In the two previous meetings between these squads, the Thrashers have come out with the "W" each time. However, when they last played, the Thrashers were one of the hotter teams in the league and still in playoff contention.
Atlanta has fallen off the map considerably since then and out of the playoff picture.
Leading up to the deadline, Thrashers GM Rick Dudley made several moves to try and bolster his floundering squad and give them enough kick to get over the playoff hump.
Well, at least last night, that plan didn't work out so well.
The Canadiens were the better team in the first period, despite being outshot 9-5, but were completely dominated by the Thrashers over the final 40 minutes. With the Habs once again getting themselves into lazy penalty problems, the Thrashers were able to seize and hold the momentum for long stretches despite being held off the scoresheet.
The Canadiens defenders did a good job of keeping most of the Atlanta shots to the outside, but the real story of the night was Carey Price.
Price stopped nine shots in the first, 16 in the second, 15 in the third and 40 for the night.
With the Canadiens back on their heels, Price held the fort and was only 5:46 away from getting his seventh shutout of the season when Brent Sopel made a brutal turnover resulting in the Thrashers lone goal of the game.
Sometimes a team loses games they should win and wins games that they should lose.
Last night's game was an example of the latter, as the Canadiens used opportunistic scoring, special teams and excellent goaltending to secure their 34th win of the season.
Final score: Habs 3 - Thrashers 1
Habs scorers: Max Pacioretty (12), James Wizniewski (7), Brian Gionta (23)
Thrashers scorers: Nik Antropov (11)
Three stars: 1. Carey Price, 2. Max Pacioretty, 3. Nik Antropov
Play of the night
With the Canadiens holding on to a one-goal lead, Thrashers goalie Chris Mason on the bench for the extra attacker and Atlanta pressing for the tying goal, the puck popped out to the neutral zone. Habs Captain Brian Gionta turned on the jets, beating his man to the puck and launching it into the empty net for the insurance marker with 46 seconds to play.
That was the best and most well deserved empty net goal I've ever seen!
Point of Interest
Taking two too-many-men-on-the-ice bench minors last night, the Habs earned the dubious distinction of having the most too-many-men-on-the-ice penalties in the league this season with 12.
Game Notes
1. Paul Mara brings some thump
Just under five minutes into the first period with the teams locked in a scoreless tie, Paul Mara took two strides from center ice and put his shoulder into the Thrashers defender at the Atlanta blueline.
Not only did his hit knock the Thrashers' player on his butt but it freed the puck, caused some chaos in the Atlanta zone and opened a seam.
Benoit Pouliot jumped on the loose puck, chipping it off the boards to David Desharnais who skated in for a partial break. Thrashers defender Mark Stuart had no choice but to swing his stick at Desharnais in an attempt to block his shot, taking a slashing penalty in the process.
While the Habs were unable to score on the PP, the play by Mara illustrates a major component that has been sorely missing from the Habs back end this season, and that is physicality.
While Mara is definitely a depth defender, he is a slow skater and plays far from a perfect game, but he does bring a physical edge that is in short supply in the Habs lineup.
So while Mara isn't going to see top minutes in the Habs lineup, he brings a boatload of experience, is good in the room and has the toughness to get the job done when the chips are down in the playoffs.
I was still surprised to see Yannick Weber scratched in favour of Mara, as I feel the Habs are a better team with Weber—who is a much more talented player. That being said, it is nice to know that Montreal has the option of inserting some additional grit against bigger, scrappier teams like the Thrashers.
2. PP change-up
The Canadiens power play—which experienced a spike when James Wizniewski was acquired but which has slumped some in recent weeks—has seen it's share of changes lately, in an attempt to wake it up.
Originally, Jacques Martin had the Wiz playing with P.K. Subban on the point for the first wave of the power play. In more recent games, however, the Habs have been using the Wiz with Roman Hamrlik and for the last two matches, the Wiz has been paired with Plekanec at the point.
Using a forward on the point is a move that many have been wanting to see for quite some time now and many teams in the league use a forward on the point for the PP. Until recently, the Habs coaching staff has for whatever reason been completely unwilling give it a try.
Last night, on the Habs second PP of the game, James Wizniewski scored the Habs' second goal of the game, his seventh of the season when he pinched down low to flip a backdoor rebound past Mason.
Was the goal the result of having Plekanec on the back end with him? Likely not.
So while the PP produced a goal with both players on the ice, the problem was that Plekanec seemed to struggle playing the point, twice turning the puck over and taking a penalty each time while trying to cover up his error.
I definitely liked what I saw from an offensive perspective but it is clear that Plekanec is either not comfortable playing the point or is just not used to it. As such, he either needs more practice time to get comfortable with the defensive responsibilities or the Habs need to go back to the triangle of doom: Subban, Wizniewski and Michael Cammalleri.
3. Price was in the zone
Yep, Price is the uncontested MVP of this team.
Having just been named the Canadiens player of the month for February, Price put on a clinic over the final 40 minutes of the game to earn the victory.
Now to his defense's credit, they did a pretty good job of boxing out the Thrashers forwards and clearing the front of the net meaning that most of the shots were from the outside with few second chances.
Still, Price was positionally excellent and made several spectacular saves from eight feet or less, to keep the Thrashers off the board with his teammates struggling to keep up.
The amazing thing to watch with Price, is how calm he is in the net and how effortless he makes many difficult saves seem.
Price finished the night with a sparkling .976 save percentage and was just under six minutes away from his seventh shutout of the year. More importantly, the win was Price's 29th of the season, a high water mark for his career.
As I said when the trade deadline was over, the roster is now set and the Habs will go as far as Price can carry them in the playoffs.
4. Max Pacioretty continues his ascension
After going through three games without a point, Pacioretty now has three points (2G, 1A) over the last three games. In addition, he is the hottest Hab over the last 13 games with 11 points (6G, 5A) over that span.
Patches got the party started for the Canadiens last night when he grabbed the puck at the point, took one step towards the Thrashers net and fired a bullet past Mason. The shot deflected off Evander Kane's stick that play but it validates the old adage that "you can't score if you don't shoot."
The goal was unassisted and like they said on L’Anti-chambre last night, that seems to be the only way to score when you're playing with Scott Gomez!
Pacioretty continued his excellent play throughout the rest of the game and seemed like the only Canadiens player who was actually skating. His speed and determination drew a second period hooking penalty by Tobias Enstrom when he split the Thrashers D and tried to charge to the net.
The play really illustrates what the term "power-forward" means and why it is such a critical piece to any team's success.
Skating at full stride with two Thrashers' defenders draped all over him, Pacioretty used his size and speed to fight them off, still managing to get a shot on net, albeit a weak one.
That is a play that no other player on the team, except for perhaps Andrei Kostitsyn, has the skill and strength to pull off and it seems like Patches is starting to play that way on a consistent basis.
Pacioretty's goal and assist put him 10th overall in team scoring with 22 points in 34 games. His 0.64 points per game (PPG) pace would put him on target for 53 total points over an 82 game season. His 12 goals put him in sixth overall on the team for goals scored and his 0.35 goals per game would put him on pace for 28.7 goals over an 82 game season.
Not bad for a rookie, eh?
5. The penalty kill was in full effect
The Canadiens were once again unable to stay out of the penalty box last night, and as has become the case on an ongoing basis, most of their penalties were of the lazy variety.
The Habs took seven penalties on the night: two for interference, one for hooking, one for tripping, two for too-many-men and one for delay of game.
With Montreal again incapable of staying out of the penalty box, the Thrashers had the pleasure of playing with a man-advantage five times. Well perhaps "pleasure" is not the right word considering the excellent job the Canadiens did on the PK, but the continuous parade to the box definitely helped Atlanta keep the momentum.
On the PK Montreal was constantly on top of the Atlanta players, quickly closing gaps and taking away their time and space to render their attack ineffective, create turnovers and otherwise shut down their PP.
The addition of Sopel on the back end is playing immediate dividends too—despite his horrible third period turnover—as he continues to block shots and shooting lanes to make the Habs PK that much more effective. In addition, he is helping to reduce the amount of ice that Roman Hamrlik is seeing, especially short handed, and that should keep him fresh for the playoffs.
With the post-season drawing near, the Canadiens need to make sure their special teams are working at full capacity and, shutting down five Thrashers' PKs while scoring a PP marker of their own is a good start.
Standings and Next Game
The win by the Habs kicks off the homestretch on the right foot and, more importantly, earns them two well needed points in the standings. The win is also timely considering that the Rangers lost 3-2 to the Sabres.
Montreal has now won three of their last four games and have 75 points in the standings, are sixth overall in the East, are three points behind the Caps, five points behind the Pens and six points behind the Bruins who have one game in hand.
Behind the Canadiens are the Rangers with 70 points and one more game played, the Hurricanes with 69 points and the Sabres with 67 points and two games in hand.
Montreal now travels to Florida where they take on the Panthers on Thursday and the Lightning on Saturday, before a huge Tuesday night tilt against the Bruins at the Bell Centre next week.
--- 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)
Another NHL trade deadline has come and gone and, once again, Habs GM Pierre Gauthier failed to make a trade for an impact player. As such, when the 3:00 PM EST deadline came and went yesterday afternoon, the anger and hand-wringing among Habs fans started in earnest.
It seems that year after year—since Bob Gainey became the GM of the team in June, 2003—the Canadiens have failed to act at the trade deadline while teams around them are continually making deals.
Aside from the trade that brought Alex Kovalev to Montreal at the 2003-2004 trade deadline, neither Gainey nor Gauthier has made anything more than depth acquisitions over their tenures.
So what does this say about the Canadiens' management philosophy?
Are their GMs, from Gainey to Gauthier, timid, uninterested, delusional about the quality of their teams or just too conservative to make an impact trade?
Hardly.
Love them or hate them, Gauthier, and Gainey before him, are eminently qualified to be General Managers in the NHL. Moreover, as much as fans and media alike enjoy pontificating about moves that should or shouldn't be made, few of them, myself included, have the ability to actually manager an NHL team.
So while it's nice to dream, there are some very clear realities in place that often trump the desire to make a splash.
Gauthier was working the phones
By all indications, Pierre Gauthier was extremely aggressive in this year's trade market, working the phones in an attempt to add scoring punch to his team. But when you're out there fishing for big fish the asking price is usually high and sometimes you have to know when to walk away.
The name that is on everyone's lips this morning is Dustin Penner, since he is a player that many Habs fans thought would be a great fit in Montreal. Moreover, most thought that the Canadiens could just swap Andrei Kostitsyn for Penner, straight up.
While Penner undoubtedly brings the scoring size that the Habs are missing from their lineup, he also brings baggage and a hefty price tag. Penner has scored 21 goals this season and 32 last year, but, much like Kostitsyn, he has been dogged by inconsistent compete levels.
Moreover, with one more year on his contract after this season at $4.25 million per, Penner would not exactly have been a cheap addition.
Prior to him being dealt to the Kings, there was a fake rumour being floated around that the Habs had acquired Penner for Jarred Tinordi and a 1st round pick. Looking at how much the Kings gave up for him, that price sounds about right.
The L.A. Kings, in my estimation, grossly overpaid by giving up defensive prospect Colten Teubert, a 2011 first-round pick and a 2012 conditional third-round pick. Teubert, who was selected 13th overall in the 2008 draft, is projected to be a power-house stay-at-home defenseman who should growing into a top-two or three role in the future.
The only players or prospects in the Habs' system that fit this bill are Tinordi and P.K. Subban.
The Habs are not a contender
If the Canadiens were going to compete with or beat the Kings' offer, they would have to give up a similar package to the Kings—essentially two first round picks and a conditional third.
But would that have been in the Habs' best interest? Would Habs fans be happy to see Tinordi or Subban shipped out of town for Penner?
In my estimation, no.
The reality is that despite some success this season, the Canadiens are a middling team and need more than once piece to be considered a contender. Sure adding a big, scoring winger to the mix would help the Canadiens but it would not put them over the top.
The Habs have too many holes to be plugged by just one player and unless they would be acquiring a young, proven player that could play on the team for three-plus seasons, there was no reason to mortgage the future.
The window to being a contender is just starting to open, for Montreal, and there was no reason to jump the gun by trading away key picks and assets unless there was a reasonable certainty it would get them to the Cup final.
With young players like Lars Eller, David Desharnais, Max Pacioretty, Carey Price, Subban and Ryan White already playing on the team and prospects like Louis Leblanc, Jarred Tinordi, Alexander Avtsin and Danny Kristo in the pipeline, the future is bright for the Canadiens.
So while acquiring a player at the deadline is always exciting for fans, it's not always in the best interest of the team. As such, I believe that by sitting on his hands Pierre Gauthier made the right move by not moving at all.
The Canadiens fate lies in the player’s hands now. The lineup is set and despite their struggles they still have the ability to start the playoffs with home-ice advantage.
From there, as they have done all season, Montreal will go as far as Carey Price can take them and, while they are not a contender on paper, anything can happen once the playoffs start.
The Team 990's Sunday Shinny - Episode 11 - February 27, 2011
In this episode of the Sunday Shinny, where Gary Whittaker and Kamal Panesar of HabsAddict, welcome Kyle Roussel of Cowhide And Rubber to the studio.
Topics include:
-A very interactive hour with many of the fans calling in to give their opinions on both coach Jacques Martin and GM Pierre Gauthier
-Discuss if the Canadiens fans deserve to have a GM who wants to build a contender, or if being competitive with a chance to win is enough
-With trade deadline so close, we give a yea or nay on the names that have been associated with the Montreal Canadiens
Click play below to listen in (listing time 40:26):
--- 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 Dave Sandford/Getty Images North America)
Despite adding Brent Sopel, Paul Mara and James Wizniewski over the course of the season, Habs' GM Pierre Gauthier was unable to land that coveted scoring winger to slot in to his top-six.
As such, the roster remained unchanged on deadline day, save for the demotion of Ryan White to the Hamilton Bulldogs.
With the deadline behind them, the Canadiens take on the Atlanta Thrashers tonight in Atlanta, officially kicking off the home stretch.
Tonight's game is the third of four meetings between the teams this season. The Thrashers have won the first two contests.
Standings
Coming off a 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, Montreal is sixth in the Eastern Conference with 73 points and a 33-23-7 record. Despite the victory and winning two out of their last three games, the Habs have only three victories in their last 10 games (3-5-2). Fortunately for Montreal, most of the teams around them have also been struggling to string together wins, allowing the Canadiens to maintain a three-point cushion over the seventh place Rangers.
While the Habs have certainly not been tearing up the league lately, the Thrashers have been in a definite free fall.
Atlanta is coming off a 4-3 overtime victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs—a win that snapped a five-game losing streak. Despite the win, Atlanta has only two victories over their last 11 games (2-7-2) and has fallen out of playoff contention as a result.
The Thrashers are currently tied with the Leafs for 10th place in the East—four points out of a playoff spot—with 63 points and a 26-26-11 record.
Goaltending
With Carey Price missing the Canadiens game against the Canes due to illness, there is no official word yet on whether or not he will get the start tonight. If he will well enough, expect to see him in the net.
With Ondrej Pavelec still listed as day-to-day, look for Chris Mason—who has started the last two games and is coming off a victory—to get the call for Atlanta.
Special Teams and Scoring
The Thrashers have an acceptable offense, averaging 2.8 goals per game (13th overall) and the eighth overall power play at 19.7 percent efficiency. It is on the defensive side of the puck that Atlanta's game falls off the map.
They have the 26th best goals-against at 3.1 per game and the 28th penalty kill at 77.3 percent efficiency.
Montreal, on the other hand, scores an anemic 26th overall 2.6 goals per game. However, it has the 10th best goals-against at 2.6 per game, the ninth best PP at 19.4 percent and the 10th best PK at 83.3 percent.
As such, if Montreal can get the puck behind the Thrashers defenders and cycle with speed, they should be able to draw penalties for some good scoring chances against a weak Thrashers PK.
Roster Changes
Aside from the recent acquisition of Brent Sopel and demotion of Ryan White to the Bulldogs, the Habs lineup will basically be identical to the one that defeated the Canes on Saturday.
Brent Sopel, acquired last week by the Canadiens, will be facing his former team for the first time.
The Habs are still without long-term injured players Josh Gorges and Andrei Markov, while Jaroslav Spacek and Mathieu Darche continue to be on the injury reserve.
There is still no official prognosis on either player.
The Thrashers added and subtracted a bevy of players leading up to the deadline with the hope of turning around a fading season. Despite their changes, the Thrashers continue to be without the services of Jim Slater, Freddy Meyer, Ondrej Pavelec, Patrice Cormier and Alexander Burmistrov.
Game time is at 7:00 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)
Without a doubt the NHL trade deadline is the most exciting part of an NHL season with the possible exception of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
It is the time of year where we all play arm-chair GM, while dreaming of the possible acquisitions of players who have long been rumoured to be destined for the Bleu Blanc Rouge.
This year in particular, with the almost constant dissatisfaction with Scott Gomez and Andrei Kostitsyn and with more than $4 million in cap space available, the stars seemed aligned for Pierre Gauthier to not only make his mark as GM but ultimately transform the Habs from a pretender to a contender.
Unfortunately, the consistent aspirations of adding that elusive power-forward did not come to pass. When all was said and done the Montreal Canadiens decided to do little more than to boost the depth at the goaltender position with the acquisition of Drew McIntyre; now destined for the Hamilton Bulldogs.
From a fans perspective, this lack of movement from Pierre Gauthier is quite disheartening. With more than $4 million in cap space—potentially more available with the LTIR to Jaroslav Spacek—and with glaring holes on offense, we were expecting much but received little.
When you hear of players like James Neal or Chris Stewart being dealt just prior to the trade deadline, you have no choice but to cringe and ask why these sorts of deals are not made by Montreal.
Take a quick glance at Twitter or any hockey discussion forum, and you will see the passionate pleas of fan base crying for the immediate resignation of Gauthier and Jacques Martin.
Is this discontent just? Did Gauthier miss out on an opportunity or did the market just not transform, as was predicted from within the organization?
Seriously folks, sit back, put your feet up, take a deep breath and just relax for a minute.
Asking Price was Simply Too High
Take a quick glance at any one of my other blogs and you’ll notice a consistent message: The Montreal Canadiens need to get bigger and they need to get tougher. It is a philosophy which is likely shared by the majority of the Habs fan base around the world.
Gauthier could have very easily acquired Zenon Konopka or Chris Neil or Dustin Penner if he so chose to, but the market at this year’s deadline was a seller’s market.
Out of 30 NHL teams only about six of them are truly out of playoff contention. That translates into 24 teams trying to feed off the jettisoned players from Florida, Edmonton, Atlanta, St. Louis, Colorado and Ottawa.
The market for players was, in my opinion, dictated two weeks ago when Tomas Kaberle—who is a good puck moving defenseman but far from being considered an elite player—was traded for a top prospect, a first round pick and a second round pick.
At yesterday's trade deadline this kind of mind-bogglingly high price continued to be demanded.
The asking price for a fourth line center with less than a handful of points, in Konopka, was a second round draft pick. Better yet, a 6’4 forward who will net you only around 25 goals a year, in Dustin Penner, was dealt for a top rated prospect, a first round pick and a conditional third round pick.
Are you serious? Talk about overpaying for what's out there!
Let’s be honest here ladies and gentleman, it was a classic case where supply was much lower than the demand which ultimately allowed the seller's to dictate their own terms.
Too Many Injuries
When Andrei Markov, Josh Gorges and now Jaro Spacek all go down with injuries, it takes assets to maintain a competitive line-up. I hate to paraphrase but Gauthier said it best; “You save and save for a great vacation but then ultimately dip heavily into those savings to fix a leaky roof”.
Our second round draft pick was sent packing in order to secure James Wizniewski. Our fourth round pick and Ben Maxwell was used to secure a Brent Sopel and finally our fifth round selection was used to secure the depth of Paul Mara.
Had injuries not been a factor in the current season, Gauthier could have easily parted ways with these assets to secure a player like a Brad Boyes or possibly a Jason Arnott for instance, but circumstances required him to act early to allow the team to maintain its course to the playoffs.
Where do we go from here?
I have previously stated that when Gauthier was originally named GM of this team, my rage was expressed throughout every possible hockey forum I knew about.
My feelings however have done a complete 180 and I now stand by Gauthier because I like what he has done.
It started with the 2010 Entry Draft.
Some GM’s take the best player available when their turn comes around, but Gauthier targeted a player he wanted and moved up in the draft to secure that pick for Jarred Tinordi.
Now he refuses to make a trade and give up more assets then this team can afford.
Gauthier determined a price for the guys he sought out to target but when the asking price surpassed his evaluations, he stood pat. This is a sign of a man in control of his emotions and who acts based on reason and not emotion.
Furthermore, it is time to finally see what we have in the AHL.
Why try to secure Jim Vandermeer when you have a guy like Alex Henry more than capable? Why acquire the rights to a declining J.P. Dumont when Aaron Palushaj appears to be knocking on the door? Why beef up down the middle with a Paul Gaustad, when the development of Andrew Conboy as a dependable fourth line center is on the horizon?
In other words, why look at what your neighbour is selling before you take a look at your own back yard.
With that I say good-day fellow Habbers, just have a little faith my friends.
--- Willey was the shinning light among the wicked growing up as the lone Habs fan in Toronto. Pray to Holy Ghosts of the old forum and all shall be answered I was told, and just like that my family was transferred back to Montreal and away from the damned. Olé Olé Olé.
Habs Inside/Out - The state of sunshine
