase. Looks bad.

- Left shoulder clearly injured. I hope it's not a separation because then you're looking at 4-6 automatically. Prust simply isn't a guy who's replaceable.

- Oh wow. Gallagher. He simply willed that goal in through sheer determination. Fantastic. Just fantastic. They're reviewing this but I think it's good.

- Yup. It's good. Habs lead! Wowza.

- Tampa's offense has generated zero chances in the 3rd. Absolutely nothing. It's been totally dominated at both ends by the Canadiens. The Bolts just got run over by a monster truck.

- Habs defense nicely containing Tampa, preventing the Bolts from structuring a quality shot on Price. They still haven't generated a chance, with only 5 minutes left.

- Shots are 11-0 in the period. Ouch.

- Gallagher, he's money. Nothing stops this guy from anything. He just barrels through anything that stands in his way.

- Devastating loss for the Lightening. It's the kind of loss that spurns the scribes to question the authority, if not the job security of the coaching staff. Boucher might wants to look behind because the knives might be coming out soon.

- Guys, empty net. Hit it already.

- Astonishing. Tampa didn't get one single chance in the entire 3rd period. Not one. Habs win with a perfectly played final 20 minutes.

- Great feisty come from behind win for the Habs. The difference between this year's team and last year's team is ridiculous. Now the big question is, how hurt is Prust? Habs will almost definitely struggle to replace someone as irreplaceable as Prust. Hopefully we'll know more by tomorrow, hopefully it's not bad news.

Habs will go for the Florida season sweep tomorrow in Miami. This southern swing has been death for the Habs organization in recent years, but this year it's been a feast.

Game Twenty-Three: Habs vs. Islanders

First Period

- Plenty of pre-game fears that there would be a letdown after the big win in Boston, and so far Islanders are skating harder.

- Never mind. Ryder (wasn't he supposed to play the sniper role?) does all the hard work creating the turnover behind the Islanders' goal, feeding the puck to Plekanec for the early lead. Ryder continuing to pay dividends.

- Habs playing a much more cautious style in their own zone. They haven't forgotten how the Islanders utilized their speed advantage to win in their previous contest.

- Have to say, Kaberle continues to impress. He's been excellent positionally - it's almost as though he's been reborn as more of a defensive defenseman.

- Love those two second powerplays. Methinks there was a little embellishment. But who am I to judge, that's Claude Juliun's forte, right?

- Routine period, not especially memorable. Habs clearly the better team, but again, the same was said two weeks ago after they grabbed a 2-0 lead on the Islanders. Avoid the letdowns, and all ought to be fine.

Second Period

- Islanders with their first legit powerplay of the game. This was their key to victory last time. Habs simply had no PK response.

- And here we go. Again. And guess what? It's Moulson. Game tied.

- Islanders propelled by that goal. Price making couple of key saves.

- Habs pushback. Ryder nearly potting his first as a Hab (again).

- Gorges' play of late is a mystery. He's slow, and not blocking nearly the same amount of shots. Purely speculative whether he's playing through something, but something ain't right.

- Habs simply must strive to stay out of the box. So far, they aren't complying.

- Hoo boy. Eller goes for a trip, and Islanders two man advantage.

- And the burn is applied, as Prust loses his man, and Martin is left all alone in front of Price. 2-1.

- Did I mention enough times how important it is the Habs avoid taking penalties?

- Grabner left unchecked in front (Ryder's assignment) and its 3-1. Too many Habs forwards not covering their assignments. New York eating them alive.

- How many players have a harder shot than Subban? When he's close enough and has the full windup, stopping is impossible. 3-2.

- Habs one goal away from 20,000 all time for the franchise. Lots of motivation on that bench, I'd say. Who wouldn't want the bragging rights?

- Neilsen off the bar on the 2-on-1, Price did not look confident.

- Period was a mess for the Habs. Bad penalties, sloppy zone coverage, especially by Habs' forwards. But still, the deficit is only one. Not insurmountable by any stretch.

Third Period

- Gallagher soooo close to being the 20,000 man. Had Nabokov dead to rights, puck slipped off the blade of his stick.

- Newsy Lalonde #1. Larry Robinson #10,000. Brian Gionta #20,000. How's that for the trophy case?

- Anticipating Pacioretty to have his moment here. He's been buzzing in the 3rd.

- First poor rebound control, then a 60 footer by Martinek handcuffs Price. He's fighting the puck. Has been for a week. The Habs find themselves down once more.

- Habs more aggressive puck pursuit here, opening the game up. Just 7 minutes left.

- Shots 30-19 Habs. Not for taking penalties, sloppy letdowns, and not-quite stellar play by Price, Habs should certainly be leading this thing.

- Okay, this is interesting. Play stopped suddenly. Are they looking at a possible goal scored, but unnoticed?

- Nope. Habs called for too many men. Seems only fitting that such a sloppy mistake made late in the third.

- If the Islanders were to somehow qualify for the playoffs, their powerplay alone would make them a dangerous series opponent.

- Dagger applied. Habs simply too many basic errors in their zone tonight.

- Deserved loss tonight, points streak stopped at 11 games. This team has these mysterious letdowns against inferior opponents. This must be corrected ASAP.

It's GAME DAY!

Nothing to say much for now, except WATCH THIS AWESOME VIDEO. Yeah, it sums everything up nicely.

About Last Night ...

- Hawks win again, ho-hum. Their point streak now extended to a mind-boggling 28 straight regular season games. Actually, they should have lost yesterday if it wasn't for some clunky puck clearances by the Wings' defense, giving the Hawks all the powerplay time they needed to tie it late in the 3rd, and win in a shootout. Here's hoping these two meet again in springtime.

- Rangers ever-so-slowly seem to turning their sinking ship around, beating the Sabres in a shootout. The game marred by a pathetic check from behind on Brad Richards by Buffalo goon Patrick Kaleta, who'll probably serve 3 or 4 games for the offense. Ought to be more.



- Flames beat the Canucks. Is Vancouver an elite team? I thought they were. Maybe not? The Canucks are like west coast weather, wait 20 minutes, and they'll change. So maybe by this time next week, it'll be clear sailing?

- Sens seem to be taking that inevitable tumble downwards, losing to the Islanders. Sorry guys, you can't defy gravity forever.

- Oilers lose AGAIN. This time to the uninspiring Wild. The big problem for Edmonton? They can't score. Something's going to hit the fan if this team finishes out of the playoffs.

- Speaking of Edmonton, The Leafs traded goonhead Mike Brown to the Oilers just so they could get rid of Mike Brown, I guess.

- Injuries of a significant nature are starting to creep up. Jose Theodore's out for 6 weeks. Carolina just lost Cam Ward for 6-8, and they say they're gonna ride the rest of the season out using their 2nd string and a call-up.  Let's see if they stick with that strategy once they start plummeting down the standings ... oh nevermind, who are we kidding? They play in the Southeast, the NHL's most pathetic Division. They'll probably finish 3rd in the Conference with 38 points.

- And LAST BUT NOT LEAST, LES HABS A BATTU LES BRUINS!



Oh yeah. Claude Julien? Shut up already.



I have a three word response to your nonsense: FIRST PLACE BABY. And if you want to talk about embellishment, you might want to explain that word to your own players:

Game Eighteen: Rangers vs. Habs

First Period:

- So Prust and Gallagher are in, Bourque is out with the flu, otherwise White would have been odd-man out.

- Beautiful pass by Gallagher right on Desharnais' tape for the break. I think Halpern coming back knocked the puck away from going into the net.

- Del Zotto's scratch tonight gives Habs a bit more opportunity to crash the net. Watch for that as game progresses.

- Ryan White, soft hands you have not.

- Boullion with an excellent blind backhand clearance right up the middle. Please stop.

- Habs forwards doing a good job bottling up the neutral zone, Rangers having a tough time organizing much of an effective transition.

- Not sure if its a bad case of snakebite, but Cole needs to start producing from these opportunities.

- Prust on the Plekanec line has definitely provided an aggressive punch. Creating quality chances on Biron.

- Just 2 shots on the clock for Habs with 4 minutes left. That can't be right, can it?

- Game has a more energized pace compared to the Tuesday night snoozer in New York, but not by much. Both teams do excellent man-to-man defensive coverage, nobody buckling yet. Garbage goals will likely decide this one.

- Best bodycheck of the game thrown by referee Brad Miere. Awesome.

- There's the Plekanec line again, giving the Rangers headaches. Habs to the PP.

- First Period summary: Glad I'm not a paying customer tonight. Zzzzz.

- The RDS guys just flashed a graphic - Biron has 3rd most wins among active NHL goaltenders.

Second Period:

- I don't want to look too far ahead, but if there are two teams that I do not want to see face each other in the playoffs, it's these two.

- Erik Cole. There we go, flippin' finally he scores. Courtesy massive Rangers defensive lapse. Torts is furious. 1-0.

- Pacioretty took blindside hit right in front of his bench. In considerable pain.

- Mcdonagh hit Pacioretty and then a shift later delivered a high stick to Prust's face, neither called.

- Correction, Mcdonagh elbowed Prust. Was still a very obvious penalty not called.

- Pacioretty kindly provides Mcdonagh a taste of his own medicine, and is assessed a boarding penalty. Resisting snarky officiating comment here.

- Mcdonagh gone to the dressing room. I think a couple of his teeth are still somewhere on the ice.

- Rangers powerplay looks terrible. They gotta somehow get that fixed. By the way, it was also broken when Nash was in the lineup.

- No love loss between these two. Hits are brutal out there. Hope there aren't too many injuries after this one is finished.

- Biron goes wandering and gets caught. Plekanec left with a totally wide open net from 25 feet. Fires a shot seven feet wide and high. Maybe he thought it was a soccer net?

- Love icings? Habs and Rangers are here to satisfy your cravings.

- Don't know if that will count but that was a beautiful goal by Galchenyuk.

- If Eller swiped that in with a high stick it was completely unnecessary. The puck was already well on its way to going in.

- Ruled a good goal. Eller might be breathing a sigh of relief. Therrien doesn't like stupid and/or selfish plays. He might have been benched for the violation.

- Prust is a body crashing monster out there, but his odd man rush executions are ummm ... not so great.

- My mind is boggled by the thought of how good Galchenyuk will be once he gets better.

- Habs demonstrate how not to execute a 3-on-1 break.

- Markov not nearly as dangerous or commanding on the man advantage as he was the start of the year. It's a mystery.

- Don't wanna hex this, but given how this Rangers offense is playing right now, I can't see how they could possibly come back down 3-0.

- All Habs in the 2nd. Rangers look like a non-playoff team tonight. Cruise mode should easily bring this one home.

Third Period:

- Mcdonagh hasn't come back since the Paciiretty hit. His head was crunched against the unforgiving Bell Centre boards, so start making your own assumptions.

- Okay, the Rangers absolutely have to score on this powerplay. Zero shots their last one.

- Eller shorthanded rush. More reason why the Habs organization would be crazy to give up on him.

- I didn't think it possible, but that Rangers man advantage was worse than its last one.

- I know NHL players make a ton of money but I'll being going to bed tonight glad I'm not on the Rangers' roster. I'd hate to think what drills Torts will put them through in response to tonight's dreadful performance.

- Habs get a nice little test Monday in Ottawa against the banged up Sens. At least tonight's win keeps first place in tact.

Game Preview:

Okay, so blowing a game against the overmatched Islanders wasn't very much fun, but this stuff happens. The Habs either wouldn't or couldn't keep pace with the Islanders' , and much like we endured numerous times last season, the Canadiens faded the final 20 minutes, and let reasonably comfortable leads turn into defeats. While the bottom line totals are very impressive, 11 wins in 17 games, the loss to New York, and a previous loss two weeks ago to Buffalo where a 3-goal 3rd period lead was blow (not to mention the blow 3 goal lead to Tampa 10 days ago) must remain an ongoing concern.

Anyway this still doesn't take away from a pretty impressive string of victories, most recently against the Rangers in Manhattan. Tonight, the Habs have a few banged up bodies which may or may not play. Brendan Gallagher is almost certain to return tonight, although there are questions surrounding the health of Brendon Prust, who is an "upper body" injury is gametime decision, according to coach Therrien.

As per the previous game, the Rangers' powerplay is a mess - so like Tuesday night, if they can finally start producing with the man advantage, their chances of winning will improve dramatically. That said, New York will once again be without the services of Rick Nash, who will miss his third straight start. The Bell Centre hasn't also been a very friendly place for the blue shirts, 6 losses the past 6 games in Montreal, in three of those games, New York was shut out.

Martin Biron, who's played will in the past, will start for the Rangers, and as usual, Carey Price will start for the Habs.

Puck drops at 7:15 EST!

Game Twelve: Habs vs. Lightening

Wow. Are we already a quarter way through the season? It seemed like just two or three weeks ago the whole thing start ... oh yeah. It was two or three weeks ago when it started. Man. Time flies.

So let's figure this out. Win tonight, we have 15 points, on pace for 60, which would easily be enough to clinch a playoff spot. So no problemo, right?

Oh yeah. Saturday night. That happened? Gotta hand it to those Leafs, they really took a BITE out of our season. Har har. Sigh. As per usual, the NHL head office went to the tape, saw the bite, got the medical report indicating said bite on Pacioretty's arm, and did ... nothing. But we're used to that in Habsland, aren't we?

So tonight, that Habs fresh off the stench that still exhumes from the weekend, are taking a nice little trip through southern Florida, and tonight the first stop is in Tampa to face the Bolts, aka "Habs South". Nevermind the fact that the stands are half full of snowbirding Habs fans, but Tampa has (as usual) a ton of ex-Canadiens on its roster ... thankfully none of them named John LeClair.

Anyway, early in the year Tampa was cooking up a storm, shooting right to the top of the Eastern Conference standings. But somewhere along the line, Tampa went off the cliff, and have lost their past four in a row. So something's gotta give tonight.

As per usual, Steven Stamkos is running up the points, 17 in 11 games. But the Bolts have problems, problems, problems beyond the 4-game losing skid. Their goaltending is bit of a mess right now with both Anders Lindback and Mathieu Garon struggling to find the .900 SP mark, which is definitely not good. Tampa's netminding problems might have something to do with the number of shots they're giving up per game (6th worst in the League), or their wretched fades in the 3rd period (19 goals surrendered this season, worst in the League).

This isn't to say that the Habs are walking on easy street. We still have a few players MIA. Eric Cole is in the middle of his usual slow season start, Max Pacioretty is still searching for his first goal of the season, Lars Eller is ... who knows what Lars Eller is doing anymore these days, and Colby Armstrong ... why exactly is Colby Armstrong in the lineup? I'm trying to recall why he was picked up in the first place because for the most part, he's been flying way below the radar. I guess he's supposed to be the PK specialist, and he's supposed to be physical? Colby, could we see some of that physical stuff at least? Brandon Prust can't do it all, ya know.

In light of some of these seemingly offensively oriented issues, coach Therrien has moved Pacrioretty down to the kid line. The thinking, I'd reckon, is that Pacioretty will cash in some of those sweet sweet passes from wunderkid Alex Galchenyuk, because Brenden Gallagher is far too busy crashing into everything in sight (which is a very good thing).

Ryan White won't play (we assume), although if Armstrong continues to slumber and Eller continues to look disinterested, he may get another shot very, very soon.

Carey Price, he being the Habs goaltender that knows how to cover up a loose puck, will start.

Enjoy the game, we'll be following along 7:30 EST!


First Period:

- Solid first shift for the Galchenyuk line. Gallagher crashing as usual, creating turnovers.

- Habs definitely with early game initiative here. Delivering solid hits on Tampa's defenders.

- Habs Emelin continues to struggle with these odd man rushes. Really don't like his pairing with Markov, who's obviously slowed because of those severe injuries.

- Armstrong and especially Prust really should have buried that PK chance.

- Horseshoes around the Tampa goal right now.

- Another line combo I'm not crazy about - Gorges/Diaz. Their styles don't complement each other.

- Wow. How'd Markov not finish that chance?

- Not to take anything away from Lindback, but Habs not finishing these easy chances. That bodes poorly because you just know Stamkos is going to get something going sooner or later.

- Do believe Tampa has yet to register a chance on Price yet. 7 minutes left in the period. Whoops, there's the first.

- Habs with dreadful PP, unable to even gain the puck in the Tampa zone. This also bodes poorly.

- Habs out working Tampa by a considerable amount, getting lots of PPs as a result. Now if they could only finish ...

- Habs inability to win Faceoffs is really hurting the PP big time.

- Gianta. Finally. 1-0.

- Habs dominated the period, outworking and outskating Tampa, drawing lots of penalties, and finally taking advantage late in the frame. Much, much better than Saturday night.


Second Period:

- Tampa appears to be skating in some of that Florida sand - surprising given how "fast" this team was to play against.

- Terribe passing both directions, costing both clubs glorious chances. Sloppy period so far.

- Figures that Subban with a harmless shot finds its way in. Sloppy play results in sloppy scoring. 2-0.

- 34 minutes into this game, Price really hasn't hade much more than routine chances to handle. He's almost getting the night off, Tampa has been so offensively ineffective. So far.

- Emelin paired with Bouillon. Much better matching. Now if we could only get Subban back with Gorges ...

- Habs forwards really coming back and protecting their zone when the Bolts send their big guns out. So far Stamkos and St.Louis stymied.

- Finally finishing off the scramble, Moen with some 4th line offense. 3-0. Luck ran out for the flopping Lindback.

- Tampa's been pretty terrible tonight, they look spent. Somewhat rested Habs simply running away with this. 20 minutes of smart hockey should sew up the 2 points.


Third Period:

- Desharnais/Prust/Cole line with an outstanding forechecking shift.

- Therrien trying to match with Gorges whenever Stamkos steps on the ice.

- Tampa forwards seem insistent on going high on Price, keep missing. Emelin with another sloppy game around his crease. Otherwise, everything still in cruise mode.

- Stamkos line getting better every shift, pushing harder. Still not breaking through.

- Love Boucher's incredulous look as Tampa is nabbed for clear-cut too many men.

- If Subban hustles to pick up the puck he bobbles, Tampa doesn't score. 3-1.

- Be surprised if that counts. Look like shot was deflected in by Hedman's glove.

- Oh well. Head office rules against the Habs for the 14 zillionth time.

- Dominated this game ... if this lead is blown ...

- Plekanec takes a tripping call. Hoo boy.

- Wow. Just wow.

- Habs have to get this faceoff thing figured out in a hurry.

- Many post game fingers are going to be pointed in Subban's direction for that soft goal which got the Bolts on the board ... and you know the rest of the story.


Overtime:

- Brewer with a terrible trip, Habs to PP.

- Tampa had four out while on the PK. Unbelievably not caught by the officials.

- On to the shootout. Or as it's better known in Habsland, death.


Shootout:

- Subban escapes the coach's wrath. Thank goodness for that. Thank goodness we get the two.

Game Nine: Bruns vs. Habs

It's almost one year to the day since the last time the Bruins and Habs squared off against each other. In case you've forgotten, and believe me, most of us Habs fans strive to non remember last season, Boston has won the last four straight. Not good.

But that was then! Things are much different now. We have already-Norris-Trophy candidate Andrei Markov back at full capacity quarterbacking the blue line. We've got two stellar young players in Brendan Gallagher and already-Calder-Trophy candidate Alex Galchenyuk making our 3rd line a force to reckon with. We've got Carey Price playing arguably the best hockey of his life, near the top of the League in SP and GAA.

We've got a League-leading goals F/A ration for 5-on-5 play: 2.15 which is way ahead of second place Tampa Bay who sit at 1.67. That's a pretty sizable improvement over last year, when the Habs finished 18th overall in that critical department.

What has Boston got? Well, a lot. They're good. Real good. Maybe not 2010 good, but they're definitely a contender this season. What they don't have is Tim Thomas (man, I miss that guy - he provided sooooo much material to write about). They do have Tuukka Rask, who unlike Thomas, hasn't had the greatest of success against the Habs - even though the Canadiens have been, by full rights, a pretty mediocre, nay, terrible team the past couple of years.

Oh ... and they also don't have goon specialist Brad Marchand in the lineup, he's got some eye problem or something. Not sure. Anyway, he ain't playin'.

Carey Price will start - as if I even need to tell you all.

It's gonna be a good one. First place on the line!


First Period:

- Well that won't keep you out of the doghouse. Lars Eller rings a shot off Price in an ... er ... particularly sensitive area. We think Price will be alright, but we know deep down he's not. Price looked mighty mad after taking the shot, and immediately skated to the dressing room.

- Beautiful patience puck control and feed into the crease by Eller along the wing, Armstrong had the empty net but couldn't quite guide it in.

- Good pace, fast changes, and Rask robbed Bourque off a rebound. Habs have to be pleased with the pace they've set.

- No goal but Habs PP looks like its firing all cylinders, if that first one is any future indicator.

- Markov/Subban combo at the point looks particularly potent, as we kinda already figured it would.

- Habs are dominating this thing. Need some payoff though.

- 11 minutes in, no registered shots for the Bruins.

- High stick on Bouillon right in front of the ref, no call.

- Little pushback by Bruins here, crossbar hit.

- Speaking of hits, relatively tame game, hit-wise - certainly nothing compared to years past.

- Bruins going with four forward setup on their PP, much like our last place unit did last year. Boston two PPs, zero shots.

- Habs really taking it to the Bruins in the 1st, with the usual stuff we've seen this year. Emphasis on speed, driving opposition net. Rask made a few excellent saves to keep the Habs off the board, but he can't hold the fort forever.


Second Period:

- Plekanec's worst breakaway of his career?

- Bruins defense doing a tremendous job blocking Habs shots. Can't score if you can't get them in goal.

- Subban with an absolute cannon from the line for his first of the year on the PP. Crowd goes nuts. Habs score the critical first goal of the game.

- After trying Markov/Subban first unit pairong, looked like Therrien was returning to Markov/Diaz as the first unit. Subban's goal assisted by ... Markov. Coach might change his mind again.

- Bruins buzzing with Prust line on. Subban stung by point shot. Price fortunately covers up before Boston strikes. But tempo being now set by the B's.

- Really think Therrien will just cave in eventually, and go with Markov/Subban as the first power unit. Why divide your strength?

- Is there anyone better in the NHL at making his position look easy than Carey Price?

- Bruins as expected, evening things up a bit in the period, but Price looks so solid right now, Boston might need to look for some garbage if they want to even the score in the 3rd.


Third Period:

- Certainly no garbage goal there - Seguin finishes off quick shoot in, fast turnover, and pretty pass in front.

- Bruins coming out hard. Price trying to hold the fort. Habs need pushback quickly.

- Falling apart here, Habs defense way too soft on the Bruins rush, and Plekanec is one step too far behind, much like the first goal. 2-1 Boston.

- Boston still coming hard. Therrien might want to consider calling for time.

- Rask with a brilliant rebound save off Desharnais, but not feeling imminent scoring pressure being demonstrated by Habs offense. Boston has this game under control.

- Habs D has attempted three long bomb passes for breakaways the past minute, none quite connecting. Bit soon for the Hail Mary, but nothing else really working right now.

- Bruins forwards scorching the neutral zone - no where to rush, no where to pass. Habs no answers to the puzzle.

- Eller looked great in the first. Since then, invisible.

- Desharnais simply has to bury that past Rask. You can't miss those kinds of opportunities.

- Big push here. Just need to get these opportunities ON the goal.

- So many blocked shots, it's frustrating as hell to watch this.

- Killer penalty on Subban. Boston is going to win this.

- Hold the phone. Boston takes a penalty. Hope yet.

- Habs dominated the first, and last five minutes of the third. That's it. That isn't going to cut it against a team like the Bruins. Lesson learned for the next time.