Coming off a third period meltdown that saw them lose to the Sabres in a shootout, Monday, Montreal didn't make the same mistake tonight against the Canes.
The Canadiens took a 2-0 lead into the second period and, instead of sitting back, padded it with two more.
For their part, the Canes looked terrible. I'm mean, really bad. By the mid point of the game they didn't even have 10 shots on net.
Price wasn't tested often but, when he was, he was up to the task. He turned aside all 25 shots he face to earn his first shutout of the season and 13th of his career.
It was a night of milestones for the Canadiens with recent call-up, Frederic St. Denis, playing his first NHL game. Also, Lars Eller was playing his 100th NHL game and Erik Cole was in his first game against his former team since joining the Habs.
Final Score: Habs 4 - Canes 0
Game Notes
I guess he's feeling better - Let's be honest here, Michael Cammalleri has had a very mediocre start to the season.
With only seven points (3G, 4A) and a minus-6 through 12 games, he hasn't exactly been on fire. Worse still, he has already missed five games due to injury—most recently Monday night's game against the Sabres.
So when it was announced that he would be playing against the Canes today, you hoped he wasn't going to be playing injured.
Well, if there was any doubt, Cammalleri put it all to bed by potting his fourth of the year and playing a solid game. His goal was a on a bullet of a shot, using the Canes defender as a screen, to get the Habs on the board early in the first.
He's currently on pace to pot 24 goals on the year. Not bad but certainly not up to the heights of his talent.
Hopefully for Montreal Cammalleri can get some momentum going, because he should be starring down the barrel of a 30-plus goal season.
Opening night jitters - Erik Cole played his first game in a Habs uniform against his former team tonight, and things started off a little rocky.
It's not that he played bad but more that he was nervous. Overflowing with emotion. So much so that around the 10-minute mark of the first, he went for a walk down the hall rather than sitting on the bench between shifts.
Too much emotion.
Fortunately for Montreal, he settled himself and got into a groove, making a sweet feed to Yannick Weber for the Habs second goal of the game.
The assist was his 399th career point.
Cole on facing his former mates:
Hit of the night - With about six minutes to play in the first period, Canes forward Jiri Tlusty carried the puck into the Habs zone with speed.
Anticipating the streaking Canes player, Alexei Emelin closed the distance and slammed his target into the boards. Hard. The hit was solid and clean and completely took Tlusty out of the play.
In case anyone was wondering, that's why the Habs signed Emelin. He brings the thump.
Emelin finished the night was seven blocked shots and seven hits in 18:04 of ice time.
Of his seven hits, most were of the "I just ran into a brick wall" kind, standing up the opposition and knocking them to the ice.
I guess practicing with Andrei Markov this past week did a lot to make him feel more comfortable, because Emelin played his best game of his still young NHL career.
Gift of the gab - On the coaching front, did anyone else notice that every time they show a shot of Randy Ladouceur he is talking to the players?
Last night, right after the P.K. Subban goal, they showed Ladouceur leaning over talking to Frederic St. Denis and Alexei Emelin. I'm not sure how much Emelin understood, due to his limited English skills, but that's kind of irrelevant.
What's important is that since the departure of Perry Pearn, the Habs have someone in their coaching staff who regularly communicates with his players.
Speak to the players and they'll play better? What a novel idea!
Flat - That's the only way to describe that Hurricanes play.
They were constantly second to the puck, lost most battles, had a pourous defense and little to no offense.
You had to feel for their goalie, Cam Ward. His defense was constantly backing up and getting out of the way of shots. There was zero sacrifice from the Canes and Ward was, for the most part, hung out to dry.
So much so that by the mid point of the game the shots were 22-5 for Montreal.
Yes, 22-5.
Clearly the Canes were the perfect tonic for the Habs inexperienced defense. They simply did nothing to test them.
He shoots, he scores! P.K. Subban, playing in his 18th game of the season, finally got his first goal of the year. It was on a nice pass from Max Pacioretty where Subban walked in and fired a low, hard wrister stick side past Cam Ward.
And man was he ever happy. Glad to see him get that monkey off his back.
Are you kidding me? - So when exactly is Travis Moen going to wake up and remember that he's Travis Moen not Alexander Ovechkin?
Moen scored a late, ugly, second period goal from behind the net to make it 4-0 Montreal. That was Moen's sixth of the season, placing him second on the team behind Pacioretty (eight goals).
Is it me?
Stalwart - Josh Gorges finished the night a plus-2. That gives him a plus-11 through 18 games, placing him ninth overall in the league.
Stat of the night - Finishing the night a minus-1, Canes captain Eric Staal is a now minus-18 for the season. Yikes! Moreover, his minus-18 is a low water mark for the entire league.
Double yikes!
Question of the night - With Subban scoring his first goal, he is now on pace to pot 4.5 goals this year.
So will he continue to slump offensively or will his goal tonight open the floodgates?
Up next - There is no rest for the wicked as the Habs are in New York tomorrow to take on the Islanders. Perennially a whipping-boy team, the Isles are once again cellar dwellers in the East.
As such, tomorrow's match is another must-win for the Habs.
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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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(Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images North America)
1 comments:
I've long been a Moen basher, but this has been his best play to date with the Canadiens. He is physical and is getting the puck to the net. Six goals is a pleasant surprise, but even if he had two I would have no reason to complain. Plus, his beauty last night afforded Gomez an assist. Amazing!
As for the young-d, St-Denis and Emelin both imprssed. Seven hits and seven blocks for Emelin is insane.
As for your question about Subban, i'll bet you a 6-pack he ends with more than 4.5 goals!
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