Canadiens-Leafs: James Reimer, Toronto Shutout Habs 2-0 in Season Opener

Well, there you go folks, the 2011-2012 NHL season has officially started, and boy was the Habs-Leafs game a letdown.

Boring is a kind word to describe the tepid play between the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs last night at the Air Canada Center in Toronto.

Montreal dominated but couldn't score. Toronto had a flash of momentum and scored all the goals they'd need. Aside from that, both teams looked flat, disorganized and out of sorts.

Yes, it's only one game and we won't really see the true face of either team until closer to the 20 or 25-game mark, but it was just not a good way to start the season.

The Habs, in particular, were slow, sluggish, lacking energy and cohesion and, overall, looked like they had been drinking too much the night before.

Game Notes

Third line looks good

There was much ado made of Erik Cole starting the year, and last night's game, on the third line with Mathieu Darche and Daviud Desharnais but I don't have a problem with it. Especially while Lars Eller is out of the lineup.

Eller and Andrei Kostitsyn—Kostitsyn played on the top line with Tomas Plekanec and Michael Cammalleri last night—had some decent chemistry together last season. I think that once Eller is ready for game play—which likely won't be until later in November—Coach Martin should reunite them on the third line with David Desharnais on the wing.

I say should because you never know what Martin will do.

For now, however, it looks like he is trying to find offensive balance through his top three lines. So far, he seems to have found it too as none of his lines produced any offense last night.

Balance indeed.

The Habs need another shooter on the powerplay

It's great that P.K. Subban has a blistering shot from the point and can use it on the PP, but what made the Habs man-advantage so effective last season was the combo of Subban and James Wisniewski.

Throw in a little Michael Cammalleri to fill out the umbrella, and the Habs often had three deadly shooters playing on the same wave of the PP last season.

With the departure of Wisniewski to greener pastures, Coach Martin has been using a forward, usually Tomas Plekanec, on the point on the PP. So far the experiment has been pretty ugly.

I like the fact that there are two centers on the powerplay but the Habs are better off with Raphael Diaz or Yannick Weber manning the other point. This would give the Habs two shooting options from the point, forcing defenders to over-commit and opening up seams and players in the process.

With Plekanec on the point, however, everyone knows he is a playmaker and doesn't have much of a shot to speak of. As such, defenders can overplay Subban and eliminate his shot from the equation.

Am I the only one who sees this?

Too many hail mary's

What is it with the Canadiens that they insist on "throwing it out front" more often than not when there is no play, rather than holding on the the puck, getting it back to the point and setting up again.

This has been an unfortunate trait of this team since Jacques "If you don't have a scoring chance, just give the puck to the opposition and get back on defense" Martin took over coaching duties. The Habs quickly surrender the puck in the offensive zone and retreat to a defensive position at the first sign that there's no clear play to make.

Sad.

With the skill on this team it would be something to see what they could do if they were encouraged to attack. Constantly.

Truculence

I know it's only one game but Mike Komisarek actually looked good last night. Like, really good.

In fact, it was his timely hitting that started the Leafs on their only streak of dominance in the game. i.e. the second period.

Perhaps it's the fact that he's once again playing with a skilled defenseman who can insulate him, like when he played with Andrei Markov in Montreal, but Komisarek looked like the Komisarek of old, not the recent Leafs whipping boy.

I realize that his defensive partner, Jake Garinder, isn't Markov and is pretty inexperienced, but he has a good combination of skill and speed that should make him a solid defender on the Leafs for years to come.

Back to Komisarek, he was a hitting machine last night, finishing the night with six body checks and crunching Habs forwards seemingly at will. So once again, it was the small Habs getting knocked around by the bigger [insert name of bigger hockey team here].

Hooray.

Oh good, more injuries

So far this NHL season is starting on the exact same injury-ridden foot as last season.

Along with players such as Markov, Lars Eller, David Desharnias, Scott Gomez, P.K. Subban, who have all missed or continue to miss time due to injury, the Habs newest acquistion, Blar Betts, missed last night's game with a lower body injury. That meant that recently demoted, Andreas Engqvist, was recalled from Hamilton to take his spot.

In addition, the Habs other recent acquisition, Chris Campoli, went down with what looked like a hamstring or groin injury in the second period and did not return for the balance of the game. Damien Cox of the Toronto Sun reported after the game that Campoli had a tendon injury and would miss three weeks.

The injury has yet to be substantiated by the Canadiens, but Campoli was seen walking around on crutches after the match and that's certainly not a good sign.

Quick Hits

Quote of the night - From TSN 990's Tony Marinaro on Twitter: "Hard for a coach to get offense from your club when as a coach you don't practice it, preach it or believe in it."

That's some pure geniosity right there!

Not so good - Rough night for Subban. He finished the night with a minus-two and his play on the Leafs first goal led directly to the 2-on-1 against.

James Reimer - Could he be the difference between a playoff spot and an early golf season for the Leafs? After one game, he certainly looks like it!

Brickwall - Mike Brown went barreling into Andrei Kostitsyn at around the five-minute mark of the first period and bounced off him like raisins off an Oldsmobile. Makes you realize how solid AK46 is on his skates.

No, no, no - I do not like Michael Cammalleri on the penalty kill. It is a waste of ice-time for him. Let him rest during penalty kills and focus on offense, rested, when he gets back on the ice. I know you love defense Jacques, but Cammalleri is known for his offensive and not defensive abilities.

Stop wasting his energy on the PK.

Stat of the night - Mathieu Darche had 1:21 of power play time. Erik Cole has 1:04 of power play time. Now that's some good coaching! Sigh.

Up next - The Habs have a few days off before taking on the Winnipeg Jets in Winnipeg on Sunday. The game will be the Jets inaugural home game as they make their return to the NHL.



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Kamal is a freelance writer, Senior Writer/Editor-in-Chief of HabsAddict.com and Montreal Canadiens Blogger on Hockeybuzz.com. Kamal is also a weekly contributor to the Sunday Shinny on TSN Radio 990 (AM 990) every Sunday from 9 - 10 AM. Listen live at http://www.tsn.ca/montreal/

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Posted in: carey price,habs,james reimer,montreal canadiens,NHL,p.k. subban,toronto maple leafs