Game 45: Habs vs. Wings

Detroit 1, Montreal 0:

FIRST PERIOD LIVE GAME BLOG:

- Wings scratches for today (now official), Tomas Jurco, Ryan Sprout and ... sadly, Steve Ott. Always nice to face an opponent with not very good players in their lineup. Mike McCarron healthy scratch for the Habs, a shame since Detroit is his hometown (and often, these home returns are greeted by exceptional performances). 

- Fundamental difference between a very good defenceman such as Petry and someone who's pretty marginal, Zach Redmond. Petry takes the time to move the puck forward to one of his forwards (or at least makes the attempt), while Redmond's mantra is to dump the puck out of his zone as quickly as possible, be dammed the transition. The effect is, of course, the Habs go from being a pretty good team while someone like Petry is on, to a not very good team when Redmond is on.

- Habs again stumbling out of the blocks with their offence, which is again having trouble executing simple plays, such as short passes. Setup in the Wings zone has been pretty awful - the Canadiens in general have been pretty unstructured the past couple of weeks. Not much different so far today.

- First Habs powerplay not much different than their play even strength. Not much flow or structure. 

- Game itself is not much different from 1st period Saturday night against the Rangers - very sloppy, inelegant. 

- On a scale of 1-10 for good hockey, that first period was -281. What to say? Both teams look rusty? Tentative? Tired? If you're missing the game, you're missing nothing.

SECOND PERIOD LIVE GAME BLOG:

- So how bad was that first period of hockey? This bad:

Not convinced? Let's look at even strength scoring chances:

One scoring chance for the Habs in that period. One. That, folks, is bad, bad, bad hockey.

- The Jeff Petry/Nathan Beaulieu pairing continues to struggle - both are quality NHL defensemen, Petry certainly well above average, but together, they have little to no chemistry. Seems like communication is fundamentally lacking between these two.

- Last point, Habs can't get Markov back fast enough, Petry certainly seemed more comfortable with him, and Beaulieu has more or less, become befitting 3rd line responsibilities.

- One more 1st period point - Habs leaning very heavily on Weber/Emelin, whom each got close to 10 minutes playing time, while the rest of the defence were in the 4-5 minute range, Petry included. This pattern cannot continue indefinitely.

- Galchenyuk line just had their first solid shift of the afternoon. Actual good scoring chance was generated.

- Insane holding call on De La Rose. Simply touched a Wings player with his hand, gets called. There goes all the momentum from the Galchenyuk shift.

- Habs PK continues to be uninspired, stagnant. Not a lot of movement, just a lot of reaction, which is bad if you're wanting to effectively kill penalties.

- Galchenyuk line clearly humming right now - nearly breaks the scoresheet with Pacioretty slipping a nifty back pass to Galchneyuk, Coreau with a brilliant save. Therrien might want to ride that horse quickly with a few extra shifts squeezed in for that trio.

- W're at the 8 minute mark, Habs have become markedly better team as the period has progressed - Wings seem to be lagging much more with the puck, are committing more turnovers as the game has progressed.

- Wings netminder Jared Coreau made a pretty good save off Galchenyuk earlier in the period, and now just plain whiffed off a relatively routine wrist shot by Beaulieu from 40 feet, the goalpost saving his day. So there's opportunity still there for the Canadiens.

- Habs making defensive switch here, Beaulieu has been demoted, paired now with Redmond, while Barberio has been promoted to play next to Petry.

- Even though the Habs have been the more "dangerous" team this period, their even strength scoring chances are still pretty abysmal - only 3 this period with 2 minutes left, 4 overall for the game.

- Bad break for Habs, great break for the Wings, as Vanek scores after point shot hits his body and bounces in. Play was already broken after Mitchell lost his stick off the draw, and after wandering around trying to find it, lost his mark, which left the point wide open for a shot on goal. 1-0 Detroit.

- Habs may have been the better team in that 2nd period, but their lacklustre play was simply begging for trouble - or at least a bad bounce. Danault and Galchenyuk line have had their moments, while the Plekanec line has been pretty invisible, and Mitchell line more or less a vacuum for defensive letdowns. Add it all up, and the Candiens are watching a winnable game against an inferior opponent go past the board.

THIRD PERIOD LIVE GAME BLOG:

- Habs had more attempts, but still aren't doing a very good job generating quality scoring chances. Been that way for a solid two weeks. Excuses can't be made with Galchenyuk back in the lineup.

- Maybe the total lack of quality scoring chances corresponds with Gallagher's sudden departure? The Canadiens more or less have gone off the cliff in that department since his injury. Makes you wonder.

- Wings are suffocating the Habs offence this period, a not entirely difficult task - but especially more so. Canadiens simply unable to cleanly gain the Detroit zone. Nothing is clicking.

- Galchenuyuk line pretty much the only one capable of getting the Habs on the scoreboard today - I don't think I've seen a single dangerous scoring chance from anyone else wearing a red jersey today.

- Zetterberg fakes a Galchenyuk high stick, referee gets fooled. Just, wow.

- Habs survive a meek Wings powerplay, but two precious minutes are off the clock. 5 minutes left, and no scoring solution in sight.

- 3 minutes left, Habs pushing, opening all the valves, but still no significant scoring chances are being generated.

- Jared Coreau will never have an easier shutout in his life, Habs just sputter away to a loss this afternoon against a team that won't be in this spring's post-season. Wasted opportunity, but Canadiens have no one to blame but themselves, the effort simply wasn't there, and as a result, the Habs generated only a handful of actual scoring chances today. One more "tough" game to play this Wednesday night against the Pens before the Canadiens can finally look forward to nearly a month in the schedule were they'll play mainly sub .500 teams.

GAME PREVIEW: SORRY WINGS FANS. YOUR PLAYOFF STREAK WILL END AT 25

Do you know it's been almost 27 years and 25 NHL seasons since the Detroit Red Wings missed qualification for the Stanley Cup Playoffs?

By professional sport franchise standards, it's an impressive and unparalleled accomplishment in the modern era of sport. Detroit has spent the past years following a relatively simple formula for success: draft wisely, develop talent internally, scout for European talent, and hiring smart people to coach and manage your assets.

Seems simple enough, doesn't it? If you take a look around the NHL today with how teams are operated, many if not most either are (or are tying) to emulate Detroit's 30 year old model.

It didn't used to be that way - many franchises, including the Montreal Canadiens, went down a decidedly different path, which focused on finding talent mainly contained within North America, depending on trading as a "quick-fix" method to help make them playoff competitive (usually without success), and hiring 2nd rate minds to help develop what little youth they had acquired.

Like everything else in the world, whether it's Game of Thrones, the happiness of the first three years of marriage, or a free and democratically governed America, all good things must come to an end. For the Wings, their playoff streak, barring some kind of miracle, will cease as of this April, 2017.

That Detroit won't be in the playoffs shouldn't be particularly surprising - this event has been building for quite a few years, as the Wings have somewhat drifted away from the formula that was once a pretty resounding success. Detroit were once the best team at replenishing and renewing its lineup - constantly developing and if not improving, at least keeping the team perennially competitive. That was then. Now, the Wings have started to wilt under the reliance on decreasingly productive, aging, and largely overpaid players like defenseman Jonathan Ericsson and center Henrik Zetterberg. Toss those guys in with other underproducers like Justin Abdelkader, and (har!) Thomas Vanek, and, well ... Detroit might actually be headed for a few years of missing the post-season, not just the upcoming one.

So Monday afternoon (yup!) the Wings will host the Habs, coming off a sweet 6-3 victory over the top-flight Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. Detroit's win this weekend broke a 3-game losing streak, but still, with only 18 wins 43 games this season, at some point in the very near future Detroit is going to have to call it a day, and start planning an exit strategy leading towards a decent pick in this summer's entry draft.

For the Habs, they're coming up a big, if not untidy victory over the New York Rangers. The Habs are getting (somewhat) healthy again, with Alex Galchenyuk back at his proper position of 1st line centre (yay!), while Andrew Shaw is ... well ... do we have to talk about him? Sigh. Fine. Andrew Shaw is back, maybe Monday afternoon he'll actually play a full period before getting tossed from the game for doing something absolutely idiotic? Fingers crossed.

Here's now the lines figure to be for the game. First, the Wings:

Nyquist/Zetterberg/Mantha
Athanasiou/Nielsen/Vanek
Tatar/Sheahan/Larkin
Miller/Glendening/Abdelkader

DeKeyser/Green
Ericsson/Markchenko
Ouellet/Jensen

And for the Habs:

Pacioretty/Galchenyuk/Radulov
Byron/Danault/Shaw
Lehkonen/Plekanec/Andrighetto
Carr/Mitchell/Flynn

Weber/Emelin
Petry/Beaulieu
Barberio/Redmond

Take note, it looks like Mike McCarron will be a healthy scratch, making way for Andrew Carr to get a start. In the meantime, on Sunday the Habs called up Jacob De La Rose, while Chris Terry cleared waivers and is back with the Ice Caps.

Starters? We got the (still struggling) Carey Price against the Wings' Jared Coreau, whom Habs fans likely aren't familiar with because the Canadiens have never faced him before. Coreau, who's been in the Wings system for a few years, got his break this season after regular starter Jimmy Howard was placed on injury reserve back in November (and isn't expected back for another month). Coreau's stat line this season: 7GP, 4W, 1L, 3.12 GAA, .903 Sv%.

Puck drops at 3:00 p.m, NOTE THE TIME GUYS, EST, so polish up your best work hooky excuses.

Game Fifty-Six: Habs vs. Wings

THIRD PERIOD:

- Looks like Price's margin for error tonight is exactly zero. Not being helped by the Wings continuing to dominate zone pressure.

- Malhotra continuing to get regular shifts, and with it, blowing any semblance of a good scoring chance. Really don't quite understand the point of utilizing him anymore, at least at this stage of the game.

- If there's one player tonight who's capable of giving the Habs an unlikely goal, it's Alex Galchenyuk.

- Habs have basically just given up wanting to control the puck. Let the icing festival begin.

- You know, you just KNOW, that Therrien is happy with what he's seeing. The rest of us gouge our eyeballs out.

- Five minutes left. Fans at Joe Lewis trying to get the home team motivated. At this point, it's as though both teams are resigned to a scoreless fate. 

- Malhotra in the circle tonight. 4 wins. 12 losses. We continue see his name penciled into the card, and we wonder ... why?

- After nattering about how useless Weise has been tonight, he makes a nifty pass to Plekanec who blasts a slapper past Howard from the high slot. Unbelievably, astonishingly, the Habs now stand to win this game.

- Pacioretty scores an empty net goal (yes, that happened). What an absolutely bat-insane win. How this team continues to pile on one totally unlikely win after another is something I've never seen, at least at this level, in my 38 years of watching this team religiously. 

SECOND PERIOD:

That seemed inevitable. Habs get nailed for a hook in their zone (Markov). Waiting for the other game shoe to drop. 

- Has anyone heard from Prust since, oh ... mid-December?

- Wings actually looked better 5v5 than during their first powerplay.

- Still blows my mind Jimmy Howard has a Stanely Cup ring. Tells you how deep that roster was.

- On any other top 4 Conference team, no way Manny Malhotra would be on an active roster.

- Habs doing an awful lot of running around in their zone. Really tough to see how the Wings stay off the board for much longer. 

- Normally you'd call this a "good road game", but to be perfectly honest, it isn't even that. The Habs are playing far too much of a passive game, with fits of incompetence with the puck. It's not only unwatchable hockey, it's incredibly frustrating unwatchable hockey.

- de la Rose is just so alert, so well attuned to the formation of the play, just loads of hockey smarts, this kid.

- Hard to believe there's been 39 registered shots on goal so far in this game. Just a whole lotta nothing going on. Habs waiting for Wings to muff it up (they haven't), Wings waiting for Price to muff it up (he hasn't). Should we just fast forward this thing to overtime, already?

FIRST PERIOD:

- So Weaver starts in place of Gonchar. Probably not a favourable lineup adjustment against a possession strong team like the Wings.

- It's been while since I've seen a game delayed that long over a pane of glass. 12 minutes.

- P.K. Subban coming straight at you full wind up has to be a frightening sight. I don't care who you are or how long you've been an NHL goaltender.

- Unsurprisingly, Habs having problems maintaining control of the puck. Seem to be doing "okay" advancing to the Detroit line, but not much more past that marker. Bodes poorly for Montreal tonight.

- These two teams have some incredibly contrasting styles, it really is remarkable. Babcock has so fewer tools at his disposal, at least in comparison to a rich roster like Montreal, but he maximizes his lineup to full affect. I've little doubt someone like Bacock behind the Habs bench would win a championship.

- Helm and the Wings giving a pretty good demonstration on how you leverage speed. It ain't dumping and chasing. It's carrying the zone.

- Shots 7-6 Montreal but don't let that fool you - the Wings owned most of the period, possession and scoring chances. They owned the puck, controlled the tempo, and shut down virtually every meager Habs attack. Gonna be one of those nights.

GAMEDAY NEWS 'N' NOTES:

- Jiri Sekac is a healthy scratch tonight, for no explainable reason other than Michel Therrien is just wanting to drive us totally and absolutely crazy.

- Nothing else matters, except that Sekac, in just his FIRST DAMN YEAR in the NHL, has been very, very good. Head, meet desk.

- Did you know people in Montreal actually think having Phil Kessel as a Hab would be a very bad idea, because they think Kessel can't score? Those people actually exist. With a drool cup in tow, perhaps. But they exist.

Game Seven: Wings vs. Habs

Overtime:

- Dry scrape picks - Datsyuk and Pacioretty.

- Well I was close. Pacioretty with the shot, Desharnais buries the rebound. This team just finds a way. Another night, another crazy win.

Third Period:

- Welp, just not happening. Habs have the kitchen sink but Howard won't let one past.

- #AlmostBourque again. Actually it's been #AlmostHabs all night.

- Wings now in grind mode. They're still functionally better than the Habs, so it's looking more and more the Habs will put up a goosegg tonight.

- Eller gets high sticked again, his cut from a high stick he took in the second period opens up. Both, shockingly, aren't called.

- Methinks Habs could have used Sekac tonight. Also Bournival. Moen and Prust have amounted to little.

- Galchenyuk. Brilliant. So fast that even horseshoe Howard can stop it from going in. Tie game with three minutes left.

- Habs are swarming here. They want to end this before regulation.

- Habs at least clinch a point - the better third period team again. But the Wings still play a far more structured attack, which gives them a pretty good edge in overtime. Also, Habs extra time luck has to come to an end eventually.

Second Period:

- Price repeatedly fails to cover a loose puck leading to a penalty. Eller and Pacioretty also go to he dressing room with injuries. On the same shift. Ouch.

- Calls by officials have been pretty questionable (including non-calls), and have almost all broken against the Habs.

- Fascinating to see how each team attacks so differently. Habs mainly dump, Wings mainly carry. Detroit has the best coach in the NHL. You do the math.

- Officials determined to call nothing, Wings saying thanks guys, we'll hook and hold everything in sight. 

- And there you go. Wings carry the zone and score the evening's first goal. Deserved I suppose - they've dominated this second period and to be honest, most of the game.

- Wings get nasty dirty after the whistle with Parenteau robbed by Howard. Butt ends, head punches and ... and go figure, Habs get a PP.

- One good reason why the Wings are perfect this year on the PK, always blocking the shooting lanes.

- Parenteau can't finish. No matter how glorious the chances. Still better than Briere.

- Well, Habs are great in the 3rd. Right? That's all I got.

First Period:

- Well, the start hasn't been great, but not as awful as any of the first six games. So I guess that's improvement?

- Desharnais with a lazy holding the stick call. The usual.

- Carey Price two excellent saves on the PK - the Wings powerplay looks a lot better than their current 9% rating.

- Yup. Price appears to be on "dialed" mode tonight.

- Tinordi, still raw with plenty to learn, inexplicably playing on the Habs 2nd D line. 

- Man, you can tell which of these two teams are better coached, and it ain't the guys wearing a C and an H. Detroit with a much more structured attack, while the Habs are continuously dependant on dump and hope.

- Kind of fascinating how similar these two teams are in roster, but how differently they play the game. The first was a washout, which given how poorly it's gone this young season, is a victory for Montreal. Still, Detroit was the better playing team in that period.

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Gameday Game Preview:

24 years. 23 consecutive times.

That figure is the number of times, over the number of years, the Detroit Red Wings have made the NHL playoffs. Think about that for a moment. That, for a good number of people, is nearly half a lifetime. A quarter of a century. It's testament to an brilliantly run organization that's managed to avoid the ebb and flow of contention to somehow generate a consistently competitive team year in, year out.

However, like all good things, even one as admirable as the Wings' streak, it must come to an end. That end may be this season, at least as far as Detroit making the post-season for a 24th straight time.

Actually, making the playoffs for a 23rd time was a bit of a task last year. The Wings had to deal with a slew of injuries to many important parts of its roster, while also dealing with players who weren't living up to expectation. Perhaps foremost in the Wings' problem areas was in goaltending, as long-time starter Jimmy Howard had one of his worst years ever as a full-time NHL netminder.

The Wings had a pretty quiet off-season, and had almost no action in the free agent market, signing only center Riley Sheahan, winger Kevin Porter, and ... that's pretty much it. The Wings are steadfast determined (or resigned) to work with the assets they already retain, focusing on the same program that's worked so well for them over the years - building within, drafting wisely, identifying key assets and retaining them for long terms, and hiring (and keeping) an excellent coaching staff.

This is a transition year for the Wings, and as such, it'll be full of ups and downs, probably more pain than gain, and an odd-on likelihood that they won't make the post season. But that's all part of the plan in Detroit - always keep your eyes focused on the long term.

So tonight, the Wings come to Montreal to take on their divisional rivals. Both the Wings and Habs are off to strong starts, the Wings with three wins in their first five games, the Habs with five W's in their first six. Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen are, to no one's surprise, off to excellent season starts, while Niklas Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson constitute the backbone of the Detroit defense.

Even with the strong win starts, both clubs haven't posted sparking specialty team starts - the Habs powerplay ranked 17th in the League, is still better than the Wing's 24th ranked man advantage, scoring at a meager 9.5% efficiency. The penalty kill, however, tells a more significant story. The Habs PK of 80% efficiency is only good for 18th in the League. Detroit? Well, they haven't actually surrendered a shorthanded goal this year. So they're ... um ... pretty good there.

Lineup tonight. Dale Weise will get a start (finally) for the Habs, at the expense of Jiri Sekac. Carey Price will get the start in goal, Jimmy Howard for the Wings.

Puck drops at 5:40 EST.

Game Seventy-Nine: Wings vs. Habs

Third Period:

- So yeah, hard to be critical of Bourque tonight. The effort, which has been so inconsistent most of the season, has been there tonight.

- Too many powerplay opportunities for the Wings, they finally hit the board. Really no good reason for Habs to be taking any kind of penalty at this point.

- Ut oh. Here come the wings. Horrible pinch by Tinordi creates odd man break for the Wings. 3-2.

- Since the start of the second there have been 26 shots on goal. 21 have been by the Wings. 

- Detroit is skating the Habs into the ice. It's not even close out there. And they've drawn another powerplay.

- Kronwall. We saw that coming straight down St. Catherine's from two miles away. Tie game.

- Bourque. No more almost. Justly rewarded. Habs take the lead. 

- Galchenyuk. We think?? 

- Man, that's borderline. Think it should count ... but with officiating these days, who knows.

- Been a long time for Galley, and it's officially 5-3. Really just deserts for the Wings whose defense has been soft around their crease.

- Oh Max. So close. Game has totally opened up - it's a free for all now.

- Hate to endorse TherrienHockey, but Habs need to focus hard on chipping and dumping now. 

- Emelin has gone insane this shift. Taking numbers and now getting penalized. 

- Habs beat the curve tonight. Blowing a three goal lead, getting outplayed for most of the last two periods, but still finding a way of winning. Now four points ahead of Tampa, the Habs are a single victory away from claiming 2nd place. We'll take it.

Second Period:

- Habs have scored first in a game 42 of the 79 games they've played this season. They've won 35 of those 42 games.

- Markov with a bad giveaway on the powerplay. That's a benchin', right?

- Wings' rushes just haven't been clicking tonight - making the Habs defense look for better than they actually have been.

- Wings had delayed possession of the puck for more then a minute. And it's Bourque with the usual dumb and unecessary penalty. Sigh.

- Another weak tripping call by the officials against the Habs - Plekanec the latest victim.

- 8 minutes in, Habs have zero shots. There goes that possession positive game.

- One shot. Pacioretty. And he scores. Crazy. Number 39.

- Rene Bourque with some fine effort working the puck to Tinordi who banks the puck to Gionta for the easy goal. 3-0. Habs, who were awful the first half of the second, rolling the second half.

- That said, Habs may finish the period with 3 shots.

- Nyquist guys, Nyquist. Not a bright idea at the best of times to lose track of him.

First Period:

- Tinordi gets paired with Subban. Beaulieu again doesn't make the lineup, for some ridiculous reason. Weaver with Bouillon - the later who really ought not be starting, period.

- It's incredible. We're handed the marvellous gift of not having Doug Murray for three straight games and Therrien still can't get his defensive priorities in order.

- Briere called for a trip on Smith, although no contact was made with any part of Smith's legs. A blown call.

- Desharnais line picking up right where they left off last night. That line continues to hum along.

- So phantom trip on Smith as he tumbles into he boards = penalty. Gallagher being rammed head first into the boards = no penalty. Got it. Gallagher now in the dressing room.

- Tim Bozan is in the house. That's wonderful to see.

- Nice drive by White to carry the puck deep and make a perfect feed to he streaking Bournival for the easy tip in. Habs 4th line, as usual, so much better when White is playing and Parros is not.

- There is simply no way to contain Vanek and the Desharnais line. They cannot be stopped, just stunted by hooks and grabs. Habs overnight have one of the most potent lines in the League.

- Kudos to Bourque for the effort and drawing a powerplay. At least he's contributing something.

- Pretty efficient period of hockey by the Habs, did a decent job checking the Wings' most dangerous scoring threats. Net result, a possession positive period and an early lead. Satisfied so far.

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

So here's the deal. P.K. Subban isn't allowed to make any mistakes. EVER.

Miss a check?

That's a benchin'.

Fall down?

That's a benchin'

High fivin' your goaltender?

Ooooh you'd better believe that's a benchin'.

Michel Therrien, coach extraordinaire. How many times will he humiliate the best defenseman this organization has had in nearly 30 years, before his spirit is totally broken?

Tonight, Heir Therrien leads his troops back on home ice against the Wings. Both teams kinda need this game, although the Wings, almost-but-still-not-quite out of the playoff woods, probably need this game a little bit more.

The Habs, meanwhile, can take a pretty big step towards clinching home advantage with a win tonight. They hold the tie-breaking advantage over Tampa, so the current two point advantage they hold is, in reality, a 3 point lead.

Rene Bourque ... yeah ... you remember him ... sort of, gets a start tonight in place of the utterly useless George Parros. So I guess that's ... good?

Max Pacioretty, coming off a hat trick night against the incredibly incompetent Ottawa Senators, needs just two more goals to reach the magic 40 goal mark for the Habs, which will be a milestone not seen in this city for exactly 20 years.

Habs defense best keep an eye on March phenom Gustav Nyquist, who's taken the League by storm in March, and has played a key role in the Wings late season surge which has, for all practical purposes, secured them a 23rd consecutive berth into the post-season. 23 times in a row. That's insane.

What else? Jimmy Howard will start in nets for the Wings, Carey Price, of course, will start for the Habs.

Puck drops at 7:15 EST.

Game Seventy-Five: Habs vs. Wings

THIRD PERIOD:

- Wow. That's quite the stat. Detroit is -24 goal differential in the 3rd, worst in the league.

- Subban with a brain cramp clearance righty up the middle intercepted easily by Tatar. Beats Price from ideal position, and the Wings trim the lead to one. 

- Tatar again. Again a d zone turnover. Again Subban in the mix. Tie game, and Leafs fans have a meltdown.

- Pacioretty says chill out, Leafs Nation. 4-3.

- Lots of end to end here, not really the kind of game you want to play holding on to a one goal lead.

- Mike Weaver. Josh Gorges who?? If this is the real Weaver, it sets up an interesting summer as to determining whether there's a long-term place for Gorges on this team.

- Vanek, a beauty redeflect off sweet shot pass by Markov, and the Habs get their two goal lead back. Outstanding goal.

- Hold that phone. 21 seconds later, Franzen on blown coverage (Plekanec) makes it 5-4. Wild third period.

- Bouillon is a defensive disaster tonight. He needs to be pulled from this game NOW.

- Briere with a monster defensive shift. Who'd have thunkit?

- Bournival with his best shift of the night and he draws a Wings penalty. Massive given there's only 3 minutes left on the clock.

- Habs hang on for the W, and move pretty much past the clinching line. Leafs fans celebrate a Montreal victory for perhaps the first time ever. Florida Saturday to formally book a post-season ticket.

SECOND PERIOD:

- So, I'm joining in a little late tonight, I see a 2-0 score. Obviously a very impressive period for the visitors.

- Looking at first period stats and notes, looks like P.K. had as close to a monster period as is possible. Oh yeah, and Plekanec scored two. Ho hum. Seriously, nice to see Pleks hit the 20 goal mark - he's had a very underrated season. 

- Subban clearly held trying to carry the puck out of his zone creates a turnover, Shehan with a great seeing eye wrister to put the Wings on the board. Bad non-call.

- Pretty aggressive forecheck so far by Detroit in the second. They aren't messing around. Their season is on the line.

- Gallagher with transition pass to Galchenyuk. Misses by at least eight feet, results in an icing.

- Vanek had easy 4th as a Hab, except for somebody named Jimmy Howard. Vanek just needed to shoot higher. Gotta make sure about these things.

- If Bourque finished off even a fraction of the goals that were perfect setups, he'd have at least 25 this season.

- Great physical play by Vanek to take possession away deep in Wings zone, sweet feed to Desharnais who does have the ability to finish. 3-1.

- Holy cow. This Desharnais / Pacioretty / Vanek line is a well oiled machine. Brilliant zone passing, seamless and potent. Yeah. Vanek. Eight years. We need to make this happen.

GAMEDAY NOTES:

Okay, no messin' around today.

Defense practice lines this morning in Detroit:

1: Emelin/Markov
2. Bouillon/Subban
3. Tinordi/Weaver

NO MURRAY TONIGHT. Already a good start.

- ICYAWA, a Wings win tonight would be absolutely devastating to the Leafs' hopes of clawing back into the wild card race. Oh ... so torn ... so torn.

- Marc Bergevin is going on the radio in about 30 minutes (from the time of this posting). We'll be listening for anything said worthy of mentioning (likely not).

- Okay, the interview is about as lame as anticipated. So from what little Bergevin has disclosed: 1. He'd like to have Vanek back, but it's beyond his control. 2. He's concerned that somebody will offer Subban an outlandish offer sheet he can't match. 3. Therrien and his coaching staff on the job they've done - "their record speaks for itself" (UGH). 4. Subban and Therrien get along just fine. 5. Says Subban has improved this year with/because of Therrien (WTF?). 6. He wants Gionta back (good grief), and 7. Bouillon has been a "very useful" defenseman.

Well, that was discouraging.