Montreal-New York Game #4: Montreal Must Forget Mistakes That Weren't Forgiving

Date: 25/05/2014
Opponent: Rangers
Location: New York

Win: 2-3 (OT)

Habs Goalie: Tokarski (L)
Opposition Goalie: Lundqvist, (W)

Habs goalscorers: Bouillon, Subban
Opposition goalscorers: Hagelin, Brassard, St. Louis

Boston-Montreal Game #6: Habs Use Home Ice To Max Effect

Date: 12/05/2014
Opponent: Bruins
Location: Montreal

Win: 4-0

Habs Goalie: Price (W)
Opposition Goalie: Rask (L)

Habs goalscorers: Eller, Pacioretty, Vanek (2)
Opposition goalscorers: None

Boston-Monrreal Game #4: Figures

Date: 08/05/2014
Opponent: Bruins
Location: Montreal

Loss: 0-1

Habs Goalie: Price (L)
Opposition Goalie: Rask (W)

Habs goalscorers: None
Opposition goalscorers: Fraser

Boston-Montreal Gam2 #2: Bruins Claw Back to Even Series

Date: 03/05/2014
Opponent: Bruins
Location: Boston

Loss: 3-5

Habs Goalie: Price (L)
Opposition Goalie: Rask (W)

Habs goalscorers: Weaver, Vanek (2)
Opposition goalscorers: Paille, Hamilton, Bergeron, Smith, Lucic

Tampa-Montreal Game #3: Bell Centre Energy Propels Habs

Date: 20/04/2014
Opponent: Lightning
Location: Montreal

Win: 3-2

Habs Goalie: Price (W)
Opposition Goalie: Lindback (L)

Habs goalscorers: Bourque, Gallagher, Plekanec
Opposition goalscorers: Palat, Carle

Tampa-Montreal Game #1: The Firewagon is Lit

Date: 16/04/2014
Opponent: Lightning
Location: Tampa Bay

OT Win: 5-4

Habs Goalie: Price (W)
Opposition Goalie: Lindback (L)

Habs goalscorers: Plekanec, Gionta, Eller, Vanek, Weise
Opposition goalscorers: Kucherov, Stamkos (2), Killorn

Ottawa-Montreal Game #4: A Real Kick in the Nets

Details

Date: 07/05/2013
Opponent: Senators
Location: Ottawa

Loss: 2-3 (OT)

Habs Goalie:Price, Budaj (L)
Opposition Goalie: Anderson (W)

Habs goalscorers: Subban, Galchenyuk
Opposition goalscorers:Toronto Goal Judge, Conacher, Turris

Ottawa-Montreal Game #1: Anderson, Karlsson-led Senators Are For Real, Habs Need to Adjust

Details

Date: 02/05/2013
Opponent: Senators
Location: Montreal

Loss: 2-4

Habs Goalie: Price (L)
Opposition Goalie: Anderson (W)

Habs goalscorers: Bourque, Gallagher
Opposition goalscorers: Karlsson, Silfverberg, Methot, Latendresse

How To Pay Subban

You know, working out what one has to pay a player really isn't as complicated as some make it seem. While I''m sure PK Subban may have rolled the dice with comparisons to Karlsson, he and his agent are smart enough to give up that trick early.

But PK knows his range well. It's a range that has clearly been set by the salaries given to players in the current team make up.

Gorges Recognized For Being Unrecognized (Again)

The only trophy that any Montreal Canadiens player will get this season (other than the hopelessly goaltender biased Molson Cup) has been given to Josh Gorges.

To quote HI/O: "The honour goes to a member of the team whose contributions have been under-recognized in the course of a season."

Not that I have any grudges with Josh Gorges, but this trophy is silly. All of the Canadiens are unrecognized this season, are they not? Apart from Carey Price, no one will get an award from either team or league. Diaz was the only one who was even honoured with an invitation to sub in at the All-Star game.

This trophy probably made a lot more sense when it was devised for the inaugural season of 1981-82. In the 1970s, there was plenty of Canadiens recognition to go around and the sight of a Habs player giving an acceptance speech in June was not so rare.

But nowadays, the Canadiens as a group are rarely recognized. Subban got a nod for the All-Rookie team last season. But the last trophy won by a member of the Montreal Canadiens was the King Clancy trophy in 2006-07. The last trophy for hockey related achievements was the Roger Crozier award to Cristobal Huet in 2005-06. And the last major trophy won by anyone in bleu, blanc, rouge was taken in by Jose Theodore a decade ago.

As I said, nothing against Gorges, but this season has been watchable thanks to three major contributors, only one of whom is being recognized (and that's that flawed process again). The team, or the media, or whoever, needs to adapt to the times and recognize the major contributor before bestowing the only trophy of the season to the a man who has worn the underrated tag like a badge of honour for 6 whole seasons now. Can you even be unrecognized or underrated anymore if every story about you touts you as one of the most underrated players in the world? Maybe having won the trophy for being unrecognized (the second to last trophy won by anyone on the team) should be a hint.

Recognition first for the "recognized". We'll do it here once all the games and stats are in. That's something I guess.

Game #74That's More Like It; Habs Lose Properly

Details

Date: 21/03/2012
Opponent: Sabres
Location: Buffalo

Loss: 0-3

Habs Goalie: Price (L)
Opposition Goalie: Miller (W)

Habs goalscorers: None
Opposition goalscorers: Hodgson (2), Pominville

Play of the game

My favourite play was a rush by PK. It was in the third period when the game was out of reach, but it was still a solid individual effort. He did very well in his own end to break coverage twice before heading up the ice. Blunden, of all people, then found some space and Subban found him. Miller then made a great save on what would have been a goal against most others.

Dome hockey team

The 6 players we're playing in a no changes, do or die contest in the dome

Forwards

Tomas Plekanec - Game Puck
My goal this summer, once I take 3 months off from thinking about hockey, is for Plekanec to get some wingers. Bourque is not Cammalleri, Gionta is not Kovalev and Geoffrion is not Kostitsyn. The Habs owe it to this player, who always gives it a solid effort, to surround him with good players. Tonight was another good effort as he had 6 shots and was perfect, again, on the PK.

Petteri Nokelainen
I noticed him for once and I think it has something to do with 9 minutes of ice rather than 3. Another reason may be that he was playing for Jari Kurri and a spot on Finland's World Championship team. He may be playing his last few games as a Hab, so I can't say I am that excited about a decent game as I do think it is way too late to impress at this point.

Erik Cole
Erik squeaks in here as he really wasn't that good, but the rest of the forwards weren't just normal, most were bad. Has the team checked out for the year? It seems so, but for the first time I am starting to assume that Cole has done so too.

Defencemen

Josh Gorges
A good, quiet game for Josh that had a slight blemish on their first goal. He led the team with 4 blocked-shots and played the second most minutes. I know that I have talked a lot about World's for many Habs, but I may add Josh to that list. He is what Canada loves when it comes to stay-at-home D and I think that this may be his best chance to wear the Maple Leaf.

PK Subban
A no-brainer tonight is PK. He seems frustrated with the team's current situation and I get the feeling that this will be the exception year in what will be a great career. I liked how he stood up for Campoli at the end; it seems he has been doing more of that lately.

Goaltender

Carey Price
There wasn't much help from his teammates so this game was always going to be a loss for Carey. He did, however, put forth the type of effort that could have been worthy of a win. Interesting that he spent 2 minutes on the bench as it seems Cunneyworth wasn't afraid to try something slightly different than the rest.

Comments

Both teams got what they wanted (or at least what they should want) tonight, so everyone should be happy. It was a pretty dull 60 minutes to get to it though as Buffalo isn't exactly the most exciting team that the Habs could lose a game to. I felt that Montreal were in the game, but in a way weren't. There were some chances, but zero goals isn't that shocking as only two or three of those were really good chances. A lot of stupid penalties not only gave the Sabres extra chances, but also gave us time to keep working at our league's-best kill.

Two and a half weeks and eight games to go. It would appear that we'll finish 28th if everything goes according to plan which is still quite good (guaranteed top-4 pick). You then never know what the summer will hold beyond that; we could be looking at a new coach, GM, star 18 year-old and maybe a new vet or two. I am starting to get excited for the off-season, we just have to sit through 2.5 more months of hockey first.

Game #72Montreal Gives It Their Best Shot, But Still Get Stuck With A Point

Details

Date: 16/03/2012
Opponent: Senators
Location: Ottawa

Loss: 1-2 (OT)

Habs Goalie: Price (L)
Opposition Goalie: Bishop (W)

Habs goalscorers: Plekanec
Opposition goalscorers: Greening, Kuba

Play of the game

Sometimes choosing this is hard, sometimes it is easy, though, like tonight. When the Habs make one, and only one, good play it is pretty straightforward. That play, of course, was our goal. It was Ryan White's stick that started the play when it blocked a Senators PP pass. The puck then went to the speedy Plekanec who made a very nice move before unloading a bullet to the top right corner.

Dome hockey team

The 6 players we're playing in a no changes, do or die contest in the dome

Forwards

Erik Cole
It is possible that Erik now sees the value of playing for a pick as tonight wasn't vintage Cole. There were moments that excited, however, as he still showed some speed and strength on the puck. Let's just say that the others made this a pretty easy dome for him to bag.

Tomas Plekanec
He scored a goal, his 14th and played 27+ minutes. The Habs are certainly getting their money's worth from Plekanec of late as he continues to play well, and a lot, despite being saddled with the likes of Ryan White and Rene Bourque; players that should not be on an NHL 2nd line. They need to find Tom some wingers to play with this summer because I can't see anyone on the roster (assuming the Desharnais line remains intact) being the solution.

Max Pacioretty
I had to choose someone and, of the legitimate options, he was the only one without any penalty minutes. Playing well, to me, still means playing well even though those that took a lot of penalties increased Ottawa's chances (and our at 0 points). So, I guess the dome, at this point, isn't necessarily who I liked best on the night.

Defencemen

Josh Gorges
No Markov, Kaberle or Diaz meant that it was more big minutes and more special teams for Josh. He did OK tonight and was better than the bottom four. He still looks tired though and hasn't been playing as well. My guess is that he is going to rest a lot this summer; good thing he gets an extra month.

PK Subban
I wasn't sure about Subban as he didn't play his best, but at the end of the day it was still good enough. He got in a rare fight tonight and had to put up with his usual (and unfounded; does anyone know why he gets booed in every rink?) boos. It would be nice to see him get the call to play for Canada next month as he could use some big-game, meaningful-hockey development this year.

Goaltender

Carey Price - Game Puck
Carey was great tonight and was very close to a win and even a shutout despite how badly his teammates were outplayed. He was probably the biggest single reason why we got a point and why it even looked like a competitive game on the scoresheet. I'd play Budaj tomorrow, though as the Habs need to cool it and Price could use a Saturday night off.

Comments

Did Plekanec break the game-plan? Wait, what does the game-plan say about penalty-killing, are you allowed to take shots from the high slot? That goal, almost a fluke goal, gave us the lead and almost gave us a win. That is pretty crazy considering how badly we played and how much we were outpayed by Ottawa. Add to that the fact that the Sens had 8 PPs and it is shocking that we even got to OT. So, was the game-plan to not really try to score and to not worry about taking penalties and to see what happens? That is what it looked like to me. Sad then, isn't it that the team that is now leading our division barely beat us. We could and should have been a better team this year and no matter how much I now want to finish low and be ready to go for October I can't help but be disappointed about what should have been a decent season.

It is not all lost, however, as Edmonton won and we did lose. Tomorrow is the Islanders and if we thought it was hard to let Ottawa win we should see what New York will be like. They have been trying to win hockey games for 30 years and have done about as well as Toronto has done at making good trades. 10 games to go now for the Habs, think we can get a good start to that tomorrow, please.

Game #68Pathetic Oiler Defence Make It Hard For Habs To Lose

Details

Date: 08/03/2012
Opponent: Oilers
Location: Edmonton

Win: 5-3

Habs Goalie: Budaj (W)
Opposition Goalie: Khabibulin (L)

Habs goalscorers: Subban, Pacioretty (2), Kaberle, Eller
Opposition goalscorers: Horcoff, Omark, Hall

Play of the game

A loss probably would have been better here, so in reality, Edmonton actually won this one. But, if I must look for the nicest play that the Habs made, regardless of the fact that it led to a win, then I will. That play, I thought, was Subban's PP goal. The passing that led to the goal was quick and precise and exactly the type of passing that has been lacking on our power-plays. The other thing lacking has been PK's booming shot which was the second reason why he scored his 6th of the season on this play.

Dome hockey team

The 6 players we're playing in a no changes, do or die contest in the dome

Forwards

Scott Gomez
Scott almost won the game-puck tonight as Edmonton's porous defence was just what he needed. Unfortunately for Gomez, we only play Edmonton twice a year and usually he has to contend with teams that have NHL defencemen and some sort of defensive strategy. When Scott plays like he did tonight he is a good player, but I fear, for his sake, that his chances have long since run out.

Max Pacioretty - Game Puck
For all those who said that Max was a 30-goal socrer, congratulations, you were right. He added another two to his tally tonight and now looks to have 35 in his sights. And, who knows, an extremely hot 14 games could take him dangerously close to 40. We have a good player in Patches going forward, a player who will hopefully be a 30/70 type player for the next few seasons.

Tomas Plekanec
I don't know if my linemates are as bad as Plekanec's and I play in about the lowest division of men's hockey possible. So, to see Tom go about his business and still be one of our better players says a lot. We'll probably get a centre, somehow, this summer, so where will Pleks fit in? Will he finally be a #2 behind a proper #1 (still liking that Gomez for Koivu swap? anyone?) or has Desharnais supplanted him? What about Gomez and Eller, do we have to play them on top-3 lines? At centre? In Montreal? Regardless, I respect Plekanec for playing out the season with heart and class.

Defencemen

Josh Gorges
Josh was maybe the only defenceman out there tonight, on either team, that a good team may employ to play defence for them; at least in the way everyone played tonight. Kudos then to Gorges for playing NHL D in a very open game. Tonight highlighted the very reason why Edmonton continue to be bad and why they have no need for any highly skilled Russian forwards.

PK Subban
PK picked up 3 points tonight and now, kind of quietly, has 30 on the season. He'll likely end up with 35-40 points which isn't bad considering the fact that a lot of people were looking to his lack of production as a reason for our troubles this year. Next year I would like to find a way to make him more a #2/3 for defensive responsibilities so that we can tap his offence even more.

Goaltender

Peter Budaj
This wasn't Peter's best game, but in the end he got the win and made a lot of good saves along the way. I am sure that management wouldn't have minded a loss tonight, and that may have been the reason for seeing Budaj in there, but I am sure that he had no interest in taking another loss and worsening his already unflattering stats. He may as well get some more playing time down the stretch, especially if we are serious about the draft.

Comments

We needed a loss, Edmonton needed a loss and we each needed the other team to win. Watching this game, however, you wouldn't have known that. Presumably, if we really wanted to lose we could (I mean, we have lost an awful lot of games that we were trying to win) and the same could be said for Edmonton. Both teams, however, went hard for the win as the players, not the management, were the ones out there, the ones that controlled the result. What we saw then, standings aside, was an 80's style Oilers game that had little to do with anything but speed, counter-attacks and scoring chances. It was actually a fairly exciting game to watch which made staying up late to watch and write a little more bearable than it could have been.

It is now on to Vancouver. Of more interest on Saturday, however, may be the Impact's first ever game in the MLS which also happens to be on the same day in the same city. Later on there will be a hockey game. If we lose, we'll probably be happy and if we win, against a very good Canuck team in their arena, we'll start asking ourselves, yet again, why we had to be so bad, for so long, against such equally bad teams. I for one don't want to start thinking that we would have or could have been good enough. I say, let's go through the motions on Saturday and let Vancouver get the 2 points that they need more than us.

Game #62Habs in Last; But Rejoice, They Scored On The Caps This Year

Details

Date: 24/02/2012
Opponent: Capitals
Location: Washington

Loss: 1-4

Habs Goalie: Price (L)
Opposition Goalie: Neuvirth (W)

Habs goalscorers: Bourque
Opposition goalscorers: Perreault, Chimera, Ovechkin, Ward

Play of the game

You'll only see the type of goal that we scored tonight at the only game more boring than our game was tonight: the All-Star game. Don't expect, however, to ever see multiple Habs at the All-Star game, at least not from this squad. So, tonight's goal was unique, maybe a one-off. On the PK Plekanec started a great tick-tack-toe play with Emelin and Bourque. It was Rene who finished up with his 17th.

Dome hockey team

The 6 players we're playing in a no changes, do or die contest in the dome

Forwards

Rene Bourque - Game Puck
A goal and two other decent chances was enough for this third-line, mid-season pick-up (slash Calgary cast-off) to take the game-puck. When a bad game by Bourque stands out our problems don't even have words.

Tomas Plekanec
Sadly an assist and only -1 isn't bad compared to the rest. If you don't believe me check the stats or re-watch the game.

David Desharnais
He had a rare sign of passion tonight. What will it take for others to catch this? Ca we build a team that cares? A team where all 20 players care every game? Sadly, looking around the league, I feel that 10 guys caring 50% of the time would be enough in the East to make the playoffs.

Defencemen

Josh Gorges
Was solid on the PK and was the best of a bunch that had a few real duds. Is he key to our future though? Will he be here after Tuesday? Does he want to be? I hope that he stays, but it is clear he isn't a #1 and if he is then it is of a 25-30 team. Whether it be Markov or someone else, our D needs help.

Alexei Emelin
Alexei had a great pass on our good play of the night and I certainly took notice (there was little to make me forget that moment). Emelin can be better though, but is still better than we all thought he would be at this point.

Goaltender

Carey Price
No goalie is going to win behind the team that played tonight. It could have been 1-10 and the dome would be his. If Budaj was in and let in 10, likewise, the dome would belong to Peter. I am not one of those who never blames goalies, but come on Habs, how did you think we were going to win this game? Pathetic.

Comments

This was painful. Yes, we needed the points and this was a 4-point game, but beyond the standings it was still not an easy one to watch. That has been the Habs lately, though. They have been a bad team all year and have been hard to watch on more nights than not. I now have a deeper appreciation for real fans of teams like the Islanders and Jackets as those guys must have watched hundreds of games like this over the past few seasons.

We have 20 games to go and a trade deadline. I am not sure what if there will be much excitement left in the season, but it would be nice if we put on a few good shows as it will help keep those of of us who watch 3 games a week sane.

Game #60 Habs Don't Work Hard Enough for Points

Details

Date: 19/02/2012
Opponent: Devils
Location: Montreal

Loss 1-3

Habs Goalie: Price (L)
Opposition Goalie: Brodeur (W)

Habs goalscorers: Pacioretty
Opposition goalscorers: Parise, Clarkson, Taormina

Play of the game

Working hard up the boards, Pacioretty gained the zone and threw the puck to Desharnais. The feisty centre worked it around the back of the net and got it out front. After Kaberle fanned on it, Pacioretty picked it up right in front of the net and slammed it behind Brodeur.

Dome hockey team

The 6 players we're playing in a no changes, do or die contest in the dome

Forwards

Tomas Plekanec
From his play, it's obvious Plekanec still wants to win every contest. He digs deep in his own end, makes timely steals and smart transition plays, and creates in the offensive end. His lost battle leading up to third goal was a shame, but he looked tremendous over the rest of the game and his -3 doesn't reflect his impact on the game at all.

Max Pacioretty
Notched his 25th of the season in another solid effort. Had a couple more promising chances and played a big role in the dangerous stretch of play we put together in the third period. Taking good lessons from Cole in using his body and finding good spots to score from.

David Desharnais
Yet another game where we didn't look fantastic in the offensive zone and Desharnais was key to what little we managed to generate. Picked up an assist and contributed greatly to the surge in pressure during the third period.

Defencemen

PK Subban
Didn't see so many of the same small positional mistakes that I've been seeing lately. Shifted his play towards the offensive when it was required and made sure his spot was covered when he was pinching. Began with solid play in his own end and built some good offense out of it.

Josh Gorges
Always a mainstay of our defensive corps, Gorges really did everything he could to keep us in this one. His play was excellent and he was integral to keeping the Kovalchuck line to only a single, lucky goal.

Goaltender

Carey Price - Game Puck
Carey got pretty unlucky tonight. He made some huge saves and kept the team in the running for the early stretches of the game. His play was outstanding and was beat by 2 lucky tips and a freakish shot that slipped between Bernier and Weber. Certainly wasn't the source of our woes in this one.

Comments

We started with a red-hot shift from Gomez and Kostitsyn, and then seemed to sit back on our haunches for most of the first period, and the first half of the second. Price made some huge saves to keep us in it, but ultimately New Jersey forechecked very effectively against us and anticipated play very well. They are a fast and well-coached team, and simply out worked us. They won battles, were usually first to the puck, and created good pressure. Even with good play from our defensive corps, getting outshot 12-4 in the first period is a good reflection of how one-sided the contest was.

The pressure we did manage to mount in the 3rd was dangerous, and it looked like we might draw even until Taormina got lucky and stole our momentum. Sadly, it was too little and too late. It looked again like the Hurricanes game in that the effort simply wasn't there early enough. If we could stretch that kind of play over 40, or even 60 minutes of hockey, our playoff hopes might be a little brighter today.

Game #57 Habs Can't Shut the Door Against Hurricanes

Details

Date: 13/02/2012
Opponent: Hurricanes
Location: Montreal

Loss: 3-5

Habs Goalie: Price (L)
Opposition Goalie: Ward (W)

Habs goalscorers: Plekanec, Cole, Desharnais
Opposition goalscorers: Tlusty, Spacek, Staal (2), McBain

Play of the game

In a great example of the heads-up hockey that Plekanec can show us, he read the play well and took off down the ice while collecting a smart pass from Campoli. Bourque joined him to create a 2-on-1 break. Pleks cooly hung on, cut inside just slightly, and fired a quick-release wrister under the skates of Cam Ward. It completely changed the tone of the game and ignited a 3-goal outburst from a Habs squad that had looked pretty sleepy to that point.

Dome hockey team

The 6 players we're playing in a no changes, do or die contest in the dome

Forwards

Tomas Plekanec - Game Puck
Continued his impressive points streak against Carolina and ignited a sleeping crowd (and team) with his goal after a disappointing 30 minutes of hockey. More importantly, continued to provide quiet leadership by setting the example and touched off the half-period of strong play we did see from the Habs tonight. Played well in both ends and fired 8 shots, 5 of which made it to the net.

Erik Cole
Erik had basically already made the dome before scoring a great goal in the second on the power play. His physical play through the first period was vital in keeping any offensive hope alive, and he followed through on it with a power-play goal in the second.

David Desharnais
Showed us just how good his hands are on our second power-play goal. Played feisty, creative hockey and helped rekindle some hope that maybe we do, in fact, have a power play that can possibly score. Wish he'd shot on that power play with about 3 minutes left, though, looked like he had a lot of net...

Defencemen

Hall Gill
Played extremely well on the penalty kill and broke up some key scoring opportunities early on to keep it close over the first 30 minutes while the most of the team napped or maybe checked their iPhones or something. With Campoli, 1 of only 2 players that ended up plus-anything on the night.

Josh Gorges
Good old reliable Gorges. On a night where Kaberle is even worse than usual and Subban is making more mistakes than he should, Gorges has to be good. He was even on the plus-minus through almost 22:30 and did a lot to keep the team in this contest. I'm glad we can rely so consistently on him to face long, tough minutes and have him do the most important things: not panic, stick to the plan, and not make dumb mistakes.

Goaltender

Carey Price
The only thing that kept us even close for the first 30 minutes, Price did a lot of things right. The Tlusty goal was a lucky redirect, and Spacek's goal was just a great hockey play and Price never had a chance. He seemed almost nervous at times in the 3rd, which is rare; but given the way the skaters in front of him were playing in their own end and allowing second- and third-chance opportunities it was understandable.

Comments

At the end of the first, I was thinking—hoping—to myself that maybe we were up to our old trick of only playing 2 periods of the hockey game. Then the second period started and I started to lose hope for this one. We seemed to be able to gain the zone, but we never crossed with much momentum and our puck movement was weak. As a result, the Habs mustered few shots on Ward, let alone quality chances. Tlusky's goal was lucky, but Spacek's was a picture-perfect execution of a classic hockey play that it made me wish we'd tried him a couple times as a power play quarterback. That's right, we looked bad enough that I was wishing for the "good old days," when Spacek played with us. I was dreading trying to pick a play of the game.

Then, just after the halfway mark of the 2nd period, Plekanec almost single-handedly turned the game around with a great transition goal. We then proceeded to score 2 goals on the power play, which put us to an astounding 5 goals in our last 13 or 14 power plays. Leading 3-2 going into the dressing room, it seemed like things were looking up.

Unfortunately, we started the 3rd period as if this were a done deal, as if we were up by 4 goals in Toronto on Saturday. We were lazy and overconfident on the power play 3 minutes in, and Kaberle made a soft pass that was intercepted at the blue line. He got caught flat-footed by Eric Staal, who breezed by him easily and scored a short-handed breakaway goal. The wind out of our sails (and Moen for some reason not handing Gorges his stick on a penalty kill), a hard power-play effort secured McBain's game-winner and we never got our momentum back.

Simply put, it was a disappointing effort on a night where we really needed the 2 points. A lot of the team looked flat and just weren't moving their feet or keeping their heads up. The passing was sloppy and we weren't forceful enough in taking and keeping the offensive zone. I think that was a very "winnable" game, but we were completely out-hustled and out-worked by a lowly Hurricanes squad. I get unhappy enough when I see us only playing 2 periods of good hockey, and tonight it felt more like about 8 minutes.

Game #56Dominance In TO; Habs Win Big 4-Pointer

Details

Date: 11/02/2012
Opponent: Maple Leafs
Location: Toronto

Win: 5-0

Habs Goalie: Price (W)
Opposition Goalie: Reimer (L), Gustavsson

Habs goalscorers: Cole, Bourque, Pacioretty, Eller, Darche
Opposition goalscorers: None

Play of the game

Eller has some serious moves and they never look better than when they are made to embarrass the Leafs defensively-challenged captain. After a good play in the neutral zone, Lars came in and mocked not only Phneuf, but Reimer too. It was a great goal, but, boy, did those three players help to make it look really easy.

Dome hockey team

The 6 players we're playing in a no changes, do or die contest in the dome

Forwards

Tomas Plekanec
Pleks had another great game as he is certainly in that playoff-mode (no, not the girlie type) that we need him to be in. He picked up 2 points again and now has 5 in the 4 wins. This was a good night to have Moen miss as Pleks' unit had little to do, but I do hope he'll be back beside Darche and Tom soon.

Mathieu Darche
The coach likes Darche, that much is obvious. But, what does he bring to the Habs? If anything, he brings passion and a love for the CH more than anyone on the team. This guy plays with all his heart and it makes up for any lack of skill. When you play with that much heart and you get that much ice-time generally things can happen for you and they did tonight with a goal and an assist.

Erik Cole
More of the same from the Habs' top forward. With the Habs playing as well as they did and Toronto playing as bad as they did Cole wasn't needed to be outstanding tonight. He didn't mind though as he still went about his business and notched his 20th of the season (17th in last 40 games). Could it be that Cole's leadership is finally paying off? Have enough of the Habs followed his lead such that we are once again a good team? As of now it looks that way, but let's check back in couple of weeks.

Defencemen

Josh Gorges
The Leafs had two PP's before we scored our first goal. Without good penalty-killing this could have been a much different game, but once again we were excellent. Other than Price, no one was better than Gorges. In all he logged 7 minutes short-handed and frustrated the Leafs on numerous occasions.

Hal Gill
This was Mats Sundin night and no Leaf, current or former, was better than soon to be 37 year-old Hal Gill. I am thrilled about that, but one would think that there should be 20 pretty ashamed Leaf players in the dressing room right now. The best part is that Gill wasn't even that good. He was great on the PK and was our second best D-man, but there just wasn't a lot to do for any of the seven tonight.

Goaltender

Carey Price - Game Puck
Price may have got lucky, thanks to the posts, to get the shutout, but he wasn't lucky that we won. He was so good early on and until it was 2-0 that he made the other players' jobs so much easier. A hot Carey makes this team better and that is exactly what we have on our hands right now.

Comments

Montreal dominated a game that we needed to win tonight. We played a tight first period and relied on some good D and PK'ing to get us there. After that, when the game started to open up, we picked apart their defence and that led to a plethora of goals. They out-shot us, but there was no doubt as to which team outplayed who. Winning, especially in regulation, was huge for us and to win 5-0 makes it that much sweeter. This was a total team-effort which has been the theme of our 4 wins in 7 days week.

2 weeks ago we thought that there was a chance. Last week, there was no way we could even continue to think about the playoffs. This week, what is it? Well, we are 7 points back of 8th and we have 26 games to go. Of course, mathematically, we are still very much alive. But, is this a team that can get another 35 points in those games? Even then, would that be enough? All along I have believed that we may as well go for it and now, of course, there is no change to that. I do think that it is possible, but not because I think that we are a spectacular team or because we were unlucky earlier in the year. No, I think it because, first and foremost, we have a pretty easy schedule till the end of the year (have a look yourself) and the other reason is that we are getting better as a team and, like it or not Ontario, other teams are getting worse.

I have 26 more games to watch this year, and I know what I'll be cheering for. Go Habs.

Game #55 Habs Write Answers to Trivia Questions As They Clear The Isles in NYC

Details

Date: 09/02/2012
Opponent: Islanders
Location: New York

Win: 4-2

Habs Goalie: Price (W)
Opposition Goalie: Nabokov (L)

Habs goalscorers: Pacioretty (3), Gomez!!!
Opposition goalscorers: Moulson, Streit

Play of the game

Could it be anything but? The time finally came for Scott Gomez to shoot at an open net from a good position. He was instrumental in keeping the PP play alive and had just set up a few brilliant chances earlier, so when the puck flew right to his waiting stick he deserved the time afforded him to snap his first goal in 12 months and a bit home. Might I say, the goal is also a good example of some PP luck going right, as he scored from Cammalleri's spot, something we know Mike couldn't do for an 11% PP.

Dome hockey team

The 6 players we're playing in a no changes, do or die contest in the dome

Forwards

Max Pacioretty - Game Puck
A hat trick from two absolutely fantastic shots beating a good goalie who was ready (ish). These were goalscorers goals, so it's no surprise that Max then is poised to become the first 30-goal man in a little while for the Habs. Apart from the goals he was a threat all night on breaks as he emulated Erik Cole's outside speed and poise. He ended with a ton of shots and attempts (10 and 16, respectively) to show for the fits he gave Islanders defenders.

Mathieu Darche
The very least one can do after calling someone dead wood is admit a good performance when he sees it. Darche has turned his game around of late with some more ice time and is suddenly a noticeably positive force for the good guys. I suspect that this is a good strategy against the Jets and Islanders, but will reserve judgment on its use in Boston games. Nevertheless, he played some good two way hockey while surging for a few chances. Moreover, this pairing with Plekanec has woken the very important player within the turtleneck, a very valuable thing indeed.

Erik Cole
Cole was at ease against the Islanders as he played the sidekick to superhero this time out. Of course, he played that role by doing exactly what he does at his best, creating good chances from almost nothing. It was good to see he and Max find so many openings.

Defencemen

Josh Gorges
The Islanders aren't a strong team full of depth, but as Pierre Houde rightly noted, Tavares is becoming a major handful. A testament to Gorges then that he battled with John for most of the night and came out a winner in the end analysis. I fancied Gorges chances to score that goal on another goalie, as well -- I thought the Nabokov save on him was a great glove grab.

Alexei Emelin
Whenever we complain about the Canadiens, there's usually some gripe that they are not very hard to play against (at least to the observer). But to a season's worth of evidence, Emelin offers them a defender to move towards the solution. He looks hard to play against, and the proof is in a lot of puck recovery and broken attacks. I liked him especially tonight as I noticed he was as determined as anyone. It seems like the rookie is finding his KHL form more and more every new game.

Goaltender

Carey Price
This game was a good example of how timing of goals matters. 57 minutes of shutout hockey gives a team a lot of time to build a lead against a team that also has to think attack. Carey was brilliant in allowing the breathing room for his teammates to go three up, and also to hold that as long as he did. The blemish on the record is only personal (lost a shutout he probably deserved most times). He deserves massive credit for backstopping a very important win here.

Comments

The Habs wrote some answers to future trivia questions tonight. Pacioretty scored his first career hat trick and scored possibly the latest third period goal in Canadiens history. I'm not sure if anyone has ever taken 16 attempts on net in the time it's been recorded either. Gomez, of course, broke his year-long duck. Cunneyworth went on his first three game winning streak. A few of these achievements represent some pretty big monkeys being left to stay in Long Island.

Back monkeys off-loaded, it's still hard to see where the team will go from here.

From all signs they look like players who want to make the playoffs today and who will continue to push a bit harder to get there. But we know that even the best efforts could end in tears because of the record compiled over 52 games, and the GM may not share his players' optimism. What we do know is that no one wants the Maple Leafs in the playoffs, not players, not GM, not many people other than Maple Leafs fans themselves, and so the next game will be approached for glory. A win there and things start to get in that deceptively believable realm again.

Game #54Very Solid Effort Lifts Habs Over Pens

Details

Date: 07/02/2012
Opponent: Penguins
Location: Pittsburgh

Win: 3-2

Habs Goalie: Price (W)
Opposition Goalie: Fleury (L)

Habs goalscorers: Leblanc, Eller (1, SO), (Bourque, Plekanec - SO)
Opposition goalscorers: Dupuis, Neal, (Malkin, Kunitz - SO)

Play of the game

The play of the game was the shootout, our lowly, pathetic shootout. Price contributed with some big saves and we got 3 goals. The best of the bunch was Bourque's as it put us up right off the bat and gave the team and the fans confidence that a win, against the Pens in this fashion, was indeed possible.

Dome hockey team

The 6 players we're playing in a no changes, do or die contest in the dome

Forwards

Tomas Plekanec - Game Puck
He was dynamite on the PK early on and did a fantastic job at shutting down the league's best player all night. In the end he was rewarded for his selfless efforts when he scored the game-winning goal in the shootout. When he plays like he has done the past few games we are a better team. Let's hope that he keeps it up.

Lars Eller
Lars had an up and down game. He wasn't that dominant at times, but still managed a very timely goal and a beauty in the shootout. He didn't stand out too much beyond that, but it is notable that he was our only player that was +2.

Louis Leblanc
The kid scored a fantastic goal to put us up and played a pretty solid game otherwise. He was a threat in their end with 4 shots and played very well along the boards. I hope that he continues to progress, wherever he plays for the rest of this season, as there seems to be hope that he could be a good one in the years to come.

Defencemen

PK Subban
He was in their top players' faces all night and you could see the frustration building within the Penguins. Tonight he did everything right and was at his best. It has been a long season of realizing that he isn't a PP specialist, but it has been a thrill to watch him excel in our own end. He made the save of the game in the second when Price got caught; it was an impressive sliding stop.

Josh Gorges
Like PK, Josh was outstanding in our own end. He played the type of game against Malkin and Neal that Spacek and Hamrlik did two years ago in the playoffs vs. Ovechkin then Crosby. Josh is a coach's dream in the way that he works and follows the plan; is it just me or are more and more people following him?

Goaltender

Carey Price
Carey's weak aspects were on display tonight, but boy, so were his good ones. He made poor choices with the puck a couple of times and was almost caught way out for a goal. In the shootout he could have easily let him his usual 50% (4), but thanks to two posts only let in two. He also made 4 very good saves. Throughout the game, however, he was alert and was a huge reason why Pittsburgh never had a lead. Are he and his team heating up at the same time? Surely it is too late, right?

Comments

This was a fantastic game to watch and may have been the closest thing we'll have to a playoff game all year in Montreal. The fact that it was scorelss for so long made things get really intense and really exciting. Our PK generated some serious chances that got the fans into it and so, there was a great atmosphere in the building. We scored a very good goal and then a very lucky one thanks to a bit of cheating by Fleury. We didn't have too many offensive chances beyond those, but we kept it close. That is because our defensive play was spectacular. The short-handed goal was another demonstration of how bad our PP is, but otherwise our play was sound as we respected the gameplan.

Cunneyworth impressed me a few weeks ago when he started using 7 defenceman all as D rather than putting one on the 4th line. I like that concept and am happy to see it is still in effect. Another concept that I really like is the creation of a defensive line. Tonight Plekanec (probably our best all-around player) skated with Darche (who played 21 minutes; second amongst the forwards) and Moen. Having such a solid defensive unit which can shut-down the opposition's best is genius. Yes, Tomas is 'wasted', but we are then able to slip a 3rd and 4th liner on there and get better results than if we had Bourque or Kostitsyn on that line. This then frees up the Desharnais line and players like Eller, Leblanc, Kostitsyn and Bourque to play more freely. I liked what he did as I always am for new thinking in the game. You never know, the concept of having your top centre play with your two bottom wingers on a checking line is something that just may catch on!

Game #51Refs Blow It Again, Cost Habs Again

Details

Date: 02/02/2012
Opponent: Devils
Location: New Jersey

Loss: 3-5

Habs Goalie: Price (L)
Opposition Goalie: Brodeur (W)

Habs goalscorers: Desharnais, Kostitsyn, Darche
Opposition goalscorers: Parise (2), Clarkson (2), Zubrus

Play of the game

I am mad that we lost, but I will try and save that for later. In here, I will be serious when I say that the play of the game was Darche's goal (Kostitsyn's a close second). After New Jersey made a mess of it at our blue-line on their PP Pleks started skating up in the hopes of getting the puck. Gill read it well and found Tomas with a great pass. Plekanec made a great move that wasn't quite enough to beat Brodeur, but was enough to seriously trouble him. Darche supplied the support and notched his third of the year.

Dome hockey team

The 6 players we're playing in a no changes, do or die contest in the dome

Forwards

Andrei Kostitsyn - Game Puck
Not sure why one of our top forwards of the season started on the 4th line and got only 2 minutes in the first, but it didn't seem to bother him. He was the most dangerous Hab all night and scored a very nice goal to give us a two-goal lead.

Erik Cole
Don't let the two pathetic penalty calls confuse you as Erik, once again, had a good game. He played a good, hard, clean game tonight, but that didn't matter to the refs. They see a head-jerk here or a plea to the ref there and it is to the box for our top player. The rest of this season is his opportunity to get more players playing like him as he knows he is here to stay (does he wish he wasn't?).

Max Pacioretty
Max competed again tonight and should be pretty happy with his game. I am not worried about the -2 when one is an empty-netter and another should not have ever happened.

Defencemen

Yannick Weber
I thought that Kaberle, Diaz and Gill were below what we need tonight and Subban and Emelin weren't at their usual high levels. One player that played above his usual, however, was Weber. He picked up an assist, was a +1 (only Gill, of the D, was also a +) and led the team in shots in a D-low 11 minutes. Whether he gets moved or will be back next year is the question; games like this help to improve both scenarios.

Josh Gorges
Our makeshift #1 was our best again tonight. I do miss a world where Gorges, a natural 3/4, could be playing on a second pairing. Let's hope that next year Markov and Subban live up to their bills.

Goaltender

Carey Price
Not the best game from Carey with 4 goals on 21 shots, but things may have been a lot different with better reffing. The first goal was weak, but after that there were two deflections and one shot that he couldn't have predicted. Tonight he wasn't any worse than Brodeur, the difference was that the luck was in Marty's corner.

Comments

The Canadiens played much better than they did on Tuesday and I think deserved to win this game. Players like Plekanec and Kostitsyn were better which added some punch to our attack. The plan, however, got derailed with poor decisions that favoured NJ. The team that can never do any wrong in the eyes of refs league-wide capitalized on a couple of those calls/non-calls and that is that.

The two worst calls of the night were the high-sticking call on Cole and the non-call on hooking against Cole. The 'high-stick' (or should I say stick accidentally to head, no matter the height of the head) call was brutal. Brodeur's head was below Erik's waist and was out of the blue plaint. The blade of Cole's stick made contact, Marty threw his head back and the ref bit. Can the NHL just change the rule and say if a stick touches a player in the head it is a penalty (if Brodeur's mask bled would it have been 4 minutes?) because they are not calling anything near what the rulebook says is a high-stick. The Devils scored a crucial goal on that PP.

The second incident involved Cole again. This time. late in the third, with the game tied at 3 (the time/situation of a game when we are told that refs can't make calls else lose their jobs) Cole was hooked badly coming out of the zone. Unlike most hooking calls, which are made to keep TV viewers happy with PP goals, this one actually had an effect on the play and on the player being hooked. Cole was unable to clear the zone. The puck was kept in, the game-winner was scored and the horns sounded. A perfect scenario for the NHL and fans in New Jersey who need wins as incentive to pump time and money into a foreign sport.