Game 73: Wings vs. Habs

Detroit 2, Montreal 1 (OT):

FIRST PERIOD:

- Beaulieu nailed right off the bat for an interference penalty that might have gone either way. Abdelkader scores on the infusing powerplay to give Detroit the early lead. Not sure what Julien thinks of Beaulieu's play, but reply shows he was finishing his check. I'm inclined to think the coach will let that one slide.

- So when is the Habs top line going to start producing? Habs can't keep leaning on secondary scoring support indefinitely.

- Danault line looks good yet again tonight - they're got a very persistent and aggressive forecheck going, which is something I've seen absent the Galchenyuk line the past little while. Spark of intensity might be one significant reason why that top line has struggled to score lately.

- Habs powerplay tinkering - Pacioretty put at the point. Puck possession was good, zone maintenance was good, but no shots registered. That might be the end of that little experiment.

- It hasn't been anything close to the nightmare of the Hawks game last week, but it hasn't been a stellar period either for Emelin. Wings aren't a particularly fast team, but Emelin again appears to be struggling adjusting to Detroit's zone entries.

- Meek period for the Habs, especially around Jimmy Howard. Need more bodies crashing that crease area.

- Kinda mysterious how the Habs find ways of being outplayed by non-playoff teams. Not sure if it's anything to do with the lineup looking at the standings, assuming in advance that the game doesn't require full effort. That's essentially what was missing from the Habs in that 1st period - the concerted effort required to win a game in the NHL.


SECOND PERIOD:

- You'd be forgiven if your eyes glazed over during that first period. Possession was an even split, which means, given the opponent, the Habs were outplayed:

- Habs are buzzing, certainly more than compared to the 1st period, but the Wings are doing a good job protecting the crease/slot area. Canadiens might need to grease one out to get on the scoreboard.

- Flow is certainly a lot more wide open this period, which is something that would generally favour the the Habs.

- Emelin covers up from a Jeff Petry puck handling error. That's all nice, but it underscores the general lack of chemistry and communication between these two since Julien adjusted his defence, moving Markov next to Weber. I think Emelin would be a better pairing with Jordie Benn, and Beaulieu with Petry, but what do I know?

- I know, it was a longshot, but kinda hoped Ott would have a little "oomph" to his game against his former teammates tonight. But then again, it's Steve Ott. Best to keep expectations at around -40.

- Habs with a stormin' powerplay, Howard catching some puck luck, and Lehkonen playing like a monster this period. Pacioretty at the point looking better that attempt. Starting to think this team has a bad case of snakebite against the Wings.

- Just can't seem to find chemistry. Julien mixing the lines up a little to end the period, but I'm not sure that's the issue. Passing is there, but there simply isn't very much traffic in front of Howard, who, for the most part, has seen pretty much every shot directed towards him.

- Habs were the better team in that second period, pushing the envelope to try and get on the scoreboard, but as we mentioned in the previous point, Habs have not done a very good job pushing the Wings net tonight, which has made puck stopping much easier for Howard.


THIRD PERIOD:

- This is a more meaningful illustration of the Habs issue tonight - they might have more shot attempts, but not many in close. Look at all those point attempts. No wonder Jimmy Howard has a shutout going:

- After demonstrating marked signs that he'd finally got his season moving, it's been a mostly down night for Gallagher - 46% CF and a CF Rel of nearly -13 through 40 minutes.

- Habs are playing patient, much like they did earlier season game they had against Detroit, of which they eventually lost 1-0. In that game, the Habs didn't seriously ramp up their game until there was 2 minutes left in the clock. If you learn from your history, then you'd expect the Habs to start taking some chances much sooner in the 3rd.

- Habs haven't shown much, but now they draw an interference. Canadiens came awfully close to scoring their previous man advantage. This would be a good time to finish their attempt.

- Puck hopping and bouncing on the ice, Beaulieu's stick shatters as he attempts to finish the setup with Jimmy Howard's own stick laying in the corner. One of those nights where seems like nothing is going to go right - and for the Habs offence, that's exactly what's happened.

- Habs are definitely not waiting until the last 2 minutes to make their push. With 9 minutes left in the 3rd, it's been the kitchen sink in the Wings zone. Just can't quite seem to finish plays, the ice conditions look poor - puck bouncing a lot on the ice.

- Rough night for the Plekanec line - most of the play has tilted towards the Habs zone while he, Gallagher and Bryon have been on. Offensive chances have been few and far between.

- Lehkonen ties the game with 2 minutes left, given way too much space entering the Wings zone, he fires a wrister that has Howard looking skyward.  Ironic the way that goal was surrendered given how well the Wings have played defensively in their zone tonight.

- Alexei Emelin with all day and all night to set up the play from behind his net, ices the puck with 2- seconds left. WHY?!

- Critical game tying goal by Lehkonen, given that the Sens have already beaten the Bruins tonight. Canadiens doing a nice job pushing in that 3rd period for the tying goal, especially from the 10 minute mark forward.

OVERTIME:

- Shot attempt chart shows the Habs indeed were pushing hard at about the 10 minute mark of that 3rd period:

- Montoya clearly interfered by Mike Green, thrashed into the back of his net, all in front of the referee who lets the play, unbelievably, continue without a whistle. The abysmal lack of goaltending protection in this League continues.

- This OT period is the Al Montoya period. His defenders doing him no favours, that's for sure.

- Hometown boy Anthony Mantha with as pretty a goal as you'll see, making Galchenyuk, who's had a bad night in general, look like a beer leaguer with one move, and Shea Weber his next victim with a slick shot that beats Montoya top corner, and the Habs (actually) lose a game in OT. Montoya deserved a better fate, although the Habs played a pretty disorganized OT period, and roundly deserved the loss of an extra point.

R.I.P. WINGS NOT BEING BAD: 1990-2017

It's kinda crazy, isn't it? The Detroit Red Wings, for the first time in 27 years, will not be partaking in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The remarkable string of success comes from Detroit implementing (and sticking to) the development of a perpetually competitive hockey team by focusing resources on developing players internally through wise drafting and quality scouting (especially in Europe and in particular, eastern bloc nations including Russia).

Over the past few years as other teams finally caught on to the Wings formula for success, Detroit has found maintaining their competitive edge to be increasingly difficult, especially in the salary cap era. Before the cap, the Wings had the luxury of locking up their assets for an indefinite period of time. In today's era, the Wings couldn't dream of maintaining a lineup with the likes of Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan, Kris Draper, Nicklas Lindstrom, Vladimir Konstantinov, Chris Osgood, etc., etc. (those players were all on the 1997 Wings roster).

So with the official passing of the Red Wings era, Detroit is finishing up their season, coincidently as Joe Lewis, the arena that hosted all of those great Wings teams, will be shuttering their doors for good.

So the Wings, playing the string, will face former teammate Steve Ott and the Habs tonight at the Bell Centre. The Wings, coming off a loss to the Buffalo Sabres last night, are currently sitting with the 5th worst record in the NHL, which reckons to land them a half-decent pick in this summer's entry draft.

Here's the Detroit projected lineup tonight:

Tartar/Zetterberg/Nyquist
Mantha/Nielsen/Sheahan
Athanasiou/Larkin/Abdelkader
Glendening/Nosek/Miller

DeKeyser/Jensen
Kronwall/Green
Ouellet/Russo

The Habs, meanwhile, are still enjoying the buzz of a weekend sweep of the Ottawa Senators, which has given Montreal a 4 point lead for 1st place in the Atlantic Division. Paul Bryon, who got his 20th (and if not for a silly offside challenge his 21st) goal of the season will lead the Canadiens offence in the 2nd game of a 5-game home stand. Meanwhile, Carey Price, who's been stellar since Claude Julien took over head coaching duties last month, gets a well-earned night off. Al (Tony) Montoya (2.71/.910) will start for the Canadiens, while Jimmy Howard (1.97/.933) gets the nod for Detroit.

Here's the Habs lineup tonight:

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

Weber/Markov
Emelin/Petry
Beaulieu/Benn

Puck drops tonight at 7:40, EST.

Game 41: Caps vs. Habs

Washington 4, Montreal 1:

FIRST PERIOD LIVE GAME BLOG:

- It's official, Byron back in, and Carr is out. Habs lineup will look at such:

Pacioretty/Danault/Radulov

Lehkonen/Plekanec/Byron

Flynn/Mitchell/Andrighetto

Farnham/McCarron/Scherbak

- Not an enthralling start by the Habs first 5 minutes, Caps much faster and aggressive team - looks like the Canadiens might be a tad overmatched tonight.

- I'll be a broken record about this until the day I die, but Bobby Farnham is a massive waste of a lineup spot. Hudon, De La Rose, just about anything else, would be far preferable.

- Plenty of questions were raised about whether Nikita Scherbak was "ready" for NHL action - and while  these are very early days, I've seen nothing that justifies these uncertainties. He's fast, he plays smart, and as we've mentioned previously, he's excellent with the puck. 

- Habs "3rd" line (which really is barely an NHL 4th) of Mitchell/Flynn and Andrighetto getting their clocks cleaned so far this period. Looking pretty flat footed, and the Caps offence has taken advantage.

- And quite literally 5 seconds after that last comment is posted, the Caps Backstrom opens the scoring - guess who was on the ice for the Habs? 1-0 Washington.

- Is there a "top 6" forward in the NHL with a less dangerous shot than Plekanec? I'm pretty there there isn't.

- Habs pretty much totally overmatched in that 1st period. Sorry, Habs fans, there's little chance they'll be able to compete tonight, barring some lucky hockey bounces. 

SECOND PERIOD LIVE GAME BLOG:

- Shot attempts don't really reflect this one-sided play in that period, in particular how badly the Mitchell line performed against, well - everybody.

- Danault line's first shift of the period as much of a total disaster as possible without actually giving up a goal - Caps swarming the zone, Habs basically chasing pucks with total disorganization, Price forced to make two hard saves. Washington continues to dominate.

- Caps about twice as fast on the puck, Habs are just taking punches turtled in a corner. It's nearly getting ugly right now, Washington on the cusp here of adding to their lead.

- Even Therrien has noted the disparity, but in true Therrien style, he's sending out puzzling line combinations - the first being Flynn/Danault/Andrighetto. 

- Tomas Plekanec. Just nothing left. Shot, finish - it's just gone.

- Farnham chipping in counterproductively, as anticipated. Gets nailed for an avoidable interference penalty. Caps to the powerplay.

- Habs first man advantage, whole lotta passin' going on, not a whole lotta shootin'. The Canadiens do realize they're facing the stingiest defence in the NHL, right? They know they can't take the liberty of looking for the perfect play, right?

- Habs forwards have done almost nothing to get in Holtby's face. I know this is part of the Gallagher effect, but could marginal guys like Farnham at least do something to mix it up, maybe get Holtby off his game - something? Anything??

- Maybe the Habs are hung over from their long road trip? This team looks not a whole lot more rested than they did the 3rd period on Saturday night. 

- Another pretty lopsided period in favour of the Caps, kind of amazing that the Habs are just a goal down, and could conceivably get a point or two tonight. Realistically however, Washington is owning this game - it seems but just a matter of time before they find some insurance goals in the 3rd  to wrap this night up.

THIRD PERIOD LIVE GAME BLOG:

- 2nd period was indeed, pretty ugly for the Habs, 5v5 CF just barely over 30%. Minor miracle the score is just 1-0.

- Scoring chances are interesting - Habs with some pretty choice chances right in the low slot, but Holtby has come up big:

- Habs 2nd powerplay, again looking too much for the perfect setup, lots of passing, no actual shots on Holtby. This is folly - the Canadiens are obviously letting Holtby into their collective heads.

- Lars Eller with a dumb penalty, which something Habs fans might remember him doing a lot of while in Montreal. Habs to their 3rd powerplay, will they actually get a shot on goal?

- Weber with a cannon drive so hard off the goalpost that the red light goes on. Tough luck for the Canadiens tonight.

- Plekanec scores (yes, that happened) on the powerplay, but Caps are challenging the goal, saying Byron bumped Holtby a moment before Plekanec put the puck in the net. Could be a close call.

- Challenge denied, and unbelievably, the Habs have tied the game.

- Not for long, as Jeff Petry makes a very bad play, getting snookered by some slick stick handling by Kuznetsov to make it 2-1. 

Great goal by Evgeny Kuznetsov to give the Caps a 2-1 lead. pic.twitter.com/OEOv7pCPBX

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) January 10, 2017

- Price misplays the puck (a rarity), Jeff Petry with a meek poke of the puck creates deep zone turnover, Connoly finishes the play at it's 3-1. So, after the Habs threw us all a little shade for a minute by tying the game, the Caps have (finally) established scoreboard dominance. As we figured they would.

- Ovechkin ties the Rocket with his 544th career goal on the powerplay, icing on the cake.

- Not the Habs worst loss of the season, but a little wake up call from reality that they're still a step away from being legitimate contenders. The Caps (yes, they are healthy) totally overmatched the short-handed Habs, who are doing themselves little favours by playing AHL-level fodder like Bobby Farnham, instead of younger, more capable hands. Habs head west to Winnipeg to play the Jets, hoping to have Andrei Markov back in the lineup, and hopefully sooner rather than later, the return of Alex Galchenyuk.

HALFWAY HOME: CAPS - HABS PREVIEW

Wow, we've reached the halfway mark of the 2016-17 NHL regular schedule. What a season it's been for the Montreal Canadiens. Filled with ups and downs, but mostly ups, the Habs will be home for their 41st game tonight, as they take on the top-flight Washington Capitals.

The Caps, very much unlike the Habs, enter tonight's game riding the wave of a virtually injury-free season, while the Canadiens continue to deal with an onslaught of hurt bodies that has made putting together a full game lineup a slightly challenging task.

The Habs, who on Saturday were down 7 regular skaters, managed to string together a victory, albeit against a not-very-good opponent in the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Canadiens won't enjoy the luxury of inferiority tonight with the Caps, who sit, amazingly enough, in 4th place in the Metropolitan Division. If the playoffs were to start tonight, the Caps, with 55 points, just one fewer than the Habs, as the 7th seed in the 2017 playoffs (and would if the post season started today, face the Canadiens), testament to a playoff format the NHL might want to reconsider this summer.

The Caps key to success this year? Playing low event games. Through this weekend's games, the Caps have the League's lowest shot event total (comprised of shots for and against) at 42.2.  St. Louis ranks second at 42.1, while Pittsburgh, with their high-octane offence unsurprisingly rates the highest at 52.0, with Montreal not too far behind at 48.5.

Not that there's anything wrong with playing "boring" hockey - it's usually a pretty good formula for success, born out from the expertise of Caps head coach Barry Trotz, who's well established for developing teams that follow a fairly structured, if not rigid approach that's very emphatic on checking and being responsible in your own zone.

The key to beating the Caps? Open them up - find a way of making the game faster and freewheeling. The moment Washington stops playing their system, they become vulnerable.

Which means the return tonight of skilled and speedy Paul Byron, who'd missed the past couple of games from an undisclosed injury (likely concussion) all the more important for the Canadiens, who are hoping to extend their 3 game winning streak. With Byron returning, Daniel Carr will be a healthy scratch (which means, amazingly enough, Bobby Farnham will get another start - oh well).

Back to the Caps for a moment, here's their lineup for tonight

Ovechkin/Backstrom/Oshie
Johansson/Kuznetsov/Williams
Connolly/Eller/Burakovsky
Winnik/Beagle/Wilson

Alzner/Carlson
Orlov/Niskanen
Orpik/Schmidt

Braden Holtby

Speaking of Holtby, tonight's goaltending matchup should also be a dandy - featuring Carey Price, the 2015 Vezina Trophy winner, against Holtby, who is the 2016 Vezina Trophy winner.

Oh yes, one more thing - the Caps are hoping to extend their current winning streak - to six games.

Puck drops at 6:40, EST.

Game 40: Habs vs. Leafs

Montreal 5, Toronto 3:

FIRST PERIOD LIVE BLOG THREAD:

- Scherbak will wear #38. I've mentioned it a couple of times on my Twitter, but I've actually officiated Scherbak - a couple of years ago to be exact. He's a smaller player, about average speed, but very good hands and puck handling ability. 

- Well, that didn't take long - Leafs with soft coverage in front of Andersen allows Radulov to find Pacioretty in front for an easy shot, and it's 1-0 Habs before we even hit the one minute mark.

- More slow-footed Leafs defending, Lehkonen sweeps around his wing and beats Andersen under the arm off a deflection. 2-0 Habs before the 4 minute mark.

- Leafs look pretty sluggish - they did play last night, while the Habs have two days rest, although granted, nearly half their lineup tonight is comprised of guys who regularly play in Newfoundland.

- Radulov, at least early on, is playing with pants on fire. Leafs having trouble handling him. The guy's amazing.

- Plekanec with a pretty preventable and unnecessary penalty. It's been a pretty good season for many Habs players, especially those who have stepped up to help fill injury gaps. Plekanec, though, has been a different story. Possibly his worst season so far as a professional.

- Bozak converts, Habs penalty kill continues to be one of the weaker parts of their game. It's been an issue for this team since the start of the year, but for whatever reason, little or no improvements have been made. Fundamentally, Habs don't play very structured game while shorthanded. More reactionary to the play, which is bad if you're shorthanded.

- Just another thought about Plekanec, he's coming up on 1,000 games in the NHL, which is pretty astounding for someone in his mid-30s. He's played pretty much injury free his professional career, the fewest season games being 67 way back in 2006 (not counting the strike shortened season). That many games over a relatively short period of time take their toll - what we might be seeing is early onset of the inevitable decline. 

- Real, real soft hooking call on Radulov. I mean, if that's the standard for a hook, there'll be a penalty box parade tonight.

- Kardri, tie game. More PK woes for the Habs, and the officials can now take satisfaction they've done their bit to get the game even again.

- Scherbak. Right place, right time on the powerplay. How about that? 3-2 Habs.

Great hands by Scherbak! His first NHL goal: pic.twitter.com/Qh1cVi0DMR

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) January 8, 2017

- At some point a megaphone will need to blast into the ears of every Habs roster player, STAY OUT OF THE GODDAMN PENALTY BOX. This is killing the Habs from winning easy games easily. While the Radulov hook was soft, the Plekanec slash was totally avoidable. As long as this team fails to make any progress in how it kills penalties, they will continue to get burned. Anyway, penalties aside, pretty solid period for the Canadiens.

SECOND PERIOD LIVE BLOG THREAD

- Habs with 47% CF (SA 5v5) in that first period - the Leafs really feeding off the momentum generated from the Plekanec penalty (first Habs penalty of the game), and then another boost from the Radulov hook:

- Something to keep in mind from what we mentioned in the pregame piece - the Leafs are team that's thrived this year from jumping out on the scoreboard early - their best period this season has been the 1st, their worst the 3rd. They don't play well behind on the scoreboard.

- Radulov converts off an early powerplay, the Leafs also playing poorly shorthanded tonight, structure not there. So maybe a little solace for the Habs poor play shorthanded. Radulov, for what it's worth, continues to play like a man possessed.

- Don't want to raise alarm bells, but Price looked to be favouring his right leg covering the puck up off a scramble. Might have had his leg wacked by a Leafs stick seeking the puck. 

- Yeah. Not 100%, but pretty sure Price is taking it easy with that right leg. Again, he might have had a stick or something hit it earlier from a scramble, and it's no big deal. We'll find out soon enough.

- Matt Martin with a glaring interference on Petry, the refs let slide. Since they won't do their jobs (at least, consistently), the players take matters into their own hands. McCarron and Farnham drop their gloves, McCarron does fine, Farnham reminds us how pretty much useless he is, and that the only reason he's playing tonight is because the Habs have so many injuries.

- Shea Weber shoots hard, hits hard, but does not play smart. Habs are leading by two gaols, and yet Weber is pinching hard looking to pad his goal total, which just gave the Leafs a clear-cut 2-on-1 break. 

- Zach Hyman with clear run on Carey Price, barreling into him hard while cutting to the net - totally inexcusable. 

- Pretty bad powerplay from that Hyman hit on Price, Habs totally go goofy in their own zone, making a series of awful turnovers and sloppy plays, but Price, in combination with a Leafs offence that really hasn't been clicking very well this period, ensures the Habs maintain their 2 goal lead.

- Mitch Marner might be my least hated Leafs player. He's got so much natural talent, Toronto is really lucky to have him.

- Ice Caps get caught chasing in their own zone, and when you're playing against guys like Van Riemsdyk and Marner, you're looking for big trouble. 4-3.

- Marner, man - he's so good. I WANT HIM ON MY TEAM.

- Well, credit to the Ice Caps Habs for giving the Leafs all they can handle tonight - they're out there working hard and producing offence, but the lineup thinness is really hurting the Habs in their own zone - 3rd and 4th lines are getting outmatched pretty badly by this talented Leafs offence. Whether or not the Habs can hang on in the 3rd can be seen, but I wouldn't be overly surprised if the Leafs overtake the Canadiens down the stretch.

THIRD PERIOD LIVE BLOG THREAD:

- Habs with a so-so 2nd period, their powerplay bailing them out a little, and they did, for the most part, play a smarter game in limiting Leafs powerplay opportunities. SA CF a tad under 50%, two-period total.

- Ready for more bad news? Lehtonen may be injured - wasn't seen for good chunk of the last half of the 2nd period. Haven't heard any word from the Habs as to what his status is.

- Tonight's game marks the 14th time the Leafs have entered the 3rd period trailing on the scoreboard. of the previous 13 games, Leafs have won twice. However, with the Habs this injury-riddled, anything is possible.

- Did I mention the Habs were smarter in the 2nd? Shea Weber got nailed for an extra two minutes attempting to punch Hyman's light's out at the end of the 2nd. So ... Leafs can even this up in a jiffy with a clean sheet of ice on a (brief) powerplay.

- Lehtonen on the ice early, so whatever issue he may have had in the 2nd has been sorted out.

- Scherbak works a little decoy, McCarron banks the puck off Andersen from behind the net to give the Habs some insurance. But it's still early. 

- That said, the Leafs have been a bad 3rd period team this year not because of goaltending. They need all the help then can get, Andersen muffing up won't help:

Andersen gets burned from a sharp angle here. He looks halfway between playing it on his feet and wanting to VH. Ends up doing neither well. pic.twitter.com/ZlGnGYJ9Vc

— InGoal Magazine (@InGoalMedia) January 8, 2017

- Leafs are certainly trying, Price has had to make a couple of sparking saves this period - Habs playing a little bit loose in their zone, and a little tight in the neutral zone, so the Leafs are setting the tempo here. Maybe the Habs assume that Price will do the rest of the work? In any case, I wouldn't close the book on this game yet. Not by a long shot. 11 minutes left.

- Lehkonen got high sticked very badly right in front of the official, which somehow was either missed or simply let go. It hasn't been egregiously bad tonight, but the officiating has left a lot to be desires - missed calls, rather inconsistent. As a result, we've seen the players at times attempt to take matters into the own hands.

- Matthews, who's been more or less contained by the Habs tonight (good job there, guys) gets nailed for handling the puck off the draw. He didn't know you can't do that??

- Matthews had a decent scoring chance, but for the most part, the Habs have basically suffocated the Leafs last 10 minutes of the 3rd period. A real testament to some pretty impressively disciplined hockey.

- Carey Price in desperation mode is a sight to behold, if only because it happens so infrequently. Leafs pretty much out of time now, late powerplay, just 40 seconds left.

- Another bravado performance by this Habs team, so shorthanded, and yet, they find way s of winning, even if it's against not very good "good" teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs. And now, mercifully, they now get to play a hockey game at home.

CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE: THE LEAFS ARE GOOD!! (THEY AREN'T)

Have you been watching the sports networks lately? Tuning into sports talk radio? Perusing the latest tweeting and twating? You might have seen, heard and read (repeatedly): THE LEAFS ARE A REALLY GOOD HOCKEY TEAM!!!

We beg to differ, of course - but hey, who are we to say in contrast to what's being cranked out by the media networks??

Why rapidly improving Maple Leafs are good bet to make playoffs https://t.co/4Tb1n8QbYA pic.twitter.com/neaM0rkHXu

— Hockey Night Punjabi (@HkyNightPunjabi) January 4, 2017

Hey, thanks for weighing in, Rogers! Gosh, the team you own and operating and make a kajillion dollars off of in ticket, media and merchandise sales are a good bet, huh?

Okay maybe we're being a little cynical. Let's consult an actual expert how how good this Leafs team really is:

@JeffVeillette Leafs are good might be underselling them?

— James Mirtle (@mirtle) January 4, 2017

Sorry. We got it wrong. The Leafs aren't good .... THE LEAFS ARE GREAT!! Thanks for weighing in Mr. James Mirtle, who recently started up a Toronto-sports-only publication called The Athletic. Actually, The Athletic is a pretty good publication - good core of journalists, well written, has a viable potential to set the standard as a profitable new media operation. But even The Athletic isn't immune to the tunnel vision that frequently affects the center of the universe: The instant a local sporting team wins a few games, the frenzy begins: The Toronto [franchise name] are great! Plan the parade!

So when the Leafs went on their recent little 5 game winning streak run, the chatter picked up in Canada's only city that matters: HEY, the Leafs are gonna do this! They're gonna make the playoffs! HEY ... they ... might be good ... no, wait. They might be GREAT. Is a championship coming out way in just a few weeks!?!!?!?!? 

Well ... sorry Toronto fans, but your hockey team isn't great, and they won't be winning a Stanley Cup this spring. They might not be even the bare minimum - a "good" hockey team.

First, the good things about this Leafs team. It's core of young players are good - actually, let's ramp that up a little - they're dazzling. The Leafs combined rookie scoring so far this season is through the damn roof. Austin Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Conor Brown, Zach Hymen and Nakita Zaitsev have combined to score 141 points in half a regular season. That's crazy high offensive numbers from a set of players with minimal NHL experience.

The Leafs young high octane offence has moved them up to some pretty elite levels in comparison to the rest of the League. At 2.69 GF60, the Leafs have the 3rd rated NHL offence, bolstered by 4th rated SF60 (31.9), 3rd rated in shots attempt, and a half-decent powerplay (21.5%). This Leafs team plays fast, and they play exciting.

So while the Leafs crank out an impressive offence, there are other numbers that spell trouble. While Toronto is apt to pelt opposing goaltenders with plenty of shot attempts, the fundamental stats indicate this is a team with significant defensive issues. While the Leafs my have the 3rd most shot attempts in the NHL, their 5v5 CF% clocks in just under 50% (49.9), which is only good enough for 18th in the NHL. The number of shots the Leafs surrender averages out to 32 per 60, the 2nd highest in the League.

The net effect? Toronto gives up 2.56 GA60, the 3rd most in the NHL (only Philadelphia and the very lowly Colorado Avalanche are worse).

Even worse is the way the Leafs give up their shots and goals - as the game progresses, their defence worsens. Toronto has given up 42 3rd period goals this season (by contrast they've given up 29 1st period goals). When you play progressively worse in your own end, closing out victories over the length of a regular season becomes incredibly difficult. Toronto has been guilty of giving up significant 3rd period leads numerous times this season - there's little reason to believe that trend won't continue.

The bottom line? Even with very good goaltending by Frederik Andersen (2.61, .920), the current premise that the Leafs are "good bet" to make this spring's Stanley Cup Playoffs is, at best, weak. You might be a fun team, with loads of young talent with the ability to score a lot of goals, but if you can't keep your own end in order, over the length of an 82 game schedule, it's very difficult, if not impossible, to win enough times to nab a playoff spot.

Tonight, the "good - no wait, GREAT" Leafs host the Habs at the ACC. For the Canadiens, tonight's game is the end point of an epic 7 game road trip that started a week before Christmas. The Habs, as followers are well aware, will be icing very thin lineup tonight with 7 (count 'em!) regulars unable to play because of injury - the latest additions to the wounded list being Brendan Gallagher (2 months) and Paul Byron (day-to-day).

The rash of injuries, however, has opened the door of opportunity for some of the Habs prospects. Nikita Scherbak will get his first NHL start tonight, playing on the Habs 4th line. Scherbak has had an excellent season with the St. John's Ice Caps, the Habs AHL affiliate, scoring 20 points (10 goals) in 27 games this season.

So it's the "GOOD NO WAIT GREAT" Leafs and Frederik Andersen, against Carey Price and the injury hobbled Habs.

Puck drops at 7:10 EST.


FRIDAY HABS NEWS 'N' NOTES:

Okay, we've got a lot of Habs-related news to pass your way today.

Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first.

Medical update: B. Gallagher underwent surgery last night in Montreal. Fractured left hand. His recovery is expected to be minimum 8 weeks.

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) January 6, 2017

Given where the shot was taken, who took the shot, and the blood that was oozing out from his hand, we kind of figured it would be a couple of months. The wording is "minimum" is unusual for a prognosis - usually a range of expected return is given, not the minimum return, which likely indicates the injury was very, very bad. So March at the earliest, but don't be surprised if Gallagher isn't back at least until the playoffs.

Okay. Other not-so-bad-news:

- Alex Galchenyuk and Andrei Markov participated in practice today, which puts the former way ahead of recuperation schedule. While today he (Galchenyuk) was officially ruled out of playing Saturday night, Michel Therrien was quoted as saying that both players are "they're close. They're really close" to retuning to the lineup. So, don't be surprised if we see both Galchenyuk and Markov playing next week, which will give this injury-embattled Habs lineup some respite:

Alex Galchenyuk returned to #Habs practice today for the 1st time since a knee injury on Dec. 4. He isn't expected to play Saturday v #Leafs pic.twitter.com/5ClltNSXPV

— CBC Montreal (@CBCMontreal) January 6, 2017

- Can we toss in some bad news again? There's no status update about Paul Byron, who took a hard hit to the head in Dallas, which is usually a bad sign if concussion is involved. So don't expect him back any time soon - another very significant blow to the Habs offence.

- In response to the latest round of injuries, Habs brought up Sven Andrighetto, and Nikita Scherbak - the later of whom is confirmed to start tomorrow night in Toronto. It will be Sherbak's NHL debut. He's likely to be placed on the Habs 4th line, so don't expect to see too many shifts during his first game.

We'll update this page with anything important that comes our way.