Game 25: Habs vs. Kings

Montreal 5, Los Angeles 4 (SO)

FIRST PERIOD LIVE GAME BLOG:

- Well, well, well ... guess who scored right off the bat? And guess who he was playing with? Alex Galchenyuk and Alex Radulov. Me hopes this ends the silly trade speculation circulating around bored reporters.

- Alex Radulov plays pretty good defence. Maybe that's why the Habs figure he's a good option for playing the blue line on the powerplay (he's not, by the way).

- It's not hard, guys: First line powerplay:

Radulov/Galchenyuk/Byron

Second line powerplay:

Pacioretty/Plekanec/Pacioretty

No more Shaw, no more Desharnais. 

It's really not that hard.

- Habs might have the early lead, but they're getting outplayed by the Kings - the Plekanec line, in particular, is getting trounced by the Kings forecheck.

- Doughty with a dumb-ass roughing on Lehkonen. Habs powerplay, it's Galchenyuk/Radulov and, of course, Shaw. Goes nowhere, because zero chemistry.

- Yeah, yeah .. Flynn brings "grit" and according to some, speed. But he's so utterly incompetent with the puck, that I just can't rationalize him being useful beyond filling in 4th line injury caps. But as full-time NHL 4th liner? Nope. Inexcusable. 

- Great to see Pacioretty back with Galchenyuk, and great to see  him hit the back of the twine early, but the Habs did not have a very good period - Kings, being the usual L.A. Kings, controlled possession and tempo, especially from the 10 minute mark forward, where they basically dominated the Canadiens both ends of the ice. Habs need to pick up their game, especially Tomas Plekanec and his line, if they hope to have a decent chance over 3 periods of play. If not, there's little reason to believe L.A. won't eventually overtake the Habs on the scoreboard.

SECOND PERIOD LIVE GAME BLOG:

- Habs had some garbage time push late in the period, but it doesn't excuse them from an underwhelming period that they held a 5v5 CF advantage (54.5%). From the 10-18 minute marks, it was all Kings, which is worrying:

- Don't say we didn't warn you. First, Koptiar converts on the powerplay, and then Price gives up a big rebound, with no defensive support around his crease, and Shore swipes the puck home, and in a flash, it's 2-1 Kings. 

- Pacioretty on the powerplay, just tossing a shot at Budaj through a few legs, and the puck finds its way in. That's hockey for you, but are we seeing Pacioretty enter one of his scoring streaks? Habs hopes of somehow winning today are certainly resting on that.

- Desharnais line hasn't had a very good day, but they just had a good shift, their first of the game, halfway through the 2nd. Habs might not look to this line for scoring support, but they at least need more consistency in play.

- Galchenyuk nailed for a pretty soft slash, and the Kings almost immediately convert. Habs taking way, way too many penalties today, and it's killing them.

- And now it's the Habs turn to burn the Kings on the powerplay, with Pacioretty making a sweet blind pass to Radoluv who solo drives the net and slips a backhander past a not-very-sturdy Peter Budaj. Goaltending definitely a factor today.

Radulov goal pic.twitter.com/sysS1SeHQG

— Stephanie (@myregularface) December 4, 2016

- The Desharnais line, which was lost in the wilderness first half of this game, is definitely heating up. Generating some pretty nifty scoring chances. Don't be shocked if that line joins the scoring fun before this game is over.

- I know plenty of readers aren't going to like this, but Alex Radulov is my choice for team MVP right now. He's been consistently good each and every game he's played this season. Carey Price has been excellent, but he's had off days. Same for Galchenyuk. But Radulov? Nope. Good, bordering on great, each and every start. Team MVP.

- Massive Habs breakdown, Weber out of position with an abysmal poke check, Galchenyuk caught up ice, and Emelin totally out in la-la land, giving Lewis a red carpet treatment right to Carey Price. 4-3 Kings. Pretty ugly hockey by the Canadiens today.

- Habs coming out of their scoring funk today, but it's pretty much all for not because of some pretty awful mistakes by the blue line, combined with some poor penalties, and the Canadiens are basically throwing good goals away towards another loss. 

THIRD PERIOD LIVE GAME BLOG

- This game won't win any beauty contests. Habs SA CF (5v5) through 40 minutes, 50.9%:

- Barring unforeseen injury, Pacioretty is almost certainly going to score 30+ goals this season, which is exactly who he is, and all that we should expect.

- The goals, they just keep coming, and this time it's Shaw - hey the Desharnis line scored hadn't we mentioned that earlier? Tie game.

- For reasons I can't quite understand, Therrien has placed Gallagher on the 3rd line with Desharnais and Shaw. 

- Galchenyuk hurt. Pretty safe understatement that he's someone the Habs simply cannot afford to lose.

- Replay shows Kopitar with blind knee on Galchenyuk, not 100% if that was intentional, but it most certainly wasn't clean. Galchenyuk in the room, and we all hope the injury isn't serious.

- Both teams really tightening up defensively since the 10 minute mark of this period, which is just fine for the Habs who, I'm sure, would be delighted with coming out of this city with at least 1 point in the standings.

- Uh, so ... Michael Therrien has apparently pegged Torrey Mitchell to fill in for Galchenyuk on the 1st line. I have no words.

- Galchenyuk out for the rest of the game, which is not assuring. Habs do grab a point at least, but the cost, if Galchenyuk, is incalculable. 

OVERTIME:

- Weber with game-saving block on wrap around attempt. Radulov jusssssst missed on the other end. Quite an OT we have going here.s

- Torrey Mitchell in OT totally, absolutely makes zero sense, but here we are.

- Radulov, who's been a monster today, draws a powerplay with just under 2 minutes left. Fantastic.

- Not fantastic, Therrien puts Shaw out for OT powerplay, which is just insanity. 

- Pacioretty, looking for the hat trick, hits the post. That close. So close. Off to the shutout.

- Gaborik, stopped by cool, calm Price. Flynn (wtf) ... scores (WTF?)

- Jeff Carter, who's been fantastic all day, converts. Radulov who's been even more fantastic, with an incredible backhander on Budaj. Fan freaking tactic.

- Kopitar converts (sigh), Pacioretty denied. And on to extras ...

- Pearson? Hmm interesting choice. Off the goalpost. 

- Byron convers, and lo and behold, the Habs win a game in California.

- Staggering game by Radulov today, which is a great story given how just two days ago, we weren't even sure if he had two eyes left in his head. But like Friday night, Habs fans sit and wonder the prognosis of one of its irreplaceable forwards, and how serious his injury is. 

CALIFORNIA: GO AWAY AND DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE

It's over. Well, it's almost over. Just one afternoon game left to play, and then the Habs can kiss the west coast goodbye for 2016-17. THANK GAWD.

The only team separating the Habs from sweet, sweet relief are the L.A. Kings. Oh, great. The Kings, winners of 7 of their past 8, last won a game in Los Angeles on December 3, 2011, which is, I suppose, much better than their record in San Jose.

The Kings are having another fine season, which is somewhat of a surprise since L.A. lost their number one netminder, Johnathan Quick, to a knee injury in mid-October.

As any Habs fan will tell you, losing your starting goaltender totally ruins your season. I mean, no team could possibly overcome that kind of loss. No team could relay on backup goaltending fodder to muddle their way though a pointless winter of defeat. You couldn't possibly expect someone like Mike Condon, or Peter Budaj to keep your team from falling into the abyss, right?

Well, go figure. The Kings, leveraging the services of former Habs back-up Peter Budaj, who they signed a one-year contract with in October for next to nothing, haven't just kept their head above drowning, they've actually beat just about everyone else in the pool - winning 13 of 24 games so far this season, a pace more than good enough to nab a playoff spot, while Budaj, in 20 starts, has 12 wins and a respectable 2.15/.912 line, far above his career average 2.72/.903.

So yeah, even losing your starting goaltender, you can still save your season. It can be done. With level headed, intelligent coaching and management, it is possible to overcome key roster loses.

But that's the L.A. Kings. Let's talk about the Habs. We've got a feud percolating! Reports are out this morning from NBC and Nick Kypoers that Max Pacioretty is quite unhappy with head coach Michel Therrien, and the way he's been used in the lineup.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB, MAX.

Anyway, you can see the article here - I have no idea how "legit" this is, or how serious the spat has become, but it's adding fuel to the unsubstantiated fire that Max has had it with playing in Montreal under Therrien, and that Pacioretty's days are numbered. I'd say even the thought of trading the Habs captain and his bargain basement salary is absurd, but as regular readers of this blog have come to know, there's never a dull moment in Habsland.

Anyway, lineups. What have we got? The Kings:

King/Kopitar/Lewis
Pearson/Carter/Toffoli
Brown/Dowd/Setoguchi
Gaborik/Shore/Nolan

Forbore/Doughty
Muezzin/Martinez
Gravel/Greene

Peter Budaj

And the Habs, who appear at this time to be going with the same lineup as Friday night's:

Byron/Galchenyuk/Radulov
Pacioretty/Plekanec/Gallagher
Shaw/Desharnais/Lehkonen
Danault/Mitchell/Flynn

Weber/Emelin
Markov/Petry
Barberio/Pateryn

Carey Price

Puck drops today at 3:10 EST.

Gane 14: Kings vs. Habs

FIRST PERIOD:

- We talked earlier today about Peter Budaj being picked up in late October, and it's just been made official as of a few minutes ago - he will start against his old team tonight at the Bell Centre.

- Danault will get a start at centre, first attempt to demonstrate that he could fill Desharnais' shoes. First real indicator that Habs decision-makers are putting wheels into motion in preparation for post-Desharnais era in Montreal.

- Andrew Shaw on any kind of speciality unit - powerplay or penalty kill, must stop being a thing.

- Kings play the puck so nicely - excellent discipline. Apart from a few instances on the Habs opening powerplay, Canadiens have failed totally in being able to gain control of the puck in the Los Angeles zone.

- Andrighetto with a nice couple of shifts to open up this game - either he or Carr, we've said it before, we'll say it again, are frequently and inexcusably left out of the Habs lineup, to make way for marginal 4th liners like Brian Flynn. It makes little sense.

- It's been a pretty good 8 minutes to start the game for the Habs, all things considered. Radulov, as he's done so many times this year, spark plugs another scoring play, driving the net with the puck, Byron picking up the loose puck and driving it past Budaj. Canadiens with actual defined possession edge on Los Angeles. Very surprising!

- Budaj had a nice little shutout streak going until the Byron goal - just over 7 consecutive periods without surrendering a goal.

- Not sure if scoring all those goals on the Leafs exhausted the Kings, but they're definitely not as sprite tonight.

- 14 minutes into the 1st, Habs have only given up 5 shots, which considering they're the worst in the NHL for this, against the Kings, is pretty remarkable.

- The importance of winning O-zone face-offs, Mitchell with a snapper that Carr deftly deflects past Budaj, and holy moly, the Canadiens have a (deserved) 2-0 lead.

- Not much going well for the Kings in this period, including their powerplay which, at least in comparison to season's past, doesn't look nearly as dangerous.

- One of the strongest opening periods of hockey we've seen this Habs team play in a very long time. Not sure if the Kings are a little leg weary, but Habs did an excellent job gaining the zone as the period progressed, with their forward driving the net, a formula that factored directly into both of their goals. Not sure if this is sustainable over 60 minutes, but if I'm Michel Therrien, I'd tell the guys "what you did that period? Just keep doing that."


SECOND PERIOD:

- Habs after 20 minutes, how good were they? Dominative: 66.7% CF (5v5). The Kings lead the NHL in this category. Not tonight. At least, not so far tonight.

- Sven Andrighetto had a fantastic first period, putting up a 100% CF (5v5). David Desharnais, who except for the first couple of games of the season, has been a total non-factor most nights, may be wondering what his future is in this city.

- Rare play misread by Price, and Kings register their first real scoring chance of this game, as Kopitar sweeps around Price and slides the puck along the goaline. Habs barely maintain their 2-0 lead:

 pic.twitter.com/Njjp3tctSQ

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) November 11, 2016

- Just announced that Leonard Cohen has died. What a horrible year. 2017 can't come fast enough. As we learn that, we also learn that Danault is looking pretty good at centre, as he deposits a huge rebound surrendered by Budaj off a Petry point shot, to give the Habs a 3-0 lead.

- 32 of the game's 60 minutes have been played, Habs have given up 8 .. I repeat, just *8* shots. Incredible.

- Bell Centre PA just started playing "Everybody Knows" by Leonard Cohen. A poignant moment. This is a much a loss for the city of Montreal as it is the world of music and poetry.

- 3 minutes left in the 2nd, pace and tone of the game hasn't really been altered much - still mainly Habs controlled, very strong puck control in the Kings zone, doing an excellent job coming back to cover there line whenever the Kings attempt a transition, highlighted by superb efforts by the likes of Radulov, Andrighetto, Carr, Danualt, Markov and Weber. Really, it's been a collective success so far tonight.

- Another outstanding period of hockey by the Habs. Who wouldathunk? So much faster than the Kings, so much more energy, and so much more desire to drive the opposition goal. L.A. made to look like a sub-average team tonight, which they aren't. A's across the board for the Canadiens tonight.


THIRD PERIOD:

- Stats indicate another strong period for the Habs:

- Maybe the Kings are road weary. That could be the difference tonight. The weariest appears to be the Kopitar line, who've been badly outplayed both ends of the ice tonight.

- Dustin Brown, representing a clearly frustrated Kings team, with dirty CFB on Emelin behind Habs net. No penalty of course, because the NHL refuses to take these incredibly dangerous plays seriously.

- Carey Price must be pinching himself. This game is almost a night off, compared to numerous 40+ shot games he's had to face this season.

- Kings are playing very chippy now - partly I'm guessing because they're frustrated, partly because at this point, they might as well try and hurt somebody else. Pretty classless.

- Gallagher gets nailed 4 minutes for a high stick. It's not the first time he's been careless, it's an area he needs to improve upon because at minimum, it gives the Kings a slight hope of getting back into this game.

- One big problem for this Kings 4 minute powerplay. The freak of nature that is Carey Price.

- After some incredible acrobatics, Kings finally beat Price, and ruin the shutout. Pin that one on Gallagher.

- Hrm, Habs are definitely attempting to sit on this lead, which is asking for all kinds of trouble. Still 5 minutes left in the 3rd, which, with just a two goal lead, is oodles of time remaining.

- I'm not opposed to switching the lineup a bit (Desharnais is a pretty good example of addition via subtraction), but I'm not altogether convinced from what I've seen tonight that Joel Hanley has offered much that Greg Pateryn wasn't already bringing.

- Another careless high stick by the Habs, this time it's Markov, and it puts the Kings right back on the powerplay. Oy.

- Still not liking this Habs PK - Weber has been fine, but Emelin remains a pretty glaring weak spot, with the success percentages being inflated by Price. Much improvement to be had.

- Galchenyuk turns out the lights with an empty netter. Habs home record improves to 9-0-0, their best start in 63 years. Not too shabby. Apart from the final 10 minutes where the Canadiens got into some avoidable penalty trouble, as good a game as any Habs fan could have possibly hoped for. From start to nearly the finish, Montreal dominated a team that's routinely dominated their opponents all year long. Habs continue to muster their way though a tough part of the schedule, maintaining their winning ways. Excellent performances by Danault and Andrighetto tonight, which will only raise many questions about David Desharnais' future in Montreal. If there is no place for him because of attrition, then the Habs may have to consider moving him somewhere else sooner rather than later. Desharnais will likely get some more starts, but if he doesn't show any sign of improvement, his days with the Canadiens may indeed be numbered.



HABS GAME PREVIEW: DON'T LOOK NOW, BUT THE KINGS ARE GETTING GOOD

Uh-oh. After a relatively slow start to the season, where they won just 4 of their first 10 games, the L.A. Kings are good again, and just in time to face a team whom they've pretty much owned the past 6 seasons.

The Kings, in fact, haven't lost in the Bell Centre since March 12, 2011. Actually since then, the Habs have only beaten L.A. once in six games.

Tonight, we've got a sneaking suspicious that needle might move to 1 in 7.

The Kings, who enter the Bell Centre this evening riding a 3 game winning streak, the latest being a 7-0 shellacking of the Leafs Tuesday night, continue to do what the Kings have done best for so many years under head coach Darryl Sutter - own the puck.

The Kings, to no one's surprise, lead the league in CF, a 56.5 percentage (5v5). They're a solid 7th in offensive zone faceoffs (more), a solid 9th in defensive zone faceoffs (fewer), 4th in shots taken, 5th best in shots allowed, and even with their goaltending situation totally up in the air following starting goaltender Johnathan Quick's injury opening night, putting him on indefinite injury reserve, the Kings have still made do with Jeff Zatkoff and Peter Budaj, whose NHL career this season rose from the ashes after the Kings made him an emergency signing in late October.

The Habs have been and are the quintessential anti-Kings team. Currently 24th in CF percentage (5v5), the Canadiens, contrary to their 11-1-1 record, haven't exactly overwhelmed this season. Ranked last place in offensive zone faceoffs, last place in defensive zone faceoffs, 9th in shots taken (okay, that one's not too bad), and 30th in shots allowed (okay, that's bad), it remains a miracle the Canadiens find themselves in such a lofty place in the standings. But for how long? Logic and physics continue to scream this team is still headed for a big-time correction in the win/loss column.

Against a Kings team that knows how to play hockey, that correction might very well start tonight in earnest.

Notable changes for tonight's game: WOAH to this - David Desharnais is a healthy scratch (!!), as is Greg Pateryn. Which means Joel Hanley and Sven Adrighetto, both recent callups, will get their opportunities to shine.

Puck drops tonight at 7:40 EST.

Game 65: Habs vs. Kings

FIRST PERIOD:

- Heh. What a start. Kopitar before even a minute has passed. 1-0 Kings.

- Um, pretty awful start for the Habs, who look nothing like they did last night against Anaheim. Slow, disorganized, the same old Habs!!

- And ... we're off the cliff already. Pearson. Utter chaos in Habs zone. 2-0.

- Ben Scrivens, not entirely his fault so far, but fans of this guy might want to watch very closely, because I have severe doubts his NHL career will extend beyond this season.

- Took half a damn period of the Habs to register their first shot on goal. Byron, for what it's worth. Canadiens are absolutely getting schooled by Los Angeles, whom, as we mentioned in the pregame preview, play a very structured game - which is the exact opposite approach taken by the Montreal Canadiens.

- One of the big issues this year (it's a long list) of this team is their powerplay. If you watch it in all of its dysfunctional glory, you might note how stationary the players are when possession is attained. The passing is fine, but movement is limited. Which makes the Canadiens' man advantage relatively easy to defend against. The good League powerplays emphasize player movement and puck cycling. Habs simply don't have that - indicative of poor structure, indicative of lacklustre coaching.

- Woosh, was the sound P.K. Subban's shot made blasting past Quick blocker side. Unstoppable. Gets the Habs back (a little bit) into this hockey game.

- Pretty dismal period of hockey for the Candiens, even with the late Subban goal. Montreal totally outclassed by a team that on paper, doesn't have a whole lot more talent than the Canadiens, but behind the bench, have eons more structure. It's really disheartening to watch a game like this - to see the team you've long cheered for long made to look so amateurish against an organization that up until 5 or 6 years ago, had little history of excellence.


SECOND PERIOD:

- Habs and Kings after 20 minutes. As lopsided as you might have thought it would be.

- Habs Plekanec line getting roundly thumped in that first period, the Kings using smart line matching to not only contain the Habs "first" line, but roundly out possess them during the period.

- I'll be more than happy to observe - Mike Brown is a total waste of a lineup speak. What was Bergevin thinking? What is Therrien thinking?

- Lucic goes nuts after receiving a little bump behind the Habs net from Pateryn. I'd use a word to describe Lucic, but I don't want to offend my cat.

- Habs more or less just kind of hanging around, throwing darts in the dark, hoping something will hit. Kings are taking their time, setting up plays, being creative. Let's just say, sooner, rather than later, this game will tilt heavily in Los Angeles' favour on the scoreboard.

- Therrien putting McCarron between Brown and De La Rose, which is an experiment in futility. Just drawing names from a hat, I suspect.

- Pacioretty accidentally plays the puck into the Kings bench, and for reasons that are a total mystery to yours truly is being called for delay of game.

- Meanwhile, as the officials were busy giving Pacioretty a bogus delay of game call, Danault gets high sticked in the face. No call there, of course.

- Credit when due watch: Alexei Emelin. Physical, doing a good job anticipating the play, and disrupting Kings scoring attempts.

- Well, I guess credit to the Habs for hanging around after 40 minutes. Still, this game is soundly in control for L.A., they're suffocating any Habs attempts in their zone, which is being aided by weird line combinations being tossed up by Therrien. Canadiens with dizzying line combos tonight, which is severely preventing Montreal from generating any kind of offensive momentum. One more period to suffer through.


THIRD PERIOD:

- Habs and Kings after 40 minutes. Pretty much same story as the first, with L.A. controlling play and tempo. 2nd period was tight checking, the Kings doing their usual suffocation of inferior opponents strategy. With the Habs barely able to muster up a dangerous shot on Quick, sans Subban's goal, everything still very much on pace for an L.A. victory tonight.

- Therrein recycling make-it-up-as-you-go line combinations from the 2nd period. Offence, as you'd anticipate, firmly stuck in 1st gear.

- Subban, trying to make something happen, can't find anyone open from centre ice, mainly because Habs offence is in complete chaos because of the crazy line shifts, and ends up falling on his face, surrendering the puck to King, who with one slight fake, makes Scrivens looks bad. Killer third goal. And now everything shall unravel.

- Habs survice a slew of questionable calls by the refs, but it really doesn't matter. Canadiens utterly lacking any sort of coherence tonight - the Kings doing the bare minimum coasting their way to victory. Why expend effort unnecessarily?

- Eller/Galchenyuk/Gallagher. It's been what - almost two years since? I guess Therrien figures, wat da hell why not?

- Eller catches Quick sleeping with a wrister that beats him glove side, and incredibly, the Habs have a sliver of hope. 6 minutes left, 3-2 Kings.

- Habs have only shot two dangerous pucks at Quick tonight, and both have beaten him. You'd think that would be inspiration for this team to just start firing at him with every opportunity. You'd think.

- Habs run out of time, without getting another quality shot on Quick. Nice to see the EGG line back together. But again, another loss. Poor game plan, iffy goaltending, more or less the same old same old. This season can't end quickly enough.


PRICE SPEAKS!
Carey Price spoke to the scrum of media that is Montreal hockey earlier today, and he said pretty much what was to be expected. His recovery is coming along fine,  there's been no setback in his progress (even though he was originally due to play way back in January), he's hoping to play before the end of the season. If he doesn't, then oh well. Maybe next year. Non-answer answers. What's the injury exactly? HA. You think the Montreal Canadiens are going to suddenly become transparent about its players? Good luck with that.


PREGAME NEWS 'N' NOTES:

- Habs lineup tonight will be the same, with exception to Mike Brown getting back into the lineup, while Sven Andrighetto sits. Ben Scrivens will get the start (facing his old team). Morgan Ellis, who had a fine NHL debut last night, gets another start tonight (thereby making Victor Bartley a healthy scratch).

- Speaking of debuts, Kris Versteeg will make his first appearance in an L.A. Kings uniform tonight since being acquired at the trade deadline from the Carolina Hurricanes. Look for Versteeg to slot in on the Kings' second line next to Jeff Carter.

- The trade for Versteeg, no doubt, was an attempt to boost the Kings' flagging fortunes on offence this season. Although Los Angeles' outputs have improved this season compared to last (from 18th ranked to 13th), it remains an ongoing concern for the organization as it gears up for the post-season. The mediocre scoring results continue to fly in the face of the Kings' overall excellence in puck possession - Los Angeles CF (5v5) is number 1 in the League at 55.9%, a stat they led last year (at 54.7%), in 2013-14 (at 56.8%), in 2012-13 (at 56.3%), and, if you can believe it, were only 2nd overall in 2010-11 at a paltry 54.8%. Anyway, credit that to great organizational coaching that knows how to organize and play very structured hockey (something Habs fans can only dream of), which has its benefiting spin-off effects, such as a pretty good powerplay (5th ranked), shot production (2nd ranked), shot allowance (5th ranked). I suppose what I'm saying here is, the Kings are contenders this year.

- Puck drops tonight at 10:40 EST. So get that coffee maker prepped and ready to rock.

Game 33: Kings vs. Habs

THIRD PERIOD:

- Habs and Kings through 40 minutes:

- Markov's ice time tonight least amongst Habs defenders - so it's pretty clear they're attempting to scale back his time. Obviously wear and tear is taking an issue with his body.

- Crazy number of great scoring chances being generated by this team, but nobody seems to be able to bury it. It's pretty demoralizing.

- 40th shot registered. Still nothing on the board. Eventually you have to really start looking at who's taking the shots, and where they're coming from, because there clearly are Montreal players, mainly forwards, that are failing to deliver. 

- Lars Eller in a significant funk, it's showing with his body language and his decision making - doesn't seem to have very good game awareness tonight, and has made more than a few passes to nowhere. He's getting frustrated. A lot of Habs players are.

- During these offensive funks, which happen to all teams during the season, it's critical that you allocate ice times to lines that are performing well, and scale back those who aren't delivering. The Desharnais line should be scaled back to 4th line time status, until this log jam breaks. Leave it up to the players who are performing, to deliver.

- Habs swarm on the powerplay but again, have the wrong guys out there. Weise with an incredible chance off the rebound, which he can't bury, because it's Dale Weise. Deployment is mystifying.

- 45 shots, zero goal. And now the schedule gets *really* tough. We might not see another win this calendar year, if the Habs offence can't find a solution to this dire offensive problem.

SECOND PERIOD:

- As we mentioned, we're a little late to this game, but I've been watching the game over a stream, and was, at least up until the past two minutes, very impressed with the Habs - in that they've done everything you're supposed to do against an opponent like the Kings - but the finish just hasn't been there. The Kopitar goal to make it 2-0 an example of a defensive breakdown, with Emelin losing track of the slot, and Kopitar sneaking in behind him.

- Habs with clear edge in shooting, shutting attempts, and high percentage scoring attempts, but are being undone by some fine netminding by Quick, and some just plain old bad luck. 

- Kings 3rd and 4th line isn't especially strong, unlike its Stanley Cup years - so it'll be crucial for them to start playing their most effective lines against them - in other words, Montreal is the home team, they need to start behaving more like one.

- Montreal outshooting L.A. by a margin of 2-to-1 through 2 periods, although the ratio isn't quite as strong fro shooting attempts. It seems to me the Habs are floundering offensively because, while they're playing a strong system, they're getting too many chances by guys who have difficulty scoring. While it's nice that the Habs roll 4 lines, there comes a time when you need to push the peddle to the floor a little harder - that means, more time for the Plekanec and Galchenyuk lines, less for the Desharnais and Mitchell lines. Whether coach Therrien will heed the obvious, is another question.

GAME 33: POSSESSION-CRAZY KINGS ROLL INTO TOWN

Now, it begins. For reals this time.

The Habs host the Kings of Los Angeles tonight to kick off, what will be by far, the most difficult part of their 2015-16 regular season schedule. Tonight's tilt will be final home game for the Canadiens until January 6th. That's three weeks from today.

In addition to facing L.A. tonight, the Habs will hit the road for an eight-game trip, where they'll have to face some of the tougher teams in the League, including Minnesota, Dallas, Nashville, Washington and Tampa Bay. The Habs don't get any sort of reprieve until they face the Florida Panthers at the end of the month, and the Philadelphia Flyers on January 5th. Hoo boy.

What I'm saying here is over the next 9-game span, don't expect the Habs to be raking in the victories. I'd be very pleasantly surprised if the Canadiens were able to post 3, maybe 4 wins until the first week of next month, which means this team is due for a massive tumble in the standings.

Do we have bright news? Well, it appears that coach Therrien stumbled upon an excellent defensive pairing Tuesday night, when he yanked a clearly struggling Andrei Markov off the top line, and replaced him with Nathan Beaulieu. Along with P.K. Subban, the pair looked pretty damn magical together - in particular their seemingly unstoppable knack for helping the Habs continuously gain the San Jose Sharks zone.

The new pairing also appeared to liberate Subban, who more often than any game I've seen him play in maybe three years, was carrying the puck from zone to zone, which helped create significant offensive pressure on the Habs opponents. Unfortunately, Habs forwards were shooting blanks for most of the night.

Gaining the zone will be critical against possession-mad teams like the L.A. Kings. They are the League's Corsi Supreme Leaders, clocking in at 57.2%. When the Kings set the tempo, they are awfully difficult to beat.

The Kings, believe it or not, are on a small slide - losing their past two games to significantly inferior opponents - the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres. In response to this, the Kings have made a couple of minor changes to their line combinations, tonight Milan Lucic, President of the Alexei Emelin fan club, will slot next to Anze Kopitar and Marin Gaborik, which means the Kings second line will be compoased of Jeff Carter centring Tyler Toffoli and Michael Mersch.

Over in Habsland, no changes of significance tonight, other than the Habs blue line combinations. That means Charles Hudon will be the heathy scratch.


Goaltenders? It's Jonathan Quick against Mike Condon.

Puck drops at 7:40 EST. We'll be missing the first period because of an unrelated time conflict, so live blogging in ernst will begin about halfway through the game.

Game Sixty-Five: Habs vs. Kings

OVERTIME:

- Well, whatever happens, even just getting a point was an accomplishment. Or a miracle. Or a crime, depending on your perspective.

- Eller with a desperate OT shift, I suspect trying to make amens. We're all pulling for him.

- Tokarski with a disasterous shootout, and that was that. Carey Price Saturday night.

THIRD PERIOD:

- Habs improved their possession to 32% in the second period. Yeah. "Improved". I suppose if you dig the hole deep enough, you eventually see sunlight.

- Habs actually off to a spirited start in the period, first three minutes anyway. Zone entries improved. Puck maintenance is better. Blue line defense much cleaner. Uh ... kay?

- Well. I'm fit to be tied. Jeff Carter was some kind of space cadet, allowing Desharnais to make a sweet pass behind Carter to a totally unmarked Pacioretty for an easy tap in. The Canadiens lead the game 3-2. Stupefying. 

- Pacioretty called for playing with a broken stick, even though he didn't. Chris Lee! 

- 9 minutes left, Habs would be very unwise to sit on this, although given how their lead is already grand larceny, it would seem only fitting they coast to victory. I still, however, think the Kings have one more goal in them before the clock runs out.

- Petry has looked great tonight. Looks just as much a first liner on this Habs team as he did for the Oilers. Great command of th puck, picks the right time and place to use his body. We gotta re-up this guy.

- 2 minutes left. Crunch time. Kings having trouble gaining the zone. Not a good point of the game to be struggling in that area. Just slap it at Tokarski. It might go in.

- Oh, Lars. Oh, Lars. With 95 seconds left. Oh, Lars.

- And Gaberick ties it up. Oh, Lars...Tokarski needs to do better there, but still. Oh, Lars.

SECOND PERIOD:

- First period possession was 17%. Two more than my original projection. Still. LOL?

- Habs zone entries, the few times they actually have control of the puck, are absolutely horrible. Even more so than usual. This looks like a team that hasn't practiced in a month, or is holding practices that are clearly poorly organized. This is baaaaaaad.

- It wouldn't be a complete Habs game without one badly surrendered clear-cut breakaway for the other guys. Literally 8 seconds later, they do it again, but this time, De LamRose hustles back to break it up, which is an even greater indictment of the defense.

- Tom Gilbert, of all players, with a magnificent solo effort to score a pretty goal to put the Habs on the board. Their 7th shot, with 4 minutes left in the second period. You know you're in trouble when it's Gilbert who has to set the example.

- Gallagher, off a juicy Quick rebound. Astoundingly, incredibly, the Habs tie the game. I'm not sure for how long they'll stay on even terms, but this game is already completely ridiculous.

- If I'm a Kings fan, I'm ticked. Very, very ticked. But then they've done this all season in coughing up two goal leads, haven't they? It's certainly been one big reason why the Kings find themselves fighting for a post-season spot. In any case, with the Kings outshooting the Habs 21-9 through 40 minutes, there's no good reason why the Habs should even have the scant whiff of a victory tonight. Maybe the 3rd period will tilt the scales back to normality, and L.A. will put in two or three more. Otherwise, it's been a crazy night.

FIRST PERIOD:

- Annnnnnnnnd ... even with all of these trade deadline pickups, Dale Weise will start the game playing on the number one line. Okay. Breath. Everything will be okay.

- No. No it won't be okay. Chris Lee is a referee tonight.

- Annnnnnnnnd ... it takes Lee just over two minutes to make his first terrible penalty call.

- Annnnnnnnnd of course, the Kings score on that powerplay. Tokarski had no chance, for what it's worth. Redeflected in.

- Weise forgets his check (Carter) who's all alone in front of Tokarski for a tap-in goal. 2-0. Not even nine minutes gone. This might be a slaughter. 

- Another awful Chris Lee penalty call, this time for interference on Prust. Replay shows the call was indeed, absurd.

- Well, then. We thought Monday was a low point? We ain't seen nothing yet. Habs outshot 13-2 in the first period. Possession will be somewhere around 15%. Michel Therrien hockey. TO THE EXTREME!!!

GAMEDAY GOO:

Should we even bother staying up late one more time? You know how this is going to end, don't you?

We're suckers for punishment. So the live blogging will go forward.

Some notes:

- Dustin Tokarski will start. He hasn't looked particularly sharp the past couple of months. Maybe this is the night he turns it all around?

- Mike Weaver will get a rare start tonight. Sergei Gonchar will sit.

Are you really sure you wanna stay up for this? Sleep is good for you. Watching the Habs get stomped on a west coast trip is not.

Puck drops at 10:40 EST. That's pretty late.

Game Sixty-Three: Habs vs. Kings

Third Period:

- Weak cross call on Carter, Habs escape the PK, now head to the PP.

- Can't figure out Therrien sending Gorges out on the powerplay. That's basically surrendering the man advantage.

- Markov has easily been the Habs most dangerous forward tonight.

- Budaj half reaction, half dumb luck, keeping the Habs in this. But only barely.

- Gorges is hurt? In the dressing room.

- Apparently hurt falling into the corner. Hasn't returned.

- Habs with spurts of pressure in this period, but nothing sustained. Kings are still owning the tempo.

- Unvelievably, Doug Murray might end the night with the most shifts of any Habs player. Yeah, that's actually a possibility.

- Lars Eller has 16 seconds in the 3rd. The doghousing is complete.

- It appears that Gorges had an equipment problem, not an injury, and has returned. Here's hoping that means less of Murray.

- Can the Habs find one more to pull out of their butts? I see little reason to believe this will occur. Habs just no mojo tonight, not being helped by some terrible bench management by Therrien.

- So with Budaj pulled, and puck in the Kings zone, Therrien has Emelin and Gorges out. Mmmkay then.

- And the Habs lose with a whimper. Seems fitting.

Second Period

- Okay, so even though he was terrible retreating to his zone for the Kings' first period goal, Emelin ended the period with nearly 10 minutes of time. Subban. 5. Normally I'd be baffled, but you know ... Therrien.

- Habs clogging up the neutral zone win great effectiveness, really hampering L.A.'s zone transition.

- Habs unable to clear their zone on the PK, exhausted, and not aided by a flip flopping Murray, Kings' Carter buries a wrister. 2-1.

- Habs powerplay,  unable to setup once in the L.A. zone. Easy kill.

- Yeah, Eller needs an intervention. We're past that point. A game off. Something. Because at this rate, he's headed nowhere. 

- Stoll head down, gets railroaded by Subban. See if that inspires his mates.

- Habs PP, let's see if this can be any worse than the previous.

- Yup, so far, so worse.

- Sweet tape pass by Markov to Galchenyuk in the slot, shot off the bar. Markov with a tremendous PP shift.

- Lars Eller given a two minute penalty for trying to score a goal. Beautiful.

- Therrien puts Emelin and Tinordi out for the PK, and chaos ensues. Minor miracle Kings didn't bury their third. Posts hit and empty nets missed. Habs, I suppose, are pleased enough to be down just one after 40 minutes. Therrien also appears to be severely limiting Subban's minutes tonight, for reasons that only he could possibly know.

First Period

- Well here we go. Breakout for Kings from their own zone, Emelin agonizingly slow skating backwards, Muzzin with a reasonably soft wrister that handcuffs Budaj. Another question all opposition goal to start a game - 1-0.

- Eller, is this a snakebite forward or someone who has confidence that's been completely destroyed? Misses a wide open net.

- Timordi shows some of that scrappiness that seemed to be missing during his previous call up, scraps with Clifford - and holds his own. Good stuff.

- Pace is pretty fast, not exactly the best model if you're the road team (with your backup in net).

- Lars Eller, badly outskated and outhustled, hauls down Kopitar. The spiral continues.

- Shoot it on net. Just shoot it on net. Subban just directing it to the net, crazy redeflects and game is tied.

- Off an icing, like how Gallagher "gets tossed" from the circle to buy time. It's a clear bend of the rules, wonder if the League might look at a rule adjustment that only starting centres can take the draw first.

- Pretty good pace to the period, Kings had possession edge - in particular the early part of the frame, but the Habs seemed to gather momentum and control the later half. More or less a wash - for a road team! you'll gladly take it.

Game Day News 'n' Notes:

Ho, boy. Here we go. L.A., Anaheim, Phoenix, San Jose. All on the road. All in five days. This could be a very, very ugly week.

Anyway, first stop is Los Angeles. And the Habs lineup tonight is such:

Line 1: Galchenyuk/Plekanec/Gionta; Line 2: Pacioretty/Desharnais/Gallagher; Line 3: Bourque/Eller/Brière; Line 4: Moen/White/Weise Annnnnnnnd ... on the line: Markov/Emelin Gorges/Subban Murray/Tinordi Annnnnnnd between the posts:

Peter Budaj.

Meanwhile, Carey Price didn't practice today and was put on injury reserve, which is a pretty good indicator that he's unlikely to play any of these games on this western road trip.

It's gonna be a rough week.

Game Thirty-Two: Kings vs. Habs

The Night After the Day Before

Sooooooo .... how'd you sleep last night? When you awoke, did the Sun rise? Wait, what am I thinking?? we're in Canada in December. The Sun never rises. Still, we're still here, the world hasn't imploded, and Habsland, while hurtin' all over this morning, lives on.

But yeah, the sucktitude was strong last night. The horror-role was long - Briere got benched (fine), Markov and Emelin were atrocious, Gallagher can't score to save his life, Eller mysteriously is a bit of funk. Subban appeared little more than your average NHL defenseman ... Bournival didn't get a chance to show he deserves a regular shift. Even Carey Price, setting aside the argument the Kings 4th and most certainly, their 3rd goal came as a result of goaltending interference, didn't have a very good night.

So pretty much everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong. But, nobody got hurt ...

... we think? Josh Gorges and Max Pacioretty didn't practice this morning, electing to take a "therapy day", which is another way of saying they're too banged up to do their drills.

Rene Bourque, who has some kind of injury, won't travel with the team to Philly tomorrow. Oh yeah - Philly. I guess this means George Parros will be back in the lineup. Le sigh.

Here's Oliver Bouchard's breakdown of last night's horrorshow. Oyoyoe is right.

Anyway, more in a bit. I'm going outside to see if the Sun has risen.

Third Period:

- What, you're still here? Why, aren't you a glutton for punishment?

- Therrien has decided to put the EGG line together again. Might as well - there's a good case to be made it shouldn't have been broken in the first place.

- 3rd period tonight at the Bell Centre strongly resembles any first period at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. About 1/2 empty.

- These blowout losses can have a cathartic upside. It might cause Therrien to pause to consider his blender deployment "strategy" might not be suitable against really good teams. Lessons to be learned here - is the coach adapt enough to understand, though?

- Okay, games like this call for drastic action. Puppy kitty time.

- More worryingly for the Habs tonight is how their powerplay has seemingly gone into the tank - and it's not just tonight. This has been building for awhile, the Canadiens were defying gravity with their specialty units, and the return to earth is having some pretty dramatic consequences.

- Okay. Major beef time now:

49

M. Bournival

5:06

Okay, coach. Your team is getting blown out 6-0. The loss was assured a long time ago. So what's the point of short shifting the young kid who you might wanna play out a bit more, if at the very least, to give him some development opportunities.

I mean, really.

- Oh well. Get 'em next time. We'll just pretend tonight never happened. Just move along. Nothing to see here. 


Second Period:

- Habs with 63% possession.

- How the heck was goaltender interference not called? Kings gifted a third goal by the officials. Just terrible.

- That non-goal zapped all the Habs' hopes and apparently their will to live. Nobody skating back and Toffoli makes it 4-0. Goodnight.

- Roll of shame: Emelin, Subban, Briere, Pacioretty, Eller and Prust all -2 so far.

- Not that it matters but the officiating this 2nd period has been uhhhhh ... bad.

- Can we go home now?

- Jones not nearly as impressive this period. Maybe it's got something to do with only taking one shot.

- Well if you're gonna lose, you might as well go big. Right?

- Oh well. Just one of those nights, when it comes right down to it. Habs will have a day to absorb, reflect, readjust and get back on the horse.

- Catestrophic 2nd period for the Habs - the blown call by the officials giving the Kings a 3-0 lead just killed this game to pieces. Not that it would have made much of a difference for the final result, but this is the big league, and stuff like that can't be missed by so-called professional referees. 

First Period:

- So Gord Miller says the reigning Norris Trophey winning defenseman is "on the bubble" for an Olympic spot. Don't even know where to begin with how dumb that statement is.

- Kings have been nearly unbeatable this year when scoring first. Just sayin.

- Jones killing that penalty. Kings goaltending really has been incredible this season.

- Nolan off a juicy Price rebound, gives Kings that first goal. Nolan was Desharnais' check.

- Hockey Gods evening the score here - Habs dominating play, losing on the scoreboard.

- Markov is the brain of this Habs powerplay. His setups are exceptional.

- Canadiens specialty units look very good, but Martin Jones is the Kings' trumph card. 15 saves so far, 8 shorthanded.

- And another Habs powerplay. They've been the more aggressive team and it's reflective the Kings are getting called. Gotta cash one in, here.

- Habs doing the right thing driving the net, but Jones. Sheesh.

- No way Bouillon should be on any powerplay, and yet ... would perfect even Emelin as the 4th option.

- Kopitor. With 12 seconds left. What a killer goal. Habs in a massively huge hole against a team like L.A.

- Well what can ya do? Habs dominated possession and scoring chances, on pace for 50+ shots, and zero goals. Martin Jones excellent but can he hold it up for 3 periods?

Gameday Game Preview:

Okay, so tonight the mountain is a little bit tougher to climb. That goes without saying since the Habs' most recent victory came at the expense of the Buffalo Sabres, who this year might be the worst team this League has seen in 40 years. Or maybe forever. Yet, even with all that awefulness .. ness ... the Habs only managed to squeak out a 3-2 win, extending the team's winning streak to five games, including just one regulation loss in their past 11. We are the HOTTEST THING IN HOCKEY.

I think?

Just getting past Buffalo, getting outplayed and just getting past Boston, then getting outplayed twice in a row and just getting past New Jersey twice in a row, doesn't enthrall me with lots of confidence that this team is firing on all cylinders. Methinks that the current winning roll is something a mirage that's masking a problematic undercurrent - this team, given its talent, isn't performing as well as it should - or worse, given its lack of talent, is overperforming. 

Oh well. The next month or two will tell the tale. Maybe even this week, since after tonight's clash with the Kings, the Habs will then take on a string of less-than-impressive opponents.

So it's the same old same old. Saturday night the Habs 4th line, which not coincidentally was being centred by Ryan White, was easily the best of the bunch. White, as I have stated ad nauseam on this blog, isn't getting nearly the credit he deserves this season. When White plays, the Habs 4th line becomes an effective forechecking unit, wearing down the opposition's better lines. When White is taken out for the sake of George Parros, this team isn't nearly as effective.

So White had better be in the lineup tonight, because the Kings are no pushover.  Actually, they're a pretty darned good team.

The big story in L.A. this year is netminding - hoo boy have they struck it rich. After signing Johnathan Quick to a long-term deal, the Kings sent Johnathan Bernier to the Leafs in return for Ben Scrivens, whom the Leafs had basically given up on. Actually, the Leafs were so down on Scrivens they actually tossed in prospect forward Matt Frattin AND a second round pick.

Funny thing happened. You see, Quick suffered a groin injury last month, and Scrivens was pressed into duty. Guess what? Since getting the call, Scrivens has played out of his mind - putting up a 1.56 GAA (2nd best in the NHL), and a ridiculous .934 SV% (tops in the League).

Not that the Leafs are complaining - Bernier has performed admirably - but still, poor ol' Leafs. They gave up the best performing goaltender this season in return for another goaltender who's been good, but not nearly as good to warrant Toronto also tossing in a prospect and a pick.

It's a pretty interesting matchup. Scrivens with his terrific save percentage, against the stingy Habs, who like the Kings, have given up an average of just 2 goals per game.

So don't be shocked if tonight's final score is 2-1. The only question is, who'll have 2?

Puck drops at 7:10 EST.

 

Game Day Stuff:

- We'll update as long as there's stuff worth mentioning. This is what we have this morning: Frankie Bouillon will be in the lineup tonight, Doug Murray shall sit.

- Kings' lines for tonight:

Line 1: King/Kopitar/Carter
Line 2: Brown/Stoll/Williams
Line 3: Clifford/Richards/Toffoli
Line 4: Carcillo/Fraser/Nolan.

That's all we got. For now.

HAPPY MONDAY UPDATE

HAPPY MONDAY. You know (full disclosure), I live in Western Canada and the past week has been ... shall we say ... a tad frigid? So to say right now that I'm looking forward to the time of the year when hockey isn't played would be a slight understatement. Spring CAN'T come fast enough.

Actually, spring is looking pretty good in Habsland, isn't it? The Canadiens are on 108 point clip, which should more than enough to clinch playoff home advantage for a series or two.

Maybe we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves, but the Canadiens are easily the hottest team in the NHL, nay a single regulation loss in the past 10 games, putting them in the lofty heights of the Eastern Conference. The roster is healthy, the best players are playing their best hockey, everything is roses and panda bears!

Practice lines this morning - think of them as you will:

Line 1: Galchenyuk/PlekanecGionta
Line 2: Bournival/Eller/Briere
Line 3: Pacioretty/Desharnais/Gallagher
Line 4: Moen/White/Prust

ALSO, Josh Gorges left practice early in the session today, no word on why he departed so soon. Just when we mentioned the roster is healthy. Blecch.

More laters!