-Habs vs Leafs. Win.. but Carey Price needed to be the star
-Getting back on the “Habs need to mentor their young” topic
-Twitter question of the day: where are you as far as the Habs Bandwagon is concerned? Many different responses!
-Spacek calls Montreal canadiens environment a Circus, but Gorges is a circus type of guy
-Should Habs have given interim Captaincy to someone else given Gionta injury
-Number crunching for Habs playoff hopes...kinda...
Click play below to listen in (total listening time 53:26):
(Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images North America)
The Montreal Canadiens lost again last night. That's not really anything too surprising given their play of late.
But what makes this win more painful was the 4-2 lead the Habs held to start the third period. And this despite being outshot 22-18 through two periods.
Ouch.
But the Pens turned it on in the third as the Habs now patented third period collapse reared it's ugly head.
I guess the coach really doesn't know what to do when he's putting Scott Gomez, who hasn't scored in almost a year, out there in the shootout. Montreal picks up one point in the shootout loss but, with 43, sits three points out of last in the East.
But at least they scored a powerplay goal yesterday!
Last night the New York Islanders posted an impressive 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.
So, why the heck am I mentioning this on a Canadiens related website?
Because, with the win, the Islanders are now ahead of the Habs in the standings. And, perhaps more saliently, le tricolore now finds itself in the bottom-five of the overall league standings.
All things considered, at this point it would be best if Montreal finished in such a position. By being in the bottom-five, they are eligible to win the first overall pick in the draft lottery.
Frankly, any top-five pick can pay rapid dividends.
Last year, Adam Larsson was drafted fourth overall.
In 2010, Cam Fowler, Jeff Skinner and Evegeny Kuznetsov were all drafted outside of the first quintet.
In 2009, Evander Kane was picked fourth, followed by Brayden Schenn and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
So the Montreal Canadiens lost yet another game last night. This time to the struggling Washington Capitals who were missing top defenseman Mike Green, among others, and who was playing backup goalie Michael Neuvirth.
Still, Montreal was unable to score, getting shutout 3-0 and going a brutal 0-for-7 on the powerplay.
Yikes!
The swooning powerplay continues to be one the top problems for Montreal this season. And that's no small feat!
But aside from the struggling powerplay, there are a bunch of other interesting storylines surrounding the Montreal Canadiens of late.
This week's roundup takes a look at just a few.
Big guys
Erik Cole's addition to the Canadiens roster has been the UFA pickup of the season. He is enjoying a sensational year, having already potted 17 goals through 46 games—he's on pace for a 30-goal season.
Cole also leads all Habs point-getters with 33.
Cole's frequent linemate, Max Pacioretty, has had a bit of a different season. He started strong then, after getting suspended for a hit to the head of Kris Letang, looked tentative since his return.
In fact, he looked so tentative that he went 10 games between goals, finally getting back on the scoresheet in a 3-1 win over the Lightning.
Since that goal, Pacioretty looks like a player renewed. He is once again driving to the net with authority and using his speed to make things difficult for the opposition. As a result, he has six points (4G, 2A) and is plus three over the last six games.
Coupled with David Desharnais, who is quietly tied with Tomas Plekanec (31 points) for third overall in team scoring, that line is the Habs most consistent threat night after night.
I know, I know, there are a lot of rumours floating out there right now. But when TSN 990's Tony Marinaro says Subban is being shopped, you have to believe there is more than just smoke to this rumour.
The caveat, for me, is that if Subban is being shopped it can only be for an elite player. And I mean elite. I'm not talking Tomas Plekanec, I'm talking Ryan Getzlaf. I'm not talking Josh Gorges, I'm talking Shea Weber.
Elite. That is the only way you trade a player as young as Subban who has as much upside. Otherwise, this whole thing is going to hell in a hand-basket real fast.
This is a throw-down!
So it turns out the Habs newest addition, Rene Bourque, can fight.
Bourque played his first game against the Caps since his suspension—Bourque was suspended for five games for elbowing Nicklas Backstrom in the head. Prior to the match, Bourque said that he expected them to come after him and thought he'd have to answer the bell.
Well he was right on both counts and answer the bell he did.
Challenged by Caps tough guy, Matt Hendricks, the two threw down 1:15 into the first period.
Here's the vid:
Ohh man, did that ever not turn out well for Hendricks. When was the last time you saw a Canadiens player drop the gloves and put such a convincing beating on an opponent?
Ya, I can't remember either. It's nice to see some true toughness in the Habs lineup for the first time in years.
Struggling PP
So if you haven't heard by now, the Habs have the worst powerplay in the league. I guess that Tomas Kaberle pickup didn't work so well afterall.
I wonder what happened to all the people who flamed me for saying it was a brutal move at the time. Crawled back under their bridges I suspect.
Yes, Kaberle is a better player than Jaroslav Spacek, but he doesn't have a recent track record for helping teams' powerplays.
For more on that see Bruins, Boston.
Kaberle aside, I am left wondering why Coach Cunneyworth isn't mixing it up more on the PP. Rene Bourque, a guy who is big and can crash the net, continues to sit on the outside looking in.
Lars Eller is also a player who isn't getting PP time.
I'd change both of those things up, ASAP. The other thing I'd do is to try Gorges on the point, as suggested by some in the HabsAddict.com commentariat.
He may not have the hardest shot in the league, but it's hard enough. More importantly, however, it's almost always on net. If you watch the times when Gorges shoots it's always a low, hard shot, perfect for generating rebounds and deflections..
Gorges' slappers don't have Subban-like velocity but, as I've said before, accuracy is what is missing from Subban's game.
I don't know, the coach has got to try something so why not give it a shot? What's it going to do, make them lose more games? Somehow, I think that would be a difficult task.
--- Kamal is a freelance writer, Senior Writer/Editor-in-Chief of HabsAddict.com, Montreal Canadiens Blogger on Hockeybuzz.com and featured columnist on PowerScoutHockey.com. Kamal is also a weekly contributor to the Sunday Shinny segment of The Franchise weekend morning show, on TSN Radio 990 (AM 990), every Sunday from 9 - 10 AM. Listen live at http://www.tsn.ca/montreal/
A win last night would have put the Montreal Canadiens within six points of the Washington Capitals and the final playoff berth in the East.
Instead, the Habs failed to pounce on a team that was playing the tail end of back-to-back games.
Now, according to SportClub Stats, the Canadiens have but a 9.9% chance of making the post-season. Perhaps more tellingly, due to last night's loss their odds went down a whopping 7%.
In the end, this team simply seems unable rise to the occasion.
Mind you, I rose last night.
I rose, changed the channel and stopped watching. Choking a six minute man-advantage makes people do that.
At least this morning's Habs News section is richly filled.
Mike Cammalleri got traded to... oh wait, everyone knows that already.
Perhaps its time to talk about something else then.
Moving away from the Habs' most recent transaction, this week's edition of Plus/Minus looks at the Canadiens new found size and notion of trading P.K Subban.
Plus:
Size on wings: It seems that, for the first time in almost a decade, the Canadiens have size on the wings. Size across all four lines.
Erik Cole and Max Pacioretty are hard charging, big men lighting it up on the Habs first line.
Rene Bourque and Andrei Kostitsyn, while streaky, are large, imposing players able to score 25 goals a year and deliver the occasional solid check.
Travis Moen is an experienced grinder with Stanley Cup experience who is unafraid to drop the gloves.
Michael Blunden has great speed and zeal, giving the squad's bottom-six a crash-and-bang element it lacked earlier this season.
The Canadiens' campaign has certainly not gone according to plan, but at the very least they seem to be building an identity as a bigger, tougher to play against group.
Minus:
Trading P.K: Many media and analysts, namely those on l'Antichambre, seem like they would seriously consider moving P.K Subban?
Why?
Part of the right package for an impact player, it is natural for the Canadiens to consider moving P.K Subban. Even then, it would seem foolhardy for the Habs to move their most talented player.
Over the years, Montreal has lost blueliners by the dozen.
Stephane Robidas, Ron Hainsey, Mike Komisarek, Mark Streit, Sheldon Souray, Francois Beauchemin and Ryan McDonagh all ply their trade elsehwere now and most of them are impact players on their respective team.
Moreover, most of the above were lost in the early stages of their careers. For various reasons, the organization was either unwilling or unable to invest time, or money, into them.
But now, some appear gun-ho about moving P.K Subban. Because he is overzealous? Because he takes to many chances? Because he lacks patience?
Wow, I am sure he is the first offensive-minded defenceman to have those flaws.
Honestly, this minus extends all the way to those who are in such a hurry to move Yannick Weber as well. He is 23 years old, not 32.
Let's learn from the organization's past mistakes. The Habs have lost enough highly competent defenders over the last ten years.
Let's give these players time to develop.
--- Louis is an Associate Editor at HabsAddict.com and an Editor at HabsWorld.net. Born in Chicago, Louis grew up in Quebec City where he earned Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from Université Laval.
He currently resides in Ottawa and works for the Coaching Association of Canada. Find him on twitter @LouisMoustakas
Well, yesterday I mentionned that Tuesday would be an important night for scoreboard watching.
Turns out the scoreboard helped the Habs.
Winnipeg lost 5-1 to the New Jersey Devils.
Toronto lost the battle of Ontario 3-2 in regulation.
Washington failed versus the Islanders, getting shut out 3-0.
In the end, three of the four teams directly ahead of Montreal lost last night. And, tonight, the Canadiens have the opportunity to make up ground against a Capitals team on the tail end of back-to-back contests.
If there is to be any hope of Montreal making the post-season, and for the record I believe they will not, they must capitalize on opportunities such as the one presented to them this evening.
