Game 32: Ducks vs. Habs

Montreal 5, Anaheim 1.

FIRST PERIOD LIVE GAME BLOG:

- Brendan Gallagher. THIS is gonna be his night. Book it.

- Cogliano's opener a pretty good demonstration how over time, taking more defensive zone starts adds up negatively. Habs have been above average this season, 10th most in the League. 1-0 Anaheim.

- Looks like Habs are the faster team, which shouldn't be a surprise since it's been 72 hours since their last game, and 24 for the Ducks. This differing factor tends to reap benefits as a game progresses.

- Following up on that last thought, Anaheim's strongest scoring period this season has been the 2nd, weakest the 3rd. Habs strongest the 3rd, weakest the 1st. 

- Brendan Gallagher centres first line powerplay. A first in his career.

- Meh. An okay first powerplay, Gallagher seemed to do alright. But still, that unit has no drive, very little creativity on its side. Looks more like a unit that hasn't been given full attention by the coaching staff.

- Carey Price is by far the best player the Habs have handling and forwarding the puck, which is as much praise on him as it is an indictment of how woeful the Canadiens' defence can be organizing the transition.

- Byron picks up his 11th off a big-time rebround surrendered by Bernier to tie the game He's small, he's fast, and he's making Calgary Flames management look like complete fools.

SECOND PERIOD LIVE GAME BLOG:

- Habs with a solid 1st period, SA CF just over 63%, which is kind of typical for any team coached by Carlyle, if you look at our pregame piece. Plekanec, Gallagher, Lehkonen, Byron and Pacioretty played particularly well in that period, Weber and Emelin were the Habs strongest D pairing:

- Icings-a-plenty this period, indicative of how both teams are poor at controlling the puck. Also makes for a very boring hockey game.

- Yeah, not much happening. Both teams struggling with their passing, Habs doing a better job setting up shop in the offensive zone, which is creating a rather lopsided game, possession-wise.

- Nick Ritche with a stupefying stupid penalty, suckered by Gallagher. Those are the kind of penalties that frequently result in a goal, but then against this Habs powerplay, likely not a big deal.

- Man advantage absolutely brutal right now, little organization, little coherence, they can't even properly gain the zone. Yeah, there have been key injuries of late, but com'on, Alex Galchenyuk wasn't representing an entire speciality unit. Something needs to be done here, and in a hurry.

- Lehkonen with brilliant playmaking to help set up Plekanec for a powerplay goal, Habs take the lead. Regardless, the man advantage has been miserable - sporadic conversions only create a mirage from reality. Fundamentally, a lot of this is Shea Weber. He hasn't been very good lately, in particular, "quarterbacking" the man advantage. 

- Bryon, Lehkonen and Plekanec with another strong period, another lacklustre frame for the Ducks, who are likely dealing with a combination of jet lag and playing the 2nd half of a back-to-back. Apart from the one shot that beat Price, Anaheim has constructed few, if any quality scoring chances at the Montreal net. Looks like the Ducks don't have the horses to compete tonight. 

THIRD PERIOD LIVE GAME BLOG:

- That second period was pretty ugly for the Ducks. Real, real ugly. SA CF (5v5) in that period alone the Ducks were 17.4%. That's pretty awful. No scoring chances either. Today is practically an off-day for Price:

- Ducks got a clean sheet and 2 minute powerplay, spent most of it trying to lay hits, instead of score goals. Anaheim getting their clock cleaned.

- Jeff Petry is the Habs' best overall defensman. Recognizes a dozing Bernier, and fires a 60 foot wrister past the Ducks netminder to make it 3-1.

- Part of what makes Petry so good is he plays such a smart game - he recognizes strengths and weaknesses of his opponent, and exploits it accordingly. The shot he took on Bernier was Petry recognizing the Ducks goaltender isn't very good, and has occasional lapses in concentration.

- Pacioretty uses Gallagher as a decoy, fires through Bernier's legs, powerplay goal, 4-1. Habs borderline destroying the Ducks tonight.

- Hard to believe this Anaheim team is in 2nd place in their Division. Yeah, I know they're playing back-to-backs, but wow ... they are just plain terrible. They look very much tonight like the dismal Leafs clubs Randy Carlyle coached a few years ago.

- Shot attempt ration is roughly 4-to-1 in favour of the Habs. They're holding the puck at will, the Ducks are merely observers tonight. 

- How is Ritchie an NHL player? How'd he even make the League? How'd he manage to keep a job? So many questions ...

- Chris Terry joins the party, wonderful to see the kids score. 5-1 icing on the cake.

- Total domination by the Habs tonight. Nearly 75% CF, and that was 5v5. Ducks were completely steamrolled every part of the ice, Carey Price had, quite literally, one difficult shot to handle, and that one went in. Injury riddled, Habs are doing a pretty damn good job of not only keeping their head above water, but are actually thriving. Impressive victory tonight.

DUCKS 'N' HABS GAME PREVIEW. WHEN YOU FACE A TEAM WITH AN EVEN WORSE COACH

The 1st place Habs (Atlantic Division) host the 2nd place Anaheim Ducks (Pacific Division) tonight at the Bell Centre. For the battered and bruised Canadiens, it marks another test for a team trying to keep its head above water, while missing some of its key players - Andrei Markov being the latest casualty after he picked up a lower body injury in the Habs win Saturday night against the Caps.

One bright note for the Habs - they get to take on the team overseen by the worst coach in professional hockey, Randy Robert Carlyle.

Man, how does Carlyle do it? How does this man, who 10 years ago lucked out by riding an overwhelming talented Anaheim team to a championship, the lone highlight in an otherwise dismal coaching career, continue to stay employed in the National Hockey League?

Sure, hockey at the NHL level is still very much an old-boys club, where old-style management tactics are viewed as assets. It's why guys like Michel Therrien, John Tortorella and Carlyle seem to always land on their feet no matter how badly they perform in their duties. Carlyle, though, is a particularly egregious example of a guy who is terrible at what he does, yet still manages to maintain gainful employment in his profession.

The pattern is so well established, as to be laughable. Let's crank up the way-back stats machine and look at Carlyle's greatest inability - to oversee a hockey team capable of possessing the puck. First stop, Randy's first tour of duty with Anaheim, of which he was eventually relieved from in 2012:

                             CF%     LEAGUE RANK

ANA   2009-10    50.9                 10th

ANA   2010-11    44.4                 30th

ANA   2011-12    48.5                 24th

By this time the Ducks front office had finally recognized they had a dud behind the bench, and mercifully let Carlyle go just 24 games into the 2001-12 season. After he was let go, the Ducks put up these numbers: 

                             CF%     LEAGUE RANK

ANA   2012-13    48.0                 22nd

ANA   2013-14    49.8                 19th

ANA   2014-15    51.0                 17th

ANA   2015-16    52.5                 5th

An undeniably steady improvement. Huh. 

Anyway, back to 2012. After Carlyle was dumped in California, the Toronto Maple Leafs, for reasons to this day we still can't understand, snapped him up. The Leafs had just fired Ron Wilson, another old-school guy who was having trouble figuring out the importance of possession. To Wilson's credit, his replacement wasn't better. To the stats machine!

                             CF%     LEAGUE RANK

TOR   2011-12    48.9                 17th

Not great, but not terrible. But then Carlyle really put his mark on his team:

                             CF%     LEAGUE RANK

TOR   2012-13    44.1                 30th

TOR   2013-14    42.3                 30th

And ... that was pretty much all the Leafs could take. 

Astonishingly Carlyle was given another coaching lifeline when he was rehired by the Ducks this past summer after Anaheim turfed Bruce Boudreau. Hey, how's Anaheim doing this year under Carlyle compared to last under Bourdreau? 

                             CF%     LEAGUE RANK

ANA   2015-16    52.5                 5th

ANA   2016-17    48.9                19th

Randy Carlyle, folks. I don't know how he does it, but there he is, in his 24th season of professional hockey coaching.

Puck drops tonight at 7:40, EST.

GAMEDAY NEWS 'N' NOTES

- It's official. Andrei Markov is out with a lower body injury. That's the bad news. The good news is the injury apparently isn't bad, and he's expected to play again this week, possibly as early as Thursday night.

- With Markov hurt and unable to play tonight, the Habs will be icing the following defensive pairings:

Emelin/Weber

Beaulieu/Petry

Barberio/Redmond

Full game preview in a bit.

YAY IT'S MONDAY, HABS EDITION

A few notes, Habs-related, as we gear up to go duck huntin' tomorrow night:

- Andrei Markov? Yup. Add 'em to the injured list, along with Alex Galchenyuk, David Desharnais, Andrew Shaw, Greg Pateryn, Sven Andrighetto (and who-knows-else, since apparently the captain played the month of November with a broken foot). Markov is listed as "day-to-day" with a lower body injury, and is questionable to start Tuesday night.

- Hey, hold the phone - Andrighetto played in practice this morning, so maybe take him off that list.

- Starting goaltenders have been announced, it'll be Carey Price (yup) against Johnathan Bernier, who kinda sucks playing against the Canadiens.

- Okay, now for some Ducks-related laffs:

#NHLDucks #NHLDucks Randy Carlyle says he was never told why he was fired from the Leafs https://t.co/AUg2Qgd1w1 #SportsRoadhouse

— Anaheim Ducks SRH (@AnaheimDucksSRH) December 19, 2016

Yup, Randy. It's a mystery why you got turfed out of Toronto. Leading scientists, even to this day, are baffled. Why was Randy fired??!? HE WAS SO GOOD!

That's all we got. It's been quiet today. Quiet is good.

Game 23: Habs vs. Ducks

By just about any standard, this is unacceptable behaviour by a "professional" hockey player:

Andrew Shaw throws an absolute temper tantrum in the penalty box pic.twitter.com/ncafzRUbhH

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) November 30, 2016

Anaheim 2, Montreal 1:

FIRST PERIOD LIVE GAME BLOG:

Hey, we got lines. Let's check 'em out. First, the Ducks:

Rakell/Getzlaf/Perry
Cogliano/Kessler/Silfverberg
Ritchie/Vermette/Kase
Shaw.Garbutt/Wagner

And the Habbies:

Radulov/Galchenyuk/Bryon
Pacioretty/Plekanec/Gallagher
Lehkonen/Desharnais/Shaw
Danault/Mitchell/Carr

Third line D pairing for the Habs will again be Barberio with Pateryn.

- We were led to believe Bernier would start tonight. We were incorrect. It's John Gibson, who has weaker numbers than Bernier, but ... that's Carlyle's call.

- Well, that was quite a start for the Habs, totally pinning the Ducks in their zone for essentially the first 3 minutes of this game, highlighted by a very good shift by the Desharnais line. Anaheim lucky they're not already down on the scoreboard.

- Habs incredibly fast start might not have netted actual goals, but unsurprisingly, it nets them an early powerplay for hooking (a pretty good sign the other guys are having trouble keeping up to you).

- Habs 5v5, look far more dangerous than they ever did 5v4, which makes no sense, of course.

- Habs 2nd powerplay really humming, fast crisp passing, good zone setup, and very nearly a highlight reel goal after a sweet Radulov/Weber to Galchenyuk at the side of the net, tic-tac-toe setup that worked brilliantly, except that Galchenyuk whiffed at the puck with a totally gaping net. Habs still dominating here.

- Plekanec line looks really good, so too does the Desharnais line. And the Galchenyuk line is always looming there, dangerous.

- Andrew Shaw brings "grit" (apparently), and yes, physicality, but fighting - he's not very good at it. Andrew, just step away.

- Habs losing their smarts as the period draws to a close. First, Shaw gets into a stupid fight with Corey Perry, and then Shea Weber gets nailed for a very stupid roughing, and the Ducks convert. Habs were totally owning the period up to the Weber stupidity, and now find themselves down on the scoreboard.

- If Galchenyuk finishes that setup on the powerplay earlier in the period, I'm guessing Habs are likely up 2, maybe even 3 gaols by this point.


SECOND PERIOD LIVE GAME BLOG:

- Habs dominated the 1st, 65.7 SACF (5v5), but dumb decisions combined with Galchenyuk missing an open net helped put them down on the scoreboard:

- Desharnais line continues to be the best for the Habs tonight, generating more good scoring chances, and likely working the hardest. But it still consists of guys who have trouble finishing scoring plays.

- Wathced Plekanec lead a 3-on-2 break, nothing special, including the way the play finished, with Plekanec weakly shooting the puck that was easily deflected away. This might, more than anything, give us a hint as to what is Plekanec's biggest issue in a year that's been pretty disappointing - his shot. It looks weak, and if you examine the percentages, they're telling. It's only 3.2% for Plekanec, which is way down from last year's 8.3%.

- Ducks having a much better 2nd period, which is to be expected. Typical rebound period, bolstered by the fact they scored the only goal in a period that they were otherwise trounced. Hockey is like that, sometimes.

- Radulov with a breakaway, foiled because he was hooked hard from behind, and yet, somehow, it wasn't called. Refs are lettin' 'em play, I guess.

- Gonna be one of those nights. Ducks have been better team this period, and have capitalized, with Fowler beating Price blocker side with a 40 foot wrister, a shot that Carey would readily tell you he'd like another shot at. 2-0.

- I guess that Fowler shot was slightly deflected by Galchenyuk, so hard to criticize Price. Bounces just ain't happening tonight. Hockey is like that.

- Many are making good point on Twitter that nobody on this Habs roster should be trying to block unobstructed shots from 30 feet on Price. He's going to stop those pretty much every single time. Yet that's what Galchenyuk did - push the tip of his blade out to redeflect an otherwise easy shot by Fowler, into an impossible save.

- Daniel Carr with a stupid trip, right beside the Ducks' goal as the 2nd period winds down. Just a dumb, dumb, dumb play. Habs have been their own undoing tonight from lack of thinking. Weber with a rough in the 1st leading to Ducks powerplay goal. Galchenyuk with deflection of relatively harmless Fowler shot - Canadiens simply can't afford to play unintelligent hockey in California, a place they've had a horrible winning record the past few years.



THIRD PERIOD LIVE GAME BLOG:

- Habs recoiled substantially in the 2nd period, CF barely above 50% now. It's only 2-0, but if we're honest, the odds of the Habs coming back in this game are pretty much slim-to-nil.

- Unless it's a fluky and/or greasy goal, Habs aren't going to snap the twine tonight. They put it all out the first 17 minutes, got nothing, and pretty much gave up.

- Galchenyuk again misses glorious scoring opportunity. Just not gonna happen for him tonight, or, seemingly, for anyone else wearing the same jersey.

- I mean, Habs are at least giving it this 3rd period - they're looking much more the same collection we saw in the 1st period. But there's just no finish - Gibson is playing strong, but the best playing line, the Desharnais line, is riddled with players that don't quite have the abilities required to score.

- Radulov backhander, misplayed by Gibson, Byron a wide open net, nobody around, somehow misses. I think it's time to go to bed.

- Would it kill this goal-starved team to try putting Pacioretty next to Galchenyuk? At least a few shifts? I mean, what harm could possibly come of it?

- Tomas Plekanec is killing Pacioretty's season. It's not that Plekanec is playing poorly, it's just that he's not a good fit for Max. He's a two way, defence-first centre - basically the kind of guy you want up the middle on your third line. But next to one of the top scoring snipers in the League? Bad, bad, bad fit.

- Habs with late, absolutely must convert powerplay, and Therrien puts out Andrew Shaw. Man advantage goes completely nowhere.

- Horrible man advantage. Absolutely horrible. Therrien refusing to use his best assets when they're required most. It's baffling decision-making.

- Hold the phone a little bit longer, Habs actually score, and it's Shaw (go figure) with Price pulled. Two minutes left.

- Only fitting the Habs final nail is self-inflicted, with Shaw getting nailed for a hook while the Canadiens are pushing deep in the Ducks zone. He goes nuts, and is tossed from the game.

- Habs somehow fluke out Ducks zone possession with 20 second left, and forget that the clock is running, not even taking a shot on Gibson. Bzzzzt. Game over.

- Well, Habs made it interesting, at least? Crucial turning point was likely way back in the 1st period, when Galchenyuk missed an empty net while Habs were on their 2nd powerplay, which would have opened the scoring, and likely changed the entire complexion of the game. Instead, Habs made poor decisions that resulted in Ducks getting a couple past Price, and the rest is history. Now on to San Jose, with the Habs probably at this point just hoping to get a point out of their California swing.


__________________________________________________________
GAMEDAY NEWS 'N' NOTES:

West coast swing! This means at least two nights of having to stay up way past our bedtimes. Tonight, it's Anaheim.

- No lineup changes tonight for the Habs. That means no Zach Redmond, and also Chris Terry is a healthy scratch.

- Habs are facing a team that's unquestionably got the worst coach in the NHL (which is saying a lot if you're the Montreal Canadiens) -  Randy Carlyle! Since somehow getting rehired, Carlyle has taken the Ducks to 19th ovearll CF% (their current standing), from last year's 17th overall standing, to 2014-15's 17th overall standing, when Randy wasn't coaching the Ducks, to 2013-14's 19th overall standing - and ... you know what? The Ducks are, and have been, pretty mediocre for a long time.

- So what are the Ducks good at? Uhhhmmm .. offence? 24th rated, so nope. Defence? 9th rated .. so ... kinda yeah? Anaheim plays a pretty boring style of hockey, lots of trap action, lots of dependance on goaltending, which this season, has actually been pretty decent. Specifically, it's been Jonathan Bernier (another Leafs cast-off that found a life in California), who's put together a +.500 record this season backed by a .933 SV%. Yeah, he hasn't started a ton, just 9 so far, but he's still been a pretty good reclamation success story this season. Anyway, Bernier starts tonight. He'll be a key to this game.

- What are the Ducks bad at? Well, there's the anemic offence, no surprise given who the coach is.  Also because Anaheim's top line of Rikard Rakell, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, haven't been producing many goals this season. Otherwise, their powerplay is pretty good, 6th rated, PK is "okay", 18th rated. If you go down the list, they're pretty much in the middle of the pack in most major categories - shots taken and allowed, 5v5 performance. Etc., etc. This is the quintessential mediocre NHL hockey team.

- Puck drops tonight at 10:10 EST. Fire up the coffee maker, and curl up for some late-night hockey!


MONDAY NEWS 'N' NOTES:

Hey, happy start of the week, everyone. We have a few bits of hockey info today, mostly Habs-related (in present or past):

- Zach Redmond. Hey, remember him? Well ...

The guys have just jumped on the ice for practice in Anaheim. Zach Redmond has arrived to join the boys, too. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/Uo8cPOTZeL

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) November 28, 2016

Redmond was a free agent pickup this summer, a defenseman signed to bolster an otherwise thin 3rd line pairing on the Habs blue line. Well, Redmond sustained a broken foot in mid-October, shelving any aspirations that he'd join the big team for opening night. Now, it would appear, Redmond will get his first Habs action tomorrow night in Los Angeles, as the Canadiens take on the Ducks. With 7 D now on the roster, this means either Mark Barberio or Greg Pateryn will be a healthy scratch.

- The Florida Panthers, who, despite having a mediocre record barely above .500, have been playing some pretty good possession hockey this season, even while deal with a rash of injuries. In case you hadn't heard, the Panthers unceremoniously fired popular hard coach Gerry Gallant immediately after last night's 3-2 loss to the Hurricanes in Raleigh, leaving Gallant literally stranded on a street curb after literally being tossed from the team bus. Photographers were there to document the event:

Classy job, Florida. Very, very classy.

Anyway, Gerry will be fine. He was in just year 1 of a recently signed 3 year contract extension, so he'll be collecting paychecks from the Panthers for awhile yet. It's now largely assumed that Gallant will be the lead candidate for consideration for the new team in Vegas.

More in a bit.