Game 11: Habs vs. Blue Jackets

THIRD PERIOD:

- Really no point blogging the 3rd period - the Habs dues all came back at them, and then some tonight. There is an upside, of course - it will give this team a good dose or reality about how badly it's been playing hockey this season, in spite of what was an undefeated record in regulation. Now that we see the real Montreal Canadiens - a hockey team that relays far too heavily on goaltending, with some puck luck tossed in - are no match for even average NHL hockey teams playing an average game. Now the Habs have to hop on a plane, totally humiliated, and face the Flyers in less than 24 hours. How they perform tomorrow could give us another good glimpse into whether this Habs team is truly as dysfunctional this season as it was last.


SECOND PERIOD:

- Ah, the horror that was the first period. Habs fenwick 33.3%, just a few ticks higher than the first period against the Canucks.

- It would appear that Therrien is pulling out the stops to get Plekanec producing - Pacioretty and Gallagher on his wings now.

- Emelin with a dum-dum trip. Habs have their non-thinking hats on tonight.

- Columbus converts, of course. Their powerplay is off the charts successful this year. 4-0.

- Don't put Carey in, Michel. Even if they score 12 - just don't do it.

- Now Gallagher with a very careless high stick sends him to the box for 4 minutes. Habs playing beyond stupid here.

- Foligno. 5-0. Powerplay.  I've never seen anything like this.

- Hartnell, 6-0. Again, on the powerplay. Emelin literally just standing around. Laugh for cry? I'm doing the former. At the moment.

- Foligno. 7-0. Habs would probably be best just to take their goalie out and go with six skaters.

- Josh Anderson, 8-0. Montoya hadn't the slightest clue. Columbus would be wise to lift the foot off the pedal. This is well past an humiliation.

- You know I was joking earlier about Columbus scoring 12, right?

- Worst period of hockey by a Montreal Candiens hockey franchise in 106 years. Maybe 107. No point even going into details. The score speaks for itself.


FIRST PERIOD:

- Lehknonen is starting to get heat for his lack of production, but truth be told, he's been put on what has amounted to the Habs checking line this season. In other words, he isn't being used right.

- Karlsson line just routed the Mitchell line, and the Jackets are off to a pretty good start, the Habs, as the broken record says, getting outskated and out possessed.

- Columbus' 35.0% powerplay, rated best in the League, rebuffed their first attempt. It goes without saying, the Habs must stay out of the box tonight. Max Pacioretty wasn't listening.

- Andrew Shaw is terrible handling the puck. Not that you didn't know that already, but it's on pretty good display this first period.

- The game so far. Eerily similar to the dismal 1st period effort against the Canucks:

- Somebody needs to send the Desharnais line a memo to STAY THE HELL OUT OF THE PENALTY BOX.

- Eriksson puts home the puck short side, ON THE POWERPLAY.  1-0 Columbus. STAY OUT OF THE BOX GUYS.

- Jones, one timer, top corner, Montoya down too soon. 2-0. It matters not, the Habs are finally paying a well overdue price for its terrible possession play. Finally.

- Very early line shakeup! Galchenyuk centering Radulov and Lehkonen. We approve of Lehkonen not being next to Plekanec. It's worth a look.

- Calvert with a softie, Montoya totally shell shocked, and it's 3-0. Habs PDO hurtling back to the surface of the earth. Which is good. This team deserves a wakeup call about how it's actually playing.

- Karlsson hits the post off another relatively soft shot that Montoya totally misplays. He's just trying to get to the end of the period. The first of the Habs are too.

- An "okay" first powerplay, Plekanec line at least got the puck to the net. That's about the only highlight of the period for Montreal.

- Liking what I've seen so far with Lehkonen next to Galchenyuk. Looking much more involved than he ever was next to Plekanec.

- Disastrous period of hockey for Montreal - it appears the law of averages have caught up. 17-7 SOG, pretty much reflecting the actual lopsidedness of the period, with Habs goaltending not up to its usual snuff. We knew this time would arrive, but we probably didn't think it would look quite this ugly.



GAME PREVIEW: WHEN WILL THIS HOUSE OF CARDS FINALLY FALL?

Are the Habs *still* winning? Yup. Are they still winning leaning almost totally on their goaltenders while giving the opposition most of the puck possession? YUP. Has this team learned nothing about its bad, bad, evil, bad ways from the past four seasons? NOPE.

Yet, here we stand, the Habs seeking their 9th (hard to fathom) straight win as they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets and the guy who's actually worse than Michel Therrien at coaching, tonight at Nationwide Arena.

We've been saying repeatedly since week one - Habs can't sustain this Habs can't sustain this Habs can't sustain this WHEN ARE THEY GOING GO LOSE!?!? ... it really has become its own phenomenon. Even with a mediocre powerplay, even with an anemic CF% of 47.5, even with a sky-high PDO of 106.1, the Canadiens just can't lose. Might it all start coming undone tonight against a chump like John Tortorella?

Maybe. The Jackets aren't very good, but they're not bad either. Columbus enters the game with a nifty little 2 game winning streak, the latest being a win over the Stars (a good team) right in Dallas.

The Jackets feature a nice 4 line balance - no particular dominative line (although the Wennberg/Saad/Foligno line is off to a solid start), and not an especially potent threat to score at even strength - of the Jackets 21 goals scored this season, 11 have been 5v5, which is not a good ratio. Where Columbus has been making up for its offence is via their powerplay, which has a zooming conversion rate of 35.0%, best in the whole damn game of hockey.

So maybe there's a little sustainability issue for both sides to face. There's little doubt the Habs will eventually see their SV% and Sh% numbers decline - sooner rather than later, while there's little doubt the Blue Jackets will see their powerplay conversions also decline to more sustainable levels, meaning they'll have to pick up their 5v5 game if they hope to remain competitive in their division.

So here are the lines for tonight's game. Starting with Columbus:

Saad/Wennberg/Foligno
Jenner/Dubinsky/Atkinson
Calvert/Karlsson/Anderson
Hartnell/Sedlak/Gagner

Werenski/Jones
Murray/Johnson
Nutivaara/Savard

Sergei Bobrovsky

And the Habs, who are running the same lines tonight:

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

Emelin/Weber
Markov/Petry
Beaulieu/Pateryn

Al Montoya

Puck drops at 7:10 EST.

Game Fifty-Nine: Blue Jackets vs Habs

THIRD PERIOD:

- Beaulieu has been excellent, both ends of the ice tonight. Arguably his best game of the season.

- Habs not displaying any killer instinct. Feeling is sinking that the tying Columbus goal is inevitable.

- 3rd line doing a good job grinding out the play. That's invaluable when you're trying to hold on to a razor thin lead.

- Since de le Rose was shuffled out of the 4th line in favor of Malhotra, that line's forechecking effectiveness has basically dried up completely. They can't string a single pass together, either.

- Referees have been giving Columbus open season hits on Habs tonight, Calvert with a blind hit on Thomas, who has to take measures into his own hands. Another poor night for officiating.

- Just over five minutes left, Habs in full huddle mode. They're playing not to lose tonight, which is just asking to lose. Going to be a struggle to reach the finish line.

- Therrien would be unwise to play the 4th line from this point forward. They've had a few defensive difficulties tonight.

- Two minutes left, Columbus really turning up the heat now. Hang on.

- Hoo boy. Markov shoots the puck over the glass. Habs couldn't find the dagger this period, and now Columbus with a golden chance.

- Therrein sends out Malhotra. Oy.

- Plekanec to the rescue. Habs hold on, and we all breath a sigh of relief that this team finally beats a lesser light. 

SECOND PERIOD:

- Can't imagine where this team would be without Markov this season. No where near first place, that's for sure.

- Nightly lazy tripping penalty by Eller. That rolling sound you heard was Therrien's eyeballs.

- Habs using a couple of horseshoes on their PK from Eller's penalty. Columbus having a very strong period so far, showing the Habs how a transition is supposed to work. Score should be tied, but at this trend, it should be soon enough anyway.

- Sekac with hard work and speed off the wing earns a powerplay. It's still baffling how this guy was a healthy scratch for two games and then saddled on the 4th line. How could would this team be if it managed its assets properly?

- Habs have basically stopped trying to posses the puck this period, in other news, their offense has ground to a near complete halt. #TherrienHockey

- Habs looked so confident in the first period. I'm assuming the coach didn't like that, and told his troops to focus on long bomb passes and puck dumps. Habs doing everything possible to fritter this game away. Still one long period left - I'm not particularly confident they won't do exactly the same thing as Thursday night. 

FIRST PERIOD:

- Brendan Gallagher just drew a tripping penalty. I thought I'd never see this day arrive.

- Habs great looking powerplay, Pacioretty with an awesome one timer off a great Markov pass. Columbus overplaying Subban on the other side, Montreal takes advantage.1-0.

- Looks like the Habs have their shooting shoes on tonight. Pretty aggressive start to this game. Lots of angry guys were in the dressing room after that loss to Florida. Might be taking a lot of frustration out tonight.

- McElhinney really fighting the puck, some significant rebounds given up via point shots. Net crashing might produce more offense. We'll see.

- Columbus really struggling to adjust to Habs rushes. Key is that the Habs are avoiding the dump, which really leverages their speed. Here's hoping the coach doesn't tell the troops to play #TherrienHockey.

- Officials Ghislain Hebert and Tom Kowal really giving Columbus every possible benefit of a doubt this period - looks of hacks and illegal hits not being called.

- Pacioretty. 29th of the season. Almost identical to his first goal - brilliant pass by Beaulieu for a one timer. Nobody seems to be covering him. 2-0.

- Man, what's the deal with this team? Up by two, Habs surrender a sloppy goal while in complete control of the game. Just inexcusable.

- Kind of the same old story for the Canadiens of late. Outplaying their opponent, but giving up preventable goals while laregly in control of the game. Net result - another night, another opponent still competing for victory when they ought be way down on the scoreboard.   

GAMEDAY GOO:

Well, we're playing another lesser light tonight, aren't we? Seems like we can't buy a win against teams the Habs should be owning in their sleep. Next up, it's the Blue Jackets of Columbus. Surely, we'll win this one. Right?

Ah, who knows? The Jackets have been playing some pretty decent hockey this month, winning 3 of their past 4, and 5 of their past 7, which included wins over the (suddenly struggling) Islanders, and a 7-1 thumping of the St. Louis Blues. So this probably won't be a gimme, unlike the games against Buffalo, Edmonton, Senators, and Coyotes. What's that? We lost all of those? Great.

Lineup tonight will almost certainly be the same. Alex Galchenyuk is out again because of the flu. So that means one more night of Manny Malhotra centering the 4th line. Jiri Sekac, who played a wonderful game Thursday night versus the Panthers, will start on the 2nd line next to Thomas Plekanec.

Otherwise, Habs need to really win these games if they want a top Eastern Conference playoff seed, because the March schedule won't be very friendly.

Puck drops at 7:15 EST.

Game Forty-Two: Habs vs. Blue Jackets

THIRD PERIOD:

- Adjusted Fenwick through 40 minutes nearly 60% for the Habs. The game has become a whitewash except for one area - the scoreclock. Plekanec line easily Habs best tonight. 

- Plekanec line has been a monster tonight. Still doesn't let Therrien off the hook for mucking up the rest of the lineup.

- Sekac is now with Galchenyuk and Bournival, Parenteau demoted. That's a good step in the right direction.

- Been awhile since I've seen the Habs swarm puck control in their opponent's like I have tonight. However, it's still not producing shots that are testing Bobrovsky.

- Subban given an atrocious penalty. Called by the official after a very long delay after the supposed violation. Official saw it was Subban and only then raised his arm. This is targeting, pure and simple. It's disgusting, discriminatory and totally unacceptable.

- And OF COURSE the Jackets score. What a god damned disgrace. 

- Well, hell yeah. Pacioretty scores, hold on to something, on the powerplay. Habs are clearly miffed and angry right now - very fired up and determined to take this game back - I suspect over the Subban penalty.

- It's goaltender interference. Except when it's against Carey Price, of course.

- One of these years, Beaulieu is going to score. He's well overdue.

- What a crazy game. Subban, and it seems only just, ties the game with a cannon from the point ON THE POWERPLAY. Tie game. 

- Habs, it should be noted, scored both powerplay goals with two defensemen out. Four offense unit was, let's be honest, a mess.

- Another dumb, dumb Columbus penalty. They deserve to lose this game.

- THERE YOU GO. Pacioretty ON THE POWERPLAY. Habs lead 3-2.

- Galchenyuk can't be pretty in his zone. Terrible turnover creates great Columbus scoring chance. 

- Columbus pressing, trying to salvage a point. Desperately pressing.

- Habs win. A satisfying win. The powerplay making a difference, this time, finally, for the positive. Columbus, in addition to being soundly outplayed, shot themsleves squarely in the foot with terrible third period penalties. Habs defense also, for the most part, were very sound, especially in the second and third period. Habs sixth straight road win, the first time they've done that in 33 years.

SECOND PERIOD:

- Price took a long time stretching to start the period. He most certainly does not appear to be 100%. Michel Therrien sweating bullets. So are the rest of us.

- Dale Weise on the powerplay. That just happened.

- Habs shifting Plekanec to the line on the powerplay. Thus ends this Parenteau era at the point. Anyway, another man advantage flies past the board. 1 for the past 24.

- Habs getting beaten by the same game they've used all year. Seems only just, I guess.

- Canadiens have owned puck possession, but their zone control is pretty meek. Puck is consistently being forced to the perimeter, which is generating slim good scoring chances. When the Habs do muster something, Bobrovsky bails his team out.

- Very good shift by the 4th line - the Blue Jackets defense really struggling to stay in touch with faster Habs puck carriers. Bobrovsky, though.

- Sekac another strong game, mired on the 4th line. Decision makers making their terrible decisions.

- Price might not face five shots in the period. His health status is almost irrelevant tonight.

- Another tired legs penalty for Columbus. Their fifth tonight, fourth in this period. HABS POWERPLAY.

- Good lord. How does this team manage not to score with the man advantage. How? How has Bergevin not fired someone for this? How?

FIRST PERIOD:

- Galchenyuk taken away from Pacioretty, Sekac dropped to the 4th line. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

- Columbus strikes on the first shot of the game because the Habs continue to insist on clearing the zone by shooting the puck up the boards. It creates totally avoidable turnovers, and in this instance, creates an opposing scoring chance. Ugh... 

- No way you'll convince me Bergevin wouldn't trade Emelin and Desharnais away in a heartbeat - for next to nothing in return. But those contracts ... those awful, awful salaries ...

- Wow. Jackets got called for too many, and then the call is reversed. I've never ever seen that before.

- Plekanec, Gallagher and Galchenyuk look pretty strong, but puck bounces seem to be going the wrong direction. Gallagher with plenty of mustard so far.

- Oh man, if Gallagher gets robbed by this ... puck on the line. Wow.

- Why doesn't the NHL net use transparent string on top of the net? Gallagher denied.

- Anyway ... so many puck bounces going against the Habs in this period - one begins to resign oneself that this one is going to end badly, no matter what.

- Habs resoundingly outplaying Jackets in the period - Columbus defense getting a little tired, and now drawing holding penalties.

- Powerplay. Shield your eyes. 

- Habs desperate - use four forwards on their powerplay, Parenteau at the line, who has a disasterous shift. That man advantage was a total mess, and Price looks injured off a brutal breakaway surrendered.

- Weird period. Habs the better team, Columbus gets all the breaks. And Price might be hurt. A possible nightmare scenario tonight.

PREGAME PREVIEW. ONLY HALF-NAKED BEER DRINKING FAT MEN MAY APPLY TO READ

Well, great. Do you smell another huge losing streak coming down the pipe? I sure do. Pissing around with a powerplay that hasn't produced in a year, putting together line combinations that make little sense, or reflect badly against reality. To make the woes even more woeful, a stretch of games against some of the toughest/hottest teams in the League. Columbus tonight, then the Islanders Saturday, then Nashville. The Rangers next week. Oy.

What to do? This Habs team's offense has been in sputter mode since coming off an impressive win against the Pens on January 3rd. Just three goals scored since that time, which has generated plenty of second-guessing among the belly gazers that this team is due another lineup shakeup. Move Desharnais back to center! (a mistake). Demote Gallagher! (another bad call). Trade Eller! (one of our most consistently effective forwards the entire season).

It won't get a whole lot easier tonight as the Canadiens take on one of the best in the goaltending business in Sergei Bobrovsky, who was tossed onto the garbage heap just two years ago by the forever inept Philadelphia Flyers franchise, only then to win the Vezina trophy the following season with Columbus. This year his numbers have come down (from a .932 to a .923 SV%), but he's still a very tough netminder to beat on any given night. Matched up against a team like the Habs, and there's plenty of room for hope tonight for the Jackets.

Although ... the Blue Jackets have been hit hard, ridiculously hard, by injuries this season. Through last night, Columbus has lost a mind-boggling 255 man games, the most of any team in the NHL (Anaheim, interestingly, is 2nd). I know, you're asking, how many for the Habs? Glad you asked. It's 34. Yeah. That's the actual total. 34. Another feather in the cap for the argument that the Canadiens have been just as lucky this season as they have been good - realistically, a LOT more lucky than good.

The decimated Blue Jackets lineup means they have few bodies to depend on to produce offense - Nicky Foligno and Ryan Johansen comprise their two top scorers, but after them - well .. there ain't much. Three of the team's top six point producers are defensemen. Then again, those six players (Foligno, Johansen, Scott Hartnell, Jack Johnson, James Wisniewski and David Savard) comprise basically all of those on Columbus' roster this year who haven't missed (many) game to injury. It really has been that bad.

So add it up, and you're looking straight down the teeth of what should be a pretty low scoring game. The Habs, who can't score, up against Bobrovsky, versus the Blue Jackets, who don't have enough healthy bodies to score, up against Carey Price.

I'm thinking ... another 2-1 final? We'll see.

Puck drops at 7:10 EST.