Game 52: Habs vs. Flyers

Philadelphia 3, Montreal 1:

FIRST PERIOD:

- Habs kinda swarm out of the gate, and hey now, Nikita Nesterov scores his first as a Hab with a beauty slapper top corner, 1-0 Canadiens. Nikita, with Barberio gone, it's kind of on your shoulders to fill the gap. No pressure, or anything.

- Still kinda mystified Flyers scratched Gostisbehere. No way you'll convince me Schultz makes this Flyers team anything other than an easier opponent to play. Same goes for having Weise in the lineup. Always prefer playing an opponent with deadweight in their lineup.

- Radulov off and flying again tonight, which is almost become old hat this season. But keep an eye on him to maybe have another big night.

- Simmonds is such a tremendous, but wasted hockey talent. Anywhere else but this nowhere Flyers organization would be wonderful not only for him, but the game of hockey.

- Flyers play a pretty untidy game - little flow and chemistry, zone entires look more improvised than organized. It's almost amazing they're still fighting for a post-season spot.

- Flyers outshooting Habs 10-5, but to be perfectly honest, it really wasn't much of a period for Philly - the Habs utilizing their speed to keep the Flyers mostly contained to their zone. The only big criticism for the Habs was their inability to generate more scoring chances, an issue that's dogged this team most of the season (and appears to be rearing its head tonight). Still, solid period for the Canadiens against a pretty lacklustre opponent.

SECOND PERIOD:

- It's always telling when a team has double the registered shots on goal, but is behind in even strength possession. That's the Flyers in the 1st period - simply putting (mostly) meek shots on goal doesn't cut it in the NHL:

- Not predicting the gates will open in this period, but Flyers have been a good 2nd period scoring team this year - 58 goals, 5th best in the NHL (Habs are 9th with 54).

- Habs have to do a better job getting the puck on Mason, who we mentioned isn't having a very good season. When you're facing an opponent whose netminder has only stopped on average 9/10 shots, priority one is getting shots away, forget the pretty stuff.

- First powerplay is kind of a total mess, zero clean entires made, zero puck control in the Flyers zone, and zero game momentum generated.

- Predictably, the Flyers have gained a little hop in their step after killing their penalty. Habs getting pressured significantly in their zone.

- We surmised the 2nd might be a little more open. We were wrong. Both teams finding ways of muffing up scoring plays. Mason and Price little tested this period. It's rather dreadful hockey.

- Gudas is a piece of junk hockey player. Good riddance here:

Gudas tries to line up Radulov... pic.twitter.com/hgkQbhT1lq

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) February 3, 2017

- Flyers have attempted to generate some offence by intensifying their O-zone forecheck - it hasn't really paid off, as Habs are bottling up the middle, and Price (once again) is playing very sound goaltending, really square to the puck.

- Habs zone exits have been pretty wretched tonight. Flyers aren't doing anything extraordinary in the neutral zone, Montreal just can't complete relatively simple passes.

- Andrew Shaw has arrived, and has taken his usual dumb-assed penalty for the evening. Here's hoping it's contained to one.

- Shaw's stupidity means, of course, Price has to carry the water by bailing his team out on the PK. Ain't fair.

- Oh well never mind, Giroux ties the game. Thanks again, Andrew.

- Habs are sucking out the joint, the Flyers are playing bad hockey, and ought to be easy pickings. But a passive offence that seems intent on finding ways of not generating quality shots against a goaltender that's been bad most of the year, combined with the usual stupid plays of Andrew Shaw, and voila - two easy points are going past the board.

THIRD PERIOD:

- Even split after 40 minutes, a total wasted opportunity of a game for the Habs tonight. Maddening.

- Galchenyuk with Pacioretty and Radulov? I think it might be ...

- Weber makes a poor attempt to keep the puck on Flyers half of centre surrendering a 2-on-1 break which Emelin plays far too passively, Read with a nice slap shot that Price likely would want a 2nd try, and boom, it's 2-1 Flyers. 

- What is Emelin doing here, apart from (I guess?) making himself appear as though he's trying by flopping on his belly? Abysmal:

Read beats Price. 2-1 Flyers. pic.twitter.com/pjXD72MQaB

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) February 3, 2017

- This from Twitter (h/t @SColemanCTV), Habs PK when Andrew Shaw does something stupid is just 70% this season. So yeah, his decision making and discipline has hurt his team this season, including tonight.

- FWIW: Andrew Shaw update since that interference penalty: 0 shifts, 0:00 TOI. Thank you, Michel Therrien.

- Almost zero urgency from this team, and there's barely more than 2 minutes left in regulation. 

- Now Pacioretty is stuck with Desharnais, oh god, make it stop. And Brian Flynn sent out with 2 minutes left. Kidding, right??

- It's time to seriously start considering moving Weber and Emelin apart, permanently. Weber with ... Petry or Markov, fine. Emelin down to the 3rd line, even better. But they need to be separated.

- Do the Habs know this is the 3rd period? They're playing as though it's 2-1 with a minute left in the 2nd. Just abysmal. 

- Don't even know where to start with how awful the Canadiens were tonight. Just a pathetic passive effort against a sub-average hockey team. Very few if any highlights, apart from Andrew Shaw rightly getting benched for the night after taking a selfish and stupid penalty which directly contributed to his team's loss. Anyway, how can this team possibly excuse such a performance with a nearly totally healthy roster? One of the worst collective performances by this team this season.

GAME PREVIEW: WE HATED THE FLYERS, BUT NOW WE'RE "MEH"

Okay, before we get into the game tonight, a little bit about losing Mark Barberio, who was claimed off waivers this morning by the god-awful Colorado Avalanche.

First thought - I cannot fathom that Habs G.M. Marc Bergevin actually thought that Barberio would clear, not with teams with defences that resemble war crimes (i.e. Colorado's). I watched some of the Avs/Kings game last night. Good lord - how have the Avs even managed to win 13 games this season? Anyway, Bergevin had to know that Barberio was going to get snapped up, which leads us to point two:

Why would you willingly just surrender an asset? We've been down this road before with Bergevin. We only have to turn the clock back a few months to find another example - specifically, when Bergevin took a young (albeit struggling, but still), big defenseman in Jarred Tinordi and gave him away to Arizona in return for the absolutely useless body of John Scott. Now, setting aside the issue of Tinordi's recent issues with doping, the fact remains that Bergevin simply gave away an asset without receiving any return. Just like what happened with Barberio this morning.

Thing is, one could even rationalize the Tinordi giveaway - the Habs needed to clear a contract, or for that matter, a spot that could go towards signing someone else to a professional contract. With Barberio, however, there is no rationale for losing him because, and this is the key point - he didn't have to be put on waivers in the first place. Instead, Bergevin could have sent two forwards back to St. John's (Daniel Carr and Jacob De La Rose would have sufficed). Like Carr who was sent down Tuesday, De La Rose didn't need to clear.

Instead, for reasons that I cannot understand, Bergevin chose keeping De La Rose up, and putting Barberio on waivers.

Point being here - this is bad asset management.

Anyway, there's a game to be played tonight, and it's against the Flyers, who we hate, but not as much as we used to. You remember what it used to be like 20 years ago after Serge Savard handed Philadelphia all of our best players. The Flyers sadistically beat us like stuffed doll for 10 straight years, and oh - we hated every minute. But now? Meh. The Flyers are a mediocre team who the Habs, on most given nights, usually don't present too much of a challenge. The rivalry just ain't there any more.

The Flyers are currently clinging to the 2nd wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, and haven't exactly been lighting the League up since the start of the new year, with 5 wins in 12 games, the latest a 5-1 loss at the hands of the sneaky good Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night. In response to that drubbing, Flyers coach Dave Hakstol is scratching youngsters Travis Konecny and Shayne Gostisbehere for deadweight "vets" Nick Schultz and (drum roll please) Dale Weise!!

Oh, Dale Weise. The Flyers signed Weise this summer to a 4-year contract, a decision that I'm sure has cause significant buyer's remorse amongst the Philadelphia front office suits. Weise has a paltry 5 points to show for his 41 games played this season - a production level so dismal that up until tonight's game, he'd been a healthy scratch since January 14th.

Anyway, big issue with Philadelphia is, as it has been since the early 1990s -  (taa daa!) goaltending. Number one guy Steve Mason has some pretty weak numbers - 2.90 GAA and a .900 Sv%. That save percentage is the 2nd worst among goaltenders who have played at least 30 games this season - only Jake Allen has been more terrible, and Allen is a bar that's currently buried 6 feet underground.

Other than their putrid goaltending, the Flyers play a pretty decent game - good possession stats, they generate decent shot totals, play fairly well on the backend. But put pucks on their net, and watch out.

The Habs, meanwhile, carry an almost totally healthy lineup into Philly tonight - everyone except for Brendan Gallagher, is game-ready, including Alex Galchenyuk, who returns to action after sitting out more than week after "re-aggravating" his knee injury. Galchenyuk will center the Habs 3rd line, alongside Sven Andrighetto and Andrew Shaw.

It's Mason versus Carey Price. Puck drops at 7:10 EST.

Game 12: Flyers vs. Habs

THIRD PERIOD:

- Habs totally dominated in that 2nd period with just 3 shots on goal, and yet they have the lead. We've seen this before, and we'll undoubtably see it many more times again:

- Does it go without saying the Habs cannot play their 3rd like they played their 2nd? But then we wonder, does it even matter?

- More interesting line juggles, Danault playing with Galchenyuk and Radulov.

- Habs 4th line gifted a goal, as Neuwirth totally misplays the puck behind his net, handing the puck over to Mitchell, who feeds Danault in front for a wide open net, and it's 4-2. Fylers sloppy zone play just too much to overcome, even if they have dominated the Habs zone for most of this game. This is how bad teams like the Flyers lose. They find ways.

- Plekanec doing about as much as he can to score a goal. Pushing the other guy into the net. Anything and everything. But it's not working out.

- Shaw with a 4 minute penalty. Habs hoping their PK doesn't revert to last night's form, or we could still have ourselves a hockey game here.

- Uh-oh. Simmonds with a nice screen off a Giroux shot, it's 4-3 with lotttttttttta time left on the clock. Just the 2nd shorthanded goal given up by the Habs at home this season. Flyers still with a man advantage.

- Plecks. Finally. F-i-n-a-l-l-y hits the scoresheet, after the Flyers brutally fail to cover their zone after the puck is fired out around the boards on the PK. Plekanec with a simple, totally stoppable slapper with the puck on its edge that Neuwirth totally whiffs on. Habs regain their 2 goal lead, as the Flyers can't stop handing out gifts.

- Tonight's game hasn't been so much the Habs being better than last night (although that's not much of a hurdle to clear), but more so the Flyers goaltending, or lack thereof. Habs muster 5 goals on 17 shots, that's an unacceptable NHL ratio.

- Silly soft holding call on Mitchell, refs doing their part to try to get the Flyers back into this game.

- Of course, the Flyers score. And we have ourselves a game with just over 3 minutes left.

- Del Zotto loses his mind and gets nailed for interference with just over 2 minutes left. Killer penalty. Another example of how bad teams find ways of losing.

- Things that make your head spin - with time running down, Habs ice the puck, while on the powerplay. Faceoff next to Price. Incredible.

- Draw won, puck cleared, Habs find a way of hanging on. Same old formula - the Canadiens were vastly outplayed most of the night, although this time it wasn't Carey Price required to stand on his head, it was Michal Neuvirth who tossed a very poor start, which basically gifted the Habs their win tonight. The fundamental flaws of this team remain present. Poor puck possession, poor transition, soft defence and inconsistent offence. And now, the Canadiens hit a tough(er) part of their season schedule. The next two weeks should give us a pretty clear indication of just how truly dysfunctional this team really is.


FIRST PERIOD:

- Phasers locked, full steam ahead!!! Michel Therrien says no lineup changes for tonight. I mean, why fix something that ain't broke, amiright?

- Gary Galley who's the Sportsnet analyst tonight, just said the Habs are "known for the transition game." He meant that in a positive way.  He's actually paid for hockey analysis.

- Galchenyuk line with a strong first shift, and that's followed up by Desharnais deflecting a Markov shot to give Habs an early 1-0 lead. Flyers very sloppy in their own zone early.

- I suppose the Habs are playing with a little bit of pride early, so them coming out storming isn't altogether a surprise. The question is whether this is sustained over three periods.

- Markov credited with opening goal, not Desharnais. So double-bonus there.

- Poor faceoff taken by the Habs next to prince, Mitchell with bad draw, Flynn and Pateryn skate to the wrong spots, leaving VandeVelde totally unchecked to take a snapshot top corner to tithe game. Good example of the Habs failing to execute something that is very routine, in this case, taking a faceoff and going where you're supposed to if you lose the draw.

- Uh-oh. Keystone cops routine with Markov, Petry and Lehknonen, total chaos in their own zone after coughing up the puck at the Philly line, with Gostisbehere eventually joining the confusion and snapping the puck in right in front of Price. Habs look like a team that hasn't practiced in a month. 2-1 Flyers.

- And Pateryn answers back just second later to even the game. This looks to be a rough night ahead for goaltenders. The Flyers defense plays a very active part of their offence, while the Habs defence in general is complete disorganized.

- Both teams have been pretty awful defending their slots tonight, we're seeing lots of shots coming from there, much of it screened.

- Carey Price getting a pretty good taste of what Montoya had to endure last night. Shoddy zone coverage, forwards losing their assignments, defenseman leaving their spots. It's pretty ugly.

- Somebody must have been listening, Gallagher is placed next to Plekanec, and the immediate effect are improved scoring attempts.

- Lehknonen really struggling, holding the stick too tight, misses glorious setup by Radulov and whiffs the pass with wide open net.

- I guess that's an improvement? Score is at least even, instead of 3-0. That said, Habs still are playing slopping, undisciplined hockey, particularly in their own zone. This team's breakouts are particularly rancid, but that's been an issue since game 1. Anyway, Price will probably have to dig extra deep tonight to keep his team competitive against these Flyers, because the guys in front of him aren't doing a very competent job.


SECOND PERIOD:

- Habs/Flyers after 20, Habs slight CF advantage (SA 5v5) 51.3, but Fenwick just 42.3%, largely due to some pretty bad defence:

- Flyers 2nd powerplay looked pretty good, focus seems to be point shots, looking for either deflection or rebound. They're setting up well.

- Beaulieu/Pateryn pairing completely overwhelmed by the Couturier line, bailed out by Price making his best save of the night with his mitt off a laser snap shot by Voracek. Flyers are doing a far more effective job line matching, especially in this period, and are beginning to pull away both in shot attempts, and puck possession. Habs are just kinda hanging around.

- Habs fist powerplay is a mess, poor passing, poor setup, no shots registered. Habs have zero shots in the period, and there's just 5 minutes left.

- Apparently Habs did register a shot on goal with 6 minutes left. I must have blinked. In any case, this period has been yet another embarrassing display of hockey.

- Absurdities abound, with the Flyers at about at 70% 5v5 CF this period, Galchenyuk scores on just the 2nd shot of their period off a wonderful period by the team's best forward, Radulov, and ... stop me if you've read this before, the totally outplayed Montreal Canadiens take the lead.


GAMEDAY GAME PREVIEW: NOWHERE TO GO BUT UP, RIGHT?!

Okay, let's first get the dumb-tweet-of-the-month award out of the way:

Leaving Montoya in for all 10 goals was 100% WRONG. I have never seen a hockey goalie stay in for 10 goals against, not even in minor hockey

— Tony Marinaro (@TonyMarinaro) November 5, 2016

Ooooh, hot take alert!!  DOWN IMPOSSIBLE SCORE SHOULDA PUT CAREY IN THERE SO HE COULD GET HURT AGAIN. I GET PAID $$$ FOR THESE GREAT HOT TAKES.

Anyway, regular readers of this blog, assuming said person exists, knows very well I'm not the biggest fan of Michel Therrien. So it may come as a surprise to said person that I'll go to the wall defending Therrien in his decision to leave poor Al Montoya in the game to face the wolves, followed by the lions, then a little of the hyenas, a couple of fire breathing dragons, and for the final five minutes of the 3rd period, shaved naked and covered in mayonnaise for a starved pack of honey badgers.

Point being, Montoya was not good last night, which made him the 2nd best player on the ice for his team. 10-0 was the score with the opponent not really even trying the last half of the "contest". It made no difference who was in goal - the Montreal Canadiens do not play very good hockey. They haven't in more than four seasons. They preach "grit" and "character" and "leadership", all traits that have diddly-squat with how games are won in the NHL these days, and punish "creativity", which has everything to do with how games are won in the NHL these days. Last night the Canadiens' approach to hockey was exposed as the sham that it represents.

But all is well, you see. Because Carey Price is back in goal tonight, and that means the Canadiens are the best team in the NHL again! Everything is fine!

Tonight's opponent, the Philadelphia Flyers, oughtta be drooling with anticipation. They have the special privileged facing an opponent that just came off one of the worst defeats in modern NHL history. Plus, the Flyers have been given the added bonus of a bolstered lineup. Michael Del Zotto will return to action tonight, his first game since the preseason when he suffered a knee injury. The game tonight also marks the return of ex-Habs Dale Weise, who's found a nice home in Philly even though this season he's not being improperly deployed as a first line winger.

Speaking of, here's how the Flyers, with the highest scoring defense in the NHL, will stack up tonight:

Schenn/Giroux/Simmonds
Konecny/Couturier/Voracek
Read/Bellemare/Lyubimov
VandeVelde/Cousins/Weise

Del Zotto/Gostisbehere
Provorov/MacDonald
Gudas/Streit

Michal Neuvirth

The Habs? What can ya say? It can't possibly go any worse than last night, right? But that was the same opinion tossed around yesterday about the game Wednesday against Vancouver.

Let's get this straight - the Desharnais/Pacioretty/Shaw thing? Not working. At all. Habs have been in a SA and possession tailspin since that line came into being. Thomas Plekanec? Not working. Therrien has been trying every possible combination to get the turtleneck specialist to start producing, none of it has panned out.

The only combination that has some spark has been Galchenyuk/Radulov/Lehkonen. So leave that alone, and put Gallagher next to Plekanec. It hasn't been tried, and it's worth a shot.

Puck drops at the Bell Centre 7:10 EST.

Game 6: Flyers vs Habs

THIRD PERIOD:

- Habs and Flyers after 40 minutes of play. Habs CF dropping all the way down to 45.2%. 

- As we mentioned earlier, the Flyers defence is not fleet afoot. Surprised the Habs gameplan didn't take advantage of this by carrying the puck in more than their usual dump-and-chase strategy.

- As the period progresses, it appears more and more the Habs are attempting to play for at least a point. Taking few offensive chances, lots of icings, and defence is really playing positionally cautious.

- Flyers shot attempts first half of the period better than 4-to-1 ratio more than the Canadiens, which is all kinds of bad if you're Montreal. 

- Radulov, holy crap. What a blast. One time pass from Weber (irony!) to set up a cannon slap shot that Mason probably didn't even see. Habs powerplay connects, and Montreal leads 2-1 with 7 minutes left.

- Apparently, Gallagher deflected that Radulov shot in, which was all kinds of amazing.

- Carey Price time to shine. Flyers are seriously in tough. They'll need something like that Gallagher goal to salvage at least a point.

- We puzzled about it when the shift was made to start the 2nd period, but the Weber/Emelin combo has easily been the Habs best pairing tonight. 

- Habs really retreating hard to their own zone, shutting down Flyers ability to organize a half-decent shot attempts. Flyers are opening up now, Desharnais just missed a glorious chance in front of Mason.

- Carey Price as per usual, does the Carey Price thing, and tonight's big start, Radulov, puts it into the empty net. That's your difference as we anticipated. Any game up for grabs with Price in the net provides an inherent advantage. Habs keep the wins going. 

FIRST PERIOD:

- A little news was mentioned this morning about the Habs making some tweaks to their powerplay, in which they'll switch out Markov to add another forward, specifically Radulov. The Habs did this last year, using Plekanec, to mostly unsuccessful results. It really doesn't matter who the Habs send out there, if their powerplay doesn't have their forward pushing the slot, they'll continue to get mediocre results.

- Both defences aren't exactly Speedy Gonzalez, which means guys like Byron and Galchenyuk might get their share of chances tonight.

- Oooh, Habs first new look powerplay. Here we go.

- Let's not be too harsh here, but safe to say Radulov stumbled out of the new look powerplay gate.

- Anyway, unless and until the Habs modify their approach, they'll still be bottom third in the League with the man advantage. This means being more efficient gaining the zone, not being so emphatic with perimeter passing, and not obsessing over point shots from Shea Weber, who struggles with accuracy.

- Wayne Simmonds with a clear check from behind on Markov, sending Andre head first into the boards. Once again, this is the crap the NHL must eliminate, and whose officials refuse to penalize. Anyway, where's Andrew Shaw? We might seem him have more than a word with Simmonds before this night is over.

- One explanation is one of the refs, Chris Schlenker, is officiating his first NHL game. Having been in the system, I can tell you that minor league officiating does a very poor job preparing officials for making tough, but necessary calls - like checking from behind. Focus is far too much on game management (not making calls), and far too less on protecting the safety of its players.

- Kirk Muller was just interviewed at the bench by RDS, said he didn't like what he saw from the first powerplay (well, that's not a stretch), and that he's wanting "more shots". That sounds rather simplistic to me, but then again, it was just a 20 second interview.

- Ho-hum period of hockey, both team offences weren't very organized, speciality units were pretty bad, both Price and Mason faced virtually nothing of difficulty. Mostly a period of attrition by two teams that have enjoyed an early season of favourable puck luck. When teams like that face each other, the net result is usually bad and boring hockey.

SECOND PERIOD:

- Nobody would fault you for nodding off during that 1st period. Anyway, Habs had slight puck advantage, 5v5 CF was 56.6%

- Habs 3rd line, the Desharnais line, continues to be a pleasant early season surprise for the Canadiens. Perhaps, just perhaps, Desharnais is thriving more not having to deal with the assumed pressure of being a top-6 forward. He's shown good chemistry with Byron and Shaw.

- The 2nd period has been the Flyers period this season - 12 of the 19 goals they've scored has come during this frame.

- Blue line shakeup! Weber paired with ... Emelin? HRMMM.

- No idea what's happening with Habs defence, except that it appears that Beaulieu has possibly entered Michel Therrien's doghouse.

- Habs powerhouse line tonight has been their 4th line. Which is all you need to know about how good (or terrible) this game has been.

- Excellent hustle by Radulov to win the puck behind the Flyers net, feed the line to Weber for a one timer that changes directions, and beats a blind Mason. Habs puck luck continues to dazzle this season.

- Not sure what Radulov ate for breakfast, but he's been a monster this period. Flyers would be best to just step out of the way.

- Habs 2nd powerplay, again Radulov at the point, but Galchenyuk is yanked for Desharnais. Uhh ... kay?

- Flyers tie it up, Voracek deflectng a Giroux point shot, Habs Petry and Markov not doing a very good job defending the slot.

- At this point, I think Muller is just tossing out different player combinations with the man advantage - trying to find something of a spark. That's fine early in the season, the best time to experiment. Still, this team has to do better gaining the zone. Fundamentally, that's where the dysfunction originates from.

- A slightly less awful period of hockey, but still, full sympathies to anyone who paid to see this game live. Both teams struggling to generate anything resembling momentum - passing has been poor, translation game has been disorganized, and zone entries ... mainly dump and chase affairs. This game is pretty much up for grabs - probably favouring the Canadiens with Price in net, but that aside, whomever wins tonight, it won't be a stellar 2 points. 

GAMEDAY GAME PREVIEW:

Alright, first let's get the lineups taken care of. Here's the Flyers:

Schenn/Giroux/Simmonds
Konecny/Couturier/Voracek
Cousins/Bellamare/Read
VandeVelde/Gordon/Lyubimov

MacDonald/Gostisbehere
Provorov/Manning
Schultz/Streit

Steve Mason

And the Habbies, same as the lineup Saturday night against the Bruins:

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

Markov/Weber
Beaulieu/Petry
Pateryn/Emelin

Carey Price

Alright, bad news. No Dale Weise! In case you hadn't seen or heard, Weise is in the middle of serving a three game suspension for this:



Oh, Dale. We love ya, but you never were the sharpest tool in the hockey shed. Anyway, since Dale isn't playing, it freed up time for him to give interviews, including one to Montreal reporter Amanda Stein, when he was quoted saying this:

An interesting perspective, but nothing we didn't already suspect. In a season that was full of Habs management pointing fingers at everyone else but themselves, you know - all part of the "no excuses" culture, it follows that the likes of Marc Bergevin and Michel Therrien would ostracize Subban to shade their own failings.

Anyway, tonight's game. The Flyers are coming off a win Saturday night against Carolina, which broke a 3 game losing streak for Philadelphia, who've struggled early out of the gate. But then, just look at that lineup. Sure, the Flyers have an excellent first line, a midling 2nd line, and studs like Gostisbehere on their blue line, but after that, things really go down a steep hill. The Flyers are putting up early numbers that indicate wins will be tough to find this season - ranked 24th in EV Corsi, a passive offence with a 26th ranked S/GP, and a weak PK, something the organization has been struggling with for the past few years, still ranked near the bottom of the League in effectiveness. If there is one saving grace for the Flyers it's been their PDO, 5th ranked at 103.1, largely because of the Flyers' ridiculous shooting percentage early in the season - 13.9% - by far the best in the NHL. If it wasn't for the Flyers knack for finding the net, they could easily be 0-5, instead of 2-2-1.

One interesting stat to take note of - the defensive zone starts. The Flyers have been excellent here - just 25% of their faceoffs have been in their zone this season - likely in part because Philadelphia likes to play an aggressive forecheck, in part because their defence does a pretty decent job initiating transition.

Over in Habsland, it's full steam ahead, with the Canadiens now the only NHL team that hasn't suffered a regulation loss. As we mentioned yesterday, the underlying numbers so far indicate the Habs have enjoyed the benefit of significant puck luck, in combination with very good goaltending. It's not a matter of if, but when, the Habs luck will regress to the norm. Likely sooner rather than later. Whether the Canadiens can still muster up victories without the bounces is a looming question.

Puck drops tonight at 7:40 EST.

Game 59: Gone Beyond the Point of No Return

La Presse.

GONE BEYOND THE POINT OF NO RETURN

The problems now facing the Montreal Canadiens in a season that's gone horribly, horribly wrong, has gone from the routine to the profound.  This is no longer a team like any other about to miss the playoffs. This is a team that's coming apart at the seams, with its General Manager standing firmly behind a dysfunctionally bad coaching staff, and the head coach willing to publically humiliate and scorn the club's franchise player.

In other words, the Canadiens are no longer playing in a losing environment, but a poisonous one. The possible consequences to this franchise, both short and long term, are dangerous and dire.

It all could have been avoided a month ago. Coming off a New Year's Day trouncing of the Boston Bruins, the Habs seemed to have regained form that had been missing from their game throughout the month of December. There was reason to believe that the swoon was an aberration. But as January progressed, the team went into another losing spiral, culminating in a bad loss 4-1 loss to the same Bruins team, the Canadiens' 5th straight defeat.

Bergevin, perhaps sensing that the vultures were circling, was faced with a stark choice. Either to stand behind or dismiss his beleaguered coach.

The choice, in retrospect, was relatively easy for Bergevin. Even though Therrien had been his hand-picked choice to manage the players less than 3 years previously, and even though he had only a few months earlier extended Therrien's contract through 2018, the public mood had turned sour. For three seasons, the Habs thrived, although many suspected in was in spite of Therrien, and mainly because of all-world performances by Carey Price. With Price gone for most of this season due to a knee injury, the facade vanished. The Canadiens, it turns out, were never a good team after all.

The anxst about Therrien didn't start or end with Price. For weeks leading up to that fateful January 21st day, observers of the team began to question Therrien's game tactics, specifically the manner in how he was allocating ice times for his players. Chronic underperformers like David Desharnais and Dale Weise were regularly getting the lion's share of playing time, while consistent producers, most glaringly Alex Galchenyuk, were often struggling to get top-6 minutes, and on some nights, even top-9 minutes.

So even with the contract extension, Bergevin could have dismissed Therrien, and would have almost certainly retained public support, save for the very small minority of fans that steadfastly believe that coaching has very little to do with the Canadiens' on-ice problems.

However, on that fateful day of January 21st, 2016, instead of taking the easy if not obvious path, Bergevin stood in front of an anxious scrum of media, and gave his coach an unabashed vote of confidence.



Even more fatefully, Bergevin doubled down on his decision to maintain course, full engines ahead, by saying that "regardless of what happens, it's on me."

It was a curious thing to say, even in passing, because not only did Bergevin relieve Michel Therrien of consequences from losing, but made the issue of change revolve around the General Manager's position. Marc Bergevin not only painted himself into a corner, he'd selected the house, the living room and pantone paint colour.

Predictably, save for a brief mini winning streak, the Habs have continued to lose since Bergevin's scrum. The team itself continues to play a dysfunctional game, indicative of bottom-dwellers, the Habs play not to win, but not to lose. The effect has been predictable. Loss piled on top of loss because of silly easily avoidable mistakes by the players. The rot of defeat has infected everyone.

Through it all, Michel Therrien does nothing, or at least, gives off the appearance of someone resigned to defeat. Tired forward lines comprised of players that can't score with each other are tried again and again. Defenders, deathly afraid of getting caught, push pucks, more often than not in futility, up the boards to no one in particular. The goaltenders, fringe NHL backup material at best, repeatedly give up goals that no bonafied NHL netmidner would surrender. The powerplay, now demonstrating nearly two straight full seasons of utter futility, continues to flounder near the bottom of the League.

Through it all, Marc Bergevin stands aside, unwilling to make the ultimate decision to relieve his coach. He's double-downed on his double down. The lines are drawn. There are no consequences for management. Bad decisions on and off the ice, go by the way without repercussion.

Which leads us to last night's debacle in Denver, when P.K. Subban, who by far has been the Canadiens best player this season, who's been on the ice for more than 43% of all Habs goals this season, and on a team that on most nights struggles to score a paltry two goals, sits 4th overall in the NHL in assists. These are outstanding numbers produced by a stellar hockey player. But it doesn't matter. Subban is publically tossed under the bus by his own coach for the crime of trying to win a game for his hockey team.

For Subban, the consequences are dire. Fingers are pointed at him, and he can do nothing, and say nothing in his own defence. Meanwhile, heads around the League turn to Montreal. What the heck is going on over there?

For Michel Therrien? It's just another day at the office. It's nice to have a job where no matter how poorly you perform, no matter what you say, or who you say it to, there are no consequences.

It's been a season of horror for the Montreal Canadiens, unless of course, you're Michel Therrien. If you're him, you're livin' the dream.

Game 51: Habs vs. Flyers

THIRD PERIOD:

- Habs and Flyers after 40 minutes. Habs possession % in that 2nd period was just under 30. Yeah. That's pretty bad.

- Flyers have been doing a whole lotta embellishing tonight, perhaps sensing the officials are not good. It hasn't worked out so far.

- Habs powerplay just ... okay, I know this is spinning wheels because we've been going on about this for nearly half a season, but their powerplay is just so predictable. Permitter passing, then finally a pass to the line for a harmless shot because most everyone else is on the permitter passing the puck. WHY CAN'T THIS BE IDENTIFIED AND CORRECTED?!??

- Very quiet period for Condon, while underlines how this period has gone so far the first 10 minutes - mostly Habs, although the Flyers are doing a pretty good job protecting the area in front of Mason.

- Simmonds again. Left unmarked in the slot. Smith-Pelly not doing his job. Condon hung out to dry. Flyers take the lead. Here we go.

- Gudas with a horrible hip check right below Lessio's knee. Obvious clip. Horrible result, Lessio looks severely injured.

- Gudas gets 5 and a game for clipping. Habs with an enormous opportunity at hand, but they'll need their powerplay to deliver.

- Flyers in the first four minutes of the 5 minute Habs powerplay, get 2 scoring chances. Habs generate 0. Therrien sending out Smith-Pelly. Words ... I'm at a loss.

- Why is Therrien using 4th liners on this powerplay. Is he just trying to lose?

- Absolutely dismal 5 minute powerplay. Just a big fat zero there. How anybody remotely associated with overseeing this unit is still employed is beyond my ability to comprehend.

- They might as well have pulled Condon with that powerplay, because this team isn't capable of scoring with a one man advantage. Two men? Maybe. But one man? Nope.

- ANNNNNNNNNNND ... another loss. Crazy insane. This team can't win under Therrien. The same mistakes being made over and over and over and over and over again, with this coaching staff bewilderingly, expecting somehow to get a different result.

I'm about ready to pitch the towel in.



SECOND PERIOD:

- Habs and Flyers after 20 minutes: 

- Well, that's definitely a positive sign - with Petry scoring off a very nice screen by Smith-Pelly. So a couple of defensemen who've been mired in droughts hit the sheet in less than a period. Game tied.

- Still don't see much in the positive way from the Habs 4th line, which has basically fallen off the map since Torrey Mitchell returned from injury.  Simply not providing the team with any momentum or energy, mainly because most of the action seems to end up in the defensive zone while they're on the ice. Opposing coaches (the smart ones anyway) are line matching this weak line to death.

- Flyers cleary out possessing Habs in this period, but not really generating very many scoring opportunities - no more than the outshot Habs, at the very least.

- Markov gets caught up ice as Giroux is sprung on a break, and Subban makes an incredible play hustling back to make a clean check to prevent not only a goal, but even a shot attempt. Brilliant.

- Officials seem to be unwilling to call violent stick penalties tonight, with many slashes and crosschecks going unpunished. The other soft stuff, though, the hooks and holds, they're right on it. Very inconsistently officiated game so far.

- Habs PK continues to be far too soft in the slot, the Flyers are getting the red carpet treatment right in front of Condon, who's been coming up big in this period.

- Ham-fisted period by the Habs, Flyers getting far too many opportunities, even 5v5. Habs do have a powerplay coming up, perhaps that will give Montreal some badly needed momentum.

- Beaulieu with a totally open net off a cross ice pass, and somehow, he shoots it right back into Mason's body. The play does, however, illustrate the folly playing point men off their off wing, as has been the Habs tendency for most of the season.

- Not a great period for the Habs, which is hard to figure out. They fight their way back into a tie, and should by all means, have plenty of confidence and momentum going forward. However, after the Petry goal, the Habs went into a shell, preferring not to press the Flyers further, but to instead "protect" the tie. So now this team has to scrape it out over 20 minutes for a win against another basement-dwelling opponent. Sigh.

FIRST PERIOD:

- A little late to the action tonight. Habs inserting recently acquired Lucas Lessio into the lineup tonight. He'll see 4th line action. Maybe it'll help what's been a pretty poor playing unit the past two months or so. Maybe  not. 

- Not a good start, with Beaulieu getting nabbed for a hold. Flyers outskating Habs early in this one.

- Really not good start, Simmonds allowed to go right to the front of the net uncheck, and has an easy tip in from a point shot. Gilbert playing really soft in his slot. 1-0 early Flyers. 

- Habs responding well to what ought to have been a deflating opening goal for the Flyers. Aggressive with the puck, getting decent puck control in the Philly zone, but still having difficulty generating high percentage scoring attempts.

- Habs need to stay out of the penalty box, not doing any favours to their momentum. Pacioretty with an unnecessary interference penalty.

- Hoo boy. Takes the Flyers 6 seconds to score off their second man advantage for their second powerplay goal. Looks like the puck might have gone off Markov, but once again, Philadelphia doing it right - sending forwards to the goal. Habs playing way too soft in their slot on the PK tonight, and already, it's killing them.

- Welcome back to the scoresheet Andrei Markov. Off the powerplay, shockingly enough. Habs seem to be engaging their defence a bit more aggressively with the man advantage (if you'd care to call that an adjustment). It's nice to see something done, although such a strategy does present inherent risks. 2-1 Flyers.

- Habs really taking it to the Flyers in this period, at lest the from the 5 minute mark forward. Galchanyuk looks especially good as usual, Flyers are getting slightly overwhelmed. 

- Welp, that was actually a pretty good period for the Habs - they may trail on the scoreboard, but they had a defined edge in play, possession and aggression. Which are all positive considering how fragile this team must be, and to play well even going down 2-0 in the 1st is a pretty good indicator.

Ottawa Citizen

HEY WE HAD A WEEK OFF. DID ANYTHING CHANGE? NO? OKAY, THEN.

Okay, I gotta admit, I enjoyed not looking at, not writing about, not even thinking about the Habs for a week. I mean, I really, really enjoyed it. It's amazing what 7 days away from the misery of losing and frustration from the managerial incompetence that is the Montreal Canadiens, can do for the soul.

Like any nice vacation away from reality, it must all come to and end. Alas, the Habs are back in action tonight, as they take on the Flyers from Philadelphia.

Perhaps I was being a tad hopeful, but a little distant part of me, that one little piece that still hasn't died a slow agonizing death from having to endure witnessing this season, hoped a tiny hope that this organization would use these days off to reflect, realize where things have been going so wrong, and make changes. Nothing extraordinary. The faithful such as myself have already written off the possibility that Michel Therrien would be removed before season's end. But apart from a badly needed coaching alteration, at least something to push this team in a positive direction.

So yesterday, as I began to remove myself from the warm, cozy, Habs-free cocoon, I read this:

Les trios du #CH:
Pacioretty-Desharnais-Weise; Galchenyuk-Plekanec-Gallagher;
Fleischmann-Eller-DSP; Andrighetto/Lessio-Mitchell-Flynn

— Chantal Machabee (@ChantalMachabee) February 1, 2016

LOLz. Yeah. That's how naive I was in hoping there'd be change. Did I really think the brain trust would make obvious adjustments, such as finally, mercifully, putting Alex Galchenyuk back at centre, and finally, mercifully, putting David Desharnais back at wing, and finally, mercifully, moving Andrighetto back on an actual scoring line?

Nope.

SO IT'S FULL STEAM AHEAD. NO CHANGES NEEDED. EVERYTHING IS JUST FINE. WE'VE WON 5 GAMES OVER THE PAST TWO MONTHS BUT WE'RE ALL GOOD.

So tonight, this rudderless, scoring-disabled, deflated, disorganized hockey team will take on the pitiful Philadelphia Flyers, and there's no good reason to believe that given this insane franchise keeps doing the same wrong thing over and over again expecting a different result, that the results will be any different tonight. Which is to say, another L in the LOSS column.


Puck drops at 7:10 EST. We're hoping you'll joing us. Assuming you can stomach it.

Game 41: Habs vs. Flyers

THRID PERIOD:

- Habs and Flyers after 40. Yes, the Habs lead 5v5, believe it or not. But they're getting killed by the Desharnais line, the aforementioned clocking in with a dismal 31.3% after 2 periods. Therrien, again, must recognize which players are failing to deliver, and scale their times back accordingly, especially in the 3rd period trailing by one goal.

- Clean sheet of ice to start the powerplay, Plekanec is put at the line, forgets that he's supposed to be on the line, and accordingly skates into the corner, leaving the left point completely vacant. Hoo boy. This unit is totally lost.

- Still, good solid start to the period by the Habs, Galchenyuk line really working the puck well towards the Flyers net.

- And all that momentum taken away, with Emelin taking a stupid roughing call. 

- Maybe not. Flyers with a pretty terri-bad powerplay, perhaps the Habs can maintain the initiative after all. 

- Killer. Carr with poor attempt to clear the zone with a blind backhand, shot is fired at Scrivens wide, but rebound off the boards goes right to Couturier who tucks it home. Petry soft around his crease, fails to pick up his man, making that goal, which half resulted from a lucky bounce, a possibility. 4-2.

- Habs 4th line with not a lot to offer - even loss so with Smith-Pelly being demoted there. Still seeing Therrien giving them shifts, but with less than 8 minutes left, Habs need to more-or-less go for broke if they hope to somehow pull a rabbit out of the hat.

- Naw. Not gonna happen. This Habs team is just a functional mess tonight. Looks like a team that hasn't practiced, no intensity, and very little energy. Surely a game like this must concern Bergevin. Surely.

- Carr with less than a minute to go, but it's too little, too late. 

- 30 seconds left, Therrien calls time. Then stands with hands literally in his pockets while assistants draw up a plan. Doesn't something seem wrong with that picture?

- So all that stuff about the Habs turning their season around after the Boston game? Looks like rubbish to me. Pretty woeful display by this team tonight against what was supposed to be a far inferior opponent. Habs continue to be hampered by ineffectual play by forwards receiving too much ice time, and player deployments that make little sense. Maybe this means a return of Andrighetto tomorrow night? Who knows. There's so much wrong with this team, it seems unlikely that any one player could make much of a difference.

SECOND PERIOD:

- Habs and Flyers through 20 minutes. As you can tell, the SOG really didn't reflect possession in that period:

- Habs TOI leaders continue to be of concern. Galchenyuk scores the goal, but Smith-Pelly gets more ice time. MMMkay then.

- Habs 4th line gets burned, Montreal really struggling in the faceoff circle tonight, with Brian Flynn failing to win deep draw, and Gostisbehere with a big shot that Scrivens whiffs at, blocker side. 2-1 Philly. 

- Okay, SOG isn't a very good indicator, but eventually it's indicating something. Nearly halfway through regulation, Habs have only mustered 6. That's not going to do it. 

- Terrible hooking call on Subban, with Voracek grabbing his stick and tucking it under his arm to draw the call. NHL refs shouldn't fall for that kind of thing.

- And on the powerplay from that bad call, it's Gostisbehere again with a shot point that's redirected in by Simmonds off the right post and into the net. Again, Flynn losing deep zone draw that leads directly to an opposition goal. Therrien needs to recognize these things that are happening in the moment, and adjust. Is that too much to ask?

- Smith-Pelly had two good shift to start the game. Since then? A disaster. How this guy even makes the lineup, while Andrighetto sits, perplexes me to the nth degree.

- Smith-Pelly now demoted to the 4th line. Carr up.

- Habs 2nd powerplay comes up empty, even though the first line shift looked fantastic, with one exception - Desharnais, who is a blackhole out there, never taking a shot, and hesitating forever when making passes. Also, the one timers to Galchenyuk, two clean passes made, and he whiffs each time. Galchenyuk doesn't thrive off those kind of setups. He's always been apt to score off the rush, or on a rebound. Powerplay needs serious rework.

- Gallagher hits the scoresheet again, tipping in an Emelin point shot. and the Habs are right back in this game.

- Habs 3rd powerplay, Plekanec takes the point, Desharnais off. Progress.

- Not a good period by the Habs, showing great inconsistency with their game - which is always a bad sign coming off a game where they dominated their opponent. The Winter Classic game gave many Habs fans reason to believe that the worst was past for this team, but tonight's effort is only going to cast doubts that this team has profound and chronic problems. Scoring, powerplay, and sloppy defensive puck handling. 

FIRST PERIOD:

- Plekanec line comes flying out of the gate, first shift of this game. Flyers defence, might it be added, isn't very swift. Gallagher might get one or two scrubby goals before the night is over.

- Desharnais line shift, credit to Smith-Pelly, working strong along the boards winning pucks. Time is running out for DSP if he hopes to maintain a regular spot on this Habs lineup, even with Therrien behind the bench.

- Hmm. Galchenyuk carries the zone with plenty of speed, works south-to-north, and dishes off to Markov with the pass just a little bit off the mark, and Barberio, who needs to be somewhere near the play, is nowhere to be found as Schenn waltzes in along and beats Scrivens 5-hole. In the span of about 7 seconds, everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong. 1-0.

- That's two good shifts in a row for DSP - as he draws a hooking penalty. Habs to the powerplay.

- First powerplay shift looked pretty good - puck movement was crisp, two failed shot attempts by Pacioretty and Galchenyuk was its undoing. Also still am not convinced putting Desharnais at the line really benefits this unit - with Desharnais steadfastly unwilling to shoot the puck. Don't think for a moment the other teams aren't aware of that.

- Flyers like to play a pretty free-wheeling game, which means they generate/surrender a higher than average number of shots. So far they've been moderately successful in this period, generating a pretty split possession game, and the occasional quality chance on Scrivens. Habs doing a decent job gaining the zone, but struggling to complete quality shots on goal.

- Not a stellar period for Markov, Gallagher coughing the puck up along the boards, with Giroux getting a clear chance on goal because Andrei left his area of responsibility (the slot).

- Galchenyuk tips home a Barberio point wrister to put the Habs on the board. Puck luck evens up this period of the Habs, with Fleischmann hitting the post on an open net earlier in the period. This goal is pretty key template for Habs moving forward - they need to generate more offence via their defence.

- With Barberio settling in, the Habs have too many defenseman, which is a nice problem to have. He, Emelin, Tinordi, Pateryn and Gilbert represent Habs #5-9 on the depth chart. One, possibly two, could be moved within the next 30 days.

- Flyers outshooting Habs 3-to-1, but the period wasn't particularly one-sided - Habs defence guilty of making a few sloppy mistakes, and generally not being nearly as aggressive as they should be in clearing the slot. Otherwise, it was 20 ho-hum minutes of hockey, which is fine if you're the road team. 

GAME PREVIEW: THE FLYERS WOULD LIKE A GOAL. HAVE YOU GOT ANY SPARE ONES HANDY, WOULD YA?

To readers out there younger than ... oh .. let's say ... 25 ... there was a time when playing the Philadelphia Flyers was like attending a Nickleback concert: A long, brutal, and painful 2 1/2 hour experience, all while being surrounded by some of the most unpleasant an unintelligent people on the face of the planet. That's what it felt like to play the Philadelphia Flyers.

But that was 15 ... 20 years ago. Things have changed. Players have come and gone, Stanely Cup have been won - by other teams. And the Flyers, who once were almost always near the top of the League in goal-scoring, have this year, tumbled off the face of the hockey planet.

The Flyers come into tonight's game with some serious challenges. Philadelphia's offence, at 2.11 GPG, is the worst in the Eastern Conference. The Flyers have been hamstrung by a meek powerplay (4th worst in the League). The lack of production starts right from the top - with Claude Giroux leading his team with a mere 12 goals, tied for 54th overall in the NHL. When your team's leading goal scorer can't crack the top 50, you've got problems.

The Flyers' big problem seems more to be a team-wide inability to finish plays. If you dig just a little deeper, Philadelphia's numbers aren't quite as bad as their raw totals. The Flyers have a CF% of 50, which puts them smack dab in the League's middle. Their shot totals per game aren't awful - 30.1, which gives them a 12th overall ranking. Finishing plays however - that's where you see a big dropoff. Philadelphia's shooting percentage this season is a measly 5.8%. Only Pittsburgh and Anaheim have worse percentages.

There is no quick-fix remedy for this kind of problem, as Habs fans who endured December's scoring drought can attest to. If the players paid to score can't score, be it good luck or bad, you're going to lose. A lot.

The Flyers will be tinkering with their lineup tonight, specifically their top line which, as we noted, has failed to produce this season. Girous will centre possible trade-bait Wayne Simmonds along with Jakub Voracek. Meanwhie, defenceman Evgeny Medvedev will be a healthy scratch.

Over in Habsland, as noted, Devante Smith-Pelly will come out of the pressbox tonight at Sven Andrighetto's expense, the later being called up from St. John's on Saturday for what now appears to be for no good reason. Oh well. No firm idea yet who'll be a healthy scratch on the Habs blue line - specifically, whether it will be Alexei Emelin or Greg Pateryn - although Therrien's decision to give Smith-Pelly a start is an indicator of a physical game tonight, which means Emelin will probably play.

Michal Neruvirth will start in goal for the Flyers, Ben Scrivens for the Habs.

Puck drops at 7:40, EST.


GAMEDAY NEWS 'N' NOTES

- So Therrien has made his decision. Smith-Pelly in, Andrighetto out. Not like we didn't see that one coming.

HALFWAY HOME AND ALMOST HOME AT THE SAME TIME

Is it over yet? Are we home yet? ARE WE HOME YET?!!?

We've reached the halfway mark of the 2015-16 regular season. Seems like only two months ago that every Habs fan from coast to coast to coast was having a grand ol' ball. And then we lost the greatest player in the world. And then we lost the heart and soul of this team. And then December arrived. And then Santa stiffed me (yet) again under the tree. Stupid Santa. Every damn year. Next time around there'll be a big yawning bear trap for Kris Kringle under my mistletoe, you cheap miserable fat old bastard.

Oh right. Sorry. This is a Habs blog. Anyway, TONIGHT THE ROAD TRIP TO AND FROM HELL ENDS. Eight games. Nearly four weeks. Two wins. Two measly piddley wins. Watch out Flyers. We're mad as hell, us Habs fans, and we aren't gonna take this anymore.

Preview later, but Habs news 'n' notes for those who are unemployed and haven't had the opportunity to actually read anything on the web the past 48 hours.

- Sven Andrighetto was recalled from the Rock because as you've heard, Dale Weise is out for 2-3 weeks with an upper body/arm/wrist injury. Which means Sven will play tonight!

- Oh wait, Michel Therrien has no idea whether Andrighetto will play tomorrow, or if he'll start Devante Smith-Pelly. OH COM'ON MICHEL, ALREADY DUDE.

- Want some good news? YOU CAN'T HAVE ANY. Carey Price hasn't even started skating yet, five weeks into an injury that was originally supposed to last around six. Ut-oh. Is it time to run through the streets with our hair on fire?

- Lots of lolz around the Johnathan Drouin demanding a trade out of Tampa Bay, and some Habs fans (we shunt mention who) actually speculating over whether Marc Bergevin should make a move to get Drouin because as you know STEVE YZERMAN IS A TOTAL IDIOT AND WOULD GLADLY TRADE AWAY A YOUNG STUD TO A DIVISION RIVAL. Good grief guys.

- Did I mention that there's just one more game left on this nightmare road trip? Well, there is.



More in a bit.

Game Fifty-Three: Flyers vs. Habs

OVERTIME:

- Habs being way too careful in this OT so far. Just finish it, guys.

- And there you have it. Desharnais a pass/shot that's completely flubbed by Emery. Follows up the rebound and backhands it in for the win. You just knew that was coming.

- Hey, are we in first place in the East yet?

THIRD PERIOD:

- Desharnais great speed on the wing, beats the sluggish Flyers defense, zooms in on Emery and somehow ... doesn't get a shot on goal.

- Habs be stormin' early here.

- Flyers look like the Habs have looked like for most of this season. Getting slapped around, but somehow, someway, maintaining a ridiculously low scoring lead.

- More fearless Subban stopping slap shots by Flyers forwards. That's helping them hang on.

- Corsi is going to be eye-poppingly one sided at the buzzer, if this keeps up.

- Dale Weise played the entire two minutes of the Habs powerplay 6 minutes into the 3rd. What?

- Finally. Finally. Plekanec. Emery couldn't cover the loose puck. That's Emery. Tie game. Finally.

- Sekac and Galchenyuk just don't do the dump and chase Therrien hockey, do they?

- Subban has been blocked 7 times tonight. That's ridiculous.

- Ice conditions look pretty nasty in the Flyers zone, with the puck bouncing all over the place. For real, it's probably because most of the play this period has been in front of Emery.

- Overtime. Will the Flyers take another page from the Habs book and steal a game they have no business being in, in overtime?

FIRST/SECOND PERIOD:

- Joining in late tonight, but caught some of the first period without the aid of a computer nearby. In any case, the Read goal on Price is a little concerning - again Carey is beaten high glove side, which I am almost certainly convinced has become the book on Price. Really watch to see how many times opposing forwards take aim for that area of the net.

- Period itself was pretty listless, both directions. Emery, whom we made fun of earlier today, really didn't have much of any tough scoring chance to stop, and the one that came closest, a Desharnais backhander, actually beat Emery but not the post.

- I don't care what the scoreboard says, the lack of scoring opportunities is making Emery look way better than he actually is. Habs need to just keep firing on net. Something should get through.

- Full credit to anyone who throws his body in front of  Subban slapper, Flyers included.

- Puzzling play by Subban. Perfect cross-ice pass, open net, nobody to block, dishes back to the point.

- Decent late period powerplay, passes were on target, but shots just weren't registered on target. It's kind of been that kind of the night.

- Dale Weise seems to know where to go, but can't finish. Lots of work being done by his mates, but it's ... well ... we've talked about this topic endlessly.

- Decent period, Habs looked much better as the period progressed, they seemed to be clicking with zone passing, but entries are still struggling. If they can get the later figured out in combination with the former, they still have a good chance of coming back in the 3rd.

GAMEDAY GAME PREVIEW:

HEY. How 'bout that weekend? First, a solid thumping of the Devils (yeah, okay, it's New Jersey), and then more-or-less routine win 24 hours later over the (not very good??) Boston Bruins. All of a sudden, we're happy again!

And like those Bruins, the Habs aim to sweep another season series, tonight it's Philadelphia. Now ask yourself, when was the last time the Canadiens won every single regular season game against Philadelphia? 19 freakin' 77. For the calculator disabled, that's 38 years.

So we got some history to write tonight! Flyers are in tough - really tough, not just because the Habs are coming off two pretty impressive back-to-back wins, but because Philly lost the services of their starting netminder, Steve Mason, who was injured Sunday afternoon in a game against the Caps.

So who'll start tonight? Why it's none other than Ray Emery. Yup, that Ray Emery. He who couldn't keep his job with the Hawks last year, but somehow managed to latch on with the Flyers this season because, you know. It's Philadelphia. They have all the terrible goaltenders.

Anyway, good ol' Ray hasn't played in a month, and that start was truly atrocious, letting in 3 soft goals on 15 shots against the Canucks, before getting pulled. Emery's line rises slightly below mediocre - 2.7 GAA, .905 SV%. He's just not very good. So yay for us!

Starting lines for the Habs tonight:

Line 1: Pacioretty/Desharnais/Weise

Line 2: Glachenyuk/Plekanec/Gallagher

Line 3: Prust/Eller/Sekac

Line 4: Bournival/de la Rose/Thomas

- Markov/Subban
- Beaulieu/Gonchar
- Emelin/Gilbert

- Carey Price.

Annnnnnd ... for the Flyers:

Line 1: Schenn/Giroux/Voracek
Line 2: Read/Couturier/Simmonds
Line 3: Umberger/Laughton/White
Line 4: Vandevelde/Bellmare/Levacalier

- Streit/Schultz

- Del Zotto/Schenn

- Grossman/Macdonald

- Ray Emery

Even though Philadelphia is almost certainly not going to make the post-season, they haven't been playing half-bad of late. Undefeated in regulation their past 6, the Flyers biggest weapon is probably their powerplay, which is 3rd ranked in the League. Otherwise, they're just another organization in transition, hoping to find a way in the near future to rejoin the post-season conversation.

Meanwhile in Habsland, the Canadiens first line is producing points like crazy, and that's with Dale Weise on the left side. Even Weise has found the back of the net of late, potting 3 goals over the weekend. So ... I guess we'll take it, even though it remains a crime that Michel Therrien steadfastly refuses to put more able and dangerous wingers alongside their best forward, Max Pacioretty.

Puck drops tonight at 6:40 EST.

Game Eighteen: Flyers vs. Habs

THIRD PERIOD:

- He's had a fine game, Gonchar with a point wrister redeflected by Parenteau with his second of the night, and the ship is righted a bit with a two goal lead reestablished. In any case, Gonchar looks like an excellent pickup - at least tonight.

- Flyers defense looks really sluggish right now. Habs might score one or two more before this night is done.

- Incredible scrum around Price, the Flyers Reed somehow retrieves a puck that's never frozen and snaps it past Price. The puck luck has kept Philly in this game.

- Ofdicials with a quick whistle denying Gallagher a goal, only moments later. The irony and poor officiating is strong.

- Win or lose, Habs defense hasn't been assertive tonight protecting its goaltender. Hopefully the line gets a talking to after this one is done.

- Habs doing a lot of chasing in their zone. Tying goal might be moments away.

- Well that'll help. Emery lets a softie in off a Weise wrister, and surely ... surely that will wrap this one up.

SECOND PERIOD:

- Lecavalier in his younger years, would have buried one of his two PP scoring chances. He's just lost too much of a step.

- Strange penalty calls tonight. No rhyme or reason other than taking turns. One on Habs, one on Flyers.

- Parenteau and Desharnais getting cute again on the powerplay. Already they've forgotten the can't-miss lessen for success in the first period.

- Well nevermind. Plecks-Gally-Subban-bam-3-0. Third powerplay goal. And counting. When it rains it pours. Again the Flyers unit just too slow footed and physically soft to stop anything.

- If Habs continue to score by carrying the puck in, even Therrien will have relent on the dump-and-chase.

- For no real good reason Prust drops his gloves and proceeds to hurt his elbow. He won the fight, but up three goals, who cares? 

- Game slowing up as Habs start to sit. At the halfway mark of the second period. Wayyyy to early.

- Yup. Sitting on it, Schenn wrists one past Price and it's 3-1. Habs forwards just taking too much time to cover their zone. 

- Plekanac makes it 4-1, official signals goal, but then calls Gallagher for a hold, taking away a goal. I'm  fit to be tied to understand the calls tonight. 

- And .... another call. Oy. Flyers set to make it 3-2.

- Tentative, overly conservative play (tuttuling) has cost the Habs a comfortable lead through two periods. Yes, it should have been 4-1, but blown calls aside, this team started to sit far too early, wrongly thinking the Flyers had nothing in the tank. Well, now they'll have to battle to earn two points. Unnecessarily so.

FIRST PERIOD:

- Habs off to a good first period start?? My eyes must deceive me.

- DRINK. POWERPLAY.

- That's more like it. Quick shots on goal (Pacioretty), rebound prone Emery, Paranteau cashes in. POWERPLAY GOAL.

- POWERPLAY. DRINK AGAIN.

- Guess who gets the quick shot away? Paxioretty. Desharnais the easy deposit. 2-0. Flyers PK utterly incompetent (that helps a bit).

- Wasn't exactly star-struck by what I saw from Gonchar on Thursday, but he's looking a heckova lot more involved and mobile tonight.

- Silly roughing call on Gallagher. Officials trying to "even" things up, I suspect.

- Subban letting forwards get past him undetected. Too many times this season.

- Habs totally outskating and outmuscling the Flyers in Philly's zone - reflective of a thin Flyers defense, and given they played last night, perhaps tired legs.

- The very first time this season the Habs clearly outplayed their opponent in the first period. It took 18 games to reach that milestone.

GAMEDAY GAME PREVIEW:

WHO'S NUMBER ONE IN THE LEAGUE? WE'RE NUMBER ONE IN THE LEAGUE.

Really, dammed if I know how we've arrived at the top of the heap nearly one quarter through the regular season schedule? Productive offense? Naw. Miserly defense? Uh, no. Powerplay production? Hah ... uh, yeah. Dumb luck? I'm starting to wonder. We all have since the team got off to a 7-1 start that maybe, just maybe, the hockey gods have been overly generous this year. Maybe it's a make-up for the 10 years we fans were subjected to the horrors of Rejan Houle and Mario Tremblay.

Oh, Mario. Did ya hear today? Apparently the genius never-to-coach-again ex-coach says the reason why P.K. Subban hasn't been producing this year is that he's out of shape. HAHA ... makes you wonder, does Tremblay even use his eyes. I mean, geez louise, have you seen P.K. Subban? In person? I have. The man is a rock of muscle and athleticism.

The reason why P.K. hasn't scored a ton this year is pretty simple. The team's powerplay unit is a complete disaster ... on pace to score 13 ... that's right, 13 extra man goals this season. Second big reason? P.K. has too much Therrien in his head. He's not carrying the puck through the neutral zone, he's rarely, if ever pinching from the line, he's doing everything you're not supposed to do if you're an offensive defenseman. The culprit here isn't Subban, its the guys telling Subban how he's to play.

Anyway, tonight. The Flyers. Up three goals late in the 3rd period back in mid November, Philadelphia somehow found a way to be on the losing end of a 4-3 score to the Habs. The Flyers, as many expected, have slowly but surely sunk their way down their division, and conference standings - the almost certainly won't be making a post-season appearance next spring, and might not be a playoff presence for some time to come, as they go through a rebuilding process.

So even with the iffy offense, the wobbly defense, and the god-awful powerplay, the Habs should be in pretty good shape to extend (this sounds crazy) their first play lead in the NHL standings.

But then, we thought the Oilers were going to be a piece of cake, and we all know how that turned out.

Puck drops at 7:10 EST. On local cable CITY TV (good grief), if you can stand it.