Nathan Beaulieu will make his NHL debut tonight against
the New York Rangers
The Montreal Canadiens are back in action tonight as they host the New York Rangers. it will be the third and final meeting between the two teams with the Habs winning the first two games by a combined total of 6-1.
It seems Brandon Prust will return to the line up for Montreal after missing eight games due to a shoulder injury. His timing is quite fitting as he is back on time to face his former team. Prust is a +4 against the Rangers this season and has also notched an assist.
With Prust returning to the roster, Gabriel Dumont was sent back to the Hamilton Bulldogs along with defenseman Jarred Tinordi. Tinordi played six games during his stint with the Habs earning one assist, two penalty minutes and a +2 rating while averaging 10:32 minutes of ice time.
Nathan Beaulieu was called up from Hamilton to take Tinordi's spot on the blue line. Beaulieu has six goals and 19 assists for 25 points in 62 games for the 'Dogs. His style is more offensive than that of Tinordi and will be called upon to help the Canadiens second powerplay unit.
Habs And Hockey News
- There has been lots of talk about the Habs interest in San Jose's Ryan Clowe as the trade deadline approaches but is he a player the Habs should acquire?
With the Montreal Canadiens coming off a satisfying win over the Boston Bruins, they embarked on their longest road trip of the season this weekend. A grueling seven-city trip that would see them hit all four corners of North America.
Their first stop was last night in Colorado against the smoking-hot Avalanche, winners of five straight games. The Habs and Avs are two teams that don't play each other very often so the only real pre-game storyline was former Hab Ryan O'Byrne—who now plays for the Avs—facing his former teammates for the first time.
On the ice, the Canadiens employed their usual trapping road game strategy, shutting down the center of the ice, clogging the neutral zone and ensuring that there wasn't much pace to the game. Patiently waiting for their opportunities, the Habs opened the scoring when Michael Cammalleri blasted his 12th of the season past Craig Anderson on a nice give-and-go with Tomas Plekanec.
But the Avs tied it up with five seconds left to play in the first, spoiling what had up until that point been a perfect road game.
While the first period was a sleeper the game got more exciting in the second as the team traded goals and the pace quickened. The Avs, who are a fast, skilled-based team, seemed to get better as the game progressed, dominating play in the second period.
Coming back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits, the Avs took the lead in the second frame by capitalizing on a weak clearing attempt from P.K. Subban, while they were outshooting the Habs 15-8. Once again, if it was not for Carey Price, this game would have been over in the second.
Despite being down by a goal, the Canadiens threw everything but the kitchen sink at Avs' goalie Anderson, outshooting Colorado 14-5 in the third. Anderson was equal to the task, however, shutting the door for their sixth straight victory.
Final score: Avs 3 - Habs 2
Habs' scorers: Michael Cammalleri (12), Alexandre Picard (2)
Avs' scorers: Ryan Wilson (2), Kevin Porter (7), T.J. Gallardi (5)
Three stars: 1. Ryan O'Reilly, 2. Craig Anderson, 3. Michael Cammalleri
Game Notes
1. Cammalleri is in his rightful place alongside Plekanec.
For a second game in a row, Michael Cammalleri scored the first goal of the game and it is apparent how comfortable he is playing with Plekanec.
Plekanec is the perfect setup man for Cammalleri, who is able to find the prime scoring spot, post himself there and wait for the pass. Plek then saucers him a sweet feed and Cammalleri is ready to deliver a patented one-knee-Cammalleri-special.
When Cammalleri is able to position himself for the shot he tends to play his best hockey, as opposed to when he was trying to carry the play by himself during his stint on Scott Gomez's line.
After starting the season slowly, Cammalleri now leads all Habs with 12 goals for the season and has eight points (5G, 3A) in the last seven games.
Cammalleri is currently on pace to score 30 goals and 32 assists.
2. The Habs let in another late period goal.
Aside from a goal late in the period, the Habs played a perfect road game in the first frame. They gave the Avs little to shoot at, shut down the neutral zone and overall stifled any flow to the game. The result was a boring but effective period for the road team.
Jacques Martin hockey is not always exciting but it is often successful.
The problem, as has become a regular occurrence, is that the Habs got themselves in trouble with bad turnovers and it cost them the game.
There is a big difference between going into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead after having shut down the opposition, or going into the break tied at one after letting the opposition tie the game with five seconds to play.
The six most important minutes of any game are the first and last minute of each period, as goals scored for or against during those minutes tend to do the biggest job of creating or destroying momentum.
Since losing 3-0 to the Nashville Predators on November 18, 2010, the Habs have a 7-8 record and have struggled to find consistency. It is also during this stretch that their egregious giveaways, poor decision making and late or early period goals against have been sinking the ship.
The Canadiens need to get back to taking care of the small details on the ice if they want to push past the .500 barrier for the first time since mid-November.
3. Price continues to be as steady as a metronome.
Making key saves at key times, Carey Price continues to keep his team in each game with heart stopping saves to cover up for his teammates' ugly turnovers and giveaways.
As good as Price has been this season—and he has been spectacular—he has let in one weak goal in each of the last three games. Last night, it was on Kevin Porter's tying goal. It was a backhander that slide under Price and is a goal that he would surely like to have back.
While it is nothing major to worry about I wonder if this is perhaps a sign of fatigue kicking in.
Price has played all but three games this season and is currently on pace to play 75. While Price is young and in excellent shape, if you look at the last few playoff seasons, history tells us that playing goaltenders too much in the regular season doesn't tend to produce good results come April.
Players like Miikka Kiprusoff and Martin Brodeur who average in excess of 70 games per season, don't have very much to show for it come playoff time over the last few seasons. As such, I think the Habs would be wise to try and aim to play Price in no more than 65 games this season, giving Auld a good 15-20 starts rather than the seven he is on pace for. That would allow Price to be rested, sharp and ready come playoff time.
Given his age, however, Price might be ready for the playoffs regardless of how many games he plays this season.
But why take a chance?
4. Scott Gomez continues to look like he has found his game.
Since coming back from injury, Gomez has five assists over three games, a revival that coincided with the arrival of Max Pacioretty on his line.
Gomez seems to have come back from his injury absence with his head screwed on straight and is making better decisions on the ice as a result. That being said, you can't discount how much of a difference Pacioretty makes on that line.
Using his size, speed and skill to create room for his linemates, MaxPac has been the offensive catalyst on the second line.
While Gomez has played better and seems to be on the right track, it would be nice to see him shoot the puck a little more often. Nine times out of ten he passes the puck, even when there isn't a good passing option, and that is making him a little too predictable.
Last night he was actually shooting more than usual and it resulted in the Habs' second goal of the game. Regardless of his shot total, however, he is having success again and that is a good thing for the Montreal Canadiens.
5. The turnovers have got to stop.
The Habs do a great job of collapsing down-low around Carey Price, and Price is proving that he has was it takes to be en elite goaltender in this league, but does that mean that they have to make it harder for him by turning the puck over so much?
As of this morning, the Montreal Canadiens are second in the league with 910 giveaways so far this season. The only team with more giveaways than the Habs is the Oilers, with 1055, and they 26th in league standings.
The first Avs goal last night was scored on a power play. Previous to the PP, Andrei Kostitsyn made a brutal turnover at the Habs blueline, leaving his defense vulnerable. Jaroslav Spacek hooked the Avs' player in an attempt to stop him from getting a clear scoring chance, resulting in the penalty.
The second Avs' goal was scored after a weak clearing attempt by Subban ended up on the Colorado player's stick and in the back of the net.
The Canadiens have made an unfortunate habit of terrible unforced-errors and have been doing so all season long. The only reason the Habs have been able to get away with such sloppy play is because of Carey Price. His phenomenal play has hidden a lot of the blemishes of this team and has made them look better than they really are.
I shudder to think where they would be right now without Price's excellent play.
Standings and Next Game
The Habs missed a golden opportunity to put some distance between themselves and the Boston Bruins last night. The loss drops the Habs' record to 19-12-2 with 40 points in the standings and the Bruins have 38 points and two games in hand.
Montreal now travels to Dallas for game two of this seven game road trip, to take on the Stars on Tuesday evening. The Habs will be trying to avoid losing two games in a row for the third time this season.
(Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images North America)
Salary Cap
Ryan O'Byrne's cap hit is $941,667 according to Capgeek.com.
Speak with Brian LaRose of Habsworld.net he explained that:
"The cap savings that the Habs get from the trade is what is remaining of O'Byrne's contract, which is his full season cap hit less what has been spent ($941,667-$177,195) which is $764,472."
The 2010-2011 NHL season is still in its infancy but there are already so many ups and downs for pretty much every team in the league.
Well, ups and downs is maybe not the right way to look at it. Perhaps positives and negatives is more accurate. Some teams are scoring tons of goals but their goaltender can't stop a beach ball. Others have an outstanding power play but no 5-on-5 scoring.
The Montreal Canadiens, like all other teams in the league, are not immune to these early season pluses and minuses. So, with their first five games of the season in the books—and an unusually long four-day break from play—I thought it was a good time to look at what is working and what isn't in this first edition of what I am calling Plus/Minus.
The Defense
-On the plus side, let's start with the best and most solid defensive pairing, and that is Josh Gorges and Hal Gill.
As they did during the playoffs last season, this pair is showing that they are simply indispensable to the Canadiens lineup. Blocking shots, often assigned to shut down the opposition’s big guns, and continually being the Habs top shutdown duo.
Gorges, in particular, is excelling in every area of play, even getting time—and a game winning goal—on the power play. The numbers don't lie:
Five games played, three points (one goals, two assists) with average time on ice of 23:48—tops among all Habs defenders.
-Roman Hamrlik looks to have picked up where he left off at the beginning of last season. Not the end, but the beginning—as he looked like he had played too many minutes by the end of last season.
Since his return, he has been a rock on the back end and is helping to stabilize a Canadiens' D-corp that is sorely missing Andrei Markov.
-P.K. Subban—who has strangely been paired with a so far ineffective Spacek—has looked very good and very bad at times.
The good part of his game is his creativity, on-ice vision, strength, speed, and skill with the puck. He has excellent positioning on the ice and is able to win physical battles and dig pucks out of the corners. Moreover, he has a great first pass and has the ability to make brilliant end-to-end rushes.
The problem so far for Subban, is that he has not yet learned how to pick his spots. In the Canadiens first home game for example—against the Buffalo Sabres—Subban seemed like he was trying to play to the crowd rather than just focusing on his game. Watching his play that night you could see he was often pinching at the wrong time, missing defensive assignments, and trying low-percentage plays.
The result was a lot of turnovers and scoring chances against the Canadiens.
Subban is a young, talented player who just needs to simplify his game. He is trying to do too much and maybe he should just try and do a little less. That will come with time and experience, however, and is nothing to worry about.
-Alexandre Picard and Ryan O'Byrne were paired together for a few games before Jacques Martin et al. finally broke up that disastrous duo.
They seemed to have terrible or non-existent communication on the ice, were constantly out of position, and were getting easily beat by the opposition. They were playing like two individuals rather than partners, and that is never a good thing for a defensive pairing.
-Since Roman Hamrlik's return to the lineup, it has been OB who has been sitting in the press box to the benefit of Picard. While Hamrlik has been a steadying influence on the Habs back end, his Czech compatriot, Jaroslav Spacek, has been absolutely horrendous.
One assist, minus-1, averaging 21:34 ice time and paired with Subban, Spacek has been the weak link in that duo. He is just not working out with P.K. and I'm not sure why the coach has kept them together so long. You would have thought that Coach Martin would have put Subban and Hamrlik together once the latter returned from injury, but that has not yet happened.
Spacek is not a useless player but the number of mistakes and giveaways that he has been making is horrendous. Spacek is getting beat one-on-one, standing still, and that is never something that you should see from a veteran defenseman.
Spacek has, to a large degree, looked like maybe age has caught up to him as he doesn't seem to be able to keep us with the pace of the play. You've got to hope that this is just early season rust because the Canadiens still have one more year on Spacek's contract.
Goaltending
I'll make this short and sweet: Carey Price is assuming his responsibilities and doing all of the things he needs to in order to be successful.
Thought I would be gushing more?
Don't get me wrong, because Carey Price's play so far has been the brightest spot in a team filled with bright spots, this season.
With five games played, three wins, one loss, one overtime loss, a 2.57 GAA, and a .914 save percentage, Carey Price has been playing some of the best hockey of his NHL career.
Were it not for a few defensive errors and slips by his teammates, the Canadiens could very easily be 5-0-0 right now.
The most refreshing thing that I've seen has been the players rallying around Price and producing offense when their goaltender needs it. We all know that a big part of Price's disastrous 2009 season was due to his team's inability to score goals in front of him.
So far there have been two occasions where Price let in a weak goal or two, and in both cases the team in front of him was able to mount a comeback and at least tie, if not win, the game.
In addition, Price looks calm and poised in the net and seems to have finally discovered that middle ground that is so necessary for success as an NHL goaltender.
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Tomorrow, I'll give my breakdown of the Canadiens forwards and special teams. In the meantime, what do you think has been good and bad about the Canadiens defense and goaltending so far?
(Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images North America)
Wow. I mean, wow. What an unbelievable performance by Jaroslav Halak.
Yes, the Montreal Canadiens won 4-1 last night against the Washington Capitals to force a Game Seven, Wednesday night, in Washington. But the score doesn't necessarily reflect the game story.
As has become the case for most of the games in this series, the Habs came out like they were shot out of a cannon. They took the play to Washington and scored two first period goals—both by Michael Cammalleri.
After that, it was Jaroslav Halak that shut the door on the Caps and vaulted the Habs into victory.
There was a key 5-on-3 powerplay for the Capitals in the first period, with the Habs leading 2-0, but Halak and the Habs penalty killers were able to keep them off of the score board.
The Habs got goals from Cammalleri (2), Maxim Lapierre, and Tomas Plekanec (empty net), and the Caps responded with a lone goal from Eric Fehr with less than five minutes to play.
Final score: Habs 4 - Caps 1. The series is tied 3-3.
Game Notes
1. Halak played one for the ages.
With 53 saves on 54 shots for a scintillating .981 save percentage, Halak was the undeniable star of the game.
The win pushed Halak's record when facing 35 or more shots to 12-1 and 9-0 when facing 40 or more shots.
You've got to be kidding me!
This is a guy who wants to be in the action, who thrives off of being busy, and who rises to the top of his game when he is being bombarded.
Make no mistake, however, that despite Halak's performance the Capitals are not a team that you can give up 54 shots to on a regular basis, and expect to win.
2. Powerless powerplay or powerful penalty kill?
The Canadiens played an undisciplined game last night, and allowed the Capitals six powerplay opportunities, including a 5-on-3 PP in the first period.
Despite all of their opportunities, the Capitals continue to fire blanks on the PP and while part of it the problem is with the Caps pp, you have to give a ton of credit to an extremely tenacious Montreal penalty kill.
Lead by Hal Gill—the shot blocking machine—and Josh Gorges, the Montreal penalty kill has limited the Caps No.1 powerplay during the regular season, to one goal on 30 powerplay opportunities.
With the likes of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Alex Semin, Mike Green and others on their powerplay, that is a truly amazing stat.
If the Caps had been scoring on their pp so far, this series would be long over.
The Habs, on the other hand, continue to score one powerplay goal per game, as they did last night. Clearly, they are winning the battle of the special teams.
3. P.K. Subban is alright.
With 10:02 of ice time last night, P.K. Subban did not look out of place. While he looked a little over excited to start the game—a natural side effect of playing for the first time in the NHL playoffs in front of the raucous Bell Centre crowd—Subban quickly settled down to become an effective player for the Habs.
Subban was paired with Roman Hamrlik last night—due to the continued illness of Jaroslav Spacek—and did not look out of place.
If there is one thing that is evident, it is that Subban has a ton of self-confidence and he displayed it was a few between the leg passes, and a nifty feed to Cammalleri on his second goal of the game.
In case you’re counting, that is three NHL games for Subban and he has three assists.
4. The supporting cast came out to play.
Starting with Maxim Lapierre and ending with Ryan O'Byrne, the Canadiens got contribution for their entire lineup.
O'Byrne saw just over twenty minutes of ice time, paired with Andrei Markov, and looked every bit like Mike Komisarek of last year but with better skating.
OB was blocking shots, clearing players from the front of the net, and dishing out punishing body checks all night long. It makes you wonder why Coach Martin decided to bench him until Game Four.
Lapierre too, played one of his best games of the season. He was combative and moving his feet all night long. The result was a bunch of scoring chances and his first playoff goal at 4:17 of the third.
Despite his strong play, Lapierre was up to his old tricks and took two diving penalties as a result. As much as his contributions up front were needed and appreciated, he cannot go around putting his team in trouble like that.
The Habs are very lucky that their indiscipline didn't lose them the game, and must cut down on stupid penalties if they want any chance of winning Game Seven.
Look Out Ahead!
The Habs won Game Six in Montreal in an improbably fashion, and will be playing a do or die Game Seven in Washington on Wednesday. That being said, and despite the win, they need to be better if they want to win this series.
While the Caps outshot the Canadiens by an unbelievable 54-22 margin last night, the worst part was that they had about 15 clear shots from prime scoring areas. This was a disturbing trend last night, and if it wasn't for Halak's brilliance the Habs would surely have lost the game by three or four goals.
If they want to win on Wednesday, they must do a better job of protecting the high slot.
For the Caps, I would expect that they will basically try to emulate their Game Six performance. I mean if the game plays out identically on Wednesday, there is no way the Habs will come out with the win again.
That being said, I noticed the Caps players getting frustrated during the third period and wonder how much Halak has started to get into their heads.
When you see Alex Ovechkin passing instead of shooting from a good shooting area, you have to wonder. He was not the only Caps player to look for a pass when a shot was the right play, last night, and that tends to point to them being affected by Halak's play.
Next Game
The Habs have done the supposedly impossible and forced a Game Seven. Both teams have the day off before playing a winner takes all match in Washington tomorrow night.
As much as the pressure has been on the Habs for the last two games, it now shifts to the Capitals.
For the Canadiens, they weren't even supposed to make it this far. While they have clearly grabbed the momentum in this series, if they lose tomorrow, they still go home as heroes.
For the Caps, however, it is a different story. They were the No.1 team overall in the league who were supposed to contend for the cup this year.
If the Caps lose tomorrow, they go home as zeros. They have everything to lose while the Canadiens have nothing to lose and should play loose.
That being said, anything can happen tomorrow and I would not be surprised if either team wins.
For Habs fans, whether your team loses tomorrow or not, you should be proud. They have done so much more than anyone expected and should come home carrying their heads high.
So let's see what happens Wednesday in the final installment of what has been one of the most entertaining series' in a long time!
So what do you all think? Who wins the next game and the series?
So far this morning—and according to Pat Hickey from the Montreal Gazette—the Habs are making several changes to their lineup as follows:
1. Carey Price will be in the net
2. Ryan O'Byrne will be back on D
3. Marc-Andre Bergeron will be on the 4th line and power play
4. Mathieu Darche seems like he will be the one giving his place up to MAB
Personally, I think all four of these things will be good for the Canadiens. Price, because he is bigger than Halak and better suited to the physical abuse that is being dolled out in the Habs crease.
Also, Price seems to have a much better, more mature, more humble attitude. I think Halak's rise to stardom served Price up a big slice on humble pie and maybe helped to get his head screwed on straight.
The Ryan O'Byrne decision is a no-brainer and I am not sure why it took Jacques Martin three games to figure out that he should be in the lineup.
O'Byrne is the ONLY Canadiens defenseman who brings a physical aspect to the game. He is big and strong and will be more effective than MAB in clearing the front of the net.
MAB should never have been playing as Markov's defense partner on the first pairing. This is another hair-brain scheme hatched by Jacques Martin. While there is no question that MAB, and his bullet of a slap shot, make an excellent addition to the Habs powerplay, he is a major liability 5-on-5.
You just have to look at his minus-3 rating last game. He was the only Habs defenseman who was worse than a minus-1.
MAB is a player that should simply play about five minutes per game on the fourth line plus whatever minutes he gets on the first power play unit.
Lastly, Mathieu Darche seems like he will be a healthy scratch. While I like Darche a lot, he really hasn't done anything in this series to keep himself in the lineup. The Habs bottom two lines need to bring more to the table and if Darche isn't doing it, then switching him out is a good call.
So the Habs are making changes. That much is clear. But will it bear fruit on the ice? Will it enable the Habs to play a full 60 minutes and to win another game in this series?
Only time will tell, but if the Habs cannot win tonight—in the friendly climes of the Bell Centre—I fear that this series will be over in five games.
If, however, they can shutdown the Caps, use their speed and skill, play an attacking style, get traffic to the net to disrupt Varlamov, keep scoring power play goals while stifling the Caps PP, and get outstanding goaltending from Price, they should be able to tie the series.
That sounds like a lot to ask for, and maybe it is, but I truly believe that they can do it. By around ten pm tonight we should know if I am right or not.
Well, that was a much better effort, don't you think?
After stinking up the joint in back-to-back games last weekend, the Habs finally showed up for their Saturday afternoon tilt against the Senators. Unfortunately for the Habs, they ended up losing the game, 3-2, in overtime. Despite the loss, this was a heck of a good game. The speed and skill of both teams shone yesterday, and it made for an excellent spectacle.
Plekanec’s line in particular, with Sergei Kostitsyn on his wing, looked great right out of the gate. SK74 played probably his best game of the season by using his speed and skill, taking shots, making passes and even throwing his weight around. His best hit came in the third period when he leveled Jason Spezza with an open ice hit in the Sens zone.
Halak too looked his same cool confident self making great saves and looking like he wasn't breaking a sweat.
Kovalev, who was dancing last night, opened the scoring at 17:21 of the first, as he was left open on the side of the net to sweep in a Filip Kuba pass from the point.
While that was the only goal of the first, it certainly wasn't the only excitement as Ryan O'Byrne—who is quickly helping fans forget about a certain Mike Komisarek—lowered the boom on Milan Michalek in the Senators zone. The hit drew a crowd and resulted in offsetting minors.
The second period took on a different look as the Senators took the play to the Canadiens. At around the midpoint of the period, Gill was called for high sticking allowing Spezza to tip in his ninth of the season off a Filip Kuba shot, with Michalek screening Halak, to make it 2-0.
While the Habs weakness 5-on-5 was evident all night, their special teams continued to be special. After the second Sens goal, the Habs responded by ratcheting things up themselves. With their third line on the ice and causing havoc in the Sens zone, Matt Carkner hooked Travis Moen for the Habs first powerplay of the game, and they capitalized. Benoit Pouliot, who was parked in front of the crease, finished off a nice criss-crossing passing sequence from Cammy to Pleks to Pouliot and in. The goal was Pouliot's 13th of the season and it made it a one goal hockey game.
There was a brief intermission in the third as the glass was knocked off of the boards on a solid Pouliot hit. Speaking of big hits, there was a scary moment for the Habs as Anton Volchenkov nailed a streaking Cammalleri about three feet away from the boards. Cammy went flying into the boards and his leg seemed to buckle under him. He left the ice in considerable pain and was not able to put any weight on his leg.
Here is the clip of the hit:
Cammalleri was in a leg brace after the game with suspected knee/MCL problems. He was scheduled to have an MRI ,and we should know more on the injury today or tomorrow. Suffice it to say that if he is out for anything more than a game or so, it will turn out to be a huge loss for the team.
While the shots were pretty even through the first two periods, it was clear that the Sens had dominated the game to that point.
Things changed in the third when Chris Kelly took a high-sticking penalty on Maxim Lapierre allowing the Habs powerplay to go to work again. With less than three minutes to go in the game, Markov made a cross-ice pass to Plekanec who shuttled the puck to Gionta in the slot who tapped the puck in for his fourteenth goal of the season. The goal tied that game at two and swung the momentum back into the Canadiens hands.
The Habs had a bunch of shots but couldn't score, ultimately sending the game into OT. After Hall Gill had hauled down Jason Spezza to give the Sens an overtime powerplay and after Spezza had pushed Hamrlik's fallen stick away from him, negating the man-advantage, Mike Fisher finished the Habs off with a beautiful play.
Picking up a loose puck in the neutral zone, Mike Fisher drove hard to the net swinging to the outside of Markov, swept from left to right on Halak and jammed it past him for the OT winner. Senators 3, Canadiens 2.
The win was a franchise record ninth consecutive for the Senators, while the loss was a third in a row for Montreal. But at least the Habs got one point out of it and can say that they played a strong road game. They came close, but as the saying goes, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
Game Notes:
1. Halak is the Habs' No. 1 goalie. If it wasn't apparent up till now, Halak has grabbed the reigns of the No. 1 goalie seat and is running with it. Game after game after game after game, Halak is calm, cool and collected. He makes excellent saves to keep his team in the game, is outstanding positionally in the net, and overall looks like he is a first string goaltender.
If there is one fault to Halak's game, it is that his rebound control is not the best. He often puts the puck right back into the slot, often resulting in additional scoring chances or goals against. That is one aspect where Price is better than Halak, as he is always steering the rebounds into the corner or smothering the puck.
2. Pouliot continues to impress. With his goal last night, Pouliot now has 12 points (11G, 1A) in 18 games with the Canadiens. The thing I like the most about him is that he is always around the net. He is using his considerable 6'3" frame to make room for himself and his teammates on the ice. Last night he continued to get involved physically, throwing his weight around and driving to the net whenever he could. He was rewarded for his hard work by scoring the Habs first goal of the game from the crease. It's good to finally have a pseudo power forward on this team.
3. Sergei Kostitsyn likely played his best game of the season. From the start of the game, SK74 looked like a great compliment to Plekanec and Cammalleri. As such, the Habs had two attacking lines for the first time in a long time. Sergei was moving his feet and using his head, a combination that usually results in good things for the youngster. While he has looked lazy at certain points this year, he certainly seems to have turned it up on the first line, and not a moment too soon.
4. Will Gainey be forced to make a deal if Cammalleri's injury is long term? With 26 games left in the season and with so many tough games to go, the Habs season could very well be decided over the next few weeks. If the Habs have to play the next month with Andrei Kostitsyn (injured, out six weeks) AND without Cammalleri, they will be dead in the water. So, will Gainey be forced to make a deal? Will it be before the Olympic break? Will it be after? You'd have to think that he needs to make a deal sooner rather than later, but with Gainey, you never know what he has planned.
5. Mike who? With every game that passes, Ryan O'Byrne is asserting himself more and more on the ice. He has taken the role of mean, intimidating defenseman over from Komisarek as his throws he weight around and isn't afraid to drop the gloves. In addition, he is quietly becoming much more reliable with his defensive responsibilities. Being paired with Andrei Markov can't hurt either. I mean look what it did for Komisarek!
Standings and Next Game:
The Habs, after yesterday's game, are in the eighth overall spot in the East with 56 points. With 26 games left in the season, the Habs likely need 90-plus points to make the playoffs. That means they need 34 points over their final 26 games, or approximately 1.3 points per game. This, for a team that is averaging 1.0 points per game. This feat is not impossible, but if the Habs have any chance of making it, they must ride Halak as much as possible. The time for playing favorites has long passed as each game from here to the end of the season is a playoff game.
The Habs hold on eighth place is tenuous with Boston, Tampa, Florida and the Rangers all having 54 points and holding three, three, two and one game in hand, respectively. Just ahead of the Habs is Atlanta, also with 56 points but holding two games in hand, and Philly with 57 points and three games in hand. It doesn't take a math whiz to see that the Habs could easily fall far down the standings if their competition capitalizes on their games in hand.
The Habs have two days off before taking on the Canucks, in Montreal, on Tuesday night.
