Our beloved Habs, fresh off a lacklustre performance on Saturday against the Leafs, brought their A game last night, beating the Florida Panthers 4-1. The Canadiens were led by Andrei Markov, who scored two power play goals, his first tallies in over two years.
Rookie centre Alex Galchenyuk, who centered the Habs' third line alongside Brandon Prust and Brendan Gallagher, scored his first career NHL goal. Gallagher tallied his first career point on the play.
Many were questioning the removal of Lars Eller from the lineup, but Galchenyuk's performance, which earned him the first star of the game, brought the capacity crowd to its feet and quickly silenced the naysayers. It was obvious through his performance that the Canadiens' 2012 third-round pick was right at home playing the centre position.
The team's character was also in evidence when Ryan White threw a couple of punches at the Panthers' Thomas Fleischman after he hit Josh Gorges from behind. While the altercation earned White an instigator penalty and ejection, no one criticized that fourth liners for coming to the defence of one of his teammates.
Kevin Dineen, the head coach of the Panthers, started Scott Clemmenson in goal versus the Canadiens. Coming into the game, Clemmenson boast a flawless 6-0 career record versus "Les Glorieux."
The Canadiens are next in action on Thursday night, as they travel to Washington to take on Alex Ovechkin and the still winless Capitals.
- With Vancouver GM Mike Gillis' comments yesterday about a possible deal being close for trading goaltender Roberto Luongo, rumbling out of Toronto suggest that the "additional player" in the deal may be either Joffrey Lupul, who just signed a five-year extension with the Leafs, or Phil Kessel, who has lost favour with head coach Randy Carlyle.
- While we already knew sports merchandise sales were down during the NHL lockout, SportsPosterWarehouse.com posted some interesting stats in regards to how overall poster sales were affected. Hopefully, business is about to pick up.
The Montreal Canadiens were back to their old tricks yesterday as they took on the Panthers in Florida. The game started with good pace but the Habs once again fell into bad habits:
Good rhythm to game? Check. Nice early scoring chance? Check. Good jump from your players? Check. Useless early-game penalty that has the potential to destroy any accumulated momentum? Check.
Fortunately for Habs fans, instead of losing momentum off the early penalty they came roaring right back, intent on reversing that trend. Less than three minutes after the penalty had expired Hal Gill, yes Hal Gill, fired his first of the season and 34th of his career past a screened Tomas Vokoun.
The goal was Gill's first in 100 games, dating back to December 31, 2009.
Andrei Kostitsyn kept his hot streak going when he took a short pass from Travis Moen and rifled it past Vokoun from 30 feet out with no screen. That was enough for Panthers' coach Peter DeBoer, who pulled Vokoun in favour of Scott Clemmensen after giving up two goals on three shots.
Sadly for Florida, their fate didn't change with a new keeper in the net, as the Canadiens added two more before the end of the game to bury the depleted Panthers 4-0.
While he wasn't tested often, Carey Price was the uncontested star of the game, coming up with several excellent saves, especially in the third and on a late second period power play. At that point, it was 3-0 Montreal and a goal by the Panthers could have let them back into a game that they far too often looked content to lose.
Price earned a 30th win—second in the league—for the first time in his career.
He also earned his second overall seventh shutout of the season—11th of his career—and is making a strong case for both Hart and Vezina Trophy consideration.
Final score: Habs 4 - Panthers 0
Habs scorers: Hal Gill (1), Andrei Kostitsyn (16), David Desharnais (7), Lars Eller (5)
Panthers scorers: None
Three stars: 1. Carey Price, 2. Andrei Kostitsyn, 3. James Wizniewski
Game Notes
1. Well Hello Mr. Kostitsyn, it's nice to see you again!
With a goal and an assist last night, Andrei Kostitsyn has quietly become one of the hottest players in the Canadiens' lineup.
Kostitsyn now has seven points (3G, 4A) and a plus-3 rating over his last five games. The interesting thing about his resurgence is that it has all taken place since he was placed on a line with Lars Eller and Travis Moen.
I've previously discussed how Eller is a much better center than winger and how the Habs would never get the best out of him as a winger. So switching him to center with Kostitsyn was a logical move.
At least to me it was.
Almost more importantly, the trend of players suddenly performing when they are no longer playing with Scott Gomez, continues.
If you're not into reading it, I'll spare you the suspense: every winger has a better points per game (PPG) average when playing with Tomas Plekanec versus playing with Gomez, with the exception of Benoit Pouliot.
As for Kostitsyn, well, the timing of his revival could not be more important to the Habs as they enter the home stretch and are in desperate need of secondary scoring. But we've seen this movie before and we know how it ends.
Arpon Basu pointed out on Twitter last night that while Kostitsyn lacks consistency from game to game, he is consistent from season to season averaging 0.55, 0.56 and 0.56—so far this season—PPG over the last three seasons.
So while Kostitsyn's production is great, I caution fans not to get down on him if it drops off again. I mean this is his sixth year in the league and if we don't know his trends by now, we never will.
2. The Habs did what they had to do.
Despite only managing six shots in the first period, Montreal was the better team and didn't have much trouble handing the lowly Panthers.
To Florida's credit, their lineup reads more like an AHL roster than an NHL team so you can't really expect too much more from them. That being said, the Habs need to beat teams like the Panthers and far too often are unable to.
As a team that often plays up or down to the talent level of their opponents, the Habs avoided the trap of taking the opposition lightly and outplayed the Panthers, kept their shots mostly to the outside, cleared rebounds and screening player and, overall, made short work of the Florida.
Good on them because that is exactly what they were supposed to do!
3. Bench management
Since acquiring Paul Mara and Brent Sopel, Coach Martin has been doing some shuffling and tinkering with his player's ice time. And, at first glance, that might make a lot of sense since many of them, like Roman Hamrlik and P.K. Subban, have been playing a boat load of minutes lately.
So why not rest them in time for the playoffs? Makes sense to me.
To a man, the Canadiens defensive squad had the following ice time last night:
Hamrlik 22:24 (1:09 on the PP), Subban 18:53 (1:09 on the PP), Wizniewski 20:41 (0:51 on the PP), Sopel 18:47, Alexandre Picard 17:57, Hal Gill 20:31.
I understand the desire to rest players but shouldn't the desire to win and ice your best lineup trump the former?
With Yannick Weber and Paul Mara both available for duty why was Picard, who is clearly behind them on the depth chart, in the lineup? No offense to Picard, but having either Mara or Weber in the lineup makes the Habs a better team.
In addition, why did The Wiz play over 20 minutes but only 51 seconds on the PP? Isn't he the hired gun who is supposed to keep the PP rolling? And if you're trying to rest Hamrlik, as the coach said publicly this week, then why play him for 1:09 on the PP instead of the Wiz?
On the topic of strange lineup changes, why was Tom Pyatt in the lineup instead of Ryan White?
White has done nothing but show he belongs in the handful of games he's played and he makes the third line, with Desharnais and Pouliot, a much better line.
Without White mucking it up in the corners and the front of the net, you could see that the third line was much less effective last night.
Pyatt, like Picard, is an acceptable player but the Habs are a better team without these players in the lineup. So to have them randomly inserted in the roster in place of two players who undoubtedly bring more to the table makes no sense at all.
It's almost like the coach is trying to be fair or some other such insanity. You'd figure if he's going to sub any players it would be for an opportunity to rest some of the veterans.
I guess I'll never fully understand the Jacques Martin way.
4. David Desharnais is a legit NHL player
We have yet to see what he can do in the playoffs where games are much tighter, play is more physical and every inch of ice is that much more hotly contested. That being said, so far in this NHL season Desharnais is showing that he is a legitimate NHL player.
For some reason, Jacques Martin and co. have been reducing his ice time a lot over the last few games. But despite this reduction, Desharnais is still putting points on the board with 10 (4G, 6A) and a plus-4 rating over his last 11 games.
This despite playing 5:01, 8:53, 10:46, 13:50 and 10:24 over his last five games.
In addition, having played 26 games this season, Desharnais has 15 points (7G, 8A) and a plus-1 rating. This translates into a 0.577 PPG total which would equal 47 points over 82 games, all while averaging no more than 12:17 per game.
I still think that the real solution for this team's lineup is to play Gomez on the third or even better, fourth line with a couple of muckers and promote Desharnais to the second line with Max Pacioretty and Brian Gionta or Benoit Pouliot.
The result would likely be more production from the second line and with the third line seemingly in place, the Canadiens would suddenly have three capable scoring lines.
Sounds pretty good to me!
5. What is the plan for the Habs top line?
Since uniting AK46 with Eller and Moen, Jacques Martin has had Jeff Halpern on the top line with Tomas Plekanec and Michael Cammalleri. And while they seem to be playing decently together, Jeff Halpern is not a top-line player.
Halpern, the Canadiens best faceoff man this season with a 56.77 percent success rate, is now playing on the wing, a position that does not allow him to use this unique skill of his.
Moreover, while he has 23 points (10G, 13A) this season, Halpern is not a goal-scorer, especially not a first line scorer. As a result, the Plekanec-Cammalleri duo are once again in the position where they are flanked by a player who is not up to snuff.
Now that the trade deadline has passed, there are no reinforcements coming from anywhere and as such, this is the lineup that will skate into the playoff. So does that mean that Jeff Halpern is now going to be a first line winger?
Whereas Cammalleri has looked more comfortable since returning from injury, over the last two games, and especially last night, it looks like the frustration is starting to creep back into him play.
Cammy is the Habs best and highest paid sniper and it is looking more and more like he is not a fan of the way Jacques Martin runs the ship. While nothing will happen in the short term, this is an issue that is bound to come to a head at some point in the future.
Standings and Next Game
The streaking Canadiens, winners of three straight games, now have 77 points in the standings with a 35-23-1 record. More importantly, their road record has finally reached the .500 mark at 15-15-1 (no longer the worst among playoff teams).
In addition to their three-game win streak, Montreal is 3-1 in their past four and 5-3-2 in their last ten.
Despite Montreal's success, the teams ahead of them all won last night meaning that Montreal kept pace rather than inching closer.
Ahead of the Canadiens are the Capitals with 80 points, the Pens with 81, the Lightning with 81 and one game in hand and the Bruins with 83 points and a game in hand.
Behind them, the Habs are starting to pull away from the usual suspects with the Canes in seventh with 71 points, the Rangers with 70 in eighth and one more game played and the Sabres in ninth with 68 and two games in hand.
The Habs will now jet to Tampa to take on the Lightning on Saturday night in a critical four-point match. A win by the Canadiens would put them only two points behind Tampa in the standings and allow them to keep a good buffer on the teams behind them.
--- 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 Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images North America)
Two days after getting two not very well earned points in the standings, the Montreal Canadiens are in sunny Florida to take on the Panthers tonight.
The Habs were 3-1 winners against the Thrashers on Tuesday despite being outshot 41-23. Carey Price picked up his 29th win of the season in an outstanding effort, allowing his team to secure the victory despite their poor play.
Florida is on the other end of that scale, coming off a 2-1 loss to the Hurricanes in a game where they outshot the opposition 42-22.
The Habs will be looking to move up in the standings while the Panthers, who are all but mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, will look to turn a bad stretch around.
Tonight will be the fourth and final game between these two teams, in which the Habs have won two out of three meetings so far.
Standings
The Canadiens have 75 points in the standings, a 34-23-7 record, are three points behind the Capitals, five ahead of the Rangers—who have played one more game than Montreal—and six ahead of the Hurricanes. A Habs win coupled with a Capitals loss to the Blues tonight would put Montreal only one point behind Washington for fifth overall.
The Panthers, on the other hand, have lost two straight games and are 4-9-2 in their last 15. They have 59 points in the standings and are 10 points behind the eighth overall Hurricanes.
Needless to say, a win tonight would go a long way towards keeping their faint playoff hopes alive.
Goaltending
Look for Carey Price to get his 57th start of the season for the Habs while trying to secure a career-high 30th win of the season.
The goaltending picture is a little murkier for the Panthers who have seen perennial starter Tomas Vokoun lose eight out of his last 11 starts. As such, there is a chance that backup Scott Clemmensen will get the call.
Scoring and Special Teams
The Habs Achilles Heel continues to be their offense where have only been able to manage a 23rd overall 2.6 goals per game. That being said, Montreal is a respectable 10th overall in goals-against with 2.5 per game, has the eighth best power play at 19.4 percent and the eighth best penalty kill at 83.6 percent.
Florida too has an anemic offense averaging a 26th overall 2.5 goals per game in addition to their 29th best 13.6 percent power play. Couple that with the Habs strong PK and the Panthers shouldn't be scoring on too many man-advantages tonight.
The Panthers are much more respectable in the goals-against department with a 13th overall 2.7 per game to go along with their outstanding 3rd overall PP, at 85.6 percent.
Roster Changes and Injuries
Neither team is short of injured players with the Habs still missing Andrei Markov, Josh Gorges, Mathieu Darche and Jaroslav Spacek. The good news on the injury front for Montreal is that Spacek's knee injury is not that bad and with minor surgery to "clean it up", he should be out for four to six weeks.
This means that he could be back for the start of the playoffs which would be a welcome boon for Montreal.
With is no word yet on lineup changes there is a chance that Yannick Weber could be back one the ice after being a healthy scratch in favour of Paul Mara. However given Jacques Martin's habit of keeping winning lineups intact, I wouldn't be surprised to see Weber sitting for another game.
The Panthers continue to be without the services of Byron Bitz, Rostislav Olesz, Jack Skille, Shawn Matthias, Ryan Carter and Evgeny Dadonov, all on the injury reserve.
Game time is at 7:30 PM.
--- 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 Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images North America)
One night after defeating the Washington Capitals in a shootout, the Montreal Canadiens were back in the friendly climes of the Bell Centre to take on the Florida Panthers.
Montreal arrived home with the snowstorm of the year descending on the northeastern part of North America and while the conditions were stormy outside, they were decidedly quiet in the building.
Well, quiet is probably not the right word, but more boring.
This sleeper of a game featured a clash between Jacques Martin and Peter DeBoer's defense first systems. As such, there wasn't a lot of room to skate and for long stretches the game put fans and players alike, to sleep.
The Panthers got on the board first when Scott Timmins put the puck past Habs goalie, Alex Auld, 7:30 into the game. Aside from that goal, there wasn't much going on in the first period as both teams completely shut down the neutral zone, slowing the pace to a crawl.
Jeff Halpern got Montreal back in the game 4:50 into the second period when he deflected a P.K. Subban slapper past Tomas Vokoun, knotting the game at one.
For a second night in a row, the Habs' top line of Tomas Plekanec, Brian Gionta and Max Pacioretty lead the offensive charge, as they potted two goals in the third to put the Habs ahead.
The Panthers pulled within one, with Vokoun on the bench and only 2:10 to play but Montreal held off their late charge for their second comeback win in two nights.
Final score: Habs 3 - Panthers 2
Habs' scorers: Jeff Halpern (8), Tomas Plekanec (17), Brian Gionta (19)
Panthers' scorers: Scott Timmins (1), Stephen Weiss (15)
Three stars: 1. Tomas Plekanec, 2. P.K. Subban, 3. Alex Auld
Game Notes
1. The Habs need a second line.
The first line of Plekanec, Gionta and Pacioretty looks like a keeper, at least until Michael Cammalleri comes back from injury. As great as it is that the first line is producing on a regular basis, it is very difficult to consistently win with only one scoring line.
The problem, as it has been since the beginning of the season, is Scott Gomez and his band of rotating wingers.
Last night, Gomez was again paired with Andrei Kostitsyn and Lars Eller and the trio was blanked off the score sheet. Not necessarily for a lack of effort, mind you, but they just don't seem to be three players that complement each other very well as both Gomez and Eller are playmakers.
With the trade deadline fast approaching, GM Pierre Gauthier absolutely has to find a scoring winger for the second line because Eller and Kostitsyn are clearly not the answers.
An interesting option would be to see Benoit Pouliot get a chance to play with Gomez but, for whatever reason, Coach Martin has so far been reticent to move him off of the third line.
The good news is that the Canadiens have been winning, despite being a one line team. But winning becomes more difficult come playoff time, when teams build game plans designed to shut down the oppositions top offensive threats.
As such, bolstering the Habs' offense has to be Gauthier's primary focus.
2. The third line continues to deliver the goods.
With David Desharnais centering Pouliot and Mathieu Darche, the Canadiens' third line continues to be one of their most consistent and effective trios.
The downside is that they don't score a lot of goals despite their strong play. That being said, they are extremely responsible defensively and usually spend most of their ice time in the offensive zone.
The Desharnais line did have a break down during the first period in which they were on the ice too long, leading to the Panthers first goal.
That aside, Desharnais had a few brilliant shifts last night, controlling the puck behind the net and setting up scoring chances in front. However his linemate, Pouliot, needs to start shooting the puck more.
After Andrei Kostitsyn, Pouliot has one of the best shots on the team. The problem is that he doesn't use it enough. More often than not when he shoots the puck it leads to scoring chances or a juicy rebound.
Pouliot has only 77 shots over the 49 games played, for an average for 1.57 shots per game. The amazing thing is that he has scored 10 goals on those 77 shots for a very respectable 13 percent shooting percentage.
Clearly he holds the key to more production from the third line.
3. Neutral zone trap versus neutral zone trap...fight!
This was a match between two defense first coaches who like to clog up the neutral zone and slow the pace of their opposition.
As a result, the game was pretty sleepy with gusts up to boring.
I guess that's not surprising considering that Panthers coach, Peter DeBoer, was hired by Jacques Martin when he was the General Manager of Florida a few years ago. And watching how he coaches, DeBoer is truly a coach in Martin's image and his "shut down the neutral zone" strategy surely puts a grin on the coach's face.
The Panthers did a good job of slowing down the speedy Canadiens, shutting down the middle of the ice, clogging up the neutral zone and otherwise mostly lulling the Habs to sleep.
When the Canadiens were able to get their offense going, it was almost always as a result of them getting the puck behind the Panthers' defenders and using their speed to cycle.
For a rare occasion, however, the Canadiens did an excellent job of going to the net on a regular basis. As such, they had several goal mouth scrambles and scoring opportunities from in close.
If the Habs can keep up that kind of play, they should find themselves on the score sheet more often.
4. The comeback kids.
Last night was the second comeback win in a row for Montreal and in back-to-back games to boot.
Moreover, the victory marked the 10th time the Canadiens have won this season after allowing the first goal. For a team that couldn't buy a victory after going down by a goal over the first half of the season, this is quite the reversal for the Habs.
The timing of this apparent reversal in trend is great because, as a team, you need to be able to win all kinds of games to advance once the playoffs start.
And if going down by a goal means the game is over, well, you likely won't get very far.
Since their horrific month of December, the team seems to have really come together and is showing tremendous character despite being without the services of Andrei Markov, Josh Gorges and Michael Cammalleri.
As Pierre McGuire said yesterday on the Team 990, this team has a lot of testicular fortitude.
5. Max Pacioretty is slowly becoming a gamer.
Don't look now but the Montreal Canadiens might have themselves a power forward!
Max Pacioretty has been a useful player since he was recalled from Hamilton, but over the last few games he seems to really be finding his niche on the team.
Last night, Pacioretty was one of the best players on the ice for either team as he used his size, speed and skill to create scoring chances for his team. More importantly for the Canadiens, he is driving to the net on a consistent basis and always within a few feet of the crease, ready to pick up rebounds and cause havoc for opposing goalies.
On the Canadiens third goal, Pacioretty did all the work, driving to the net and cutting from left to right across Vokoun's crease for an excellent scoring chance. Vokoun stopped his shot but Gionta, also driving to the crease, was able to flip the rebound past Vokoun for what ended up being the winning goal.
If he continues his steady improvement at the same rate he is going right not, Pacioretty might end up having a big breakout in this year's playoffs.
For now, however, he is bringing exactly what the Canadiens have been missing from their lineup for a decade, if not longer.
Standings and Next Game
The win gives Montreal 63 points in the standings as they leapfrog the idle Rangers into sixth overall in the East. Montreal is 6-2-2 in their last 10 games and 9-2-3 over their last 14 games and, again, all of this without Markov, Gorges and Cammalleri.
The Habs are now two points back of the Bruins for third overall—they have one game in hand—and one back of the Capitals, losers of three straight, for fifth overall.
Montreal is slowly starting to give themselves some breathing room and are one point ahead of the Rangers with one game in hand, six ahead of Atlanta with one game in hand and seven ahead of Carolina who has two games in hand.
The Canadiens have two days off before back-to-back Super Bowl weekend matinees against the Rangers and Devils, on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
Needless to say, Saturday's game against the Rangers is a huge four-pointer with both teams jostling for position in the standings.
(Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images North America)
Playing back-to-back games in two different cities is never an easy feat for any team. But doing it when the second of the back-to-back games is your fourth match in six nights is even harder.
So, when the Montreal Canadiens stepped onto the Bell Center ice against the Florida Panthers last night, it was not surprising to see what looked like a slow, sluggish team.
The Canadiens had moments where they were moving their feet and when they did, they tilted the ice towards the Panthers zone.
The problem for the Habs—who welcomed star defenseman Andrei Markov back into the fold—was that once the Panthers scored their first goal, it was difficult for them to maintain a high level of energy.
Instead, they oscillated between looking flat and playing with vigor.
Despite outshooting the opposition 41 to 31, the Canadiens were disorganized for long stretches of the match and really looked like they needed a nap.
The end result was that the fresh Panthers took advantage of turnovers and missed passes to put this game away.
Final score: Panthers 3 - Habs 1
Habs' scorers: Mathieu Darche (2)
Panthers' scorers: Michael Frolik (1), David Booth (4), Shawn Matthias (2)
Three stars: 1. Thomas Vokoun, 2. David Booth, 3. Mathieu Darche
Game Notes
1. Carey Price was excellent but Tomas Vokoun was better.
For some reason, players who used to play for the Canadiens tend to put on their best efforts when facing their former team.
Last night was no exception as Tomas Vokoun did his best impression of a brick wall in shutting down the Canadiens. The one goal that did get by him was the result of hard work from Mathieu Darche, but on the replay you could see that it squeezed under his arm and would be slotted in the 'slightly weak' category.
For his part, Price was yet again solid in the Habs' net. In particular, he continues to make key saves at key times and gives the Habs a chance to win every game.
Last night, when the score was 1-1, Price made two great saves from in close just when the Habs energy level looked like it was at its lowest. Time and time again this season, Price is making those key saves and giving his team a chance to win.
2. I know people dislike Jaroslav Spacek, but the David Booth goal was not his fault.
The Habs defense looked slow and tired for most of the game and made a ton of bad decisions with the puck which often lead to turnovers. Hal Gill, Jaroslav Spacek, Roman Hamrlik, and others were continually throwing the puck into harm’s way and many of those plays led to scoring chances against the Canadiens.
None was more egregious than the play that led to the David Booth penalty shot though.
On the play, Hamrlik tried to skate the puck through the Panther's trap, lost it, and found himself skating back to try to cover up his mistake.
The problem was that the puck ended up on David Booth's stick and he had a clear break away. Spacek, who is not the most fleet footed defenseman on the team, couldn't catch Booth and had no choice but to haul him down.
On the subsequent penalty shot, Booth scored the game winning goal and the Twitterverse was alight with calls for Spacek's head.
While I agree that Spacek looks terrible so far in this still young season, he was not to blame on that play. That entire situation happened because Hamrlik made a foolish decision with the puck. Rather than passing it off or trying to dump it in, he tried to stick-handle through the Panthers trap. That was a foolish play by a veteran defenseman who should have known better.
The rest you know.
3. If Tomas Plekanec's line does not score the Habs don't win.
I've been saying for a while now that despite the Canadiens success so far this season, they have a lot of holes on their team. One of the biggest holes, aside from their impotent power play, is the lack of production from the Scott Gomez line.
What I had also said is that there will come a point where the Plekanec line does not score and in games like that it will be very difficult for the Habs to win.
Last night's game illustrated that point perfectly.
The Habs only goal-scorer on the night was fourth liner Mathieu Darche. While the offensive contributions from the bottom-six are a welcome addition to the team, The Habs must get consistent offensive contributions from the second line.
Last night, the Plekanec line also looked tired and disorganized at times. At other times, they had their mojo going and came close to scoring on a few occasions. They didn't, however, and since Gomez is still lost in a fog, the Canadiens had no offensive thrust to speak of despite their 41 shots on goal.
It is when the Canadiens lose that we can see how big of a problem the second line is.
Jacques Martin and co. need to figure something out quickly because with games against the Flyers, Bruins, Kings and others this month, the margin for error will only get smaller.
4. Andrei Markov was back but the power play still fired blanks.
Markov, playing his first game after recovering from off-season knee surgery, looked a little tentative last night. He didn't seem to have his game timing where he needs it to be. Also, he and P.K. Subban looked like they need to get used to playing together.
Both are very dynamic players and it will take a few games for them to find their rhythm. When they do, however, they will become a formidable first pairing for the Canadiens.
The duo also struggled on the power play where Subban fired the puck as often as he could but often missed the net or had his shot blocked. Subban will have to learn that he doesn't have to shoot the puck as hard but that he does have to get it on net, a la Josh Gorges.
The coaches made a strange decision when the Habs had a 5-on-3 power play for 1:25 to start the third period. On the ice were Tomas Plekanec, Michael Cammalleri, Andrei Kostitsyn, Brian Gionta, and P.K. Subban.
You would think that a 5-on-3 would be the best opportunity for Markov to do his thing. But no, the coach had four forwards and one defenseman on the ice for the entire time and they were unable to score the tying goal.
It’s kind of hard for Markov to help fix the power play when he is sitting on the bench.
5. Gomez continues to be an island.
All night long, Scott Gomez was trying to rush the puck all the way up the ice by himself. And, when he would get to a wall of Panthers sweaters at the offensive blueline he would either turn the puck over or just toss it to the Panthers' players.
He has been doing this all season and it is getting a little tiresome.
On another play he passed the puck to Gionta near the right offensive zone faceoff circle and then, instead of staying at the side of the net, he positioned himself behind it.
The result was that Gionta's pass to the vacant wing sailed into the wind as Gomez watched what would have been a sure goal, from behind the net.
Gomez is making bad decisions with and without the puck and is completely ineffective for the Canadiens as a result.
His partner, Gionta, is working hard and leads all Canadiens' players with 40 shots on net, but he is completely snake-bitten.
During the Habs' third period 5-on-3 power play, Gionta had the tying goal on his stick and couldn't put it into the empty net. Instead, he somehow managed to hit the defenseman's skate on the play, keeping the puck out and the score 2-1 Florida.
With each game that passes, Gionta is getting more and more frustrated and is squeezing his stick a little tighter.
The Canadiens second line is just a disaster right now.
Standings and Next Game
The loss drops the Canadiens to 7-3-1 and their 15 points in the standings mean that they are still in first place in the Northeast Division.
The team now has a couple of days off before taking on the Columbus Blue Jackets in Columbus on Tuesday.
Maybe they can get their power play going during this two day reprieve.
(Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images North America)
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you your first place Montreal Canadiens. Not just first place in the Northeast Division, but first place overall in the league.
With their win last night in Uniondale, your Habs are now officially the hottest team in the league with a 7-2-1 record and 15 points in the standings.
So while yesterday's game against the New York Islanders—the second of a home-and-home—was not as well played by the Habs, they still managed to pull out the win in a match that was much tighter than Wednesday's night tilt in Montreal.
The ice in Uniondale wasn't very good and, at times, it looked more like keystone cops than hockey as pucks were bouncing and players were falling all over the place.
Despite the terrible conditions the Canadiens were the early aggressors in this game, taking a 9-2 shot advantage only ten minutes in. Ultimately, the Isles made adjustment, gave up fewer odd-man rushes, and ended up outshooting the Canadiens 31-26 on the night.
The Habs did a good job, however, of keeping the majority of the shots to the outside and cleared any rebounds, meaning that Auld didn't have to make a ton of heart-stopping saves. But when he was called upon he was ready.
In addition to outshooting the Canadiens, the Isles outhit them 27-22 but lost 34 of 57 faceoffs due to the strong work from Plekanec and Jeff Halpern.
The Isles, took every opportunity to drive to the net and make contact with Auld, who was playing his first game of the season. This tactic tended to draw a lot of post-whistle melees and scrums in the Habs' zone. Despite the extra attention, Auld remained calm and collected and picked up his first win of the season in the process.
Final score: Habs 3 - Isles 1
Habs' scorers: Tomas Plekanec (5), Benoit Pouliot (2), Travis Moen (2)
Isles' Scorers: Matt Martin (1)
Three stars: 1. Alex Auld, 2. Matt Martin, 3. Benoit Pouliot
Game Notes
1. He's big, he's bald, he's Alex Auld.
OK, I'm only using that line—which I did not invent—this one time. But seriously, what a game by Auld and what more can you ask for from your backup goaltender?
After sitting on the bench and watching Carey Price carry—no pun intended—the Habs to a 6-2-1 record over their first nine games, Auld took the net in the grudge match against a revenge-seeking Islanders squad.
With six power plays on the night including a 5-on-3, the Islanders held the momentum for large stretches of the game, but Auld was equal to the task as he stopped 30 of 31 shots for a scintillating .968 save percentage. Auld kept the score tied at one long enough for the Canadiens to get back into it and score the eventual game-winner in the second.
None of his saves was more key than the one he made on a shorthanded Matt Moulson breakaway when the score was still 1-0 for Montreal. That was one of those "key saves at a key time" and exactly what you need your goaltenders to do in order for your team to remain competitive.
Auld, like Price, is a big goaltender and he looked as much in the net, standing square to the shooters and giving them very little to shoot at. His rebound control was good too, either swallowing up the pucks or deflecting them out of harm’s way. When he did pop a puck out he was able to make the second save and his defense did the rest of the work clearing the rebounds.
With all of the question marks surrounding his potential play last night, Auld came out and delivered exactly the type of game you want from your backup, giving the Habs a chance to win and continuing their momentum. And it’s a good thing too, because the Habs will need a good 15-20 games out of him this season for Price to be ready for the playoffs.
2. The Habs defense was targeted for physical punishment tonight.
Usually Subban gets most of the attention from the opposition, at least over the first 9 games of the season. But last night the Isles shone the spotlight on Hal Gill and Jaroslav Spacek and hit both players as often as they could.
The result was that when Spacek wasn't making bad passes and turning the puck over, he was usually on his butt.
For his part, Gill also took a lot of hits but he responded by playing one of his stronger defensive games of the season. In addition, he stood up for Andrei Kostitsyn late in the second period, by fighting Matt Martin after he got a little too physical with the Habs sniper.
Gill, a consummate leader, took exception and when to town on Martin. It was more of a wrestling match than a fight, but hey, at least Gill stood up for his teammate.
That fight was an example of the "team toughness" that Jacques Martin is always talking about and considering the Habs lack of a heavy weight, it will continue to be an important factor going forward.
3. The plumbers continue to get the job done.
Is it me, or does the Habs bottom-six look even better since Lars Eller was switched to the third line center position?
The combination of Maxim Lapierre, Tom Pyatt, and Eller makes for a speedy, forechecking line that should start contributing on the scoresheet once they are a little more familiar with each other.
Further down the roster, the line of Jeff Halpern, Benoit Pouliot, and Mathieu Darche caused problems for the Isles defenders almost every time they were on the ice. Moreover, their determined play lead to the game winning goal by Pouliot.
On the play, P.K. Subban dumped the puck up the ice to Jeff Halpern who had Darche on his wing and Pouliot trailing in what became a 3-on-2. Halpern used Darche as a decoy and then dropped the puck to Pouliot in the slot who rifled a wrister top shelf past Dwayne Roloson for the game winner.
That was the type of goal that Pouliot absolutely must score on a regular basis if he wants to keep playing on this team. While I'd still prefer to see Pouliot playing on Lars Eller's wing on the third line, there is no questioning the chemistry that is starting to form in the bottom-six.
This chemistry cannot be understated since one of the biggest problems the Canadiens had last season was that they rarely got scoring from their bottom-six.
With the parity in this league, a team must be able to rely on multiple lines to contribute offense. Since the Gomez line is still firing blanks, it's a good thing the plumbers are getting it done.
4. Speaking of the Gomez line, they finally scored a goal!
Jacques Martin did a lot of winger shuffling on the Gomez-Gionta line again last night, but ultimately had Travis Moen playing with the duo for most of the night.
The result was the insurance marker with less than two minutes to play in the game.
On the play, Brian Gionta just winged the puck towards the net and it was deflected by Moen over a kneeling Roloson for his second goal of the year.
Gomez, who wasn't really involved in the play, continues to look like an island out there. He is doing a good job of skating the puck out of the Canadiens' zone but seems to panic at the offensive blueline and either miss a low-percentage passing attempt, or turn the puck over to the opposing team.
Given how much Gomez's game is based on clean, tape-to-tape passes, it is surprising to see his passes consistently in his winger's skates or just out of their reach.
It's a good thing the Habs' top line and bottom-six continue to contribute, because Gomez is clearly the weak link on a sputter second line. Whatever funk he is in, he has to figure it out quickly because, despite their early success, the Habs need two consistent scoring lines if they want to remain at the top of the heap.
Gomez is the playmaker on that line and if he is always missing his passes, it is very difficult for the trio to get anything going.
5. Special teams ruled the day.
It's pretty simple: the Canadiens were 1-for-2 on the power play (50 percent), and killed all six Islanders' man-advantages.
Gill and Gorges had a lot to do with the penalty kill being so successful as they played 3:39 and 5:28 of short-handed time respectively. As was the case during the playoffs, those two are still the Canadiens top defensive penalty-killing unit.
That being said, the trio of Plekanec, Gorges, and Roman Hamrlik did a good job of killing off an early 5-on-3 where the Islanders really didn't get any quality scoring chances.
The Habs power play goal, on the other hand, was the result of a quick shot by Michael Cammalleri. The puck caromed off of Roloson and right to Plekanec, who's quick stick allowed him put the puck in the net.
The goal was scored only 18 seconds into the power play—and was Plekanec's third goal in his last three games—and it was nice to see the Canadiens trying to create something off of a shot rather than looking for the perfect pass.
With their second man-advantage goal in the last three games, maybe the Habs are starting to defrost their PP just in time for Andrei Markov's return to the lineup tonight.
Standings and Next Game
The win gives the Canadiens 15 point in the standings and first place in the Northeast division and overall in the league. It's still too early in the season to start planning the parade route and playing teams like Vancouver, L.A., and Philly this month will go a long way to determining whether these Canadiens are the real deal or not.
But so far, winning seven out of ten games with an impotent power play, without the services of your number one defensemen, and without a second scoring line is more than anyone would have expected.
There's no rest for the wicked as the Habs are back in Montreal to take on the Florida Panthers tonight at the Bell Center. The game also marks the long awaited return of Andrei Markov to the lineup.
The puck drops at 7:00 pm-ish.
(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America)
After a glorious weekend that saw the Habs down the Devils in Jersey and obliterate the Rangers in Montreal, the Habs have come back down to Earth with a terrible effort in Florida. In losing 2-1 to the Nathan Horton-less and David Booth-less Panthers last night, the Habs show that they are truly a Jekyll and Hyde team. One day they are handily beating teams that have no business beating and the next they are losing to bottom feeders.
Last night was the classic recipe for a Habs loss. They were badly outshout (29-17), didn't score 5 on 5, and only managed 1 powerplay goal. As usual, if the Habs don't have outstanding goaltending and their special teams don't produce multiple points they lose. Halak was solid in goals, but one goal for is just not going to do it in this league.
No matter how much I try, I still can't make heads or tails of this team. Just when you think they are turning a corner, they throw a curveball. A couple of outstanding victories followed by a stinker of two and it is difficult to figure out why.
Last night, the Habs came out flat and carried a lack of effort and intensity from the first to the third period. While Halak held the Habs in the game long enough for Plekanec to score on the PP to give the Habs the lead, everything fell apart in the third. Defensive zone breakdowns and missed assignments were plentiful for the Habs and one in particular led to a Shawn Matthias breakaway early in the third. Gorges had no choice but to hall him down, earning the Panthers player a penalty shot and the tying goal. After that, the Habs went limp.
10 minutes after his tying goal, Matthias would score his second of the night off of a goal mouth scramble, and that was all she wrote. The Habs did, however, start to press a little with less than three minutes to go in the game. However with Halak on the bench for the extra attacker Spacek failed to keep the puck in the offensive zone on two separate occasions, and that sealed the loss for the Habs. Sad, pathetic and disheartening for Habs fans.
Game Notes: 1 - Halak is the Habs #1 goalie. With 54 games in the books, it is now clear that Halak is ahead of Price as far as development go. While I am sure that Jacques Martin will still put Price in the nets on a semi-regular basis, I believe that the time for that has past. The Habs desperately needs points right now, and for whatever reason the team just seems to play better with Halak in nets. Halak, for his part, did what he had to do. It was because of Halak that the Panthers only scored 2 goals. But, as a team, a one goal performance will not win you games in this league.
Bottom line? Halak has wrestled control of the number one spot away from Price and should play the bulk of the games until the end of the season. That will give the Habs their best shot at making the playoffs.
2 - The second line was the only line that was going last night. The Panthers played a stifling neutral-zone trap last night, and the Habs just couldn't counter. In order to counter the trap, you need to dump the puck in and chase. The problem is that if you are not first to the puck and if you don't win your battles in the offensive zone, you fail to maintain puck possession. Aside from the Gomez line, the Habs mostly failed to mount any kind of pressure in the Panthers zone.
3 - If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Martin, for some reason, had Travis Moen on the first line with Plek and Cammy, last night. Why? In the two games over the weekend (vs. NJ and Rangers) Mathieu Darche filled that first line winger role. While Darche is not a permanent solution to what ails line number one, he did get three points over the two weekend wins and the first line was a factor. Just like with his boss - Gainey - Jacques Martin sometimes leaves fans guessing as to what he is doing and why.
4 - Habs fans should learn to expect the worst, this way we'll never be disappointed. Every time, this season, we think the Habs are turning the corner, they lay a stink bomb, hence the .500 record. They are playing an antiquated system (passive-resistance) with an inflexible coach who sticks to line matching and systems, rather than trying to play a more attacking style which is better suited to his quick, skilled forwards such as Gomez, Cammalleri, Gionta, SK74, AK46, Plekanec, etc. Until the system, personnel or coach changes, this will continue to be a win one lose one season.
5 - Markov has slowed a bit since his fiery return. While he was a monster, scoring 13 points (3G, 10A) over his first 11 games back from injury, Markov has slowed a step over the last 8 games, potting only 3 assists. In addition, he is making uncharacteristic turnovers and bad plays.
This was to be expected as players returning from injury often have an adrenaline boost for a few weeks. But the reality of having missed so much time usually catches up from a conditioning perspective. Not to worry though, as this is a temporary lull. Markov is an elite defenseman among elite defensemen and will rediscover his game soon enough.
Oh and one more thing in regards to Markov...when is Gainey going to go out and get a true #2 defenseman to play as his partner. Don't get me wrong because Josh Gorges is a very hardworking committed player who gives every ounce he has, night in and night out. But let's be honest here. Josh is a fourth to sixth defenseman at best.
6 - During his first game with the Habs, Ben Maxwell was invisible. Maybe it was just me, but for most of the night I didn't even know which line he was playing on. It was only when he was switched to Plekanec's line for a few shifts that I first noticed him. That being said, you've got to give the kid a free pass for his 1st game as the whole team lacked effort. Additionally, it will take him a few games to acclimate. When he does, however, I am anxious to see what he can do!
Standings and Next Game:
The loss last night leaves the Habs in ninth place with 55 points. If they had even lost in overtime or shootout, they would be in 6th with 57 points, but alas. The Habs are tied, in points, with Philly, the Rangers and the Panthers who have three games, one game and one game in hand, respectively. Behind the Habs are Boston, Atlanta and the Islanders each with 54 points and three games, two games and one game in hand, respectively.
The Habs get right back on the horse tonight as they go into Tampa Bay and try to beat Team Quebec South.
Happy Hump Day HabsAddicts!!!
