Josh Gorges needs knee surgery and will be out for the remainder of the season.
With star defenseman Andrei Markov already gone for the season and veteran Roman Hamrlik missing the game due to injury, the Habs defense was absolutely decimated before the puck even dropped.
The Pens had their own problems with Sidney Crosby being scratched from the lineup only hours before the game due to injury. Word has it that he is suffering from post-concussion syndrome. In addition, Pens forward Matt Cooke missed the game to due personal reasons.
All this to say that this game could have been dubbed the attrition match!
The Pens got on the board first with the Habs icing the puck and losing the subsequent defensive zone faceoff. Habs' defenseman Yannick Weber missed his assignment, Aaron Asham, in front of the net who was able to put the rebound past Price.
That was the only goal that Price would yield on the night, as he returned to his early season form, rebounding from a shaky December.
This game had a very quick up and down pace with the Canadiens struggling to generate any offense, managing only five shots in the first period. The Pens were clearly the better team and took advantage of the porous Montreal defense to create several quality scoring opportunities for themselves, outshooting the Habs 13-5 in the first and 32-23 for the night.
The Canadiens turned things around in the second period, however, led by the gritty play of the Habs' bottom-six, tying the game on Benoit Pouliot's eighth goal of the season, his first in 11 games.
David Desharnais was the sparkplug for that line and their play got the whole team into the game. After the Pouliot goal, the Habs came to life, chipping pucks behind the Pens' defenders and using their speed to cycle.
Despite their efforts, however, most of the Canadiens' shots were harmless ones from the outside and when they did have a quality scoring chance, they usually missed the net or whiffed on the puck.
There was a critical moment in the third period where the Canadiens had about two minutes of a 5-on-3 power play. The Habs were not only unable to score but they managed nary a shot on net, flubbing a golden opportunity to close things out in regulation.
The teams were deadlocked at one after three periods and overtime solved nothing, meaning that the Habs were headed to a shootout for the first time this season.
The first four rounds of shooters were stopped or missed the net, until Pouliot one-handed the puck to the left of Pens' goaltender Brent Johnson. It was then up to Chris Kunitz to keep the Pens in it but he was stoned by Price who felt the need to strike a pose in celebration.
Scary Moment of the night: With the Habs already short three defenseman, Jaroslav Spacek slammed into the net while breaking up a Tyler Kennedy rush, and came up in considerable pain, favouring his arm. After a brief trip to the dressing room Spacek was back on the ice, no worse for wear.
Final score: Habs 2 - Pens 1 (SO)
Habs' scorers: Benoit Pouliot (8), Benoit Pouliot shootout winner
Pens' scorers: Aaron Asham (5)
Three stars: 1. Benoit Pouliot, 2. Carey Price, 3. David Desharnais
Game Notes
1. P.K. Subban looked like he had some jump to his game.
With all of the bodies falling like flies within the Canadiens defensive ranks, Subban is a player that will absolutely have to provide better performances for the Habs.
Last night, Subban perhaps took a big step in that direction.
Subban, for a rare occasion this season, was involved offensively but also responsible defensively.
There were several plays where Subban started up one of his patented end-to-end rushes, only to pass the puck off to an open man. That is exactly what Subban needs to do to be more effective on the ice; use his linemates.
He is still making some low percentage plays—like diving to stop Evgeni Malkin in the defensive zone, which fortunately worked—but playing with Hal Gill as his defensive partner seems to be settling his play a little.
Why he wasn`t paired with a veteran defenseman earlier in the season I`ll never know.
2. The bottom-six carried the play for the Habs.
The third line of David Desharnais, Benoit Pouliot and Mathieu Darche were the offensive catalyst for the Canadiens last night. That being said, the fourth line of Travis Moen, Jeff Halpern and Tom Pyatt also looked really good, providing a spark each time they were on the ice.
The Habs bottom two lines were the only ones winning any battles and foot races in the offensive zone and, as such, they were the only ones creating any scoring opportunities.
While it's nice for the bottom-six to get involved in the match and even better when they can provide secondary scoring, the Habs won't win many games unless their top two lines can generate offense.
Right now both the Tomas Plekanec line and the Scott Gomez line look like they are in free fall, and the Canadiens' offense seem to be following them down the drain.
3. The Habs could not pierce the Pens' defensive wall.
The Pens defenders did an excellent job of standing up the opposition at their blueline, which caused a lot of problems for the Canadiens. Since the Habs don't seem to have any players who are big enough and skilled enough to barrel through the defenders, they more often than not resort to dumping the puck into the corner.
In order for the dump-and-chase strategy to work, you have to win the 1-on-1 battles and be able to dig the puck out of the corner. If not, all you are achieving by dumping the puck in is turning it over to the opposition.
Last night, the Habs top two lines weren't able to win any battles down low in the Pens zone. As such, the Canadiens' offense had no bite to it. The only lines that were able to create any chances in the Pens' zone was their hard working third and fourth lines. These two lines used their grit and speed to outwork the opposition, winning battles and create offense down low.
The lack of offense from the top two lines shows limitations in either the strategy employed by the coach or the makeup of the team`s roster. I tend to think that it is a little from column A and a little from column B and ultimately the result is just not good enough.
Sooner or later, if the Habs can`t find ways to score, they are going to have to make some wholesale changes to their strategy or their lineup, otherwise there is no reason to believe that this up and down play will stop.
4. David Desharnais, so far, looks like a keeper.
If nothing else, through two games, David Desharnais looks much more NHL ready than Lars Eller does. As I said last week, I think if his strong play continues it will be time to send Eller down to Hamilton.
Desharnais plays much bigger than his 5'6" frame and uses his speed to create problems for the opposition. Paired with Benoit Pouliot and Mathieu Darche, this line was the offensive sparkplug for the Habs last night.
The Canadiens fourth line was in on the action too but the true leaders were the third line players.
With the Habs trailing by a goal, Desharnais dug the puck out to Darche in front who whiffed on it. This allowed the puck to slide to Pouliot who fired it high over Johnson from the edge of the right faceoff circle, to tie the game.
After that goal, the Canadiens suddenly came to life and dominated play for the last ten minutes of the second period. That is exactly what you want from your bottom-six: a line that can create momentum and transfer it to the entire team.
In addition to his even strength time, Desharnais was used on the penalty kill and the power play, showing how much faith Coach Martin has in the diminutive center.
Desharnais finished the night with one assist, one shot on goal, 14:09 of ice time, 2:53 on the power play and 56 seconds on short handed time.
This is a player that will get a lot of leeway from Jacques Martin.
5. The Price was right.
Carey Price played his strongest game in a month yesterday, turning aside shot after shot early in the game when the Canadiens had nothing going for them.
That is the Carey Price that we got used to seeing over the first 60 days of the season, shutting down the opposition and giving his team a chance to win when they weren't in game.
Yesterday, Price held the opposition at bay long enough for the Canadiens to find their legs and start exerting some pressure. Stopping 12 shots in the first period and 31 on the night, Price finished the game with a sparkling .969 save percentage.
The only reason the Canadiens won last night was because they reverted to their early season strategy of leaning heavily on Carey Price.
While this was a much need win for the Canadiens and they desperately needed the two points in the standings, the Habs will not win a lot of games scoring only one regulation goal. Once again last night, they showed that unless Price stands on his head they have a tough time winning.
Despite Price's December struggles, I shudder to think where this team would be without his early season heroics.
Standings and Next Game
The much needed win moves the Canadiens record to 22-16-3 with 47 points in the standings, good enough for eighth overall in the East.
Ahead of the Habs are the Rangers with 49 points and the Thrashers with 50 points—they have played two more games than Montreal.
The Bruins, 3-1 losers against the Wild, remain stalled with 48 points, one more than the Habs. Unfortunately for the Canadiens, Boston still has two games in hand.
The Habs have the day off before welcoming those same Boston Bruins to the Bell Centre for a pivotal Saturday night tilt against their old division rivals. A regulation win by either team will leave them as the uncontested Northeast Division leaders.
The game will be a huge four-pointer for both teams and considering the stifling defensive style of the Bruins, the Habs top two lines had better show up for work!
(Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images)
1 comments:
A great win for the Habs. When i look back on the key points of this game I have to point to 2 things. First, it looks like Carey Price gained some of his swagger back. He was in position, vacuuming up pucks with no rebounds, something we have seen from him in a few weeks. If he indeed has his 'mojo' back things are looking up for the Canadiens.
Secondly, Travis Moen showed exactly why he continues to be invaluable to this team. His work ethic is second to none and it definitely rubs off on his teammates. If only he could bang in a couple goals here and there.
I agree with everyone else that something has to give with the Top 6. They are getting chances but seem to just be snake-bitten when it comes to putting pucks behind goaltenders. I think maybe they should try Patch and DD together for a few shifts. They must have some Bulldog chemistry, and really what would it hurt? No one is really tearing it up offensively right now anyways. I think some sort of shuffle is necessary.
I am going to throw out an oddball idea. I think Montreal should try MC13 on the point on the PP(i know it never worked before). This time with the Wizz on the other point. This gives the Habs 2 guys not afraid to shoot the puck on the point(and actually hit the net too). It also gives Cammalleri the chance to sneak down the wall and be a one-timer threat like his days with the Flames. Again, nothing is working with PP either, a drastic change is exactly the spark they need.
The Habs need to try something to spark the offense or else the media will run someone out of town whether it be JM, AK46 or BennyP.
Habs better beat the 'B's tonight too, there isnt a bigger game in the month of January.
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