Showing posts with label Nathan Beaulieu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nathan Beaulieu. Show all posts

Tuesday, 14 March 2017

Game 70: Hawks vs. Habs

Chicago 4, Montreal 2:

FIRST PERIOD:

- Julien with warm up switch, Plekanec takes the second line centre position between Lehkonen and Gallagher, Danault down to the 3rd lind.

- 7 minutes in, couple of observances. First, Habs are starting strong, doing a nice job maintaining puck possession, and applying majority of offensive pressure. Secondly, Habs are holding on to the puck too long - seeking to set up an open shot. The Hawks are an excellent backcheking hockey team - you're going to have instances of opportunity, but nothing more. Habs need to drive the net more aggressively, put pucks towards Crawford. Nothing pretty. You can't score against Chicago this way.

- Andrew Shaw getting is mind numbingly stupid penalty of the night, out of the way early. 

- Jordie Benn continues to demonstrate his excellent value, doing excellent work on the PK. That looks more and more to be Bergevin's best trade deadline move (although the others, admittedly, underwhelm without comparisons).

- Kane scores. Guess who completely muffed up the play? One Alexei Emelin. My god. The madness continues.
- Surely Claude Julien realizes that against a team like the Black Hawks, you have to get things almost exactly right to beat them on any given night. Surely. So starting Emelin, which inherently catapults risk through the ceiling, seems like an extraordinary misjudgement. 

- Habs actually played a solid first period, holding their own against a much deeper Hawks lineup. The period not unlike the game against Edmonton, followed the same pattern; outplaying the opponent, but those efforts undone because of a defensive error - by the same player. 


SECOND PERIOD:

- Did I say the Habs outplayed the Hawks in that first period? I was wrong. Should have used the word dominated. 5v5 CF: 74.1%. That qualifies for a big ol' wow.


- Anisimov's apparent knee injury (which looked serious) at the end of the 1st period won't be easy to replace. Hawks' scoring punch is significantly lessened without him in the lineup (not to mention it dilutes their main strength - their top 3 lines are very balanced and dangerous).

- Habs first powerplay, which as a whole, has looked pretty bad the past two weeks. THey'll need it to produce some scoring tonight, or the chances of victory will be limited at best.

- Crawford with top class save on Galchenyuk wrister, otherwise, not much to show on that man advantage. Still, the Habs are hanging in there - the Hawks are going to have to work 3 periods for the 2 points.

- Oduya, 2-0. Emelin with more terrible decision making, playmaking, leading directly to the Hawks goal. Sigh. 

- Here's the Emelin check ... of his own guy, which created the Hawks break the other direction, leading eventually to their 2nd goal. Abysmal. 

- Big winner tonight is obviously Nathan Beaulieu. He gets the night off from having to play the Hawks, and Claude Julien dares never scratch him again to create space for Emelin.

- Habs 2nd powerplay looks awfully good, highlighted by a scary save off the mask from a Weber bomb from only 25 feet away. Galchenyuk two more great scoring chances, looks skyward in disbelief. Hawks hanging on to the shutout, but just barely. 

- Monitoring Emelin's usage, Julien is putting him out for tough minutes, including against the Kane line, which is simply baffling to me.

- 2nd period not unlike the first, slightly more evenly played, but the Habs were the better team. Like the first, it's all or nothing, because of an Emelin mistake leading to the other Hawks goal. And so we rinse and repeat.


THIRD PERIOD:

- Better 2nd period for the Hawks, just under 58% CF - but still, the only difference in this game has been two magnificent errors by Emelin which led to Chicago's scoring, plus Corey Crawford has been, as per usual in the Bell Centre, playing out of his mind. What can ya do?


- I ... I ... I ... I don't even know what to say any more, so I'll just read out the play. Emelin chases over to Petry's side in Habs zone, for reasons that are ... unknown. Middle of the ice left completely open as a result, Panarin with about as easy a goal as he'll have in his NHL career to drive the dagger home. 

- The horror. The horror. The horror ...
- Four days to contemplate tonight's loss, how it happened, and who plays this weekend in a 2 set that might very well decide who wins the Atlantic Division this year. I cannot even fathom Claude Julien entertaining sitting Beaulieu out for either game. I also can't fathom how he can still rationalize putting Emelin back into the lineup, other than he has a steadfast belief that Emelin is capable, that he's in a funk, and he just needs to play through it. What Julien might not understand, since he's new to the Habs history, is that Emelin the past while is the Emelin we've seen for the past 4 years - only on a more specular scale of failure. There is no "playing through". Claude, what you 're seeing is what you get.

- Ah, Byron at least puts the Habs on the board, his 19th of the season. Still impossible to believe the Flames just gave him away. 7 minutes left.

- Well, now. Weber with a point shot that finds its way past Crawford, and it's 3-2. More than 3 minutes left. Hold on to your hats.

- It's gonna really suck if the Habs lose this by one. To think of what could have been, had someone not been put in the lineup tonight.

- Toews with the empty netter. That's all she wrote.

- One of those games you feel you might have actually won, so there's plenty of regret to go around. What might have been if Julien hadn't put Emelin in the lineup, we'll never know.



CHICAGO IS IN TOWN! LET'S LOOK AT PATRICK KANE'S POLICE MUG SHOT

Look at that police station face. Isn't he handsome?? No?! Well then have a few drinks. Patrick insists.

Ooookay, then. The Chicago Black Hawks, this decade's version of the 90s Philadelphia Flyers to the Montreal Canadiens, invade the Bell Centre tonight to take on the Habs. As we hinted, the Hawks have not been kind to Montreal this decade - the Canadiens haven't beaten Chicago since early 2014, and have only won twice against the Hawks this decade. Hoo boy.

Given how Chicago has steamrolled the Habs over the years, and given that Chicago is has about at 50/50 shot of winning this season's President's Trophy, you'd want to put your absolutely bestest best hockey guys into your lineup. To the twittersphere!!!!:
Uhhhh ... kay. This doesn't mean what I think it means ... does it?
My god. It does. CLAAAAAAAAAAAAAUDEEE!?!!!!

Nope. Still not buying it. Still not convinced. Sure, rotate some guys out like Beaulieu for lesser opponents - the Habs have games coming up against terrible teams like Detroit, Carolina and Dallas. Against Chicago? Emelin dealing with Richard Panik, Marian Hossa and Kane? Folly. Pure folly.

Oh well. Can't criticize Julien for not giving his guys a shot (that's my positivity - that's all I've got).

So here's what Emelin will be facing tonight:

Schmaltz/Toews/Panik
Panarin/Anisimov/Kane
Hartman/Kero/Hossa
Desjardins/Kruger/Tootoo

 Keith/Seabrook
Campbell/Van Riemsyk
Oduya/Hjalmarsson

Yeeks. Good luck, Carey Price.

Meanwhile on the Habbies side, Tomas Plekanec, whom you may (or may not) have noticed has been missing from the lineup the past week because of injury, will return tonight. Montreal's lines stack up like this:

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

And ... that defence ...

Weber/Markov
Petry/Emelin
Benn/Davidson

It's Corey Crawford (2.54/.919) against Carey Price (2.26/.923). Puck drops at 7:40 EST.




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Wednesday, 7 December 2016

Game 27: Devils vs. Habs

Montreal 5, New Jersey 2

 FIRST PERIOD:

 - Wow, Greg Pateryn sustained a broken ankle the *2nd* period of the Blues game, meaning he played the 3rd with a broken leg. Habs announce he's out for 8 weeks, and needless to say, out for tonight's game, which means for certain that Zach Redmond will make his debut.

- Danault is also in - so at least the Habs will be playing with something resembling a lineup.

- Lehkonen's game continues to round into form as this season progresses. He got off to a sluggish start and then the injury which took him out of the lineup for 9 games. That time off might have been a blessing in disguise, in part because it's given him a reset, and given that the Swedish League's season schedule pales in comparison to the rigours of an NHL season, that time off could pay off down the road into next year.

- Halfway through the period, not a bad start for the Habs - Mitchell line and in particular, Gallagher, look pretty energized. Brendan well overdue for a scoring outbreak - it looks like he's getting close.

- Welcome back, Nathan Beaulieu, who scores a wrister with a lot of traffic in front of Schneider. Devils think there's interference, but it looks like Lehkonen and Danault did a nice job screening him.

- Silly challenge by the Devils here claiming goaltender interference, which was very marginal at best, and now the Devils lose their timeout, which could be important later.

- Danault gets credit, which ends another scoring drought of another Habs player. So Brendan, its your turn next.

- Jersey scores, but Price definitely pushed into the net by Henrique. I don't think this will count.

- Maybe it will count. Puck was unquestionably going in before Price was bumped off his feet. It may still count after all.

- Yup, there it is. Determined that puck was going in, and the bump on Price had no affect on whether the puck was kept out. So tie game.

- Habs catch a break with Mitchell taking a shot where the rebound hits Lappin, and goes in. Very quickly Habs retake lead. So far the Mitchell/Danault make-do situation is working out. Early days, though.

- Woah, Carey Price just goes ballistic on Palmeri, who crashes the net. Kind of stuck his left leg into Price while falling, and Carey just plows him with the blocker.

- Well, that was an interesting period, taking nearly an hour to play. Habs had slight edge in play, Devils more or less played a decent road period. Danault and Mitchell filled in nicely up the middle, while Plekanec looked a little lost. Price going nuts is the highlight, though. Good on him for standing up for himself and his physical well-being.


SECOND PERIOD:

- First period corsi, Habs a slight SA edge (5v5) of 52.8%:


- We have a feisty game going on, the turning point being the Price scrummage. Maybe even the goal that was scored on him, where Price was pushed into the net. Anyway, lots of post-whistle fisticuffs.

- Both officials trying to gain control of the game by bringing the hammer down on everything, including a phantom tripping call against Redmond.

- Here's something very interesting just tweeted during the 1st intermission:

Kind of paints a different picture about the captains lack of production during the month, doesn't it?

- This might be Torrey Mitchell's best game so far this season. He's definitely embracing the new responsibilities.

- Lehkonen, who we praised in the 1st period, and also noted the Devils were foolish to blow their challenge on a marginal call, scores, with Schneider getting bumped a little. We warned ya Jersey, but you didn't listen.

- Devils forwards seem to be keying in on Price's blocker side - they've beat him there twice this period, but not the goalposts.

- Devante Smith-Pelly looks his usual disinterested and uninvolved. Doing a pretty good impersonation of his stint as a Hab last season, it would appear.

- Habs powerplay has gone south the past 10 days or so, and with Galchenyuk gone, the situation is unlikely to change anytime soon, plus Andrew Shaw on the first unit is killing the advantage.

- Andy Greene is just so good. Always seems to be where the puck is, or is headed, while defending his zone.

- Very solid 2nd period for the Habs, who are in control of a game that's largely calmed down quite a bit, credit to the officials for sending the message out, and the players listened. The reconstructed lineup are holding their own, with Mitchell, Lehkonen and Danault having a strong outing. Even Zach Redmond looks pretty decent in his debut.


THIRD PERIOD:

- Habs kind of dominate tonight, 62.0% SA CF (5v5) through 40 minutes, scoring chances also favouring Montreal 15-5:


- Pretty awful night for the Devils, especially defender Kyle Quincey who makes a very bad turnover right in front of his own net, Pacioretty beats Schneider between the pads, and it's 4-1.

- So I guess there was something to the pregame analysis of the Devils defence being not very good? Apart from Greene, there's a pretty steep decline on their blue line. This team is most definitely not competing for a playoff spot.

- Devils powerplay, Price kicks out a big rebound off a point shot, Henrique with a nifty backhand pass off the rebound on the tape of Taylor Hall, who  has 24 square feet of empty hockey net to choose from. 4-2.

- Ain't no better combo for the Habs right now than Radulov and Pacioretty. I mean, it's not even close. These to have the potential of being a premier offensive duo in the Eastern Conference. That's how good they've been together.

- Not much happening - after then Devils powerplay goal, game flow seized up considerably, as the Canadiens appear set on trying to suffocate the game clock. Devils really haven't provided much of a response so far.

- Habs are going to set a season mark for shots tonight, 44 registered so far with 5 minutes left in the 3rd. Possession stats are also pretty lopsided. 63% game total right now.

- It wasn't Gallagher, but he did most of the hard work winning the puck and feeding Torrey Mitchell, who makes it 5-2. Both he and Gallagher have been excellent tonight, especially in the Devils zone.

- Pretty easy win tonight for the Habs - registering season high 49 shots, the Devils looked beaten from the 2nd period forward, at the very least, disinterested. Always nice to have one of those routine victories here and there - gives the team the closest thing to having a night off while playing - with very good support by players who've been called on to elevate their game - including Mitchell and Danault. Carr and Gallagher also were strong tonight, Pacioretty is still finding the back of the net - so for the moment, even with all the bad injury news, spirits are a bit higher in Habsland.

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GAMEDAY PREVIEW: WHERE HAVE ALL THE CENTERS GONE?

 - Hey, remember how yesterday we put up a tweet from 91.9 Sport in Montreal, and the stellar reporting of George Laraque? Let's put that baby up one more time:

Mmm yeah, that's the stuff: EXCLUSIF!!!!! Well, quite literally a couple of hours after George delivered his EXCLUSIF!!!!!, the Habs quietly tweeted this:


EXCLUSIF!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, that's midling bad news for the Habs. Not good, but not terrible. Given that we heard some EXCLUSIF!!!!! reports that Galchenyuk could be out 3-4 months, 1-2 months ain't great, but it's survivable.

Maybe a little more problematic is Desharnais' status, the same as Galchenyuk, because while losing AK27 into January hurts, the Habs probably could have made do with existing assets, which included Desharnais providing top 6 duties. Now down two centers, matters get a little trickier for the Habs. They'll be leaning hard on Tomas Plekanec and ... well ... who else? Torrey Mitchell? Phillip Danault?

Oh wait, about Danault ...

Hmm, another forward that can also play center? Great. Well, I guess we could still dress 7 defensemen ... sorry, what's that?
Ahhh, well ... I give up. Now what?

The suddenly sick and injured Habs hobble back to home base tonight to host the New Jersey Devils. The Canadiens might actually literally find themselves unable to put together a full lineup tonight because with Desharnais injured, and Danault possibly out from sickness, and with the Habs demoting both Mark Barberio and Charles Hudon yesterday, there aren't enough players to go around, with perhaps both Greg Pateryn and Danault unable to play tonight. At the very least Sven Andrighetto was called up, but even his addition might still not be enough to ice a full lineup.

The Devils, meanwhile, enter the game masters of extra time this season. Of the 8 games just played, 6 have either gone to overtime. Which I suppose is one way of saying the Devils like to play it close. But then it's always been that way for New Jersey. Paltry offence, grinding defence. It never changes.

Or is their defence good? Maybe not. If you look through this fine post on the Devils blog site All About the Jersey, the once always-reliable blue line has been rather inconsistent this season. Specifically, the performance decline by the Devils' top defensive pairing of Andy Greene and Damon Severson, whose offensive numbers, once deemed pretty reliable, have taken a hit this season, which has in turn, added pressure on a somewhat thin offence (as per the Devils' tradition) to produce more than they're capable of.

Meanwhile, New Jersey's top defensive defenseman pairing of Beau Bennett and Kyle Quincey haven't been particular defensive the past while, with their SA numbers markedly increasing.

Which is to say, the Devils' defensive challenges right now might be just enough to give the Habs injury riddled offence a fighting chance tonight.

The question is, are the Montreal Canadiens capable of actually scoring enough to win with the likes of Plekanec and Andrew Shaw being at the controls?

We'll find out in a few hours, with the puck dropping at 7:40 EST.

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WEDNESDAY NEWS 'N' NOTES:

Well, we've got ourselves quite a mixed bag of Habs news today.

This is totally unverified, but troubling just to even think about:
Again, the source, which would appear to be the utterly unreliable Georges Laraque, ought be considered. The 3-4 month timeline, however, would align with a suspected torn ACL injury.


- David Desharnais - also out indefinitely? Last night Desharnais appeared to awkwardly hit is knee while awkwardly attempting to deliver an awkward bodycheck to the Blues' Jay Bouwmeester:


I've been critical about Desharnais' uncanny ability to shoot when he should pass, while passing when he should should - but bodychecking? Just, no, no, no. Desharnais is 5'9", 160 pounds, Bouwmeester is 6'4, 220 pounds. Who's going to win that collision?

Quite a road trip, eh? Habs come out of it down their 1 and 3C. Now what? Com'on Michel, just try Radulov up the middle. Just try, at least.

- Demotion news! Mark Barberio has been sent back to the rock, likely making way for the return of Nathan Beaulieu Thursday night. I mused last night the Habs might consider using Zach Redmond against the Devils, sitting Pateryn. Boy, did I get that one wrong.

- Carey Price was named Molson Cup winner for the month of November. The award, which is nothing other than a popularity contest dressed up as an ugly trophy, ought to have gone to the Habs actual MVP, Alex Radulov, but I digress.

- Habs made another demotion this afternoon, and it's Charles Hudon:

Hmm, shame that. That's a pretty fast recovery from what seemed to have been a bad injury sustained in practice. Instead of giving him more opportunity to establish himself, management has opted to send him back.

More in a bit.

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Monday, 15 February 2016

Game 57: Habs vs. Coyotes

THIRD PERIOD:

 - With this game over, for what it's worth, here's the line after two periods:


- 6-2. Yeah. We're stepping out now. Except that this kind of loss would almost certainly result in coach firings on a normal hockey team. But this is no normal hockey team. This is the Montreal Dysfunctional Canadiens.


 SECOND PERIOD:

 - Habs and Coyotes after 20 minutes, Canadiens CF (5v5) is 52.7%. Not really reflective of what we saw on-ice.


- Habs first powerplay, Desharnais sent out the first unit. It goes nowhere, of course. That's 35 straight games and counting, DD hasn't scored a point on the man advantage. First unit or otherwise.

- Alexei Emelin is a tire fire tonight, and yes, all tire fires out there are fully entitled to be insulted by that. Positioning in his own zone, he's all over the place. It's as though he's learning how to play hockey.

- Pateryn is tossed from the game for a cross-check. Hoo boy. Now the Habs down to four defensman, one of them being Emelin. We're hooped.

- 4 on 4, more soft and confused Habs defence, Richardson completely alone in front of Condon, who belly flops and gives Richardson an easy tuck-in. 3-1 Arizona.

- Coyotes donate a goal back, courtesy Dominuge off a weak Gallagher shot that goes right between his legs. Habs undeservedly down just one goal.

- Yeah. Coyotes with two quick goals, Edman-Larsson with a simple wrister that Condon completely whiffs on. Habs defence react accordingly, by simply giving up. Gonnauton makes it 5-2. Canadiens have simply given up. Usually when that happens, the coach is first to go. But with this team ...

- What to say? The team has given up. Playing out  the string. Getting spanked by the 56 point Coyotes tonight. Across the board failure - mainly defence and goaltending. Same was it was against the Sabres. Onward and downward.


 FIRST PERIOD:

- If there is vengeful justice in this world, Tinordi tonight with 2 goals and 2 assists. Hockey gods, are ye listening?

- Anders Lindback, who's the backup for Domingue, was hurt before the warmup. Meaning, the 'Yotes are now forced to suit up the guy who back ups the guy who back ups the guy who normally back ups Arizona's starting netminder. Got it?

- Oh yeah. It's Nathan Schoenfeld who's been called in at the last minute.

- Yay. Another wonderful start. Lost faceoff deep in the zone (Mitchell), shot is tipped in by Hanzal off a 60 footer. Habs 4th line not very well structured (running around), Habs do a poor job clearing the crease (Emelin, to be specific, of course). 1-0 Arizona.

- Let's give credit where credit is due. De La Rose got the call, and he delivers, with beautiful puck control and an outstanding pass to Weise in front of the net, for a tap-in goal. Game tied.

- Alexei Emelin, who for some mysterious reason is out on the PK unit, in la-la land off a point shot that's juggled by Condon, Duclair eventually burying a rebound shot and it's 2-1. Scratching Barberio. Great call, coach.

- The vastly overplayed and almost certainly exhausted Andrei Markov gets caught out of position, and Subban is forced to take a penalty to save a goal.

- Arizona lays an egg with their powerplay, whether that will generate some positive momentum for this Habs team in the 2nd period, who knows? Anyway, this 56 point Arizona team pretty much two steps ahead of their opponent tonight, the Habs with some exceptionally shoddy defence, mostly it being in the form of Alexei Emelin. Two more period to suffer through.



HEY WE GET TO PLAY THIS GUY TONIGHT! OH RIGHT. WE GAVE AWAY A GOOD YOUNG DEFENSEMAN TO GET HIM

 Hey Jarrad Tinordi! Remember him? Remember how he couldn't get his healthy body into the Habs lineup this season, save for 3 lousy starts? Hey, guess what? He's fitting in well with his new team in Arizona, which is pretty much wonderful news for a good guy like Tinordi, good news for the upstart Coyotes, and yet another piece of lousy news for the team that essentially just gave him away.

Sadly, the player who the Habs traded for, John Scott, won't be in the lineup tonight. He's camped out in boonies of Newfoundland, likely for the rest of his professional career.

So Scott won't play tonight. Who else isn't playing? Well, Devante Smith-Pelly isn't playing, which has gone over the edge of a Newfoundland rigger like a five tonne cod. It's a real shame that Devante is upset about this. I hope it doesn't affect his play next year in St. John's, or somewhere in Russia, or maybe even the Kazakhstan Hockey League.

With Smith-Pelly out, Jacob De La Rose gets a start tonight. So I guess that's something.

Over on defence, Michael Therrien appears set on shaking up the blue line, which means of course, healthy scratches that don't include Alexei Emelin, but instead, will be Mark Barberio, who's been one of the Habs better defenders the past month. Oh well. On the upside, Nathan Beaulieu will get a start tonight, because he's apparently now sitting 7th on the totem pole.

Is there anything else noteworthy relating to the Canadiens? Other than they're 9 points out a playoff spot, and will probably need to win least 17 of their remaining 26 games, which is a near impossibility? Nope. Same old lineup, same old combinations (apart from the scratches).

What's up with the Coyotes? They're having a fine season, given that most assumed they'd finish near or at the very bottom of the Western Conference this season. Dave Tippett, who is arguably the most underrated coach in the League, has found various ways to help his team maximize their potential, even with a somewhat limited roster. Arizona will be playing their 3rd game in 4 nights tonight, which means the Habs might have the advantage of rested legs.

Or maybe not? Veteran winger Shane Doan has been on a tear of late, with 2 goals and 8 points in his past 5 games. In addition to Doan, Arizona has been aided by a pretty decent powerplay, rated in the League's 10 ten. Weak spot? Their penalty kill. Almost ranked near the bottom of the League in efficiency. Which on any given night, would be bad. But tonight, they're taking on the Habs, so their short-handed unit probably shouldn't have much difficulty taking care of David Desharnais fruitlessly doing nothing with the puck.

In nets - it'll be Mike Condon for the Habs (his name was drawn from a hat yesterday, I'm guessing), against Anders Lindback Louis Domingue.

Puck drops at 9:10 EST.

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Saturday, 6 February 2016

Game 53: Oilers vs Habs

THIRD PERIOD:

- Habs and Oilers through 40 minutes. That 2nd period much better for the Habs, their possession numbers going from 38% in the 1st period, to 56% in the 2nd. 


- Habs powerplay strikes again, for all the wrong reasons. Pouliot, shorthanded, simply skates through the Habs retreating defenders, with Petry making a poor check attempt. Edmonton on the board, and the crowd suddenly gets nervous.

- Habs doing some lead sitting here, which for a normal team, might be the logical thing to do. But with this Habs team - they must keep pressing. More goals. More.

- Plekanec lines dazzling today. This time it's Galchenyuk with fantastic puck handling that completely tires out the Oilers in their zone, and Gilbert of all players, comes to the net to push the puck home. That's a clincher goal, for sure. 5-1 Habs.

- I can't quite possibly emphasize enough how bad this Edmonton Oilers defence has played today. One of the worst I've seen by any team in any game this year. 

- Once again, only Oilers line to really show up today was McDavid. Habs have basically swarmed every other Oilers player without a 97, 4 or 14 on their backs. 

- Habs live to see another day. And Therrien as well. McDavid line came up totally empty today, which was shocking, while the Plekanec line was simply fantastic. Habs also aided a bit by some decent puck luck, which they haven't seen much in more than two months. Habs win. Habs win.


SECOND PERIOD:

- Habs and Oilers after 20 minutes. It was pretty one-sided, but we'll take two goals anyway they come. 



- Just a little FYI, Habs PDO is now down to 27th in the League, just a tad over 97, so a whole lotta puck luck is due their direction. It might be coming in their favour today. We'll see. 

- Gryba: When he isn't dishing out absurdly illegal and dirty checks, he's play acting. Smith-Pelly brushes his face with an arm, and Gryba goes down like he's take 15 or 20 MK-47 bullets. What a trash player.

- Ben Scrivens with a couple of great saves, while Edmonton being very sloppy with the puck in their zone, Eller and Weise with breakaway chances within 20 seconds of each other. Habs really needed to capitalize there. 

- Habs soundly outplaying the Oilers in this period, which is mildly surprising. The downside is that no goals are being produced, which may come back to haunt this psychologically-fragile Canadiens.

- Relief. Sweet relief. Another poor defensive play by the Oilers, shooting the puck up the boards from deep in their zone, creating a puck turnover, and a quick transition Plekanec shot hits a defender's skate and gives the Habs a precious 3-0 lead. The Oilers defence looking a lot like the Habs - defenders blindly shooting the pucks up the boards, resulting in unforced possession giveaways. It's not exactly what you would call a winning formula.

- Guess what the Habs didn't do today? A morning skate. Why NHL teams do these is mystifying. They're not practices, and every NHL player is in superb physical condition. Which means these routines are pointless - if anything, detrimental. 

- Subban. What a beautiful goal. With the McDavid line on the ice. Habs routing the Oilers. I'm stunned. Never saw this coming. 

- I had been thinking the Oilers had a half-decent shot at actually making the playoffs this year. As early as today. But after examining their defence today, I'm ready to rescind that sentiment. Incredibly awkward, sloppy and disorganized. No way they can compete with that blue line. No way.

- Habs dominate the period, and we're just baffled. Oilers doing themselves no favours with too many unforced errors, and lack of offensive push, the only exception being the McDavid line. Otherwise, the other Edmonton lines, and in particular their defence, have been pretty awful. Habs also benefiting from puck luck - the stars really coming aligned for Montreal this afternoon. 


FIRST PERIOD: 

- Good crowd in the Bell Centre today, to be expected, Saturday afternoon and all, and with McDavid on the ice. Expect this, however, to be the exception as the rest of the season winds down. Habs will be a tough sell, and may struggle to sell out many more games this year.

- It's been reported there are a whole lotta scouts from other teams in attendance today. It's a good bet they're not there to observe anyone from the Oilers. 

- Uh. This McDavid line. Oh. My. God. They're going to score about a kajillion points today.

- Just watch - let's see if (I'm assuming smart) Oilers coaching staff sends out McDavid line whenever Desharnais line goes out. I'm betting they will. 

- Yup. Mclellan is matching McDavid on Desharnais, and Therrien isn't picking it up. Woe are the Habs today. Woe are the Habs.

- Crazy. The Habs score first? ON THE POWERPLAY?! Plekanec with a one timer off a Markov pass, it probably should have been stopped, but still, WE TAKE WHAT WE CAN GET.

- Um, Plekanec is playing at another level. Not sure if he's enthused, mad or both. But it's working.

- Therrien madness. With last change, sends out Desharnais line against McDavid. Then Emelin gets nailed for a spear. With Beaulieu the healthy scratch. Good grief. 

- Scrivens, bless his heart, is doing everything possible to keep Edmonton off the board. He'll need the game of his life today. 

- Plekanec line is having an awfully good period of hockey. Still, it doesn't excuse Galchenyuk on the wing, which is an ongoing saga of deployment insanity. 

- Fleischmann with nifty pass to Lars Eller skating down the middle, a snap shot that Talbot muffs, and it's ... can we believe it ... 2-0 Habs?

- Oilers same old saga, incredible offence, but it's defence ... well ... it's still a mess. This has been going on for a remarkable 7 years, and counting. On full display this period. 

- Welp, Habs have a 2-0 lead after one period. I honestly can't remember the last time that happened. Of course, this game while the Habs were pretty soundly outplayed, but Edmonton let down badly by some pretty shoddy defensive zone coverage and some iffy net minding. Habs might actually catch a little luck reprieve today. Who knows. This team is so fragile, that it might (probably) take only one Oilers goal to start the walls caving in. Quite certain Edmonton knows this, so there's no reason for them to panic. 



 STRAP IN TIGHT. TODAY'S GAME COULD BE UGLY. REAL UGLY

So yesterday (Friday) morning, I fired up the ol' twittermobile, and saw this on my feed:
Woah! IT'S HAPPENING. MICHEL THERRIEN IS BEING FIR .. wait ...... Guy Carbonneau? Oh gawd, no. No. No. No. No.

Yes, only our beloved Habs could turn the thoughts of sweet merciful relief that would be the dismissal of Michel Therrien as head coach, into another nightmare scenario that would be the return of Guy Carbonneau as head coach.

Fortunetly, nothing transpired for the rest of the day. Well. Hold on.

 Oh, great. Our second best defenseman on a team loaded with defensive problems is mad. Great. What next?
Ya know, it's almost as though Therrien thinks of ways to make his team lose. Almost. So Beaulieu, at any given normal moment of time, a first line d-man, is getting scratched to make way for Barberio and Emelin?

Hey, Michel. Do you know who you're playing against today? It's the Edmonton Oilers. With Connor McDavid. Ring a bell? They've just come off a complete thumping of the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night, a game I watched, and was absolutely stunned by the Oilers incredible ability to move the puck up the ice.

That means, on any given normal moment of time, you want your absolute best defenders suited up and ready for play. That means you don't allow Alexei Emelin or Tom Gilbert to come within 10 miles of the Bell Centre. That doesn't mean you scratch your second best defender ... oh ... who am I kidding?

Habs are, in all likelihood, going to be destroyed today, or at the very least, soundly defeated.

Puck drops at 2:10 EST.








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Thursday, 10 December 2015

Game 30: Habs vs. Red Wings

THIRD PERIOD:

 - Habs and Wings through 40 minutes, the chart indicating that the 2nd was a pretty good bounce-back period for the Canadiens.


- Fleischmann with a bullet shot off another sloppy Wings turnover in their zone, and the Habs grab the lead. Fleischmann has easily been the Habs best forward tonight, so that goal is really deserved.

- Another strong game for Andrighetto, even though he's being played on the right line. Hudan has been mixing it up nicely, Carr also hasn't been invisible (unlike a couple of full-time, well paid forwards who shall go unnamed).

- Tokarski with a pretty desperate save off some soft Habs defensive coverage off Wings transition. Shall we say he's played well tonight? I shan't say so, for fear of hexing everything.

- Another soft, marginal call goes against the Habs, this time Fleischmann for a hook. Amazing how many times this has happened tonight.

- Wings powerplay comes up completely empty, in large part because of what appears to be some poor ice conditions, resulting in a lot of bouncing pucks. Detroit unable to even set up in the Habs zone.

- He'll almost certainly not stay, but Daniel Carr won't be forgotten, not the way he's worked and pursued the puck, especially tonight.

- Alexei Emelin with a very careless high stick, giving Wings a late game powerplay. Nathan Beaulieu, shall we be reminded, sits in the press box.

- And ... the Wings score. Yup. There ya go.

- And Therrien symbolically flips his bird, sending Emelin right back on the ice. Michel, you playing Emelin for the sake of scratching Beaulieu is your terrible decision-making.

- Pateryn with a horrid turnover right in front of Tokarski. Boom. 3-2 Detroit. How's your decisions working out tonight, coach?

- Truth be told, defence both ends of the rink has been pretty poor most of the night - that there's only been 5 goals produced speaks well for how both Mrazek and Tokarski have played tonight, the later really victimized by some really awful plays by defenders who were brought in as replacements because the team coach doesn't know how to utilize his assets.

- Though not quite as one-sided as last night, Habs lose another game they really probably should have won. This team is officially on a big dive now, continuing to struggle offensively. My finger is pointed right behind the bench at Therrien, who in response to Gallagher's injury, cause unnecessary chaos by putting together lines that didn't mix or match. Now the Habs are in total disarray. How long it will take to get them back on to a scoring track, is anyone's guess. But it won't be happening because of what Therrien has, or will be doing.


 SECOND PERIOD:

 - Habs and Wings through 20 minutes, Detroit as anticipated, the edge in play:



- Fleischmann and Andrighetto look to be the only Habs playing with any inspiration tonight. It's a pretty lethargic Habs group tonight.

- Habs second powerplay goes mostly nowhere, it's nothing like it was earlier in the season. Not sure if this is another casualty from the Gallagher injury, but it's certainly missing another gear, not nearly as intense as it once was.

- Habs sloppy defence finally burns them, as Helm, on his third (count 'em) breakaway of the night finally beats Tokarski. 1-0.

- Some question whether the Helm goal was onside - it certainly deserved a look, but for whatever reason, Therrien and the bench let that go past the board. Hmmm ....

- Andrighetto ties it up, but it's Charles Hudon, his first NHL game, that should have scored - his shot was going in, but Andrighetto slammed it home to grab credit. Am I the only one unimpressed by that?

- I take that back, replay shows Andrighetto, who was well positioned around the Wings crease (other Habs forwards would be wise to follow his example), backhanded the puck in. Otherwise, we'd still be 1-0. But .. assist to Hudon, which is nice.

- Heckova PK for the Habs, Brian Flynn makes a whole hot mess with a clunker of a backhand while alone in front of Mrazek, and seconds later, Plekanec fed nicely for a breakaway, although Plekanec on a breakaway is about as predictable a finish as you'll find in hockey (i.e. no goal scored).

- Habs seem to be finding some legs, but it's mostly youth inspired. Andrighetto, Hudon, and Fleischmann, while not young in age, has been looking young in spirit tonight. It would be nice if a few others would find some inspiration from the example they're setting.

- Refs seem to be going out of their way to not call obvious penalties committed by the Wings, but nail the Habs for marginal-stuff. Just observing inconsistencies.

- Plekanec on yet another breakaway ... and ... well .. you guess what happens.

- So much sloppy defence tonight, so many breakaways, mostly for the Habs, so many missed opportunities, mostly for the Habs. Feels like last night all over again.

- Better period for the Habs, I suppose. Detroit still doing a lot of risk-taking getting their defence involved in the rush, which has given the Habs a ridiculous number of breakaways this game, all of them stopped. That will be the difference maker tonight, if Montreal does end up losing this game - their inability to covert high percentage scoring chances, especially ones presented to them on silver platters.


 FIRST PERIOD:

- So Therrien decides to "promote" Dale Weise to the "first line", next to Pacioretty and Galchenyuk, which, of course, makes no sense.

- Huge game tonight for Dustin Tokarski. A career game, really. If he does well, he's back for consideration  as the Habs backup, with Condon flailing of late. If he bombs, it'll be a huge nail in his NHL future.

- First five minutes, Habs the more aggressive team, doing a good job gaining the Wings zone, but as per usual during their recent offensive drought, having a tough time generating quality shot attempts.

- Fleischmann booked for an exceptionally soft hook, his stick just brushing against his check. Refs have an itchy trigger finger early.

- Wings first powerplay comes up empty, they love to carry the puck in, but Habs did a good job covering the passing lanes, and preventing Detroit from really setting up for much of a threat.

- While Beaulieu looks down from the press box, Emelin makes two huge gaffes the first 9 minutes, giving the Wings one clear breakaway, and one clear two-on-one break. Habs fortune to still be even at zero.

- Habs first powerplay with some signs of life, but Therrien keeps putting out the wrong guys - this time it's Weise who's getting time he really shouldn't.

- Habs got off to a decent enough start, but seem to be slipping as the period progresses. Not sure if it's the back-to-back, what with Detroit just a 2 hour plane ride away. Still, Habs seem to slowly be losing the foot races and puck battles.

- This period isn't exactly a defensive clinic. Both teams guilty of some pretty horrid zone coverage, especially off transitions. Mrazek with a couple of nifty saves, Wings forwards having trouble hitting the net off close range shots.

- Wings defence isn't nearly as sloppy as the Habs is tonight, they've been caught because they're being very aggressive joining the play. A good, fast transition game could generate some badly needed goals for the Habs, if they are capable of exporting Detroit's risk-taking play.

- Detroit the better team, certainly more dangerous, faster, and more organized. Habs really shouldn't have exhaustion as an excuse - they played last night, but their schedule hasn't been particularly demanding the past couple of weeks. Montreal looks uninspired, which bodes poorly for the last two periods.



GAME 30: OH BOY. HERE WE GO AGAIN

Well, that came undone pretty fast, didn't it? The Habs lose three tough games, all of which they arguably should have won, if fancy stats are to be believed. The Canadiens have been dominant with puck possession the past while, last night's loss to the Bruins being a prime example, where even strength, the Habs outshone Boston by a 63-37% margin.

By hockey standards, that's a pretty dominant edge. But like the two other losses earlier in the week, the Habs were outdone by not seizing on their scoring opportunities, not producing on their once reinvigerated powerplay, and not getting timely goaltending by their average emergency netminders, all while the team waits patiently for the return of its best player, Carey Price.

Price is the paradox in this story - since he's been the main reason why the Habs have managed to ice a very competitive team the past two seasons. Price's remarkable performances have provided the exaggerated impression of a team better than the sum of its parts, not excluding its head coach, who has benefited fully by receiving a heafty contract extension and vote of confidence from the club's GM, Marc Bergevin.

A measure of credit should go to Therrien this season. Since he re-arrived back in Montreal, the Canadiens have been a team reguglarly out-chanced, out-shot, and out-possessed. Still, the club has been a winner, in large part because Price continuously made the big saves game in, game out, to seal and steal victories.

This season, the Habs have done a bit of a role reversal, with an increased emphasis on maintaining possession, and ditching the dump-and-chase system that was so heavily relied upon by Therrien up until this season. The effects of this change-in-philosophy were immediately apparent - the Canadiens became a more more efficient and dangerous team, helping them to rocket off to a 9-0 start.

But then, injuries sent in - the Habs streak of luck that had kept their roster pretty much injury-free the past three seasons, came lashing full reverse. Carey Price, the best player in the world, hurt something in his leg after stepping on a puck during warmups in Edmonton. The unfortunate, perhaps even freakish injury, thrust Mike Condon into the pressure-backed front burner. Condon, who had an incredible training camp, took away the backup role from Dustin Tokarski, and during the months of October and November, played like a first string netminder.

Alas, the hopes that the Canadiens had stumbled upon a hidden jewel have come undone the past month, as Condon's lofty performance level has more or less, come crashing back to earth. Not to say that Mike is playing poorly - he's still producing numbers approprirate for a backup goaltender. Condon, however, is not producing the performances this team had become dependant upon - he's not made the big saves late in the game, and in some instances, has let in soft, demoralizing goals. The Habs are a team so accostomed to Price's heroics, that it seems incapable of processing or responding to events where their netminder lets them down. Last night, again, is a prime example.

Therrien's response, predictably, has been irrational. For the past two weeks, it's become clear that this team has started to struggle offensively, in large part because David Desharnais, who had a tremendous first six weeks of the season, has fallen off the cliff. Instead of realizing that Desharnais is not (and will never be) a point producing machine, and playing him appropriately as the team's third line centre, Therrien responded by inserting Max Pacioretty on his wing, thereby breaking up the team's first line - a unit that was actually producing offence, in a bid to get Desharnais producing again.

Of course, this failed. Miserably. Why? Because Desharnais is not a goal scorer. For lack of a better word, as a second-third-whatever NHL centre, he doesen't shoot the puck. We're almost halfway through the regular season, and Desharnais, a (maddeding) staple on the Habs powerplay, has produced 6 shot attempts on the man advantage. Still, for some reason, Therrien thought Pacioretty would somehow motitivate Desharnais to behave more like a centre. The experiement lasted all of three games, before, thankfully, it was shelved last night.

Oh yes, about last night. Even though the Habs did all the right things, even though they again dominated their opponent, Therrien's response today was, predictably, irrational and unwise. This time, he's focused his vitorial on, remarkably, Nathan Beaulieu - who's easily been one of the Habs best players on defence the entire season. Why? Who knows - other than for some reason, Therrien seems to have developed the idea that Beaulieu is not "performing up to expectations", a ridiculous notion, if true, because Beaulieu, who night-in, night-out is amongst the club leaders in CF%, has far exceeded anyone's reasonable expectations, given his age and NHL experience.

So here we go again. Out goes someone who's actually playing well, in comes Greg Pateryn, and Alexei Emelin, who was directly responsible for the Bruins' gut-stabbing third goal last night, stay in the lineup.

Puck drops at 7:10, EST.



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Saturday, 3 January 2015

Game Thirty-Nine: Habs vs. Pens


SECOND PERIOD:

- You've probably done something terribly wrong when you surrender a 2-on-0 breakaway on the 4-on-4. Tom Gilbert rubs a little salt on Downie's anger management wound and makes it 3-1. 

- With exception to the Crosby line, the Pens have very little going for them right now. On some nights, that's enough. But against Carey Price? They'll have to do much more.

- Bushels of chances for Habs on a 4 minute powerplay, but Fleury keeps his team in this game. 3-1 is recoverable. 4-1 against Price? Lights out.

- Habs can't shiv the dagger by scoring on that long powerplay, which will give the Pens a boost and hope that they can salvage this game. Watch out.

- Subban needs to simplify his puck control. Trying to do too much is generating sloppy giveaways instead of scoring chances.

- Habs have pretty much free reign to carry the puck out of their zone. Pens essentially being pushed into one half of the ice.

- Pens first powerplay looked much like the Habs has been all season. Confused, disorganized, and ineffective.

 - Really surpsired by the lack of line matching by the Pens tonight. Just no form or rhythm or even momentum on their side tonight.

- Another impressive period for the Habs. You'd never know they played last night. Maybe one of their strongest games of the season? Still, there's a period left and against the Pens, a two goal lead isn't safe.


FIRST PERIOD:

- Fleury with poor rebound control, you don't do that with Max Pacioretty in front of you. 1-0. Fleury now whining that he was interfered with by Gallagher. Replay shows that's bogus.

- Pens very scrambly with puck in their zone. Agressive Habs skating is generating some very good scoring chances.

- He's frequently mentioned as bait, but Habs would be nuts to trade Lars Eller. He energizies every linemate assigned to him.

- Desharnais with a routine slapper, Fleury with weak sauce reaction. It's 2-0. 

- Well, that's one way to make a mark with your new team. Perron ties the game, largely due to some pretty shoddy slot coverage by Plekanec and Weiss. There goes the strong game start. 2-1.

- Steve Downie (rightfully) called for interference, and proceeds to punch the glass. He's a smart one.

- Price makes Therrien look better than he actually is. The Pittsburgh Penguins make Marc-Andre Fleury better than he actually is. 

- Habs might want to consider double teaming Crosby tonight. He's going full throttle tonight.

- Downie flips his lid because Emelin had the gall to bodycheck Crosby. His phasers are set to full idiot tonight.

- Really good opening period for the Habs, doing exactly what you're supposed to do on the road. Out skating, out forechecking, and out hitting their opponent. Pens looking mildly frustrated. They've got their hands full tonight,


GAMEDAY GAME PREVIEW:

Well, well, well. First place in the Conference. On the line. Tonight. Who'dathunkit?

Tonight, the Habs and Pens will have a little showdown for first place in the whole entire east, courtesy a tidy little 5 game winning streak for the Habs, 4 of them coming off their current 5 game road trip. Impressive! I mean that. Honestly.

Last night's win in New Jersey was a solid team effort, which meant that Carey Price (200th win!) didn't have to (for once) carry the team on his shoulders to victory. Tonight though ... well ...

The Pens are a, well .. a pretty good hockey team. 3rd rated league offense, 4th rated league defense, 6th rated league powerplay, 3rd rated league penalty kill ... geeeeeez ... is there anything they're not good at right now? Nopes. This team is good.

Habs though, they are riding a 5 game streak, they have been getting solid team efforts of late, which are critical when going up against a superior opponent, their defense has become markedly improved since Nathan Beaulieu was promoted and Alexei Emelin demoted, and of course, there's Price.

The key tonight? Play a really REALLY good road game. That means a strong forecheck, winning centre ice possession and puck battles, being cautious and patient, protecting the slot, shielding the passing lanes, getting offensive contributions from the 3rd and 4th lines. Simple!!

Yeah. It won't be simple. Not tonight. But ... first place is up for grabs.

Should be fun.

Puck drops at 7:10 EST.
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Monday, 12 May 2014

Game Six - EC Semi Finals: Bruins vs. Habs

SOMEBODY IS GETTING A FINE ON TUESDAY AFTERNOON:


Oh, Andrei. You know we love you to death, but we can't possible condone the stickwork with a clear conscience. We know you're just settling a few scores, but that's the wrong way of doing it. Enter, the GREAT Dale Weise:


See Andrei? That's how you give the Bruins a taste of their own medicine: With sardonic and sarcastic delight.



Montreal 4, Boston 0:

THIRD PERIOD:

- Don't say we haven't been begging for Murray to be mothballed, but the evidence is kinda really in: Beaulieu's possession tonight, 77%. Murray's this series? 29%.

- Start to this period will be critical - Habs must maintain their composure, and also their forecheck. They played an exceptionally sound game in their zone Game 3, if they can replicate that for 20 more minutes, the Bruins will have an almost unclimbable hill. 

- Here come the Bruins. Price needs that A game more than ever.

- Habs aggressive in the neutral zone, this is what they need to do. Also hustling back hard to break up Bruins rushes.

- Beaulieu with a tremendous shot block, that has him smarting. Possibly saved a goal.

- Doug Hamilton very, very lucky for not getting called for delay after taking out the Boston goal on a Habs 3-on-1 rush. Officials determined to give Boston every possible benefit of the doubt, here. 

- Habs playing an excellent third, the Bruins are basically throwing caution to the wind, desperately trying to generate a goal. It's resulting in many great chances for the Habs off the rush. Habs defense very sound, calm, composed, and effective. 10 long minutes still left, though.  We haven't forgotten Game 2.

- Desharnais may not have scored in a long while, but he makes a remarkable diving play to somehow keep the puck out of the net. That's an incredible athletic play by Desharnais to keep the Bruins off the board.

- Short change really benefiting the Habs this period in protecting their zone.

- As time winds down in the 3rd, Habs have to be extra aware of Bruins taking cheap shots with intent to injure.

- Vanek with the empty netter. Habs will play one more night.

- Now, and this is very important, the Canadiens must avoid all physical contact, all Boston attempts to hit cheap and/or dirty. Tonight's lineup will be Wednesday night's lineup, for all the marbles.

- Here comes the Bruins goon show. Skate away guys, skate away.

- And so we go to Game 7. Habs played an excellent elimination game - did everything right, and were aided by good bounces, both in scoring, and in Boston not scoring, especially earlier in the game. Key moments was the Habs holding steady after getting caught in their zone, with Gorges running a 3 minute shift. The other was a shift by the Briere line with 6 minutes left in the second period, which really stunted the Bruins' momentum, and in retrospect, caused the period to flip completely in the Habs favor, where they were able to extend their scoreboard lead from 1, to 3-0.

I cannot envision Therrrien changing his lineup Wednesday. Tonight, the team clicked. Beaulieu was just fine, thank you very, very much. This is the team that will either live, or die, in 48 hours.

I'll say it now. The winner Wednesday night will play in the Stanley Cup Final. So hold on. It's going to be intense.



SECOND PERIOD:

- Glorious missed chances off the powerplay. Really should be 2-0. Bounces ominously not going Habs way.

- Bruins powerplay apparently only making a game 5 appearance.

- Subban comes out of the box, and long change catches the Habs badly, the Bruins hemming them in their zone for nearly two straight minutes, with Montreal pinned 3 defenseman. Exhausted, they can't clear. Bruins push hard, but Canadiens somehow manage to win the puck and clear the zone.

- Bruins with a strong 2nd, real bounce-back period. But they're failing to capitalize on great chances, Marchand, Lucic both missing sure-fire scoring chances. Again, we have to wonder if frustration will set in on that Boston bench?

- Habs defense doing long-bomb zone clearances, which is not only a bad sign, but it's essentially automatically surrendering puck possession. This cannot be sustained. The Bruins will keep coming back and pounding the puck deep. Eventually they will score, unless and until the Habs are able to regather their composure, and focus on clearing their zone while maintaining possession.

- Habs 4th line with a solid shift, able to generate a couple of turnovers, able to outpossess the Bruins. This is critical in turning the momentum tide, which is right now, firmly with Boston. Canadiens should be focused on finishing the 2nd period aggressively, the opportunity at hand to generate some separation heading to the final frame.

- And there we have it. Beaulieu with time, a fine long pass that takes a crazy bounce, Pacioretty outskates Rask to the puck, and finally, finally scores. This is huge. Mega huge. 2-0.

- And Vanek makes it 3-0 on the powerplay. Bounces again going the Habs way. But really, he and Desharnais and Pacioretty have finally delivered on the promise. And the Habs are now in great shape forcing this to a game 7.

- That shift by the Habs 4th line with 6 minutes left was a real game changer. Depending on how this game pans out, and possibly Wednesday night, it could be a series changer. We'll see.


FIRST PERIOD

- Welp, I must admit I had a bad feeling heading into Saturday night, much much better feeling heading into tonight. But that's just my gut feeling at this point.

- Therrien not holding back, putting in Briere, pulling out Moen. He's looking to outscore, outspeed the Bruins tonight. The physical stuff is shelved. There's nothing more to be gained from "outhitting" this Bruins opponent.

- Gio better shake her hand.

- Prust gets the honor. Here's hoping he gets a better result tonight.

- Firsr huge break of the night. Miller with terrible misplay behind his net. Eller capitalizes. Can the Habs keep building on this bounce?

- Tremendous start for Montreal . Forecheck very resembling of game 3. Bruins basically in retreat trying to weather the storm.

- Desharnais line comes within a hair of making it 2-0. Lots of fire in their belly so far. Best looking they've appeared this series.

- Habs winning most of the puck battles firing shots on Rask at every angle. No way they can sustain this pace over 60 minutes, though.

- Julien in a tough spot. Therrien matching Desharnais line against Bartkowski and Miller, wit the last change. Bruins may be forced to over play their top 4.

- unbelievable PK for the Habs, highlighted by an astonishing shift by Emelin. Boston in total disarray. Probably the best kill of the season. Right there.

- Game settling a bit, but it's still one of the best periods this team has played all year.

- Siren goes to end the period, Bruins attempt to sucker the Habs behind their net, but Hamilton is the only one penalized with a vicious cross on Plekanec. Habs will have man advantage to start the 2nd. 

- Habs looked good. Great even. Early period checking was near perfection, and surprisingly physical. Boston, even knowing their opponents were going to come out hard, looked a little shellshocked the first 10 minutes. Game settled down somewhat, officials let a lot of nasty stickwork go, most of it committed by Boston. The only area that looked weak for the Habs was puck control in their own zone - too many clunky and unforced turnovers, a couple of which generated some pretty high percentage scoring chances on Price. Still, there's no way the Habs can't be happy with the result. The only big question is, can they maintain this vigor and pace all the way to the finish line? If they somehow can, they'll be in great shape to force a game 7. Huge if, though.



GAME 6 PREVIEW:

Need motivation? Well, you can start with this:


Need more? About about this:


Or if that still isn't enough, maybe a bit of this:


Ladies and gents, the Boston Bruins, in all of their bush-league, arrogant glory. 

It's all pretty simple at this point for hockey fans in Montreal. Lose, or go home. The Canadiens face elimination for the first time this season, as they take on the Bruins at the Bell Centre.

Right now, a betting man wouldn't dare touch the Habs. After Thursday's devastating 1-0 OT loss, and Saturday's listless 4-2 defeat, the Bruins look to be unstoppable.

But ... there remains hope. Not much. But some.

The crux of the Habs hopes focuses on a couple of late Game 5 incidents, both very similar in nature. First, Milan Lucic, with his team holding a comfortable lead (apparently) started taunting P.K. Subban with a series of arm flexes. With 4 minutes left in the game, Shawn Thornton, who earlier in the series attempted to fake injury after hitting his knee against a dodging Subban, sprayed the Canadiens defenseman with water to his face as he was skating by the Boston bench during play. The spray cost Thornton a $2,800 fine, a mere pittance for an NHL regular.

While the League seems unwilling to take meaningful action against such classless behavior, those two acts were noted, and have been talked about by Habs players and coaches alike since Sunday morning. They were acts brazen with arrogance, committed by a team that believes that it's above the law of the League. To a great extent, that's true. The National Hockey League continues to look the other way, even though Boston consistantly acts very, very badly on the ice and their bench.

So there's a score to be settled. The question is, does this Habs team have the gumption to put Boston back in a humbler place?

While no official lineup changes have been announced, there's been lots of speculation today that the Habs will start the young Nathan Beaulieu, in place of the screamingly incompetent Doug Murray. It would be a bold move, especially considering that it would be Beaulieu's very first post-season game of his life, and against the Habs' fiercest rival in a do-or-die contest. This isn't tossing Beaulieu into the deep end. It's tossing him into the Mariana Trench.

Still, the logistics do make sense. Paired next to Mike Weaver, who's had an excellent series as a shot blocker and defensive defenseman, Beaulieu's specialty leans towards possession and transition. Weaver can do his job stopping pucks, Beaulieu can do his moving them.

Ultimately, we won't know for great certainty if Beaulieu will start until warmups.

Otherwise, the ongoing story continues to be the lack of production by the players who everyone assumed would produce. Once again, all eyes will be on Max Pacioretty and Thomas Vanek, the former who has but just one goal in 9 playoff games, the later who's posting the worst possession numbers among all - that's right - all Habs players, except for Doug Murray.

Other players to watch out for include Thomas Plekanec, who had a string of disastrous shifts Saturday night that contributed directly to the Habs loss. Meanwhile, fans are growing increasingly impatient again with the performances delivered by Rene Bourque, who just two weeks ago was playing like a Conn Smythe candidate, but against the season, has looked like the usual, listless, unproductive, regular season self.

This 6th game of the series won't be easy.  Carey Price will have to play extraordinary well, even by his standards. There is much more pressure on the Habs tonight, especially against a Bruins team that seems to be strutting with great confidence.

But there's a fine line between confidence and arrogance. With the Bruins, it's especially thin. This is a team that tends to fray very quickly when things don't go their way.

Tonight, the ghosts must make their presence felt. The Habs need the benefit of some luck if they have any hopes of playing Wednesday, one final time, against the despised Bruins.

Puck drops at 7:40 EST. For perhaps the last time until October.

4:45 P.M. EST UPDATE: Beaulieu is IN tonight, according to TVA.

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