Montreal's win came without the services of Andrei Markov, Josh Gorges, Jaroslav Spacek, Brent Sopel, Hal Gil who was sick with the flu last night, Mathieu Darche, Max Pacioretty, Thomas Plekanec and Jeff Halpern.
Are you kidding me?
Not only did Montreal win but they played an excellent game against the Lightning in a potential first or second round matchup preview, depending on where these two teams finish.
Montreal has 85 points in the standings with eleven games left to play. If you figure that they need a minimum of 92 points to qualify for the post-season, they need seven more points in the standings, or about four wins.
With seven more games against teams who are below them in the standings and nine of their remaining 11 against conference opponents, the Habs fate is truly in their own hands.
So despite being decimated by injuries and illness all season long the Canadiens continue to win against all odds, a testament to their surprising depth. The Habs have a bevy of young, talented forwards who are getting the job done and just when one player goes down another youngster steps up to fill the void.
While it's great to see the youth movement picking up the slack, Montreal absolutely needs more out of Michael Cammalleri and Scott Gomez.
Is Andrei Kostitsyn playing the best hockey of his career?
Well maybe "best" is not the right word but consistent certainly is.
The much maligned Kostitsyn was a player that most were sure would be moved leading up to this year's trade deadline, and fans were happy to see him shipped out of town for a dog and then to have that dog shot.
The problem with Kostitsyn has never been his skill but his motivation, or seeming lack thereof, in addition to his brutal inconsistency. When he is on his game, he is one of the most effective players in the Habs lineup and when he is off he is more like a ball and chain, dragging the Canadiens down.
Since being placed on a line with rookie Lars Eller, however, Kostitsyn seems to have found his ideal center and is playing his most consistent hockey in a long time.
Their playing styles complement each other perfectly as they bring out the best in each other.
A big part of the reason is because, playing mostly on the third line, the Habs seem like they are finally just letting Kostitsyn play. Whereas he has looked lost and like he was thinking too much while playing with Scott Gomez and/or Tomas Plekanec, right now he is just playing hockey and relying on instincts rather than over-thinking his game.
The result has been that Kostitsyn has 11 points (5G, 6A) over his last 11 games and the Canadiens are 8-3-0 over that span.
Without him and Eller leading the way—Eller has seven points (4G, 3A) over the same span—the Canadiens would be in dire straits right now.
Oh and in case you're counting, AK46 is second in team scoring with 40 points (18G, 22A) while averaging no more than 15:43 per game, is shooting the puck, using his size in the corners and looking a lot more like the 10-overall draft pick that he is.
Hopefully for Montreal, he can keep it up because the rest of the top-six veterans are just not getting it done.
The refs are to blame on the Vincent Lecavalier slash.
With nine seconds left in the first period and P.K. Subban and Lecavalier fighting for the puck, the latter took a two handed lumberjack chop to Subban sending him to the ice in considerable pain.
Subban had just slashed Lecavalier and got a two minute minor for the infraction but Lecavalier got five for slashing, a 10-minute misconduct and was tossed from the game.
Lecavalier's hack on Subban was a clear attempt to injure for which he will surely be suspended for one or two games. The problem is that the situation was entirely avoidable.
Watching the replay (below), you can see Subban and Lecavalier were battling for position in front of the net for a good 30 seconds before the slash. Pushing, cross checking, face washing and the like.
As the players became increasingly frustrated, each infraction became a little more severe. So why didn't the refs step in?
Had the refs sent both players to the box for roughing, which was clearly merited by both, at any point leading up to the slash there would have been no further incident. But because the refs let them go at each other, it got to the point where Lecavalier dealt with the situation himself, right or wrong, with a blatant attempt to injure.
And, once again, the problem of inconsistent refereeing rears its ugly head. This whole incident could have been avoided but the refs clearly dropped the ball.
The Habs are back at it tonight with another critical four-pointer, this time against the New York Rangers who are seven points behind Montreal in the standings.
With the race to the finish line in full effect this is sure to be another great match.
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Kamal is a freelance Habs writer, Senior Writer/Editor-in-Chief of HabsAddict.com, Montreal Canadiens Blogger on Hockeybuzz.com and Habs writer on TheFranchise.ca. Kamal is also a weekly contributor to the Sunday Shinny on The Team 990 (AM 990) every Sunday from 8 - 9 AM. Listen live at http://www.team990.com/
(Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images North America)
9 comments:
I'm loving the new role for Kostitsyn, and the byproduct of getting Eller on the score sheet. They're thriving as 3rd liners and should be left alone there. I'm surprised (and pleased) that Martin did not do what he always does and take Kostitsyn and put him back in Halpern's spot. He is playing well without the pressure of being on the top 2 lines. Leave him be.
I see the Subban/Lecavalier thing differently. It was a heated battle in front of the net, and both started hacking at each other. I find that most Habs fans missed the pretty severe chop that Subban gave to Vinny's wrists as he came out from behind the net. Given the troubles Vinny has had with his hands in recent years, it's not an unexpected reaction. Dumb, yes, but not shocking. The foolish part of Vinny's retaliation is that it was done in plain sight of the refs. I think the penalty was appropriate and no further discipline was required.
I agree the slash from Vinny deserved more of a penalization than that of Subban because it was a retaliation... However, I did this exact same thing in a game a few weeks ago. I got hit into the boads (keep in mind there is no body checking in women's hockey) looked to the ref who wasn't going to make a call and when the player grabbed the puck I slashed her across the thigh just like Vinny did (I actually broke my stick too)...and she wasn't hurt. I'm not saying Subban milked it, but sometimes you react to an incident without even thinking. Once PK was down Lecavalier looked worried and inched towards him, looking like he wanted to check him out, but was quickly brushed away by the refs (probably to make sure a fight didn't ensue with a fellow Habs player protecting Subban).
I honestly can't see the league suspending Lecavalier, especially with their record as of late.
Subban also slashed Vinny in the same spot just before that, with Vinny not being hurt.
Also agree, the refs let it get to that point.
Nice article! Go Habs Go (and my apologies for pissing anyone off with my comments)
Hey Kyle and Melissa and thanks for your comments!
@Kyle: I have to admit that I'm also surprised that JM is just letting AK play. But hey, it's working so hopefully he just leaves him alone and let's him play.
@Melissa: This is an open forum to discuss your thoughts so I don't think you're pissing anyone off! Excellent points you make and absolutely, if the refs are going to let stuff go on the ice it will always escalate.
It's just human nature.
@Melissa and Kyle: Subban was as guilty as Lecavalier leading up to the axe chop by the latter. The problem, again, is that the refs just let it escalate.
As for the suspension, I am not sure how the league can NOT suspend Lecavalier. When was the last time you saw as blatant a stick swing as that? Lecavalier was clearly pissed off and wanted to hurt Subban.
It looks pretty incontestable to me and, as such, I don't know how the league can't give him at least one game. But maybe that's just me.
I think we navigate often murky waters when we try to figure out what is and isn't suspension-worthy. That murky water becomes downright muddy when you consider who's dishing out the justice.
I think in this case, the powers that be would see this as a "good old fashioned, intense battle". Many fans also see it this way, and I'm one of them. I think the refs did let it go too far, but the way it ended was not right.
I think if Lecavalier really wanted to injure Subban, he would have gone after *his* wrists and see how he liked it. Instead he caught him on the fat part of the padding. How much it stung is only a question Subban can answer, but his reaction did make one wonder if there was any milking going on. The result is that Lecavalier was thrown out of the game, and that certainly helped the Habs, so I won't argue too much! ;)
The league has already come out and said that Lecavalier won't be disciplined further, so anything we discuss is moot!
@Kyle: Ahhh, I didn't realize the league had already ruled. Well there you go then and I can't say I'm really surprised.
I think the important thing to take out of this, imo, is that the refs dropped the ball here.
@Kyle: Like I mentioned, I broke my stick slashing someone there, and she didn't even go down. I think Subban milked it a little bit. Yes, Lecavalier getting kicked out definitelty helped the Habs.
I agree about AK46 staying with Eller on a line. They are definitely tougher to play against when Moen or White are with them. Eller is more aggressive and seems to push Kostitsyn to be so as well, but they both play even bigger with one of the other physical players digging the puck for them.
Subban & Lecavalier were battling in front of the net for position so the refs will let some things go for a bit. This was one time where not stopping them when it continued caused the end result. Lecavalier is sensitive when it comes to slashes to his wrists but the battle just increased his anger level. His slash also hit Subban on the thigh pad but the stick also caught him in the "sensitive area" that buckles your knees. Subban didn't milk it.
I have never seen a major for slasking the thigh or shin. A Major is usually reserved for a two hander to the ankle or back of leg. Lecavalier should not have been given the major or game misconduct maybe a double minor or for slashing, so there was no suspension. I agree a big part of the problem that plagues the NHL is the inconsistent refereeing. Way too many missed calls right in front of the referees, causes the players to take their frustrations out on the opposition or matters into their own hands. The NHL's dart board justice Campbell & Murphy are not helping matters either. They are so up and down when it comes to suspensions that the the players don't know what is allowed and what isn't. There needs to be a Disciplinary Committee to replace these two clowns at Hockey operations. Read my article of my blog and see if you agree.
Thanks for the good articles.
Ref Whistle
http://thepenaltycall.blogspot.com/
@Melissa It's so hard to say...if you catch someone square on the padding, it barely registers...this is how players can turn shot blocking in to a skill without being killed.
@Ref Whistle Isn't it interesting that in two consecutive weeks at the Bell Center, we've seen penalties that we've not seen before:
Chara - 5 minute major & a game misconduct for interference
Lecavalier - 5 minute major & game misconduct for slashing
Does this sound odd to anyone else? I can't say whether those penalties have ever been called anywhere else, but if interference earned somebody a game misconduct, as did a slash, you'd have to think that the game officials thought there was intent to injure.
The question is why don't the clowns at the disciplinary office see things the same way? They all need to be replaced. Between the conflicts of interest, the stupid statements by both Campbell and Murphy over the years, email scandals, inconsistent suspensions...it's a total farce that they continue to hold a job earning seven-figure salaries.
@Ref Whistle/Kyle/Melissa:
When you think about it, has there ever been an era (Eagleson aside) when things were so disjointed in the league offices?
Refs are inconsistent. There is a disconnect between the refs' calls and the league disciplinary offices. The guy in charge of discipline has a blatant conflict of interest, berates refs who penalize his son via email, talks poorly and subjectively about players who injure or are injured, and on top of it all, when the league's biggest sponsors tells them to get safer they tell that sponsor to get bent.
Wow.
If Bettman and co. weren't lining the owners pockets, except of course for the teams going bankrupt (which Bettman won't admit to), with so much money it would be a stretch to think they'd be around for much longer.
Chaos, I tell ya...chaos...
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