Game 3 - ECQF: Habs vs. Rangers

Montreal 3, New York 1:

FIRST PERIOD:

- The Rangers lineup is barely recognizable. Some serious shakeups made by Alain Vigneault:

Jimmy Vesey - Mike Zibanejad - Mats Zuccarello 

Rick Nash - Derek Stepan - Michael Grabner 
Chris Kreider - Keven Hayes - Jesper Fast 
J.T. Miller - Oscar Lindberg - Tanner Glass 

Ryan McDonagh - Dan Girardi 
Marc Staal - Brendan Smith 
Brady Skjei - Kevin Klein

- So let's try to take this all in. Stefan and Vesey get bumped from the 1st line to the 2nd line, Zibanejad and Vesey from the 1st line to the 2nd line, Kreider from the 1st to the 3rd line, Jesper Fast from the 4th to the 3rd, Miller and Hayes from the 3rd to the 4th. And then on defence, Brendan Smith gets boosted from the 3rd to 2nd pairing, Nick Holden gets scratched, and Kevin Klein gets a start (on the 3rd pairing). Whew!

- Har har. Vigneault plays the same lines as he did game one, the warmups were just some shade thrown. But, Holden is out, and Klein is in. And Kreider is back to line 1.

- Gotta say, that was a pretty uninspiring pre game by MSG. Maybe that's part of the "can't win at home" issue?

- Looks like the Rangers actual number 1 line is on fire tonight - Kreider comes agonizingly close to snapping one home.  Plenty of speed forces Petry to make a goal saving hook. New York gets early powerplay. Here's Kreider's chance:

Nice pass by Zuccarello. Kreider sends it wide. pic.twitter.com/vIvuJdmjeD

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) April 16, 2017

- Habs PK does the job, Carey Price again heavily involved with puck handling and clearances. He's the best goaltender in the League handling the puck, one of the big reasons why the Habs PK has been one of the League's best since Julien took over.

- Rangers absolutely storming early, not unlike the Habs for game 1. Canadiens simply trying to weather the storm. Really nothing else can be done.

- More excellent play by Tomas Plekanec, who after having a comparatively miserable regular season, is like a brand new player this series. Just had a great shift that might stunt the ferocious Rangers attack.

- Plekanec, Byron and Gallagher continue to play some unbelievable hockey. They've taken their game up 3 or 4 steps, if you want to quantify just how ridiculously dangerous their play has been in the playoffs. Julien trying to match the line, and it's paying off. Habs are slowly wrestling back momentum.

- Lundqvist not showing any of the shakes that we occasionally witnessed at the Bell Centre. If not for him, Canadiens would already have a scoreboard lead.

- One thing is certain, the Rangers 4th line towers in comparison to the Habs 4th, as they draw another Rangers powerplay. If New York wins this series, that domination will certainly be a key element.

- Rangers 2nd powerplay comes awfully close to scoring, they've made one adjustment, more bodies directly in front of Price, which the Habs defence needs to recognize immediately and clear. Secondly, Habs PK forwards need to drop back a little and help out with that traffic. Ott on the first unit didn't do a very good job.

- 2 minutes left in the period, Habs forwards get really aggressive with forecheck, especially in the neutral zone. Generates a couple of nice puck turnovers creating fast zone entires. Like to see more of that tonight. 

- No score after the 1st which is something the Canadiens will gladly take. After the Rangers came out hard (as expected), the Plekanec line put together a string of brilliant shifts that tiled the ice in Montreal's direction, and nullified the early New York momentum. Habs had much more control of the pace, which is ideal for a road game. It's going to be a tough game, but so far you'd have to be cautiously optimistic if you're cheering for the Canadiens.

SECOND PERIOD:

- Habs CF 64.5% at even strength, so that's pretty huge first game on the road. Rangers probably not entirely pleased with how that first period played out:

- Boner play by the continuing-to-struggle Staal, who vacates the lane on a Habs zone entry, which rolls out the red carpet to Markov to wind up for a 25 foot slap shot on Lundqvist who makes another great save to keep his team in the game.

- Lundqvist with a big, if not slightly unsteady glove save on Torrey Mitchell, again from close distance. At this moment Lundqvist is the big story, but the Rangers soft defence off the Habs zone entires ought be considered. They'll need to tighten it up significantly, because eventually Hank will face something he can't stop.

- Habs 4th line still isn't great, but it's defiantly better with Mitchell in and Martinsen out. Also, Julien not taking any chances, mostly pairing that line's shifts with Markov-Weber. 

- Really sloppy coverage by the Rangers defence tonight. Their top pairing McDonagh-Giradi are fine, but as you drill down, cracks start to appear. Staal a real weak link.

- Jordie Benn is a difference maker. So happy to be wrong about the Pateryn trade (I thought it was a sideways deal). Doing an outstanding job shot blocking and guarding territory close to Price.

- J.T. Miller with the bonehead puck handle off the face-off, sends the Habs to the powerplay. 

- Lehkonen on the powerplay! A ridiculously great tic-tac-toe passing play Plekanec, Gallagher ... and Lehkonen who fires a puck that nobody, not even Lundqvist could save. 1-0 Habs.

- 15 minutes before the Lehkonen goal:

Methinks Lundqvist ain't gonna stop of 30 foot wrister from Lehkonen. Problem is, he's not getting the puck to take a shot.

— A.J. Bassett (@HabsGameBlog) April 17, 2017

- Well-earned 2nd period lead for the Habs, who again were the more dominate and aggressive team in the period. Canadiens continue to be aided by great performances by their PK, while the (perceived) supporting cast has risen all the way to the top - Lehkonen, Gallagher, Plekanec with another sparkling effort tonight, with honourable mentions to Radulov, Markov and Weber. Heck, even Steve Ott has had a positive impact. Rangers will almost certainly come out fighting in the 3rd - the third game is usually taken by the eventual series winner.

THIRD PERIOD:

- Habs with 56% CF edge 2 period total at even strength:

- Here's the 2-period heat map. Canadiens are dominating high danger chances so far, 10-4 in their favour (which is a significant margin):

- Kreider looked good his first two shifts, and nearly scored. Since then? Nada. Obviously if he doesn't deliver, the Rangers chances of winning this series, never mind tonight's game, are limited.

- Zuccarello gets nailed for a 4-minute high stick on Markov. Huge opportunity. 

- Oh god, what a pass by Radulov, behind his back through his skates to Galchenyuk who carries directly in front of Lundqvist, and instead of shooting, dishes off to Weber who buries it. Another fabulous tic-tac-toe goal gives the Habs a 2-0 lead. Radulov working his magic again.

Galchenyuk with the puck on a string feeds Weber who makes no mistake pic.twitter.com/YpneRELHgZ

— Shayne Pasquino (@shaynepasquino) April 17, 2017

- Another fabulous PK by the Habs. This unit has been one of the very top positive stories of the series, at least from the Canadiens' perspective.

- Rangers might not register 20 shots on Carey Price tonight, stuck on 14 with 8 minutes left. An incredibly disciplined effort by the Habs defence tonight.

- Habs simply great in their own zone, winning battles, blocking shots, guarding passing lanes. Rangers unable to get much of anything going, and Vigneault, maybe a bit of desperation, putting out a dizzying array of different line combos. Looking for a spark, any spark. 

- Oh god, oh god. Oh god. Alexander Radulov. One of the greatest goals I've seen scored by a Montreal Canadien player in years. Back checks at centre, creates turnover, then just chases a loose puck and stickhandles *around* Lundqvist with one hand. The deal is sealed. Radulov is a monster.

Are you kidding me?? Alex Radulov with an insanely beautiful goal: pic.twitter.com/jpaUtunXS7

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) April 17, 2017

- Dammit, Price denied the shutout, Skjei who's been excellent for New York, with a shot that might have been deflected by Byron. 3-1.

- An outstanding game by the Montreal Canadiens, one of their best in years. Especially so the defence, who were disciplined and structured all night long, which kept the Rangers chances limited at best. There were few if any weak links in this Habs lineup - I would be very surprised if Claude Julien makes any adjustments for game 4. 

GAME PREVIEW: ROAD GAME ADVANTAGE?

We're just hours away from game 3, a critical juncture in the Eastern Conference quarter final showdown between the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers. Lots of points to cover today in anticipation of the game, so let's get out the point forms.

- The Rangers as we all know, wrestled away home game advantage in the series with their 2-0 victory last Wednesday night. But is there really much of an advantage? New York hasn't won a playoff game at Madison Square Garden since 2015, and won just barely half of their home schedule this season - 21 wins, which represents the worst home ice record in the NHL this season amongst teams that qualified for the post-season. There's no rhyme or rationale for the Rangers struggles at MSG, it could be a statistical anomaly. Still, it must be concerning to the faithful that the Rangers are winless over their last 3 starts, and would be in real danger of getting knocked out if that streak reaches 4 tonight.

- The Canadiens have made some significant - some might say well overdue - lineup changes tonight. After torturing many a Habs fan last week with his erratic play (mainly in his own zone), Andreas Martinsen will be a scratch tonight. Slotting in on the 4th line will be Torrey Mitchell, who will play along side Steve Ott and Dwight King.

- Woah, did I say Dwight King on the 4th line? I sure did. With King moving down, Alex Galchenyuk will start tonight on the 3rd line at center (yay!), along with Artturi Lehkonen and Andrew Shaw. This adjustment will almost certainly please those who've been very critical of coach Claude Julien's attempt to create an "effective" 4th line, by placing the talented Galchenyuk there on wing beside Ott and Martinsen. But after 1 so-so 1st period last Wednesday, that 4th line has been more-or-less a defensive nightmare rather than an offensive asset for the Canadiens.

King's demotion to the 4th  will also be welcomed. While King's work ethic can't be questioned, his ability to finish plays, in particular his lacklustre shooting ability, was largely undoing the efforts of both Lehkonen and Andrew Shaw. Speaking of Shaw, the shifting of Galchenyuk will mean Shaw will return to wing after two disappointing efforts up the middle for games 1 and 2. Shaw, whom G.M. Marc Bergevin specifically targeted last summer for his strong post-season reputation, has been roundly nullified by the Rangers defence so far in the series. Moving Shaw back to the wing will likely take some of added burdens and responsibilities off his shoulders, and may encourage more aggressive play around the Rangers net.

- Speaking of the Rangers defence, they've been somewhat Jekyll and Hyde. Over the first two games, New York's top pairing of captain Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi have been excellent, limiting the Habs offence to just 10 scoring chances so far in the series. An even brighter spot has been New York's 3rd pairing of Brady Skejei and Brendan Smith, who have also limited the Canadiens to a ridiculously measly 4 scoring chances of the first two series games.

However, the same can't be said of Marc Staal and Nick Holden, both of whom were on the ice for 3 of the Habs 4 goals on Friday night, including the game tying and OT winner. The Stall/Holden pairing have also been on the ice for half of all the Habs high danger scoring chances. With these numbers, there's been much speculation since Friday night that Rangers coach Alain Vigneault might make some adjustments to the defence - including possibly promoting Skejei and demoting Holden.

- What will Vigenault do? We've no idea. While the Habs have been transparent in showing their lineup hand in advance of the puck drop, the Rangers are going to keep their lineup hush-hush right up to game time.

- While we've mentioned the Rangers defence, we almost forgot to talk about the Habs blue line adjustment tonight. After struggling with positional play in his own zone both Wednesday and Friday nights, Nikita Nesterov will be a scratch tonight. Brandon Davidson, many of whom had expected entering this series to be playing on the Habs 3rd defensive line, will finally get his first playoff start tonight.

- Goaltending! Carey Price was, as usual, excellent Friday night, making a series of key saves to keep his team within a goal throughout the 3rd period. The same might not be said of Henrik Lundqvist, who, while solid so far, has at times seem erratic between the pipes - on occasion fumbling the primary shot, and then scrambling to cover the rebounds. I don't think there's anything wrong with Lundqvist per say (certainly nothing injury-related), but his uneven play may suggest we're witnessing the first symptoms of the inevitable decline that goes with surpassing the mid-30s.

- Lineups! First the Habs:

Max Pacioretty - Phillip Danault - Alexander Radulov
Paul Byron - Tomas Plekanec - Brendan Gallgher
Arttrui Lehkonen - Alex Galchenyuk - Andrew Shaw
Dwight King - Steve Ott - Torrey Mitchell

Andrei Markov - Shea Weber
Jordie Benn - Jeff Petry
Nathan Beaulieu - Brandon Davidson

For the Rangers:

We have no idea because they aren't tell anyone anything.

Puck drops tonight at MSG at 7:10 EST.

Game 20: Sens vs. Habs

OTTAWA 4, MONTREAL 3

FIRST PERIOD LIVE BLOG THREAD:

- Well, we see Max Pacioretty now playing with Plekanec and Gallagher. At least he isn't having to deal with David Desharnais.

- Both teams appear to have their legs - both are working off some decent rest, so while goals might not come fast and furious, this might actually be an entertaining game.

- Byron streaks in alone off a nifty 4-on-4 passing play. Senators other weak spot is beyond the Karlsson pairing, there's not a lot there defensively. 

- Man, Habs should just try and aim for being one short, send Byron out there, and rack up some Grade-A scoring chances.

- Is there a whinier team in the NHL than the Ottawa Senators? It's been this way with them for years. Must be part of their culture.

- Joel Hanley, I'm assuming is a nice guy, but he just can't cut NHL speed. Habs need to just move on - there are other options - Redmond, Barbario, Pateryn. 

- Early returns on this Plekanec line are not promising. At some point, Therrien, if he's trying to spark some scoring from Pacioetty, is going to need to pair him next to Galchenyuk.

- Speaking of, and on the other side of the coin, the Galchenyuk line is flying tonight, so far responsibly for pretty much all of the Habs high danger scoring chances.

- Yeah, the Sens are not a very good team shooting the puck, if this first period is any indicator. They're doing "okay" generating shot attempts, but far too many are missing the mark. 

- Brendan Gallagher hits the crossbar. An the eternal struggle to find a goal, any sort of goal, from any direction, in any way, continues.

- Poorly played period of hockey, offensively both teams did a pretty poor job passing, defensively, lots of blown assignments and poor positional play generating far too many breaks (which weren't converted). Galchenyuk line was strong, Plekaenc line was not. Sens' Pageau line had its moments, but like Gallagher, they're struggling to finish plays. Also of interest, the Phaneuf/Ceci pairing was pretty much abysmal - if the Habs bench is paying attention, they'll match Galchanyuk against them each and every opportunity that's presented.

SECOND PERIOD LIVE BLOG THREAD:

- Habs and Sens after 20 minutes, Habs Corsi almost 70%, which is as good a sign as any why this Senators team is kind of terrible at scoring goals:

- Joel Hanley got 2 shifts, grand total of 2:05 playing time in the 1st period. Why bother putting your 6th defenseman in the lineup if you're essentially not even going to play him? Search me. But the Habs, whatever their rationale, are racking up unnecessary ice times on their blue line, specifically the wildly overplayed Markov, who's having a great season so far, but at 25+ minutes a game, it's going to take a toll as the season progresses.

- Another powerplay goal for Weber, his 7th of the season on the man advantage. Just to rub it in a little, the Sens have 5. As a team. Ouch.

- Ottawa just can't deal with Montreal puck possession, getting nailed for hooks and trips, giving Habs powerplay opportunities left and right.

- Weber scores on the powerplay, makes terrible giveaways on the powerplay. Sometimes you just gotta take the bad with the good. 

- Hoffman for the Sens on the powerplay, after Emelin makes a pretty lacklustre puck clearing attempt under zero pressure. Tie game.

- Still think Emelin is a terrible option on the PK - out there because he "hits", which is not what you want anybody to be doing killing a penalty 

- Incredible effort and goal by Radulov, basically handling the puck past all 5 Sens players, driving the net, and scoring off his own rebound. He's (in my mind at least) the Habs best player this season not named Carey Price:

RIP Mike Hoffman.

What a sweet move from Radulov. pic.twitter.com/sesqpRwVi9

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) November 23, 2016

- Pretty dreadful night for the Desharnais line - down a ton in possession, all while the rest of the Habs lineup are dominating. You're telling me having DD play is a better option than someone like Charles Hudon, I'm going to beg to differ.

- Weird goal for Sens Derick Brassard, tucking in a puck that's revealed to be a goal only after it's caught by NHL control in Toronto. Tie game again.

- Habs might be getting another PDO comeuppance tonight - pretty much dominating either end of the sheet, but no ahead on the scoreboard. 

- Chris Neil. Idiot extraordinaire. 

- Nathan Beaulieu took a pretty hard wrist shot to the face earlier in the period, and is now done for the night. With Hanley essentially not being played, Habs now down to four defense. 

- Habs getting Habbed again tonight, dominating the game, but even on the scoreboard. With Beaulieu out and Hanley not being played at all, it sets up a difficult 3rd period for the Habs, who ought be winning this game handily, but because of some questionable lineup and deployment decisions, are facing an uphill battle in the 3rd period.

THIRD PERIOD LIVE BLOG THREAD:

- Habs winning the game as far as fancy stats are concerned. But those don't always equal 2 points in the standings:

- And this is noteworthy, we've been on about it all night long:

Markov (22:28)

Weber (18:47)

Petry (17:15)

Emelin (10:39)

Beaulieu (8:00)

Hanley (3:03)

Reminder, Beaulieu is out for the game, so unless the Habs are willing to start giving Hanley shifts, keeping in mind they scratched other players in order for him to play, then the Habs are going to try to go through the rest of this game with just 4 defensemen. 

- Holy crap, Habs just had a powerplay to end all powerplays. Radulov and Weber brilliant with the puck, and on his 3rd one-time try, Galchenyuk finally strikes. Absolutely brilliant man advantage right there.

- Sens flip puck in, Emelin does horrible job retrieving, puck is centred, Stone slams it home, and the Habs again cough up the lead. Also totally MIA on the play, Tomas Plekanec, who missed his mark. 

- Beaulieu was apparently rushed to the hospital. That's pretty horrible news. Hope everything is okay.

- Habs again do sloppy job clearing the puck from their zone, Hanley far out of position at the blue line, and Karklsson with a softie shot that Price somehow fails to pick up, and suddenly the Sens take the lead. The Habs PDO correction continues unabated. 

- Hanley gets a shift half way through the period, but really, the damage has already been done with ice allocations. Sens 4th goal could very much be attributed to a Habs defense that was bagged, because Therrien has been double shifting some of his players. 

- Habs really pushing the puck hard into the Ottawa zone, but aren't generating very many high quality scoring chances, at least not yet.

- Byron has had a pretty strong game, with at least three glorious scoring chances. Anderson just a little bit better.

- Plekanec line really good strong shift, he and Gallagher really pushing the crease looking for the loose puck, which Anderson, who's been really strong this period, barely manages to cover before it's fired in. So close.

- Pacioretty sprung loose for a break, Anderson makes the save (I'm sure much to Pacioretty's unbelievable drought frustration), and then takes a suspect goaltending interference penalty. Hard to tell for certain, but sure looked like he was (at least partly) tied up on the back check by Methot. Tough call.

- Nifty save by Anderson on Radulov backhander to keep the Sens ahead. Anderson the difference maker in this period, and really for that matter, the big reason why Ottawa is likely to win this game. 

- Montreal more or less peters out at the end, losing with much more of a whimper than a bang. Tough loss for the Habs, who outplayed the Sens, a team that for whatever reason, seems to have Montreal's number of late. Carey Price was good, but not great - which is kind of what we've come to know this Habs team to be - when Carey isn't great, the Habs are more likely to lose than win, which means that the team is likely fundamentally flawed. The scoring slumps for both Gallagher and Pacioretty continue, which is also concerning, because when they're not producing, it makes winning even more challenging. Habs big home stand is winding up before they hit the road for a huge, extended trip, where the losses might really start piling up, if some of these troubling issues aren't resolved, and quickly.

GAMEDAY NEWS 'N' NOTES

We have little bits and sorts of news and facts and stats and whatever else required to prep for tonight's game. Attention class, they are as follows:

- Charles Hudon. SCRATCHED. Sigh. Daniel Carr will get a start tonight. Ah well, it was nice while it lasted.

- Bobby Ryan. SCRATCHED (A kind reader has pointed out to me that Ryan is injured - so never mind HIS lack of scoring. The same criticism of the Sens, however, still applies). Woah, what's happened with Ryan? It was just a few years ago that Ryan was a premier goal scorer in the NHL, and now he's being removed from the lineup? I suppose this is a bottom-line issue, since Ryan has only scored 3 times in 17 games for the Senators, which brings us to the next important point:

- Here are the November results for Ottawa, which this month, have posted an "ok" 5-4-1 record:

Ottawa 2, Carolina 1 (OT)
Ottawa 1, Vancouver 0
Ottawa 1, Buffalo 2
Ottawa 1, Minnesota 2 (OT)
Ottawa 3, Philadelphia 2 (SO)
Ottawa 1, Nashville 5
Ottawa 1, Florida 4

Spot the trend? In case you hadn't, I'll spell it out that you're not going to win very many games when you're averaging 1.1 GP60. So while head coach Guy Boucher might feel inclined to send messaged to Ryan that he expects better production, Ryan is not the problem in Ottawa. Their problem is systematic:

- CF (5v5): 48.7% (22nd)
- GF60: 1.65 (28th)
- SF60: 31.2 (4th)

WHOOP. Hold on there. 4th overall in shots taken, and 28th overall in goal production? I think we've found our problem.

SH%: 5.31 (29th).

Against a Carey Price, this lack of deliverance will not favour the Sens tonight.

- Senators lineup tonight:

Dzingel/Turris/Pyatt
Smith/Pageau/Stone
Hoffman/Brassard/Kelly
McCorminck/Lazar/Neil

Methot/Karlsson
Phaneuf/Ceci
Borowiecki/Wideman

Craig Anderson

- Here's a cool stat to wrap your mind around about how badly the Senators are struggling in the goal-scoring department - Shea Weber has scored 6 goals this season for the Canadiens. The Ottawa Senators, as a team, have scored 5.

Speaking of defence, Joel Hanley will play 6th D tonight, in place of the scratched Greg Pateryn.

Puck drops at 6:40, EST.



MONDAY NEWS 'N' NOTES:

Hey, the Senators are in town! Relive their glorious Stanley Cup history - because they were winning a bunch of those back before the Titanic was being built (actually true). If you want to be all nit-picky and technical about it, the Senators, when they were a completely different franchise, last won the "championship of the world" way back in nineteen ought twenty and seven. The good ol' days!

Anyway, we have some Monday stuff for you, so get ready.

- Habs practice lines this morning - and just to let you know totally in advance, these were the actual lines:

Bryon/Galchenyuk/Radulov
Danault/Plekanec/Gallagher
Pacioretty/Mitchell/Shaw
Hudon/Desharnais/Terry

Lolz. Torrey Mitchell is centring one of the fastest, most productive scoring wingers the Habs have owned in a generation. Lolz.

Oh, but there's more. Oh yes my pretties, there is more:

"You can't always expect to have the puck come to you. Sometimes you have to go get it." - Michel Therrien on Max Pacioretty

— Аrpon Basu (@ArponBasu) November 21, 2016

Ah, pass-the-buck Therrien is back to his good'ol'ways again today. GEE COACH, THAT'S SUCH A PENETRATING OBSERVATION.  Your star winger isn't scoring. WHY DON'T YOU TRY GIVING HIM A CENTER WHO CAN SKATE MORE THAN 5 MPH, AND, YA' KNOW, STICK WITH IT?

So far this still short season, Pacioretty has been centred by Alex Galchenyuk, Tomas Plekanec, David Desharnais, Phillip Danault and now, Torrey-0.24-PP60-0.012-GP60-Mitchell.

Yeah, that'll get your problem solved. For sure.

Has Kirk Muller finished his french lessons yet?

More, later.

Game 63: Habs vs. Sharks

FIRST PERIOD:

- 17 years since the Habs last won in San Jose. Seventeen. Years. Odds of them breaking that woeful streak tonight? Not good.

- Peel and Luxmore are the officials tonight, two of the League's less compentent officials. So that could make the game interesting.

- Two shifts in quick succession for the Plekanec line - we could see extra extra duty for them tonight, especially if Pacioretty is now shooting a hot hand.

- Ick Ick Ick zone coverage - Bartley way out of position and Danault leaving Joe Thornton completely unmarked beside Condon, and it's 1-0 early.

- Martin Jones gifts the Habs one back, Gallagher from an impossible angle, Jones failing to cover the post. Tie game.

- Barberio/Bartley pairing really struggling so far, Sharks with firing line on Condon with both defenseman getting caught totally out of position around their net. That needs to be sorted out quickly or Therrien might need to shorten his bench.

- Bartley given a pretty terrible tripping penalty by Peel. The Habs are tonight's first victims of this dubious officiating duo. Poor officiating is especially impactful because of the Sharks' already very good powerplay.

- Habs zone exits have been pretty awful so far, it's leading to near zero offence, save the one semi-fluke goal. Also generating way too many turnovers deep, Condon forced to make some pretty good saves to keep the score even.

- McCarren doesn't hold anything back. He's 6'6" and he uses every inch of that frame. Really like what I've seen since his latest call-up.

- Therrien rewarding McCarren with shifts, unfortunately his linemates - Mitchell and especially Brown, are glaring defensive liabilities. Too much play in Habs zone when those three are on the ice.

- Thornton again, Habs again with some wretched zone coverage. So undisciplined, so lacking any structure or coherence. Montreal has little chance tonight if they're going to continue to be so disorganized. 2-1 Sharks.

- Torrey Mitchell is a train wreck tonight. His line is getting slaughtered.

- Pretty ugly period for the Habs - the combination of injuries and necessary player selloffs has made this roster pretty thin - especially on the 3rd and 4th lines, where Montreal is getting trounced. Could be a very, very long night ahead for the Canadiens.

SECOND PERIOD:

- Pacioretty is an excellent hockey player, but one time shots are not his thing. Odd the Habs powerplay seems to strategize towards setting him up for the cross ice pass and shot. But then there's a lot of things I don't understand about this team.

- Barberio can really drive that puck, if you allot him time and space. Could be a useful future asset to the powerplay, if he's able to stick with the team.

 - Burns with a wrister that Condon doesn't quite cover short side, and it's 3-1. Game headed towards ugliness, as Habs 3rd and 4th lines continue to be turned into mincemeat by this San Jose offence.

- Eller line easily Habs best tonight, which was to be expected. Sharks somewhat slower-than-average defense really struggling to contain that line's speed and skill.

- Therrien really giving 1st and 2nd lines a lot of time tonight, which I suppose is understandable given how poorly the 3rd and 4th lines have played, but is unsustainable over three periods.

- Andrei Markov, whom for two months looked and played rather dreadfully, has really returned to form the past couple of weeks, even thought Therrien continues to wildly overplay him every game.

- Sharks far too many times tonight, getting red carpet treatment carrying the zone. Habs defence doing its best, but forwards the culprit here - too many neutral zone giveaways, not enough hustle back. Habs luck they're not down 4 or 5-1 at this point.

- Oooh another gift goal off a broken play, Torrey Mitchell smacks home a lob shot by Byron that Jones completely muffs up, and the Habs, benefiting some iffy netminding and nifty puck luck, are only down 1. 

- Habs zone exits are just hopeless tonight - it's completely hampering their ability to generate any kind of favourable momentum

- Great awareness and pass by Gallagher right on the tape of Plekance all alone in front of Jones, who's forced to make a spectacular pad save to keep his team ahead.

- Chickens come home to roost against Habs in the second - you can only play an unstructured, ineffective game so long before it catches up, and that second period, the Sharks started pulling away. Habs likely to play their top two lines heavily in the third in a desperate attempt to get at least a point out of this evening, which means San Jose can expect to receive some pretty good looks at Condon in the final frame.

THIRD PERIOD:

- Bartley and Barberio both chase a puck along the boards, leaving Condon high,Mary and utterly exposed. Karlsson totally alone in front of the net to give the Sharks another two goal lead. That defensive pairing has been burned numerous times tonight, but with Petry and Gilbert out for the long term, and Tinordi given away to Arizona, Habs are stuck.

- Route is on, again defensive zone coverage is poor, again Habs get burned trying to chip the puck up along the boards instead of passing or carrying it out, again this team's utter lack of structure and competence will cost them another loss they could ill-afford. Again Habs won't win in San Jose. Maybe 18th time's a charm? Anyway, 5-2 the score, it's game, set and match. Road trips headsto Southern California, and looks to be shaping up to be a horrorshow.

DO THE HABS STILL HAVE A LINEUP TO PLAY TONIGHT??

The trade deadline!! It's come and gone! All the wheeling and dealing! Incredible!! Dizzying!!

So yeah. Nothing happened. Well, much anyway. Pretty like every other year in the past.

But ... but ... the Habs did make some moves. As in, getting rid of players, including Dale Weise, Thomas Fleischmann and today, it was Devante Smith-Pelly. In return, the Habs got some picks, a marginal winger in Stefan Matteau, and also earlier today, Mike Brown was claimed off ... wait. Who?? Mike Brown the do-nothing goon that's scored 4 goals the past 6 NHL seasons? YES BUT WAIT. He plays right wing!! Exactly the position the Habs had a huge void in! PROBLEM SOLVED.

So yeah. We got Mike Brown. Who'll play tonight, against his former team. So at least the pickup was convienient. Otherwise, um ... Marc Bergevin seems pretty content to just ride the rest of the season, sans a few unproductive regulars, and maybe look at trying to get this franchise back on track this summer.

Until then, there's hockey still to be played. And hey, believe it or not, the Habs still have very faint post-season aspirations, sitting 5 points back of the Pens for the 2nd wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference. Tonight, it's the Sharks from San Jose, whom themselves are looking to nail down a playoff spot. The Sharks, coming off a pretty miserable 2014-15, have had a nice little rebound season, making a coaching change during the summer (*cough, cough*), which has helped them to play a much more structured game than they had going under Todd McClellan.

How are the Sharks structurally better? Well, this year they have the 3rd rated powerplay, an improvement from last season. Their offence is 4th rated in the NHL, which is way better than 15th from last season. The only area where we've seen some regression is defensively, where San Jose has gone from 7th last year, to 17th this season. This is a team that likes to win via scoring, preferably via their specialty units. And given they're probably going to make the playoffs, who can argue with the overall result?

Meanwhile over in Habsland, in addition to Brown starting tonight (AWKWARD), Torrey Mitchell, who's been out for a bit from injury, is expected to return.

Puck drops tonight at 10:40 EST. I'm going to be in bed, so the blog won't exactly be live. But it will be posted. Eventually. Brew a pot of coffee, and enjoy!!

Game 32: Sharks vs. Habs

THIRD PERIOD:

- Habs and Sharks through 40 minutes.

- Andrei Markov with perhaps the roughest night amongst Habs defenders, one has to wonder if he's being asked to work more than his body is capable of handling, at this stage in his career.

- Habs powerplay now 0-20, again looking good with puck control and passing, but generating almost no shot attempts from the slot. Opposing PK's will give you all day to hold the puck if all you're willing to do shot from the line.

- Habs now riverboat gamblers - pushing defence in aggressively, pinching hard not only in the Sharks zone, but at centre ice. Condon will probably have to make a couple of odd-man rush saves, if the Habs don't score their second goal soon.

- Don't be shocked if Subban gets something close to 12 minutes in the 3rd period. Markov appears to be having his time shelved in the frame. Not even a minute played with clock nearing halfway mark.

- Well, Andrighetto is back with 27-81, which marks progress. A little too late for tonight's game, it would appear.

- 6 minutes left, Habs will need to go full gambling phasers on at this point. Time's-a-wasting'.

- Since getting paired with Beaulieu, Subban ha become a monster, carrying the puck zone to zone, which on a Michel Therrien team, is very unusual.

- Well, what can you do - Habs arguably the better team tonight, but the story is simple - Sharks took advantage of their chances, Habs didn't. On the bright side, Beaulieu/Subban looks like a pretty serious thing - they looked terrific together the final half of the game - so one wonders, will this become a more permanent fixture?


SECOND PERIOD: 

- Habs and Sharks through 20 minutes. What else can you do other than shrug?

- To be fair, the PDO gods do owe the Sharks a few, but this is getting a little silly. Pavelski tips a soft wrister past Tokarski barely 30 seconds into the period, and it's 2-0.

- Dale Weise, hands of Moen (a few hard-core fans might know what that means).

- I suspect we'll get some separation as the game progresses, but Habs are really rolling all four lines tonight, ice times are almost identical amongst the forwards as we hit the halfway mark.

- Ouch, Dustin Tokarski. Misplays the puck behind his goal, then turned into yesterday's gravy trying to cover up in his net, with Zubrus finishing the turnover off, and it's 3-0. Tokarski out, Condon in.

- Suffice to say, P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov are not putting out stellar performances tonight. That Zubrus goal, both defenders were totally out of position, behind the Habs net. Sure, Tokarski had some blame, but he was left totally out to dry and all three San Jose goals.

- And Therrien has apparently separated those two aforementioned defensemen - Subban is with Beaulieu, Markov with Gilbert. Hmmm ...

- Well, hey now, it pays off? Subban with a nifty carry and shot/pass deflected in by Weise to put Habs on the board. We have life?

- Subban and Beaulieu look like they've been playing partners their entire lives. That combination really clicking so far.

- Habs switch up their defensive line combos, and suddenly come to life - nearly making the game 3-2 before the 2nd period buzzer. Sets up an interesting 3rd period in which Montreal, at the very least, has a half-decent shot an pulling a point out of the night.



FIRST PERIOD:

- Keep an eye on Martin Jones. He's only had two games this month where his SV% was above .900. Its been very up and down for him the past while.

- Still can't figure out Therrien putting Andrighetto on the 4th line. He was doing some excellent work on the top line, giving opposing defences fits with his, and Paciorettys speed, coming at them from both directions.

- While the Sharks do have a decent possession game, they don't like carrying the zone. Very much a dump and chase offence, which (was) very much the Habs template from 2012-15.

- Habs powerplay continues to play dreadfully, and Therrien continues to use Desharnais and Weise as primary offence, which is just all kinds of bizarre. Desharnais can't/won't shoot, Weise can't finish. And Subban on the wrong wing continues to just go nowhere. Madness all over the place.

- Subban just doesn't seem the same - in particular his slap shot, which I'm positive, doesn't have anything close to the velocity it did last season. Not nearly as dangerous as he used to be - NHL netminders are turning him away easily. Ergo, just 1 goal so far this season.

- Watching the Sharks first 13 minutes, this team is struggling - mightily. Really don't like their dump and chase system, it significantly limits their ability to generate much, if any, decent scoring attempts. Habs are pretty much suffocating them so far, even though Montreal has stumbled to finish their scoring attempts.

- Still waiting for the Pacioretty goal explosion - he's due for a bundle. I think we're on the cusp of that happening.

- Barclay Goodrow, a nothing player, takes a run at Subban, hurting him. Officials don't call a board, but Torrey Mitchell, who is awesome, dishes out some fisticuff punishment. Referees really need to crack down on this dirty, dishonourable play.

- Subban with a bad pinch at the Sharks blue line, generating 2-on-1 break for Jan Jose, and Marleau slips the punk past Tokarski off a nice feed from Ward. Outshot so far by a ration of 5-to-1, San Jose maddeningly has the early lead.

- Watched the replay, Galchenyuk has to do a much, much better job getting back to cover Subban, who was simply making an aggressive play in a period that the Habs have owned.

- Eller really fighting the puck of late - he's struggling.

- Welp, what can you say? Habs shot attempts were 22-4, which .. yeah. What can you do? Just keep plugging away, keep playing the same way. No way Sharks should have the lead, but that's more indicative of the bounces of hockey, and the Habs inability to finish. Montreal's powerplay also becoming a pressing issue. Something needs to be done there, and quickly.


PREGAME NOTES:

- It's hard to believe, but San Jose hasn't won in the month of December. Last win came November 28th against Calgary. In fact, the Sharks have only won twice since November 22nd, and the last time they won against an opponent with a .500 or better record was November 13th. OUCH.

- That San Jose has struggled so much lately is a bit of a puzzler, since the Sharks are the League's 3rd rated team for generating high percentage scoring opportunities (only Dallas and ... yes, Carolina are better). Their possession numbers are also very respectable - 53.7 score adjusted Fenwick.

- Interestingly, of the 14 wins by San Jose this season, 10 have come on the road. This team really is a puzzler.

- Torry Mitchell is back for the Habs! That certainly won't hurt the Habs, given how well he played before injury.

- Dustin Tokarski will get another start. He's played two very good games in a row. Third time's a charm?

- Puck drops at 7:40 EST.









HAPPY GAMEDAY! ADD ANOTHER ONE TO THE SHELF

News 'n' Notes for the game day, some important news, for once.

- Congrats to Carey Price, who was announced today as the 2015 receipient of the Lou Marsh Award, which goes to the best Canadian athlete. Apparently this year's award was a "tough choice", because of course, it's a real struggle giving this award to the guy who's currently the best hockey player on the planet, coming off one of the greatest seasons ever had by an NHL goaltender.

- Habs Zack Kassian was cleared by the NHL this morning to return to hockey, after successfully completing its substanec abuse program. The Habs immediately put Kassian on waivers. Assuming he clears, he might, just might, get a chance to actually play in a Habs uniform if, and only if, there's an instance where he's required (which would only be as an injury replacement).

- Hey, speaking of returning, Habs finally are getting some wounded bodies back - Torrey Mitchell, who's been excellent on the Habs 4th line up until his injury, will return to the lineup tonight. Charles Hudon will be a healthy scratch, to make way for Mitchell.

We'll post a game preview in a bit.