While the Habs managed to play a decent first period, even jumping to an early lead courtesy of Max Pacioretty, they offered mostly abysmal hockey for the final two periods.
As a result, the Sabres capitalized, scoring three unanswered goals, leaving the Bell Centre with a much needed W.
Final Score: Canadiens 1 - Sabres 3
Game Notes
Pacioretty's Resilience - Pacioretty's goal in the first period was a microcosm of his past year.
After taking a borderline hit from Tyler Myers, Pacioretty found himself in a breakaway position.
Winning the puck along the boards, he headed to the net, shot and then scored off his own rebound.
That kind of fight, that kind of willingness to battle back is making Pacioretty one of the leaders on this team.
On pace for 30 goals, he also led the squad with eight shots last night.
Amazing to think that a few months ago many feared for his career, isn't it?
Price's Play - This will not shock anyone, but Carey Price once again gave his team a chance to escape with a win.
The Canadiens allowed a whopping 39 shots on their netminder, including 19 in the middle frame. Price, though, was again sensational, stopping 37 of those attempts.
With that kind of porous defense, escaping with a win is all you can hope for.
Deadline Role- With the loss, the Canadiens find themselves nine points out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, which is currently occupied by the dreaded Toronto Maple Leafs.
Perhaps more saliently, to reach that coveted spot the Habs would need to leapfrog five teams in the standings.
Seems odd that both Pierre LeBrun and Eklund were reporting yesterday that Pierre Gauthier wasn't ready to declare himself a seller yet.
If he had any doubts on his position in the trade market, those doubts should be gone today.
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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
(Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images)
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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
(Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images)
3 comments:
I'm a Pacioretty fan but since his hit on Letang he's barely using the body. I've watched him for a few games now and he is not finishing his checks which is leading to a 'leaky' side. In fact Desharnais has been coming in and battling a lot harder then Pacioretty. According to NHL.com he's 10th on the team with 54 hits. Cole has 117. Desharnais has managed 20. I think this kid needs to start using his size more because right now he may be scoring but to me he looks lazy. Maybe it's just because he's with two other guys that never stop skating.
By the way after the horror show (HABS game) I stayed up and watched CTV news (Toronto edition). First story, all about Crosby. Detail about his injury, him, team, doctor's talking you name it. I thought I could not feel any worse after a disgusting loss but then I noticed all the microphones and the realized how the team actually responded to reporters and the reporters asked questions. Then I searched this morning on anything on our current injuries. Of course I'm not expecting anything Crosbyish but the HABS are completely opposite. Like North Korea or Iran when it comes to information. But then again, if you get to be coddled by the team and get to talk to the players and coaches (the HABS reporters) I guess you don't want to ruin that by asking questions. Just to mention TSN 990 is a waste of a radio station. I've listened to it and they have no solutions, talk in circles, and provide no facts. I'm pretty sure they are fed direction by the parent TORONTO SPORTS NETWORK.
@Sanman_11
Won't get into the media part, although I am a bit weary of the constant Crosby updates myself.
As for Pacs, I don't sense laziness in his game, and he gets himself in good position to score. Besides, on pace for 30 goals, I won't be complaining.
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