Game 73: Wings vs. Habs

Detroit 2, Montreal 1 (OT):

FIRST PERIOD:

- Beaulieu nailed right off the bat for an interference penalty that might have gone either way. Abdelkader scores on the infusing powerplay to give Detroit the early lead. Not sure what Julien thinks of Beaulieu's play, but reply shows he was finishing his check. I'm inclined to think the coach will let that one slide.

- So when is the Habs top line going to start producing? Habs can't keep leaning on secondary scoring support indefinitely.

- Danault line looks good yet again tonight - they're got a very persistent and aggressive forecheck going, which is something I've seen absent the Galchenyuk line the past little while. Spark of intensity might be one significant reason why that top line has struggled to score lately.

- Habs powerplay tinkering - Pacioretty put at the point. Puck possession was good, zone maintenance was good, but no shots registered. That might be the end of that little experiment.

- It hasn't been anything close to the nightmare of the Hawks game last week, but it hasn't been a stellar period either for Emelin. Wings aren't a particularly fast team, but Emelin again appears to be struggling adjusting to Detroit's zone entries.

- Meek period for the Habs, especially around Jimmy Howard. Need more bodies crashing that crease area.

- Kinda mysterious how the Habs find ways of being outplayed by non-playoff teams. Not sure if it's anything to do with the lineup looking at the standings, assuming in advance that the game doesn't require full effort. That's essentially what was missing from the Habs in that 1st period - the concerted effort required to win a game in the NHL.


SECOND PERIOD:

- You'd be forgiven if your eyes glazed over during that first period. Possession was an even split, which means, given the opponent, the Habs were outplayed:

- Habs are buzzing, certainly more than compared to the 1st period, but the Wings are doing a good job protecting the crease/slot area. Canadiens might need to grease one out to get on the scoreboard.

- Flow is certainly a lot more wide open this period, which is something that would generally favour the the Habs.

- Emelin covers up from a Jeff Petry puck handling error. That's all nice, but it underscores the general lack of chemistry and communication between these two since Julien adjusted his defence, moving Markov next to Weber. I think Emelin would be a better pairing with Jordie Benn, and Beaulieu with Petry, but what do I know?

- I know, it was a longshot, but kinda hoped Ott would have a little "oomph" to his game against his former teammates tonight. But then again, it's Steve Ott. Best to keep expectations at around -40.

- Habs with a stormin' powerplay, Howard catching some puck luck, and Lehkonen playing like a monster this period. Pacioretty at the point looking better that attempt. Starting to think this team has a bad case of snakebite against the Wings.

- Just can't seem to find chemistry. Julien mixing the lines up a little to end the period, but I'm not sure that's the issue. Passing is there, but there simply isn't very much traffic in front of Howard, who, for the most part, has seen pretty much every shot directed towards him.

- Habs were the better team in that second period, pushing the envelope to try and get on the scoreboard, but as we mentioned in the previous point, Habs have not done a very good job pushing the Wings net tonight, which has made puck stopping much easier for Howard.


THIRD PERIOD:

- This is a more meaningful illustration of the Habs issue tonight - they might have more shot attempts, but not many in close. Look at all those point attempts. No wonder Jimmy Howard has a shutout going:

- After demonstrating marked signs that he'd finally got his season moving, it's been a mostly down night for Gallagher - 46% CF and a CF Rel of nearly -13 through 40 minutes.

- Habs are playing patient, much like they did earlier season game they had against Detroit, of which they eventually lost 1-0. In that game, the Habs didn't seriously ramp up their game until there was 2 minutes left in the clock. If you learn from your history, then you'd expect the Habs to start taking some chances much sooner in the 3rd.

- Habs haven't shown much, but now they draw an interference. Canadiens came awfully close to scoring their previous man advantage. This would be a good time to finish their attempt.

- Puck hopping and bouncing on the ice, Beaulieu's stick shatters as he attempts to finish the setup with Jimmy Howard's own stick laying in the corner. One of those nights where seems like nothing is going to go right - and for the Habs offence, that's exactly what's happened.

- Habs are definitely not waiting until the last 2 minutes to make their push. With 9 minutes left in the 3rd, it's been the kitchen sink in the Wings zone. Just can't quite seem to finish plays, the ice conditions look poor - puck bouncing a lot on the ice.

- Rough night for the Plekanec line - most of the play has tilted towards the Habs zone while he, Gallagher and Bryon have been on. Offensive chances have been few and far between.

- Lehkonen ties the game with 2 minutes left, given way too much space entering the Wings zone, he fires a wrister that has Howard looking skyward.  Ironic the way that goal was surrendered given how well the Wings have played defensively in their zone tonight.

- Alexei Emelin with all day and all night to set up the play from behind his net, ices the puck with 2- seconds left. WHY?!

- Critical game tying goal by Lehkonen, given that the Sens have already beaten the Bruins tonight. Canadiens doing a nice job pushing in that 3rd period for the tying goal, especially from the 10 minute mark forward.

OVERTIME:

- Shot attempt chart shows the Habs indeed were pushing hard at about the 10 minute mark of that 3rd period:

- Montoya clearly interfered by Mike Green, thrashed into the back of his net, all in front of the referee who lets the play, unbelievably, continue without a whistle. The abysmal lack of goaltending protection in this League continues.

- This OT period is the Al Montoya period. His defenders doing him no favours, that's for sure.

- Hometown boy Anthony Mantha with as pretty a goal as you'll see, making Galchenyuk, who's had a bad night in general, look like a beer leaguer with one move, and Shea Weber his next victim with a slick shot that beats Montoya top corner, and the Habs (actually) lose a game in OT. Montoya deserved a better fate, although the Habs played a pretty disorganized OT period, and roundly deserved the loss of an extra point.

R.I.P. WINGS NOT BEING BAD: 1990-2017

It's kinda crazy, isn't it? The Detroit Red Wings, for the first time in 27 years, will not be partaking in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The remarkable string of success comes from Detroit implementing (and sticking to) the development of a perpetually competitive hockey team by focusing resources on developing players internally through wise drafting and quality scouting (especially in Europe and in particular, eastern bloc nations including Russia).

Over the past few years as other teams finally caught on to the Wings formula for success, Detroit has found maintaining their competitive edge to be increasingly difficult, especially in the salary cap era. Before the cap, the Wings had the luxury of locking up their assets for an indefinite period of time. In today's era, the Wings couldn't dream of maintaining a lineup with the likes of Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan, Kris Draper, Nicklas Lindstrom, Vladimir Konstantinov, Chris Osgood, etc., etc. (those players were all on the 1997 Wings roster).

So with the official passing of the Red Wings era, Detroit is finishing up their season, coincidently as Joe Lewis, the arena that hosted all of those great Wings teams, will be shuttering their doors for good.

So the Wings, playing the string, will face former teammate Steve Ott and the Habs tonight at the Bell Centre. The Wings, coming off a loss to the Buffalo Sabres last night, are currently sitting with the 5th worst record in the NHL, which reckons to land them a half-decent pick in this summer's entry draft.

Here's the Detroit projected lineup tonight:

Tartar/Zetterberg/Nyquist
Mantha/Nielsen/Sheahan
Athanasiou/Larkin/Abdelkader
Glendening/Nosek/Miller

DeKeyser/Jensen
Kronwall/Green
Ouellet/Russo

The Habs, meanwhile, are still enjoying the buzz of a weekend sweep of the Ottawa Senators, which has given Montreal a 4 point lead for 1st place in the Atlantic Division. Paul Bryon, who got his 20th (and if not for a silly offside challenge his 21st) goal of the season will lead the Canadiens offence in the 2nd game of a 5-game home stand. Meanwhile, Carey Price, who's been stellar since Claude Julien took over head coaching duties last month, gets a well-earned night off. Al (Tony) Montoya (2.71/.910) will start for the Canadiens, while Jimmy Howard (1.97/.933) gets the nod for Detroit.

Here's the Habs lineup tonight:

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

Weber/Markov
Emelin/Petry
Beaulieu/Benn

Puck drops tonight at 7:40, EST.

Game 15: Wings vs. Habs

FIRST PERIOD:

- So Desharnais actually draws in, with Brian Flynn the healthy scratch. He'll centre the 4th line with Carr and Mitchell.

- The Habs national anthems officially hurts my ears.

- Pretty fast start for the Habs, perhaps picking up where they left off against the Kings? One can hope.

- While the Habs defence struggles to feed the puck to their forwards, that issue doesn't apply to Carey Price, who's probably the team's best player at doing this. He initiates the play feeding the puck forward, creating an odd-man break for the Habs, and resulting scoring chance that's buried by Danault. Carey Price - is there anything he can't do?

- Danault scoring is only going to ratchet up the pressure on Desharnais to demonstrate he's lineup worthy.

- Kind of insane how the then offensively-starved 2014-15 Calgary Flames couldn't find one lousy spot in their lineup for Byron. Chose instead to just give him away for free. What a blunder.

- Hanley with a ground-shaking check that creates a turnover, Byron, who may very well be the fastest skater in all of the NHL, beats Howard on the resulting breakaway, and the Habs nab a stunning early 2-0 lead.

- While there are many issues this Habs team has to focus on (possession, shot allowance and zone starts), they've been remarkably good scoring at even strength so far this year - a stat that was frequently their Waterloo the past few years. Canadiens have 33 5v5 goals this year, 2nd best in the NHL (NY Rangers - 38).

- No excuse, no exclusion - even when Habs players do this. Shaw with a clear CFB on Abdelkader, sending him head first into the boards, which is the kind of play that's going to kill someone, someday. Shaw gets 2 minutes for boarding. In my mind, that should be 5 and a game.

- This is the junk the League must crack down on hard, and get rid of. Unacceptable:

Shaw hit on Abdelkader. pic.twitter.com/04A80Ljb09

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) November 13, 2016

- Habs big two man advantage here. Chance to drive a stake through the Wings heart.

- Took Habs 4 seconds, literally, for Montreal to convert. Weber a cannon, another man advantage goal, and it's 3-0.


SECOND PERIOD:

- Even with man advantages excluded, still very one-sided 1st period in favour of the Habs, 62.1 CF, 70.6 Fenwick:

- Carey Price looks particularly wall-ish tonight. Wings will likely focus on trying to put in some greasy goals this period, before considering a revert to risky pinches in the 3rd.

- Really bad penalty by Joel Hanley, who surrenders the puck and then high sticks Nielsen drawing a 4 minute penalty. You can't make that kind of play as an NHL defensemen. Certainly not with someone like Greg Pateryn being a healthy scratch so that you can play.

- I will be shocked, shocked I tells ya,  if Greg Pateryn isn't playing tomorrow agains the Hawks.

- Habs revised 4th line with Desharnais at centre and Mitchell on his side has not worked out well tonight. The wing is not Mitchell's natural position, so he's struggled, while Desharnais is laying another egg, as per usual.

- Therrien clearly unhappy with 4th line tonight. It's only been given 1 shift in the 2nd period, just 6 shifts in total. Daniel Carr hasn't had a shift since midway in the 1st period, taken off the line for Gallagher. I guess Therrien is hoping Gallagher will spark something out of the underwhelming Desharnais/Mitchell duo.

- For the umpteenth time this season, Radulov does the hard work, gets the puck to the net, Byron finishes the play. Wings are appealing for goaltender interference - almost certainly won't work.

- Pretty desperate review by the Wings here, but 4-0 is pretty much game-set-match, so can't blame them for trying.

- 7 ridiculous minutes passed to make this decision, which is preposterous. The puck was lose by Howard's skate, Bryon merely poked the puck in.

- Goal disallowed, stating Bryon pushed Howard's pad, causing the puck to dribble in. I don't understand the call since the puck wasn't covered, but whatever. That's the NHL for you. With the goal not counting, Wings elect to keep Jimmy Howard in net, after initially pulling him.

- Max Pacioretty has obviously tried to be more defensively responsible this season, but it's come at a price - lack of scoring. He's still, more or less, doing the right things, being in the right places, but puck isn't coming to him, and he's not finishing his opportunities.

- Radulov and Galchenuyuk are fast becoming inseparable. Another strong shift for that duo, with Radulov doing the usual hard-nosed work, and Galchenyuk strong carrying the puck. They could end up scoring a ton this season, as long as Therrien keeps them together.

- Ericsson with a Joel Hanley-like clumsy high sticking penalty, and Habs almost immediately score with the man advantage, which is suddenly hot. Galchenuyuk one timer hits Shaw's skate, and it's 4-0.

- Without Jimmy Howard this season, Wings might already be thinking about blowing things up. Can't fathom this Detroit team qualifying for the post season, which would break their playoff qualifying streak at 27 years.

- It's a route here, Danault tips in a nice pass/effort by Pacioretty, Wings defence extremely soft, and it's 5-0.

- Wings 4th liners trying to sucker Habs into fights, because they've got little else to play for. Habs would be wise just to skate away and save their energy for a much better Hawks team tomorrow night.

- Another strong period for the Habs, whose powerplay is suddenly hot, and an insurmountable scoreboard lead. Therrien pretty much benched the 4th line since midway in the 1st period, may give them a few shifts in the 3rd, because there's no point exhausting your top 3 lines with a 5 goal lead, and another game in less than 24 hours.


THIRD PERIOD:

- Habs dominating through 40 minutes, 65.6% CF (SA 5v5), 76.9% Fenwick:

- It's nice to have a 5-0 lead:

Après 2 périodes, c'est 5-0 pour le CH!#RDSCH pic.twitter.com/B3u9uRAeWd

— L'Antichambre (@Antichambre) November 13, 2016

- Canadiens doing their best to slow the game to a crawl - will make for a pretty boring final 20 minutes. Both teams more or less going through the motions.

- Jimmy Howard, who was pulled to start the 3rd period, saw his League-best SC% drop from .961 to .943. Ouch. Carey Price, at the moment, owns the League's best.

- I guess Therrien is outright pissed at Desharnais and, apparently also Mitchell? Barely played in the 2nd period, they've each received 1 shift in the 3rd, 8 minutes gone. Daniel Carr, who's also seen limited time, played with Plekanec and Gallagher, which is likely a sign the coach isn't happy with what he's seen from Andrighetto. Lots of unhappiness behind the bench for a team up 5 goals.

- Carey Price is playing at a level the sport of hockey has likely never seen, and may never see again.

- Max Pacioretty ... doing what he's supposed to do. Coming close. The goals will arrive - it's inevitable.

- Habs PK improving? Still think they're a little too loosey-goosey with the passing lanes, Weber does a nice job guarding the crease, and of course Price is his own human wall, but still there's room for improvement.

- Desharnais with a rare shift, and probably sensing his time is fast running out, plays an aggressive forecheck, making things happen. Too little, too late, though?

- Atrocious shift by Desharnais line late in the 3rd, nearly costing Carey Price his shutout.

- Another impressive win for the Habs, as they set a team record for home wins to start the season (10-0-0). Danault looked excellent again as he settles into the centre position, Radulov another strong outing as per usual, and Carey Price was doing the same old. Habs pretty strong in their own zone, which was a nice little boost to help Price get the shutout. The big questions heading into tomorrow night's game - will Desharnais get another chance? (likely not). What about Andrighetto? And Carr? Therrien not happy with what those three did tonight, so there could be a few more lineup changes before everything settles.


GAMEDAY GAME PREVIEW:

Alright, let's get the lineups out first, because there's some important stuff to note:

First, Detroit:

- Larkin/Zetterberg/Nyguist
- Sheahan/Helm/Abdelkader
- Tatar/Nielsen/Mantha
- Bertuzzi/Glendening/Ott

DeKeyser/Green
Kronwall/Smith
Marchenko/Ericsson

Jimmy Howard

Key here for the Wings are the returns of Anthony Mantha to Detroit's red line in place of the recently injured Andreas Athanasiou. Meanwhile, over in Habsland it's all systems the same:

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

Weber/Emelin
Markov/Petry
Beaulieu/Hanley

Carey Price

Once more David Desharnais and Greg Pateryn are healthy scratches - which is kind of difficult to argue against given that the Habs are coming off what was likely their best game of the season to date, where they controlled a pretty good L.A. Kings team to a relatively straightforward 4-1 victory.

Meanwhile the Wings enter tonight's game riding a two game winning streak, largely due to some very impressive backstopping by Jimmy Howard (2-0-0 .950). If he's spot on again tonight, it could make for a pretty interesting battle between himself and Carey Price, thereby leaving few margins for error.

Both teams have played very well at even strength this season, the Habs 2nd in the League with 31 goals 5v5, while Detroit are ranked 7th with 29. We're highlighting 5v5 prowess because both teams bring what could only be described as mediocre powerplays - it's very likely speciality teams will not weigh heavily into the outcome.

Another area of comparable weakness for each team are shots allowed - Habs are ranked 28th in the NHL, while Detroit is ranked dead loss. These are two teams that don't have an issue with leaning on their goaltending as a means towards victory.

Habs are aiming for their greatest home record start in franchise history. If they win tonight, they'll improve to 10-0-0.

Puck drops at 7:10 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.