Game Forty-Three: Habs vs. Pens

First Period:

Pretty good start for Habs, aggressive into the Pens zone, getting quality shots on net. Fleury giving up a couple of nice rebounds.

- Cooke gets suckered by Plekanec, Habs to the powerplay.

- Wonderful puck control on the man advantage, cut short as Gallagher gets nabbed for an undisciplined high stick.

- Sutter with a softie over Budaj's glove. And here we go again ...

- Habs getting outworked, and high shot eludes Budaj, and it's 2-0.

- Third straight game with a goaltending switch? Could happen.

- For every battle won by the Habs for the loose puck, two are lost. It's a mismatch right now. Should and could be 3 or 4 nothing soon.

- Habs finally showing some life here led by the Plekanec line. But Fleury looks to be on his game tonight. Sigh.

- Gallagher sacrificed his foot to block a shot. Block was made, but at what price? He's gone straight to the room. Oy.

- Pens shooting high on Budaj. Can't blame them.

- Iginla uncovered on the powerplay. 3-0. Price to start the 2nd? Wouldn't be surprised.

Second Period:

- Merry go round is on. Price starts the second. Third straight game Habs starter is pulled. Franchise first? Betcha it is.

- Weber first line pairing with Subban on the powerplay. Is Therrien scaling back Markov's time?

- Habs defense is quite simply a disaster right now. There's nothing else that can be said. 4-0.

- Wheels have completely fallen off this team. They are simply unable to execute the most basic fundamentals, from defence out. As I said on Twitter before the game, if the Habs perform tonight the way they did against the Flyers, game could be 8-0 or 9-0. We're on the way.

- It's a team game, but since Emelin went down, this team has simply stopped hitting their opponent. They look and are playing frail.

- At this point, Price must view this game as an opportunity to regain some confidence. Salvage something from this disaster.

- There's a good step. Prust with a nice feed to the goal-staved Gionta to get Habs on the board. Baby steps, but team must fight through this infectious slump. Building blocks, make plays, score here and there, and play soundly in your own zone. Winning tonight might be out of the question, but there's opportunity to turn a negative into a positive.

- Gallagher takes another poor penalty, and Pens quickly strike against a Habs PK that looks just horrible. Add it to the list of how things have gone so far south so quickly.

- Galchenyuk. Baby steps. Baby steps.

- How long will it take for the Pens to reestablish their 4 goal lead?

- Brenden Gallagher is out of control. Therrien has got to bench him for the night.

- I dunno. Was that a good period? Pens with powerplay goals, Habs did respond a little, but the defence is just awful. Gorges looks utterly lost out there, Markov looks exhausted, Weber is doing his best but his very limited playing time this season, you can only expect so much. Subban can't do it all himself. It's just a huge mess and there's no ready solution at hand. Somehow the Habs must dig deep and fight their way though this wretched fog of undisciplined, uninspired, unfocused play, or this once promising season will be lost.

Third Period:

- 4 minute PK actually looked competent. Well, that's a good sign, no?

- Dumont scores his very first NHL goal, and Habs are within 2?? It can't be.

- Habs should we jest, playing with a spark here. The Dumont goal has boosted ... Oh ... never mind. Murray a soft shot redeflects twice past Price. Nothing going right, nothing staying out for the Canadiens. Just wow.

- What can ya do? Pick up the pieces and take it out on the Tampa Bay Lightening.

Gameday Game Preview:

So here we are. The Habs are currently going through their first bought of adversity this season, and it really couldn't come at a much worse time. Well, I suppose in the middle of a playoff series would be terrible. Still, the Habs head into Pittsburgh tonight to take on the Eastern Conference leaders, hobbled by injuries to key defensemen, and poor play, in particular by the team's blue line.
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After a terrible Saturday start and a shaky "rebound" game against the Flyers, Michel Therrien is going with Peter Budaj. The Habs second-stringer will have his work cut out for him, although this time around, he won't have to deal with the likes of Sidney Crosby, who's still on the mend from a broken jaw. Also ailing is James Neal who's still in the process of recovering from concussion. So the Pens will be sans two very dangerous forwards tonight - that's the good news.

The bad news is, of course, is not knowing what's going to happen with the Candadiens' defense which, since the season-ending injury to Alexei Emelin, is but a shell of its former self. In response to this, Therrien has put Yannick Weber into the lineup as the 7th defensemen, perhaps to take some of the pressure of the shoulders of the still learning Nathan Beaulieu.

Other lineup changes: After getting a night off, Brandon Prust will return to action, while Michael Ryder, who got a therapy day yesterday, is again struggling with an undefined upper body injury, and will sit tonight.

Marc-Andre Fleury, who stoned the Habs in his last start, gets the obvious call tonight for the Pens.

Puck drops at 7:10 EST.

Lineup Changes

Yannick Weber is going to get his chance tonight against the Pens. I suppose if you're going to throw the kid back into the pool, it might as well be the deep end.

Final lineups haven't been provided, but I'd reckon with White out, Therrien will be starting 7 defensemen tonight (the less likely alternative would be sitting the somewhat struggling Beaulieu).

Gameday preview shortly.

About Last Night

So can we panic now? Two thumpings on a magnificent scale in the span of 48 hours, and the City of Montreal is sent reeling into full-blown fear that the season which for so long held a promise of a possible championship, might be hurtling off a cliff towards a total bust.

I'm not sure where we can even start with how awful last night's game was, except to say this for certain - it was far worse than Saturday's loss to Toronto, where at least the loss was explained by poor netminding and lucky Toronto puck bounces.

But last night? Oy. For the first time in his career, Carey Price was pulled in the middle of a start for the second consecutive game. Fair enough - but Price's start wasn't nearly as shaky as Saturday, and the decision to remove him from the game was, I thought, Therrien getting one of his key players out of the firing line. It was a mercy decision, not a statement of dissatisfaction, at least about how Carey played.

The problem started and ended with the defense, which easily had its worst performance of the year. There's no doubt in my mind that this team is clearly the missing the presence of Alexei Emelin, whose physicality (once League hits leader) and positional awareness was a benefit that was overlooked and unappreciated. Emelin, we can now safely say, set a tone on the ice. Last night, the Habs could only muster a measly two hits through 40 minutes. That's horrible. After the game, Michel Therrien indicated that Emelin's absence has hit this team very hard. It's difficult to disagree with that assessment.

What to do? As I mentioned last night during the game, I think Therrien should go right back with Budaj to start tomorrow night against the Pens. It'll give Carey Price a little more time to clear his head, and to have him start on Thursday night against the woeful Lightening is as good an opportunity as ever to regain some badly needed confidence, with a victory, however it is against an inferior opponent. We thought it was the Flyers which would be the cure, but it'll have to be Tampa.

More later.

UPDATE: Just after my post-mortem was posted, Therrien announced that Budaj would be getting the start against the Pens. So, there you go.

RyanWhite's Last Moments as a Hab

He'll probably get five games for that, but it really doesn't matter, because White's days in Montreal are almost now certainly done.

Last night. Oh boy. Last night. More later about that.

Game Twenty-One: Pens vs. Habs

First Period:

- Pens are so offensively deep, the only way the Habs can come away with a victory is by limiting mistakes to zero - which includes staying out of the penalty box. Otherwise we're toast,

- Nice physical start by Ryder, two solid hits so far.

- Pens Vokoun with the error on a soft shot by Kaberle, Prust buries the juicy rebound, and Habs score critical first goal.

- Eller makes a soft giveaway near the crease, Pens really should have tied it. Price seems to be struggling picking up the puck around the net,

- Refs are really letting a lot of easy calls slide so far. This game could turn ugly quickly.

- Habs playing determined two way game, even more so than usual. Pens buzzing around Price but no real stellar chances are being surrendered so far.

- Prust exceptional so far. Involved all over the ice.

- Therrien has to be very please with what he's seen so far. Habs skating very well, playing smart efficient hockey, giving Price clear views, and pushing back against the Pens' powerful forwards.

- Vokoun fighting the puck. Another routine shot results in a rebound. Fortunately for Vokoun, no Habs were around the crease.

- Plekanec the checking assignment on Crosby, lets his guard down for a split second, and is forced to hold him on a semi-break. No margin for error when Crosby is your assignment.

- Fluky bounce off Emelin's skate, Sutter ties the game. One of those goals. Can't do anything but reload.

- Subban needs to choose his shooting lanes a bit more wisely. When you shoot into a scrum of bodies, it isn't going through.

- Habs the edge in the period, a bit more uptempo, really should have the lead, but for that fluke Pens goal. So far, however, so good.

Second Period:

- Subban is doing nothing for this powerplay unit. Trying to force the puck in places it simply won't go.

- Price has been perfect tonight, really. Totally in his zone right now.

- Crosby line all over Habs right now. Scoring for this line seems inevitable.

- Pacioretty puts in the juicy rebound but that goal was all Gallagher. Assist to soft Pens defense. Habs regain the lead.

- Two teams with excellent transition games leads to these bursts of frantic end-to-end action. Fun to watch.

- And there it is. Crosby with magic puck control behind the net, beautiful feed to Kunitz for the game tying goal. Got a feeling that won't be the last tonight for that line.

- Ugh. Matt Cooke of all guys, with a screen shot. A bit fluky in how it eluded Price, and just like that, Pens take the lead.

- All eyes seem to be on Crosby, but it's Kunitz who's the real danger right now.

- I suppose Bergevin didn't sign Armstong for goal scoring ... but Oy ... you gotta cash these golden opportunities in.

- It's all come undone, as Cooke scores his second of the night. The Gorges/Bouillon duo a mini-disaster tonight.

- Bah. Pacioretty somehow didn't cash that into an open net. Credit to Vokoun for staying with it.

- Ryder great positioning, he's going to score eventually.

- Nice deflection by Gionta from point shot, Habs narrow the Pens lead to one. Canadiens powerplay looked quite dangerous most of the two minutes, maybe a corner has been turned for that unit.

- Holy. If that goal counts, that is unreal.

- It's gonna count. Wow. The, goal resulted from a faceoff deep in the Pens zone off a huge unforced error by Brooks Orpik who iced the puck even though he was under no pressure.

- Subban with an unbelievable and brilliant play to come in off the point to tie the game, Galchenyuk with a fast sweep and smart feed right to Subban for a bang-bang goal. The Pens totally dominated the period right up to the point they took a 4-2 lead. But then, incredibly, the Habs totally took control on a dime. Astonishing turn of events. The 3rd is gonna be a humdinger.

Third Period:

- Smokin' pace to start the 3rd. No surprise. Tonight's game was one of the toughest tickets for the entire season. Everyone being richly rewarded.

- Brilliant goal saving reaction by Markov. Price had no idea where that puck was.

- Can they play 4-on the rest of the night? Not sure if I could handle the pace.

- Habs the better team in this period, without question.

- And just like that, Desharnais off yet another Vokoun rebound, and Habs take the lead. Remarkable.

- Vokoun is a rebound machine tonight.

- Pace is still blistering. One of the most entertaining games I've seen in awhile. Easily the best this season.

- Eller line, Emelin all over the place. Crosby line strikes again, and guess who - it's Kunitz.

- Pens all over reeling Habs. Therrien would be served to call for time.

- Emelin now paired with Bouillon.

- Price shell shocked. It's Crosby off the bench. Saw that coming a mile away. Timeout wasn't taken. So ... there ya go.

- Oh wow. Seconds later, Gionta line slapper past a surprised Vokoun. It's a gift and the game tied at 6.

- This game is totally out of control. Goaltenders are shooting range targets.

- Defense has been tossed out the window by both sides. Right now it's just two teams flailing punches, last to score wins.

- Crazy pressure by Desharnais line with Markov and Subban at the line. Couldn't get a shot through on Vokoun. This game needs overtime. It's been too wild not to have some bonus play.

- Overtime it is. I greatly approve.

Overtime:

- Win or lose at the very least, Habs will extend their points streak to 11. That's pretty impressive.

- Oy. Gorges and Subban both break to the passer freeing up Sutter, who all alone beats Price, who hasn't had his best night, on the glove side. Heckuva game, though.

Pregame Preview:

Are we in first place, still? Man, the Bruins just won't lose. Another win today over the cratering Tampa Bay Lightening (is Guy Boucher next on the coaching chopping block?) 3-2, the Bolts blowing a 2-0 lead.

Oh well. Can't fret over stuff that you can't control. Tonight Le Boys have a bona fied challenge on their hands as they take on the Pens, who are going to make one visit to the Bell Centre this year - tonight. That's it.

Habs side - Rene Bourque is on the IR - that concussion looking more and more long term with every passing day. Not good.

Pens side - these guys score - a lot. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Chris Kunitz, James Neal ... etc., etc., Carey Price and the most excellent Habs defense will have their hands full. That defense will have to be extra excellent tonight.

Tomas Vokoun, yes, that Tomas Vokoun, will start for the Pens, probably because he's played the Habs at a ridiculous .925 SP over the years. So if it ain't broke, don't go with Marc Andre Fleury, right?

Puck drops 7:15 EST. ENJOY THE GAME.

Game Forty-Seven: Habs v Pens

Well, here we go ... into the "do-or-die" weekender featuring back-to-back games versus opponents the Habs are desperately trying to track down for that final playoff berth.

As of this afternoon, it appears that Budaj will get the start tonight, a not altogether surprise in light of Price's so-so game against the Caps.

Budaj lost the only game he every played in Pittsburgh while he played for Colorado (4-1 ... two were empty netters).

First Period:

- Never hurts to get off to a fast start, with a little luck thrown in. 1-0.

- Pacioretty in a fight. Did well, but he does have a previously injured hand. Not exactly a smart move.

- Comedy of errors ties the game. First Plekanec falls on his behind (perhaps slightly interfered?), Campoli forgets to cover his goal, and Budaj badly misplays a rather harmless backhander by Letang.

- And right after Letang's goal, following a turnover in the neutral zone, Cole cashes in a easy one past Fleury off a rebound. Pens D is *really* soft. 2-1
Habs.

- PP goes to work. Let's see if they're just as bad as Washington.

- Yup. Just as bad. Pens could have killed that blindfolded.

- That said, Pens' offense has really stumbled out of the gate. Almost no scoring chances, save the gift goal provided earlier.

- Plekanec *another* shorthanded break, outstanding play by Letang who dives at the last moment to knock the puck away.

- Budaj ain't exactly brimming with confidence tonight, really fighting to find the puck around his crease.

- Subban poor puck control at the line gives Pens a 3-on-1, Budaj a sparkling glove save on Adams. Didn't I just post he was fighting the puck? #wrongagain

- I could be wrong, but this Pens team looks nothing like the Pens that dominated the Habs 4-1 earlier this season. Offense not nearly as coordinated, defense seemingly soft as a Teddy bear. But there's plenty of hockey left to play.

- Plexiglass slab just fell out, nearly on top of the ref. Cue 10 minute delay.

- Desperate times. Plekanec now playing blue line on the powerplay again. Hey, if it didn't work before surely it'll suddenly start working now, right?

- Pens outshot Habs 10-6, but that total not nearly representing the balance of play.

Second Period:

- Even though he scored the game's first goal, Eller just 4 shifts, barely 2 1/2 minutes of time in the first. For whatever reason, welcome to the doghouse Lars.

- Wow. Did the Habs just score a powerplay goal?

- Pacioretty just went to he dressing room. So is it his hand?

- Patches back on the bench. Doesn't exactly look comfortable.

- Yet more evidence that Habs would just do best to decline the penalty. Subban with an unconsciously lazy turnover via a unnecessary blind pass in his own zone and the Pens score shorthanded. /headslap

- If I'm Cunneyworth, I staple Subban to the bench for that play alone.

- Subban getting reamed out by Ladouceur on the bench. That's appropriate - making players accountable for making mistakes that ought never be made at the NHL level.

- Pens offense shifting to a higher gear since that shorthanded goal, Budaj getting pelted. Just. Decline. The. Penalty.

- Darche saves a goal with a tremendous back check on Jeffrey one way, Cole sets up Pacioretty for a pretty goal the other. Hockey is funny that way. 4-2 Habs.

- Habs obviously trying to follow the Caps model for victory. Four goals on just 8 shots so far.

- Somebody's listening. Subban no shifts so far since that gaffe.

- Subban just sent on the ice.

- Kostitsyn a pretty/determined pass to Cole who had Fleury dead to rights, but misses the gaping net with a backhander. Visibly reacts "how the heck did I miss that?"

- Kostitsyn/Cole clicking tonight, tossup for who's played a stronger game. They've both been very good, very aggressive on the puck.

- Pens turn over, Moen a beautiful pass to Plekanec who deflects it off the crossbar. Three goal lead headed to the 3rd woulda been nice.

- Plekanec workhorse 14 minutes through 40 minutes, Eller just 6.

Third Period:

- See, that's why you want that three goal lead. Campoli with a half-hearted clearance attempt that's easily intercepted, and Jeffrey with a wrister that Budaj probably should have stopped. 4-3.

- Habs in trap mode. But there's still 10 minutes left. #thiswonthold

- 8 minutes left. No way they can ride this out. Nonetheless, here we go.

- Cole takes arguable interference call. Here we go.

- Pens blow it. Kunitz with a terribly dumb penalty, hitting Gorges late along the boards. Gorges slow to get up.

- Neal another long distance wrist shot that Budaj just barely saves. 5 agonizingly long minutes left.

- This game is bringing back memories of the Habs fabled run to the Eastern Finals. Just. Barely. Hanging. On.

- And there it is. Sigh.

- Not going to rub it in and say that saw that coming a mile away, but really, you can't go into prevent mode with 10 minutes left. It is just not going to work.

- So yeah. That was an interesting little experiment, but Carey Price tomorrow night.

- 14-6 SOG in that period. It looked more like 34-6.

Overtime:

- The Canadiens' nemesis this year, among many. Playing extra time.

- Since the Pens are a team the Habs are attempting to catch, giving up that late goal also automatically surrendered a point in the standings, no matter what.

- Emelin with a clinic on how to correctly play against the 2-on-1. Hans have nothing going offensively so far.

- Eller, who's had the benefit of barely playing tongiht, figures 'I might as well do this all by myself'. And nearly does. Pens call time.

- Neal doesn't forget. Tried a wrist shot on Budaj from 30 feet. Fortunately blocked.

- Shootout. Oh well. At least it isn't Price in goal. #grabbingatstraws.

- I just can't look. Dread filling my body.

- Scott Gomez is one of the three?? Really?

- Budaj really looked good first shot.

- Malkin shows us how it's done.

- Kostitsyn breaks his stick on his shot. Oh man.

- Gomez to keep them in it. Oh man.

- And Gomez, why he was chosen I'll never know, can't score. And the Habs drop to 1-7 in shootouts. Wow. Just wow.

Game Six: Habs v. Pens

- One of the challenges of living on the western side of the continent are these 7 pm starts, which is 5 pm my time. Getting from the office to the tv before the puck is dropped is often impossible. I hope I've not missed too much.

- Great scramble save by Price 8 minutes in. He's really looked much more confident since the very forgettable game against Tampa.

- Shouldn't have made that last post. Some flailing defense by Gorges/Subban and a weak-ish shot eludes Price, 1-0 Pens.

- Gomez injured? Equipment problem? RDS showing him leaving bench for dressing room.

- Habs attack can only be properly described as listless so far. Pens can cruise if this is all Montreal has to offer.

- Pacioretty is taken off the Desharnais line and paired with Cole. One assumes Martin is doing this to get Cole off his slow start. But to break up what was by far the Habs most productive and dangerous line seems rather foolish. The Habs so far not nearly as dangerous offensively as they have been the past week.

- Pens really circulate the puck nicely on the PP. Price with a desperation save to keep the game close.

- Pens fairly dominative in the first. Habs just 8 shots, none particularly difficult for Fleury to handle. Pacioretty/Cole pairing didn't seem to click, will see if Martin does some switchbacks in the 2nd.

Second Period:

- Nope. Martin starts the period with Pleks/Patches/Cole combo.

- Gomez done for the night. Wonder if it's anything to do with his pre-season injury reaggreivated?

- Emilin with a *horrible* clearance, Pens lead 2-0. The sloppy defensive issues emerging again. How long till Markov and Spacek are back??

- Pacioretty took a thunderous hit along the boards. Very slow to get up.

- Habs PP looks lost. Again I question the wisdom of positioning Plekanec at the line. It's effectively neutralizing one of your better (if not your best) playmakers.

- Canadiens completely laking intensity with the man advantage. Almost four straight minutes, Fleury had no difficult shots to handle. Traffic in front of the Pens net is virtually zero.

- No shifts for Patches since taking that hit. Another Habs injury??

- Just took a shift so he seems to be okay (relieved).

- Habs getting plenty of PP opportunities, but they look so awful with the man advantage, does it really matter. Team really needs to get some traffic in the crease.

- Not counting the OT, Habs have played 18 periods this year and have two PP goals to show for their efforts. Terrible.

- Subban with a (probably) illegal hit on Matt Cooke's face. How nice was that to see?

- Boarding call on Gionta. Huh??

- Pens showing Habs how to do a PP. Good traffic in front, creating quality chances on Price.

- Habs actually outshot Pens in the second. Coulda fooled me.

Third Period:

- Game can still be won, but this team will have to come out with a totally different game plan based on its forwards aggressively pushing the Pens' net.

- Pacioretty driving the Pens net, getting a scoring chance. More, please.

- Really? That's a goal? Stick looked well above what's legal.

- Ruled good. Wow. Well that's it. Goodnight and have a safe drive home.

- Not quite ready to push the panic button, but two disturbing trends. Habs have failed to score first in every game (except the Jets'), and on 5-4 powerplay, team has zero goals in 18 periods. Specialty teams are rather, well, terrible. The Kirk Muller factor?