Game Sixty-Four: Habs vs. Ducks

THIRD PERIOD:

- Habs just dumping at each and every opportunity. And failing to make successful passes into centre ice. This team hasn't scored in California over the past 9+ periods. No reason to believe right now that won't be 10 in about 15 minutes. 

- Therrein starting to cave at this point, has Galchenyuk with Pacioretty, which is what he should have had all along. Let's see if that pays off.

- How many fails in a row is it going to take to see that the shooting in from centre thing isn't working. AT ALL.

- Galchenyuk, bless him, tries to do it all just so the Habs can score ONE goal on this trip. It's an exercise in futility against this bigger than average Ducks defense. But at least he's trying.

- Hey notice the faceoff impact since Malhotra was scratched? Yeah. Me neither.

- No sense of urgency with this Habs team. None whatsoever. They more or less packed it in back in the second period.

- Habs manage to get scored on five seconds into a late powerplay. Yup.

- Well. A goal. Galchenyuk. We'll take it. I guess.

- Road trip to disaster. We have two more games to endure. Habs are going to get kicked around tomorrow night in L.A., because nothing is going right. The offense is a mess, and there's no turnaround in site.

SECOND PERIOD:

- Habs really need to just keep doing what they did, and things should be okay. Whether they'll deliver in that is another matter altogether.

- Seems like forever since the Habs had a powerplay, probably because it's been that long. Finally they have one.

- First 30 seconds, Plekanec line looks great, then Therrien pulls them off for Desharnais. Powerplay takes a due south course. Of course.

- Plecks line sent out for final 20 seconds, but of course, it's too late to salvage anything. Bench management. Sigh.

- Habs continue to pressure Ducks in their zone, and it's given them two powerplays first half of the 2nd.

- That second powerplay all kinds of a mess, Ducks had more of the puck and good scoring chances.

- Oh god. Sekac. No.

- Well, Michel. You wanted him run out of town. So that one is on you. And every other goal he scores that follows.

- Relief. It was Rakell who scored, not Sekac. Woot!! Oh right. Habs are well on their way to losing. I forgot that part.

- Whatever air was in the Habs tire completely hissed out after the Ducks' second goal. Everyone collectively just lost half a step.

- Two periods in the books.  Habs are offensively dysfunctional and snakebit. That makes for a pretty potent combination. This team headed right towards getting shut out. Again.

FIRST PERIOD:

- Sekac watch. How many is he gonna score tonight?

- Sluggish start for both teams, first qualified shot takes nearly four minutes.

- Beauchemin. Habs couldn't handle the Ducks transition and carry across the blue line. Gosh,I'm wish we could do that.

- Gibson with a few good testing saves, a couple of lucky bounces to keep Habs off the board. Habs forecheck hasn't been half-bad out of the gate. 

- Ducks have not lost a single game this season in regulation by one goal. They thrive off these razor-edge games. Just a reminder there.

- Ducks totally owning the neutral zone, Habs have been rolling out the red carpet, allowing Anaheim to have more than one full speed carry over the blue line. It's already resulted in one goal. It nearly resulted in a second, if not for Price. Not good.

- It's still wayyyyy to early to draw firm conclusions, but DSP has me seriously anxious right now. His rep is supposedly that he's often where the puck is, but I haven't seen much of that so far. Wonder what Bergy is thinking?

- Two-on-one fails. Weise has to do better there finding a lane to receive a pass. Basically Plekanec had no choice but to shoot, and Gibson knew it.

- Eller is just shooting now, even when he shouldn't. You know he's just aching for a goal.

- Not a bad period for the Habs. Really liked their aggressive forecheck, although they were a little too passive at centre ice for my tastes. Gibson came up with a couple of nice saves to reflect a relatively agressive Habs attack. This one, unlike Monday night, is shaping up to be a close final result.

OKAY, HERE ARE THE DAMN LINES. ENOUGH OF THIS, ALREADY

Line 1: Pacioretty/Desharnais/Gallagher
Line 2: Galchenyuk/Plekanec/Weise (oh, God)
Line 3: Eller/De la Rose/DSP
Line 4: Prust/Flynn/Mitchell

Parenteau and Malhotra are healthy scratches. THAT IS ALL.


LINEUP UPDATE:- So uh, Dale Weise goes from healthy scratch status, to getting a few 3rd line drills, to getting a 2nd line start tonight. Head, meet desk.


GAMEDAY GAME PREVIEW:

This western trip has all the signs pointing towards disaster, doesn't it? A miserable effort in San Jose, where a thumping was roundly applied to the Habs by yet another non-playoff team. The hill only gets steeper tonight, as the Canadiens take the Ducks of Anaheim.

The big question tonight is, what will be the Canadiens' forward lines?? Here's what was running for a good portion of the early afternoon practice:

Line 1: Pacioretty-Desharnais-Gallagher
Line 2: Eller-Plekanec-Galchenyuk
Line 3: Parenteau-De la Rose-DSP
Line 4: Prust-Flynn-Mitchell

Wowzers. No Dale Weise! A healthy scratch, we all cried out! Well, that was until later in the practice, when Weise was inserted into 3rd line drills, with Parenteau stepping out. 

So who even knows? Weise in? Out? Parenteau in? Out? Youppi in? Out? Michel Therrien has the curse of choices. So many choices. So many combinations. So many possibilities.

Anyway, it's pointless to surmise who'll play with whom, where - when - why - until the warmups are done. In the meantime, let's check over in ducksland and tonight's opponent.

So a couple of weeks ago, the Ducks were in a bit of a funk, losers of three straight, and 4-out-of-5. Their lofty position in the Western Conference wasn't looking so lofty anymore. But that was two weeks ago. Things have changed a tad since then - tonight, Anaheim will be seeking their 4th straight win. Chances are, based on how the Habs played on Monday night - they'll get it.

Still, the fundamental numbers for the Ducks are rather mediocre. While they sit atop the League with 89 points, there are a few red flags to consider:

- 12th rated offense
- 18th rated defense
- 16th rated 5v5
- 21st rated PP
- 14th rated PK
- 16th rated SPG
- 14th rated SAG
- 17th rated "SAT"

You get the point. Anyone looking at that would logically assume that a team putting up those kind of numbers would be fighting for their playoff lives. But, nope. The Ducks lead the League in the only category that matters.

An explanation of this contradiction is mainly one of depth. With a roster that includes Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Sami Vatanen, Ryan Kesler, Jakov Silfverberg ... etc., etc., the Ducks have got an excellent core.

The BIG reason why they're in first place? Their uncanny ability this season to pull out close wins. Of the 41 victories so far this year, 27 were by one goal. Flipside? Of the 17 regulation losses for the Ducks this season, here's how many were by one goal: Zero. That's right. This team has not lost a single game this season by one goal.

In other words, the Ducks specialize in winning close games this year. Actually, they've perfected it.

Therefore, if the Habs want a decent shot at actually winning tonight (hah!), the formula is pretty straightforward. Score first (critical), hold a lead after 20 minutes (very critical), and find a way of getting insurance (imperative).

Carey Price will start tonight for the Habs. Puck drops at 10:10 p.m., EST.

Game Two: Habs vs. Caps

Overtime: 

- OT picks? I'll go with Galchenyuk and Ovechkin. 

- Tokarski and Plekanec with game saving plays. Brilliant.

- Does Desharnais get paid for not shooting the puck?

- Dustin's first NHL shootout? Here we go.

- Oh my god. Galchenyuk in the SO.

- Desharnais. See? Shooting means you score.

- Doh. So close. So very close, Dustin.

- Ovie. Nopes.

- Round 6. Gally eeks it through, and Habs get the extra point. Hellova game.

Third Period: 

- Pretty slow and sloppy start for the Habs this period. Hard to figure this team out tonight.

- Orpik just won't stop with the questionable hits - and why should he? He's not being punished for it by the officials.

- Hoo boy. Bourque bumps Holtby, and it costs the Habs a tying goal, which came after some fantastic work by Lars Eller working to win the puck deep in the Caps zone. Oh well.

- Plecks. The man is unstoppable. Great roofer from the high slot and the game is officially tied. As mentioned before, I thought the Caps might have come out too hard in the first and now lo and behold, they're struggling to keep pace on the ice.

- Bourque with a blast that hits the crossbar. Chris Lee calls it a goal (eventually overturned). How Lee stays employed ...

- Anyway, Habs have owned the third much the way the Caps owned the first. Washington basically trying to hold on to a tie.

- Subban misses his check but Emelin saves the day with seconds left. Won't say that very often.

- Very, very good period for the Habs, coming within a fraction of an inch from winning this game. Now to overtime, which this team was definably mediocre last season.

Second Period:

- Looking for Therrien to maybe focus on running only 9 forwards, at least until the Habs start showing signs of offensive life.

- One significant criticism of the Caps tonight - their shot attempts are mainly coming from 40+ feet away from Tokarski, who's made a few very good saves, but has mainly had to handle routine shots.

- Wretched slashing call on Parenteau. The officiating, sadly but not surprisingly, has been very poor.

- Habs currently on pace for two ... count 'em ... two 5v5 shots. For the entire game. Yeah, really.

- Holy cow, Galchenyuk. Incredible moves with the puck, a glimpse of future greatness, we hope.

- Halfway mark, Caps seem to be regressing a bit here, Habs are finding some legs. Perhaps Washington came out of the gate a little too hard?

- Remember how Eller rocketed out of the starting line last year? Yeah ... those were the days ...

- Orpik has delivered at least three dirty hits tonight, and the Habs are taking matters into their own hands, since the refs don't appear capable of doing it.

- Prust gets penalized for dealing with Orpik, or at least trying to. Caps get an undeserved powerplay.

First Period:

- Couple of good Saskatchewan boys between both sets of pipes tonight. Awesomeness.

- Emelin with Sunbban. How long can this possibly last?

- Eller takes a bad penalty for hook/trip. And .... drink.

- Habs PK looks strong again this season, sans Gorges. Speedy checkers are helping.

- Terrible, terrible turnover by Subban makes it 1-0. When he's great, he's great. But when he muffs it up ...

- Canadiens are uh ... disorganized in their own zone. As in, really, really disorganized.

- Nice pass and shot blocking by Weaver, Habs kill another penalty.

- 5 minutes left in the period, Habs still haven't registered a shot on goal. To say they've been bad would be very generous. To say they're lucky to be only down a goal would be a vast understatement.

- Subban called for a hook after an absurd dive by Ovie. Terrible officiating by guess who - Chris Lee. How is this guy still employed?

- About as bad a period as you'll ever see this Habs team play. Totally outskated through much of the frame, the first shot coming with barely more than 2 minutes left in the period, 15-2 total. Dustin Tokarski the only real bright spot in the period, at least giving his team the opportunity of somehow salvaging what is current a disaster. Would love to be a fly in the Habs dressing room during the first intermission.

LINEUP NOTES:

- Moen in, Bournival out.
- Prust in, Weise out.

As you were.


GAMEDAY GAME PREVIEW:s

UNDEFEATED!!

Yah baby, what a way to kick off game one of the 2014-15 season - breaking the tiny little hearts of Leafs fans right in their own backyard, with a delicate twist of a heartbreaking knife - the winning goal scored at the 19:17 mark by the Maurice Richard Trophy leader Thomas Turtlepleks Plekanec. So sweet. So very, very sweet.

Ah, but the time to savor such victory is short. The Habs are right back at it tonight in Washington D.C. as they take on the Ovie and Caps. Dustin Tokarski, who wrestled the backup job away from Peter Budja this fall, will get the start for the Canadiens.

As we mentioned in the season's first post, the Habs underwent some significant roster changes this summer. For the Caps, the changes went beyond the starting lineup, starting in April when they fired long-time general manager George McPhee, and replaced him with the relatively unknown Brian MacLellan, whose executive experience entering the office was pretty much ziltch.

MacLellan didn't waste much time shaking up the Caps roster, with a particular focus on shoring up the Caps shaky defense. First, MacLellan signed journeyman backup Justin Peters to backup the consistently inconsistent Braden Holtby.  Then as summer set in, Maclellan latched up Matt Niskanen for a big ol' pile of cash (7 years, $5.75m AVV), and his coup de grace, signing free agent Brooks Orpik for an astounding $27.5m, five year contract. That last mentioned signing was astoundingly perplexing, as Orpik has long held one of the worst possession numbers for a defenseman in the League. To commit so much money for such a long time to a 34 year old player with a terrible stats line won't help the Caps very much in solving their blue line issues this season, or the next, or the one after that, or the one after that, or the one after that.

So tonight! The Habs will send out Tokarski, and our eyes will be focused on whether we'll see another fine repeat performance by the like Plekanec, Alex Galchenyuk, David Desharnais, Max Pacioretty, P.A. Parenteau, and yes, Alexi Emelin. All played very well last night in Toronto.

Puck drops at 7:10 EST. It's already game two!!

Game One: Habs vs. Leafs

Third Period:

- I guess I shouldn't complain too much about the Habs powerplay, the Leafs' doesn't look a whole lot better.

- Leafs defense really aggressive pinching up into he neutral zone, even without puck possession. Habs might have a couple of breakaways before the night is over.

- Good work by Desharnais battling for and winning the puck behind the net against Gardner, and feeding it to Subban who snaps a screen past Bernier. Habs lead 3-2.

- Again, this Leafs defense appears too soft and mistake apt to realistically out this club into a playoff spot this season. Offensively they look pretty solid. Beyond that. Trouble.

- Markov has made a few poor positional decisions tonight, one of which has cost his team a goal. 

- Weak links for the Habs tonight: Prust. Honourable mention to Markov and Gilbert.

- Monsters for the Habs tonight: Plekanec, Price, Desharnais, Gallagher, Pacioretty, Galchenyuk, Parenteau. In that order.

- Less than 5 minutes, Habs may be tempted to go into shell mode. Hopefully this team has learned enough not to let that happen.

- Oh man, what a way to blow the lead. Puck is flipped out front, hits Eller in the chest and squeaks past Price. Tie game.

- Crazy finish. Plekanec tosses it at the Leafs net, and it apparently deflects off Percy's toe and past Bernier. 4-3 with less than a minute left.

- Price with a fan-frickin-tastic point blank pad save off Kessel with second left, to seal the victory. A well-deserved win for the Habs tonight, who pretty much controlled the game both ends after 20 minutes. The Leafs, in particular their point producers, were well contained tonight, and with Price between the pipes, if your top guys aren't scoring, you're probably not going to beat the Habs.

Opening night win. Finally. It's been awhile.

Second Period: 

- Once again, golden scoring chance, Desharnais refuses to shoot the puck. I can't fathom the rationale here. It's terrible decision making.

- Pretty awful defense by Leafs and a beauty 60 foot pass by Emelin on Plekanec's tape springs him on a break. Great move on Bernier ties the game. 

- Can't see how the Leafs stay playoff competitive with this defense. Too many glaring letdowns combined with "okay" goaltending will be their undoing.

- Winnik catches the puck and throws it into the Habs zone. He doesn't know that's a penalty?

- Habs powerplay again trying to be too perfect, looking to covert difficult setups. Simplify, simplify boys.

- Malhotra is doing well taking faceoffs, which is one of the major reasons why Bergevin signed him up.

- Better second for the Habs - their fore and backchecking was tighter, giving Price a little relief. Canadiens really need to get their man advantage in gear - it faultered during the preseason and hasn't really improved much to start the year.


First Period:

- Pretty lame season opening pregame by MLSE. Looked more like a WWE main event.

- God, Glen Healy. More evidence that Rogers really muffed up their analyst selection.

- Carey Price. Same old same old. Making very difficult saves look totally routine.

- The cable cam is kind of interesting if you can handle the slight vertigo. The NFL has bee using this technology for 10 years.

- Habs sloppy in the neutral zone, turnovers have produced three good Leafs scoring chances and counting early in this game.

- Hoo boy. First shot, first goal. Max Pacioretty. Bernier looked pretty bad there. So also did Phaneuf who watched Max skate around him.  1-0.

- Leafs Kadri ties it up off a wicked tip in off a slot shot. Price had no chance. Plekanec lost his mark, while Weaver and Beaulieu played their zone a little too soft. 

- Desharnais doing the same things tonight (i.e. not shooting the puck) that got him into a huge slump last year that nearly cost him his NHL career.

- Habs come up empty on their first powerplay but their puck control and passing was pretty crisp.

- Just put Healy in blue and white and be done with it.

- Leafs plays a simplified powerplay and it pays off. Not sure where Markov was going, but he left Bozak all alone in front for an easy tip in. 2-1.

- A meh first period. Pretty even handed, the Leafs taking advantage of their chances. Habs defense was a bit soft and sloppy, something a few have pointed out might end up being a problem for the Canadiens during the forthcoming season.

PREGAME PREVIEW:

Wow. Is it time to drop the puck already? Where did summer go!? Seriously, if you live out on the east coast or western Canada (as do I), you might have missed the solstice after blinking your eyes.

Summer. It was quite an interesting one, if you're a Habs fan. First the drama over P.K. Subban which, thank ye gods, ended in an eight year, 17 trillion dollar contract. Oh Marc Bergevin, if you had only heeded my advice two years ago when you could have locked up Pernell for about the same amount of time at half the salary.

Speaking of Mr. Bergevin, he was a bit of a busy man. Before signing Subban, he managed to eek a one year contract extension to the gritty and oft' undervalued Mike Weaver, who's performed brilliantly for the Habs since coming over from Florida for literally nothing, thereby taking a big step towards cheaply solidifying the Habs blue line.

But that was before the trade. On the day of Canada's 147th birthday, Bergevin sent veteran dye in the wool defenseman Josh Gorges to the Buffalo Sabres in return for a draft pick. The move, which wasn't entirely surprising considering Gorges' rising age and declining play hampered by an annual salary in excess of $4 million. Still, Gorges reaction to the trade, which hilariously included a steadfast refusal to be dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs, was one of utter shock and disbelief. While Gorges' skill set won't be difficult to replace, it'll be tough to overcome his devotion to the CH and leadership assets he brought to the dressing room.

Following the Gorges trade, Bergevin moved quickly to fill the gap, signing the younger and cheaper Tom Gilbert, who unlike Gorges, will offer the Habs blue line a little more offensive punch, especially on the 2nd line powerplay unit. The signing capped off a pretty insane week in Habsland, which also included the acquisition of P.A. Parenteau in return for Daniel Briere, which in one fell swoop, undid the original gaff committed by Bergevin, when he signed the perennially underwhelming Briere in 2013.

Oh yeah. Also on July 1st, Bergevin signed the solid two way Manny Malhotra to a one year contract. Wow, was that a crazy 24 hours, or what?


Also of significance this summer is what the Habs didn't do with some players. Doug Murray, George Parros and as of this week, Frankie Boullion were all released from the team, thereby correcting the other roster mistakes Bergevin made during the summer of 2013.

Whew. Let's review this.

In: Gilbert, Malhotra, Parenteau, Weaver, Sekac, Tokarski.
Out: Gorges, Gionta, Murray, Boullion, Parros, Breire, Budaj.

Yup. There's no way to slice it. The Habs made some excellent moves over the summer, with Bergevin seamlessly ridding the club of its worst performers, bringing in upgrades, and reducing the club's payroll. That's pretty impressive.

SO TONIGHT LET'S DROP THE PUCK! You know, it's only been four months since the Habs played a meaningful game - that's the benefit from making a deep run in the playoffs. The opposition to kick off the season this evening is, as usual, the Leafs, who also over the summer, seemed to finally grasp some semblance of sanity, where they shed some awful front office decision makers (Randy Carlyle aside), and embraced a culture that actually believes in the value of advanced statistical analysis. The Leafs also made significant roster changes that moves the team away from the dead end roughhouse style (by releasing nowhere players like Colton Orr and Frazer McLaren) towards a team where speed and skill are emphasized.

The Leafs making the right moves isn't particularly good news for the rest of the Conference, who've enjoyed more than a decade of a Toronto franchise that was going nowhere other than 20 feet underground.


It's great to be back for a 4th season of Habs Game Blog. Here's hoping that the 2014-15 season is a special one for the bleu blanc and rouge faithful, young, and in my instance, old.

Puck drops tonight at 7:20 EST.