Game One - EC Final: Rangers vs. Habs

THIRD PERIOD:

- Budaj starts the 3rd, which isn't a surprise. But it's going fuel plenty of panic in Montreal about Price's injury status. No Price, Habs may as well just start thinking about October.

- Four Habs penalty killers all in the same corner, loose puck comes in front and McDonagh blasts it home. Best the Habs forget about the score, and look at the game tape.

- Habs coming completely undone now. Prust with a frustration penalty. Game will be 6-1 very soon.

- There it is. Rangers better be careful running up the score.

- 7-1. What else is there to say? Montreal will have to find their motivation for Game 2 via humiliation.

- Lars mutes the humiliation. Just a little bit.

- So Galchenyuk draws in, who comes out. CW says Bourque, but it could very well be Prust.

- Game two adjustments ought not be overreactive or radical. If Galchenyuk is game able, draw him in for Prust, who had a pretty awful game one. Maybe consider drawing Emelin, who was a disaster, out. I doubt, however, that Therrien would be willing to go that far.

- Must be philosophical about this. Habs were taken to the cleaners by an evenly matched team. So if you're going to lose, might as well do it with style and get it all out. The big question mark is a Price. Is he okay? If so, then the Habs can go to the board and recalibrare and figure this out. If not, the Habs are toast.

SECOND PERIOD:

- Rangers beating Habs at their own defensive game. Shot blocking anything remotely dangerous.

- Price. Hurt?  Oh god. 

- Little urgency in Habs game right now, finally starting to test Lundqvist.

- Habs really stringing together some impressive shifts strong on the forecheck, now generating high quality scoring chances, but Lundqvist coming up very big. Still, Habs have lots of 2nd period momentum here.

- Now we know what it felt like to be in Tampa Bay and Boston. Rangers brilliant shot blocking and goaltending. Transition ain't bad either. Don't know if there are any answers to this puzzle. Just keep crashing the net and hope for something resembling a rebound.

- In case you blinked, yeah Vanek is playing today. Sort of.

- Bourque gets Habs on the board, going to the net. Rangers protesting Habs had too many men. Still, the momentum factor pays dividends. We've got ourselves a game.

- Physical meter rising here. Lots of hits being dished out. Game taking another tone.

- Man, that's a good looking Rangers PK.

- Emelin's disasterous day continues. Blown coverage on his wing allowing Carter to walk in unmolested. 

- Disaster. Subban with neutral zone turnover, and soft retreat. Zuccarello makes it 4-1. It's a death chamber in the Bell Centre.

- Price doesn't look 100%. Pure speculation but he doesn't look right. Officially worried.

- Habs played an excellent 2nd period - for about 15 minutes. Then they flubbed a powerplay and the Rangers stuffed the game away leveraging their speed and skill. A horrible conclusion to what is now becoming yet another deadful afternoon of hockey in Montreal. 0-5 this season. 0-6 in 20 more minutes.

FIRST PERIOD:

- Habs going with the same lineup today as Games 6 and 7 against the Bruins.

- Therrien will try to match Subban against Richards line all day long.

- Speedy start both ends, McDonagh and Bourque especially so.  

- With all that speed out there, this series might be not as low scoring as everybody might think.

- St. Louis, with Bournival without his stick, open in front. Markov and Emelin with some soft slot coverage. 1-0. The emotional factor perhaps another dimension in the Rangers' favour. We'll see.

- Yikes. More soft slot coverage, again it's Moore as the setup man, this time it's Zuccarello. Therrien calls for time. Disasterous start for the sluggish and listless Habs.

- Good news, if there's any to be found for the Habs, is the time on the clock. There's a lot left.

- Markov and Emelin having real problems handling the Richards' line speed. Getting caught off the wing way too many times.

- Habs seemingly finding some footing here following the timeout. Shame they'd have to burn it just to gain some focus. How could you not have had any starting game one of a final four series?

- Crazy how much net there is with Lindqvist setting up so deep. The corners are just begging to be shot at.

- Wondering if it was a late Friday night for this lineup. Defense looks drowsy, faceoff percentage (30%) is abysmal. Team looks more zombie-like than inspired. 

- Therrien appears to be shaking up the lines, Bournival hasn't had a shift in some time.

- Bourque gets out of the box. Within 15 seconds gets nailed for another hook. Alex Galchenyuk now thinking about a game 2 start.

- Beaulieu with just 1:32 of time in the first period. Two shifts. That's perplexing given that he wasn't on for either Rangers goal.

- A total mess of a first period. Habs looked slow, unfocused, even disinterested? These are not the Bruins. The Rangers play the Habs style of hockey, which means the Canadians ought know their opponent inside out. Right now the Habs are playing catchup, the Rangers totally setting tone and pace. 

SERIES PREVIEW:

Well, here we are.  The Eastern Conference Final. Gotta say, it feels pretty good to write that.

Funny thing about rising to such rarefied heights. This year it feels different than in 2010. A lot different. Four years ago, the Habs were riding a tide of good fortune, backed by the unforeseen stellar performance of Jaroslav Halak, who led his team to two straight 3-games-to-1 series comebacks - first to the overwhelming favorites, the Washington Capitals (who'd finished first in the Conference), and then to the defending Stanley Cup champions from Pittsburgh.

But that was a crazy spring, the Habs lived each night on a prayer, getting destroyed on puck possession, which in turn led to some crazy final shot totals, often 2-to-1 in favour of the opposition. Still, the Habs managed somehow to find a way to the third round. The puck luck seemed endless.

Of course, everything came crashing back to earth once the Habs took on the Flyers, who easily brushed aside the undermanned Habs in five games. Our dreams were dashed, but the reality was, it was all a mirage.

But that was 2010. The Habs were undermanned. They didn't have four rolling lines. They had, at best, two functioning lines and a collection of make-do forwards who simply couldn't contribute as the playoffs went deeper.

But oh, how things have changed in four years.

This time around, it's different. Way different. The Habs, unlike 2010, are a functional four line team that's been blessed this spring no so much by bounces, but by health. As we type, there is literally no starting player on an injury list. Alex Galchenyuk, who missed the first two rounds with a knee injury, has been cleared for contact. So now the Habs are left with a problem most coaching staffs would kill for halfway through the Stanley Cup playoffs - they have too many players, and not enough slots.

This is not to say the Habs can waltz their way to their first appearance in a Stanley Cup Final in 21 years. Far from it. Their opposition, the New York Rangers, have a few things going their way as well.

First, and perhaps most importantly, the Rangers play a very good possession game, which as we all know (or should know) is a critical post-season component. During the regular season, New York ranked near the top of the League in this area, posting a League 6th best Corsi (53.2%) and Fenwick (53.6%). Both of these numbers have come back a bit in the post-season, but they're still indicative of a team that plays a pretty disciplined system.

So what to look out for? Well, aside from their top two lines which feature Rick Nash and Martin St. Louis, the Rangers have a pretty good bottom six core comprised of strong puck grinders like Mats Zuccarello (who I think could have a big series impact) and Derek Dorsett. It also features two ex-Habs in Benoit Poulliot, who could never find a footing in Montreal, and Dominic Moore, who was regrettably let go by the Habs after their miracle 2010 run (a move that was, in this writer's opinion, the worst decision made during the Pierre Gauthier era). These are all good core players, not elite guys, but battlers.

What the Rangers bring to the table, however, the Habs match. Aside from their two top scoring lines, which showed signs of heating up as the series against the Bruins drew to a close, the Habs have a nice thing going with their third line centred by Lars Eller, and featuring Habs captain Brian Gionta and Rene Bourque. While this line hasn't been producing some of the crazy good scoring results seen during the Tampa series, they were effective against Boston in a forechecking role, which helped stem some of the dangerous Bruins momentum swings.

The real Habs story of these playoffs, perhaps surprisingly so, has been the stellar performance of the Habs 4th line, with Dale Weise and a tandem of others like Travis Moen, Brandon Purst and Daniel Brière playing prominent roles not only driving the Bruins crazy with tenacious speed and checking, but contributing to scoring at the most critical times. I don't think this line has been given nearly enough credit for the Habs post-season success. It stands to reason at anytime, when your fourth line is producing, you're going to be an incredibly hard team to beat. On any night. Against any opposition.

The Habs have so much going their way. Four well balanced, productive and producing lines, (especially that 4th), a defense that's really found their footing since rookie Nathan Beaulieu was brought into the lineup, and of course, elite goaltending by the name of Carey Price. This is a team that as a collective, represents the Canadiens' best hopes for a championship in 21 years.

But first, the Rangers. While the Habs are favorites, and while most of the city of Montreal are banking on a quick an easy series win, I don't think it'll be as straightforward as anticipated. The Rangers bring four lines to the table, they have a solid defensive core, and while I don't think he's quite as good as Price, Henrik Lundqvist is having an excellent 2014 post-season.

That said, matching up one against the other, the Habs are the better team on offense, defense and goaltending. They're also putting up impressive specialty team numbers, currently holding a decisive post-season edge over New York with the powerplay (26.3-10.3%). Shorthanded, the teams are very even (82-80% in favour of the Rangers), but that man advantage differential could play a significant role in closely contested games.

It's really hard to argue with the paper on this. The Habs, who dominated the Rangers during regular season play, have no reason not to win this series in 6 games, and advance to the Championship Final.

Whatever happens, let's remember how rare these great playoff runs are, and borrow a phrase from Mr. Carey Price: Enjoy the moment.




FRIDAY NEWS 'N' NOTES:

Hey, Friday. Extra happy Friday. Those feet still floating a bit above ground today? Yeah, me too.

We've got the EC Final Preview coming up later today, but in the meantime, some news and notes:

- Alex Galchenyuk has been cleared for contact practice. This means he's just about ready for game action. His status for game one is questionable, but unless something drastic happens during practice time, he'll be game ready for this series. The big question though - who'll have to step aside to make way?

- Habs practice lines this morning. Identical to Games 6/7:

1: Pacioretty/Desharnais/Gallagher
2: Bournival/Plekanec/Vanek
3: Bourque/Eller/Gionta
4: Prust/Brière/Weise

- Milan Lucic. Man, this guy. Got a lifeline chance for some redemtion in an interview with ESPN. So what did Lucic say? "“I can’t take back what I said, so I’m not apologizing for what was said in the handshake."

Have a great summer, Milan.

More in a bit.

Game Fifty-Five: Bolts vs. Habs

Overtime:

- Therrien starts the big guns, including Subban with man advantage.

- Not a single shot with the man advantage, Habs passing not taking a damn shot. SHOOT THE PUCK.

- Subban damned to end this game in overtime. He knows he hasn't had his best today. He's something else.

- Habs dominate the OT, but it's Gorges that goes the wrong way chasing the puck behind the net, and Thompson left unmarked, ends it. Habs undone by their defensive sloppiness. Again.

Third Period:

- Habs with 44% Fenwick (closed) through 40 minutes. In other words, right back to sucking.

- Dismal Habs PP, Tampa the only scoring chances (2 of them). Canadiens just going through the motions right now.

- Woah. Briere with an incredible top corner shot, after an absolutely beautiful cross zone pass by Gionta. Game, shockingly, is tied.

- Habs defense, in particular Murray, Emelin and Markov, really struggling to get the puck out of their zone.

- Tampa pinning Habs in their zone, generating some pretty good chances and putting lots of traffic in front of Price. 5:30 left.

-  Beaulieu, Handling the puck penalty, what a terrible call to take this late in a tied game.

- Tampa just barely didn't score with the man advantage, largely because of Price holding the fort.

- Rene Bourque did absolutely everything right in carrying the puck for a breakaway, dandy move on Bishop but couldn't finish. That's Rene Bourque for you.

- P.K. has really struggled on the powerplay unit tonight, he's overthinking. Or something.

Second Period:

- Woulda figured given how this game was proceeding that it would have been Murray, not Subban, to screw the pooch. Any consolation, the better team today scores first: 1-0 Bolts.

- It's mystifying how this team, which coming off a very solid victory over the first place Bruins where speed and forechecking was utilized to beat Boston, goes right back to their hapless mucking ways against Tampa today. Makes no sense.

- Habs are dreadful today. No way this ridiculously depleted Tampa lineup should be competing for a win today, but no way the Habs will score of they don't change their strategy. Quickly. Actually, it's probably too late. 

- With the possible exception of the Desharnais line, the Habs strategy today is this: dump, skate back.  Dump, skate back. I think I'm going crazy watching this.

- Bishop picks a fight with Prust, throws the first punch, and Habs end up shorthanded. Okay, then.

- Bell Centre ice conditions today are terrible, puck is bouncing all over the place. Costs Plekanec a great chance on a shorthanded break.

- Habs lay another egg. Bishop can basically cruise to a shutout if things continue as is. Habs haven't mustered a single dangerous shot on goal today. It's been that bad.

First Period:

- So, Bishop will start. Let's hope he's not trying to "play through" an injury. If he is, he's being as foolish as he is reckless to his own health, and his team's future fortunes.

- Excellent anticipation by Beaulieu to intercept Bolts d-zone pass and fire a quality shot on Bishop. Therrien won't like it, but that's the kind of play that could make this team fun to watch again.

- If Prust really wanted to hurt Cote he should have just coughed on him.

- An inspired Doug Murray thinks he's Subban and dashes up ice to join the play. It creates a Tampa breakaway and resultant penalty shot. Just. Terrible.

- Murray appears particularly slow and fumbly today. That could spell big trouble as the game progresses.

- Desharnais line's transition pretty fast today. It's something this team has struggled with this year, largely because of Therrien's ultra conservative approach to clearing the zone (chip/dump)/grind).

- Gudas hitting Prust's numbers, the officials need to call that dangerous nonsense.

- Pacioretty is a monster carrying the puck over the line. He's rarely recognized for this even though he's one of the League's best puck carriers.

- Beaulieu making Murray look better than he actually is today. Illustrates how good the former, how awful the later is.

- Tampa has controlled most of this period missing nearly a quarter of their starting lineup. Yeah ...

- Pretty lacklustre period for the Habs. 4 piddly shots on goal against a depleted Tampa team. Fortunately Price was on his game to keep the game scoreless, otherwise, the Habs output was pretty indefensible. 

GAMEDAY NEWS 'N' NOTES:

- So Ben Bishop is "maybe" status as we type. According to Bishop, he's going to take warm ups, and if he feels okay, he'll start. You know goaltenders and how they think. I'll be shocked if he doesn't play.

- Not confirmed for sure for sure, but Christian Thomas is almost certainly going to get a start today because Michael Bournival is out with the flu. Bleech!

- We kinda sorta haveta run the table this weekend against both Ottawa and Winnipeg, as the schedule from here until the Olympic break does not look particularly appetizing, at least for winning games. So today's game is big! HUGE!




HAPPY FRIDAY OMG IT'S FRIDAY

News 'n' notes as we move through the day:

- Yikes, Tampa is one banged-up bunch. It appears that in addition to Bishop (and of course Stamkos), that the Lightening will also be without Val Filppula AND their backup Anders Lindback. Tampa will have to dig deep into their system for netminders if both Bishop and Lindback are out.

- Ben Bishop indicated post-practice that he's feeling discomfort and that he doesn't know if he can start for tomorrow (which, when a player makes that kind of comment, especially a goaltender, it usually means they won't start).

So big game break for the Habs?

- Habs practice lines at Brossard this morning:

Line 1: Bournival/Plekanec/Gionta (Bournival top line! WOOT!)
Line 2: Pacioretty/Desharnais/Gallagher
Line 2: Bourque/Eller/Thomas
Line 4: Moen/Briere/Parros

Soooo ... Briere gets knocked down, as Thomas comes in to replace the ailing(?) Prust. Looks like the kids almost assured a start tomorrow afternoon.

- Ben Bishop, the assumed starter tomorrow for Tampa, was on and off the ice during practice, after sustaining an injury last night as a result from a collision (skate to the head) with teammate Nikita Kucherov. So ... who knows what will happen there?

- Steven Stamkos is with the team in Montreal. Speculation is buzzing that he might, just might, start tomorrow. Tres exciting!!

As mentioned, we'll continue to update through the day if we receive anything worth updating. 

Game Thirty-Nine: Habs vs. Bolts

Shootout: 

- Usually would easily pick Bishop but he's look beatable tonight. So who knows?

- St. Louis not on the list, surprisingly.

- Lars Eller. Goodness.

- Price looks "on" for this.

- Price 3 for 3. Habs claim the extra point. Looked brilliant, right in front of Yzerman. Carey might as well pack his bags for Russia by this point.

Overtime:

- Just cover St. Louis, guys. 

- Emelin is the Travis Moen of the Habs defense. #handsofstone

- Thomas Plekanec with the break. Predictable result.

- Ain't gonna score if you don't shoot the puck. You can take that one to the bank. 

Third Period:

- Seriously guys, who's covering St. Louis? This ain't rocket science.

- Tampa has wrestled away game tempo in the third - looking good to score the next goal.

- Price playing his rescue raft role here. Not sure how many more he can keep out though.

- Habs have played themselves from leading this game to having to steal it.

- Canadiens completely disorganized coming back on the transition. Price continues to bail the team.

- COVER. ST. LOUIS. FOR. CRYIN. OUT. LOUD.

- Habs have hit the post at least three times tonight. That tells you Bishop has been beatable but also very lucky.

- Markov misplays the puck and is forced to ice the puck - thus encapsulating the team's chronic challenges with the transition.

- Desharnais easily hustling the most among Habs forwards tonight.

- I suppose there's a moral victory to claim gaining at least a point against a team as hot as Tampa, but Habs really frittered away too many scoring opportunities tonight, and let this winnable game slip away. Let's see if Habs have any more overtime heroics still in the bag.

Second Period:

- Habs Fenwick 5v5 (close) was 70% in the first. So they dominated possession, but weren't really able to generate many quality shots on Bishop.

- Habs two biggest defensive liabilities: Complete inability of its blue line to get pucks on goal, lacking passing accuracy to the forwards, which is really hurting Canadiens' transition.

- Plekanec gets Habs on the board with a nice little backhand deke on Bishop. Tampa defense unusually passive.

- Pacioretty back on the ice after taking puck to the face in the 1st.

- Bishop looking beatable this period. Just doesn't seem to be "on" tonight, at least compared to the marvelous season he's had to date.

- Terrible hooking call on Subban, ref was guessing there was a hook (there clearly wasn't).

- Can't ever ever never ever never not ever allow St. Louis be that free in your zone. That was Briere's check, shockingly. Tie game.

- For the zillionth time, Habs 4th line is demonstrably more effective when it's centred by Ryan White. E When Therrien scratches him, that line becomes useless. 

- Another horrible powerplay - 3rd in the game and counting. I'd say better planning and coaching would have eased its futility, but nearly one month of nothing and you conclude that at this point it's hopeless. Habs frittering this game away.

First Period:

- As usual, Tampa is as close or a road home game as the Habs get - lots of Quebec snowbirds and vacationers flock to this game. Usually 6 or 7 thousand Habs fans are in the arena.

- Gorges will match with Subban, again Markov with Emelin (mixed results with that combo) and Diaz draws the short stick and is saddled with Bouillon.

- 3 minutes in, no shots on goal. Passing and puck control has been atrocious both directions.

- Great play by Price to shoot the puck up to the Tampa bench while they were changing, drawing extra man penalty.

- Habs powerplay comes to life ... after the penalty expires.

- Bishop has a monsterous frame in goal but he does have one weakness - rebound control. Habs will need to generate and capitalize off of those loose pucks.

- Plekanec with the break, with predicable results.

- How'd Galchenyuk miss that beautiful setup? Habs not burying these great opportunities.

- Bouillon with Habs first glaring defensive mistake of the night, to the surprise of absolutely no one.

- Desharnais definately rediscovering his playmaking mojo ... he deserves some powerplay time.

- Speaking of the powerplay, Brian Gionta should not be getting any. He's a turnover machine.

- Habs powerplay again fruitless. This team needs to return to the basics - passing simplicity and establishing zone puck possession. They struggle with the later, and then aim for complex setups that require pinpoint accuracy and impeccable execution. They're not playing well enough to score pretty goals. Just shoot it at the net and bury a rebound, guys.

- Period has been mostly Habs controlled, but they haven't finished their play. You just know Tampa will score first.

- I know it's an unwritten rule you never trade your team captain mid-season ... but ... there might be an exception to be made this season in Montreal.

- 0-0 through 20. Habs couldn't finish, although period possession stats should be favourable though. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS.

It's been a good one for yours truly - I'm spending this time off visiting family in Northern Saskatchewan, which is actually just as cold as it sounds. Nonetheless, I'm all bundled up sitting beside a warm roaring fire in the middle of snow blanketed woods, with the Sun shining and the air bitterly crisp and chilly.

What the heck am I writing ... this is supposed to be a hockey blog, dammit. SO let's get back on the boat - the hockey world roars back to life (yeah, yeah the World Juniors and the other tournament ... the Sputnik ... spandex ... SPENGLER ... that's it ... I think Canada plays in that one).

SO TONIGHT ... the Habs return from their little one week long Holiday siesta to face one of the hottest teams in the NHL, the Tampa Bay Lightening, winners of 5 straight, which has helped propel Tampa all the way up to 2nd place in the Atlantic Division, ignominiously pushing the Habs down to 3rd place.

Even though they lost their premier forward in Vincent Levacalier to free agency over the summer, and earlier in the season, star centre Steven Stamkos to a broken leg, the ageless Martin St. Louis has more than filled the gaps, putting up one point per game this season, while feeding the puck brilliantly to Valtteri Filppula, who's contributed 13 goals this season, which puts him roundly on pace to set a career high for a season's goal production.

The other big factor? Ben Bishop is having a career year, the League's 4th best GAA and SV%, his off-season acquisition from the Senators is arguably the best off season deal made in 2013. While Tampa's offense hasn't been sparkling (12th rated), Bishop has, on many nights, been the big difference maker in helping the Bolts to pile up the wins.

Over in Habs land, there was quite a buzz last night after speculation that coach Therrien was going to sit Raphael Diaz, who's arguably worked himself up the ladder to 2nd line status, in favor of pairing Doug Murray and Frankie Bouillon. Much of the discussion was of the rather negative or befuddled variety, for reasons that are pretty obvious to just about anyone casually following this team. If even the idea that Diaz ought to be a healthy scratch in favor of playing both Murray and Bouillon was crossing Therrien's mind, it ought give any fan serious pause to evaluate the sanity of the roster decision-makers in Montreal.

However, word emerged this afternoon and Murray would be sitting tonight, and Diaz would be starting. So ... whew to that. Also, George Parros won't be suiting up ... so double whew.

Even though the Habs seemed to get their offense back into gear for a fleeting period of time last Saturday, the team seemed to go back into its collective funk the last 30 minutes of their game against Nashville, escaping barely with 2 points after overtime heroics by David Desharnais. Otherwise, it's business as usual in Habsland, with the coach putting names into the blender to make up the lines, while hoping the Carey Price will simply continue to bail his team's comprehensive inability to put the puck into the net.

Price, speaking of, will start tonight, against, speaking of, Bishop.

Puck drops at 7:10 EST. I'll be watching, with leftover eggnog in hand. At least, I hope it's eggnog.

Game Nineteen: Lightening vs. Habs

Wednesday News 'n' Notes:

- Still plenty o' buzz this morning over Carey Price's remarkable performance last night - observers are recognizing just how magnificent many of his 44 saves were, allowing his team to pick up a roundly undeserved point in the standings. If not for the Habs preposterous inability to win shootouts, the Canadiens could have well finished a point higher in the standings.

But justice won out, and the best team, yes, the woefully undermanned Tampa Bay Lightening, won over the worse team - the relatively healthy Canadiens.

It's yet another feather in the Therrien cap of not having the ability or capacity to prepare his team for regular season games. The Canadiens had massive advantages last night, healthy roster, better players, home ice, and yet they needed a miraculous performance by one guy to salvage a lousy point. The team's early season possession dominance is now just a faint memory of glory days gone past. The Habs struggle mightily these days to come even close to the 50% threshold.

Price's glowing reviews are no slight on P.K. Subban, though. He was outstanding last night as well - when he was on the ice, the Habs outshot the Lightening 17-11. When he wasn't on the ice, the shot totals were, and this is true - 34-12 for Tampa Bay.

Let that settle in for just a moment. Without Subban on the ice, it was 34 shots for Tampa, 12 for Montreal.   - Other happenings. With Alexei Emelin set to return this weekend, the big answered question yet to be settled is, who's gonna get shelved? There really are only two candidates for demotion - Frankie Bouillon and Doug Murray. Earlier in the week, the CW had Murray as a mortal lock for the press box - however, be it skill or just plain dumb luck (or more likely Carey Price), nobody has yet to score on the Canadiens PK with Murray on the ice. That one stat might just be enough to have him avoid the roster guillotine. Which is fine, since Bouillon has, for the most part, been a huge defensive liability. Plus, Emelin will more than amply fill the physicality dimension that Bouillon supposedly would leave behind. 

- Brandon Prust is getting very, very close to a return. At the optional this morning at Brossard, Prust said that he might be able to return this weekend, although at this point, he said he's not 100%. If not this weekend, it's almost certain that he'll be back sometime next week, which means that the Habs 4th line can finally reestablish its early-season self: White/Moen/Prust.

More later.

UPDATE: Habs announced they have sent both Gabriel Dumon and Greg Pateryn back to Hamilton. Which means that it's likely George Parros will get a start Friday night against the Blue Jackets. For some reason.


Shootout:

- Talk today that the League might go to a 10 minute, 3-on-3 overtime, to limit the number of these awful shootouts, made even more awful that either Bishop or Price will end up with an "L" tonight.

- Steve Yzerman in the crowd tonight. If he hasn't yet got Price selected for Team Canada ...

- However, these shootouts aren't exactly his strength ... 1-0 Tampa.

- Briere? Ugh. No no no ...

- Yup. Easy save for Bishop. Sigh.

- Price keeps Habs alive. It's up to Gallagher now. Wait, Gallagher??!?

- Ugh. Price takes the "L". A stellar performance unrewarded.



Overtime:

- Markov was flung/falling to the ice when he tried to fire the puck out, and he's being called for delay of game. What a bad break.

- Can Price save his team's bacon one more time? Heckova challenge coming up here.

- Rare 5-on-4 overtime situation here.

- 41 saves by Price. And counting.

- Habs desperately need a change here. Tampa has the pinned.

- Carey Price, with one of the superb performances of his career. You saw it tonight, folks.

- Sensational overtime period. Even more sensational than sensational was Price's performance tonight. 45 shots, 44 saves - at least 25 of them "difficult" to "very difficult" variety.

 


Third Period:

- Subban, 20 minutes through two periods. That's just about perfect.

- How do you score in close against someone like Bishop? At his gigantic size all he has to do is just ... be ... and the puck stays out.

- Gallagher/Galchenyuk connection has been buzzing around Bishop all night, but they're snakebit.

- Shouldn't Murray know well enough you don't pass up through the middle from behind your goal? No?? Alright, then. Carry on.

- The NHL just explained the disallowed goal. Control Centre noted the puck crossed the line, but also that incidental contact was made on Price, and instructed the officials the goal should not be allowed. So there you have it.

- Yeah. This is pretty much about right:

- Price keeping his undeserved team in this game.  Astonishing the Habs in theory, might actually win this.

- Habs offense, which has been pretty limp, getting the occasional try on Bishop, but no sustained pressure. With exception to their 2nd powerplay, they've had nothing tonight.

- If this game ends 1-0, it might be the worst I've ever seen this team play while losing by that score. Habs had two full days off, maybe the players thought they could take one more?

- If during the post-game conference Therrien says that the team's compete level was high tonight, I'm going to know for sure he has no idea what he's talking about.

- Tampa's combined Corsi just under 65% right now. It's a minor miracle this is still a one goal game.

- Briere isn't a Desharnais lightweight, but he's not a whole lot better.

- Bishop just totally robbed Plekanec's rocket shot from the slot. And Gionta twice point blank. He will not be beaten tonight.

- I suspect Therrien will heavily rotate Eller and Plekanec lines from here on out.

- Bishop .... not only do I hate the Ottawa Senators, but I hate their ex-players penchant for coming up with great performances against the Canadiens.

- Wow. A garbage goal it is, and it's Briere. Tie game. Unbelievable.

- They're gonna review this. Puck went in off Briere's body, but was it intentional? I don't think so.

- Well, we called it. Garbage goals were the only way that Bishop was to be beaten tonight. Man, if I'm a Lightening fan, I'm ticked.

- Oh wow. Carey Price with the save of the night. Glove snag. How'd he do that?

- If it's gonna be one guy with a clumsy stick, you know it's Rene Bourque. At the worst possible time.

- Good grief, Carey Price. What a third period. I'm not cheering for the Habs as much as I am for Price's gutsy performance.

- Silly Bourque high stick penalty killed by Habs ... WHAT am I saying? ... by Carey Price.

- We got ourselves quite the game going right now, don't we?

- Wow. Eller called two minutes for passing the puck with his glove off the faceoff. I've never seen that call before.

- Gorges is a robotic shot blocking machine.

- First, second and third star tonight is Price. I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen him play better than this.

- Habs will get at least a point out of this. TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN.



Second Period:

- Habs continue to outskate Tampa, and are pulling down Hans left and right, but officials aren't calling them.

- The high PK ranking is largely illusionary. The main reason for the Habs success this year can be boiled down to one guy - Carey Price.

- Bishop is very solid. It's not helping matters much that only 3 shots have been registered this period. Eller line has more or less been kept in check. Plekanec line hasn't faired much better. Again, the Habs will need to score dirty if they want to erase that goosegg.

- 3-on-1 break, Gallagher has to make that pass to Galchenyuk not drop it back to the already in check Eller. Pretty sure it would have been a routine follow through for Galcheyuk and a tie game. The pretty plays simply will not work tonight.

- Eller line far too cute tonight, looking for a highlight goal. Bishop has gotten into their heads.

- Oy. Briere. If you're gonna play centre you have to at least look before passing.

- Two posts in the period for Tampa.

- Gallagher making poor decisions tonight, costing his team excellent scoring chances.

- Oy. That wasn't a post. Tampa had scored. Nobody noticed. 2-0.

- Bouillon/Murray now -4 tonight. And counting.

- Holy moly. The puck went in but it's waved because Price was bumped. Crazy play. Score remains 1-0. That's a weird call because while there was contact on Price, it made little difference on whether he would have stopped the shot. Nonetheless, that's the ruling and the Habs catch a huge break.

- 13-5 shots on goal in that period for Tampa. Bishop who was tested a couple of times while the Lightening were on the PK, it's been a snoozer. Good news? The Habs only one goal down. They really don't deserve any wins or points tonight, given their anemic effort. 

First Period:

- Bouillon/Murray combo strike again, soft in front of Price, Malone gives Tampa the early lead.

- Habs on pace to register 12 shots on Bishop tonight.

- Some things never change. When Bishop played in Ottawa it seemed like he had our number. He's has it again tonight in particular the Habs' second man advantage.

- Habs have been outskating their opponent so far, and it's drawn them 3 powerplays in the period.

- Cannot possibly convey how much better that 4th line looks with Parros out and Moen in. Miles ahead.

- Bishop getting clear views of Subban's PP point shots tonight, Habs forwards need to jam the crease more aggressively. 

- Basically Bishop is so large that your most realistic chance for a goal is via the rebound.

- Good news, Habs got 5:59 seconds of 5-on-4 ice. Bad news, they still got outshot and trail on the scoresheet. This will have to be a garbage goal night.

Gameday Game Preview:

Okay, I'm sorry, I will forever be sorry. There is only one person to blame for this and that is myself. I can't explain how difficult this was to do. I hope, I hope, that nobody, nobody has to go through what I have gone through. I would do anything, absolutely anything to change the past. But the past is the past, and we must move forward. I want to be clear. I want to be crystal clear to every single person: I will not miss another Habs game blog, and it will never, ever, ever happen again.

Until the next time, of course.

SO THAT ISLANDERS GAME? What did I miss? Looks like it was another night of EGG line dominance. Looks like it was another night of Carey Price being excellent. Looks like it was another night when David Desharnais had some nappy-nap time, even with reduced shifts! Sheesh. That guy! He'd better be careful, or he might lose his spot in the lineup!

Anyway, we got news, lotsa news today. Daniel Briere will return tonight. He'll be playing centre!  This means, no Desharnais tonight! Alexei Emelin will be returning this weekend. That means, no Doug Murray! I tells ya, things are looking up at the addition via subtraction department.

Meanwhile, over in Tampaland, the Lightening, who were already dealing with the loss of Sami Salo who suffered a leg injury during Monday's game against the Bruins, and then lost another defenseman in Keith Aulie, took a monstrous hit when they lost start centre Steven Stamkos, who broke his leg sliding into the Boston net, an injury so serious that he probably won't return until next season. Ouch. The Lightening today called up forward J.T. Brown, who was a late-camp cut, and defenseman Dmitry Korobov, as roster tourniquets. This is one big-time hurtin' Lightening roster.

So one team's pain is the Habs game, we'd reckon. With the Habs very nearly back to full health, one hopes, if not expects, this team to start delivering wins again on a regular basis.

Carey Price will start tonight, versus Ben Bishop, who's been pretty darned good for Tampa this year.

Puck drops at 7:40 EST.