Back on Track?

Date: 09/02/2016
Opponent: Tampa Bay
Location: Montreal
Win: 4-2

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

Habs goalscorers: Gallagher, Plekanec (2), Smith-Pelly
Opposition goalscorers: Filppula, Hedman

Montreal outclassed by defending champs

Date: 09/01/2016
Opponent: Chicago
Location: Chicago
Loss: 5-2

Habs Goalie: Scrivens (L)
Opposition Goalie: Crawford (W)

Habs goalscorers: Eller, Pacioretty
Opposition goalscorers: Panik, Toews (2), Kane, Hossa

Habs leave St. Louis singin' the blue and yet again find a way to lose

Date: 09/01/2016
Opponent: St. Louis
Location: St. Louis
Loss: 4-3(OT)

Habs Goalie: Condon (L)
Opposition Goalie: Elliot (W)

Habs goalscorers: Subban, Pacioretty, Plekanec
Opposition goalscorers: Fabbri, Stastny, Rattie, Lehtera

Crawford Steals the Show as Canadiens' Scoring Woes Continue

Date: 09/01/2016
Opponent: Chicago
Location: Montreal
Loss: 2-1

Habs Goalie: Condon (L)
Opposition Goalie: Crawford (W)

Habs goalscorers: Byron
Opposition goalscorers: Toews, Garbutt

Habs lose battle of secondary scoring... and two points to Penguins.

Date: 09/01/2016
Opponent: Penguins
Location: Montreal
Loss: 3-1

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

Habs goalscorers: Subban
Opposition goalscorers: Rust, Fehr, Hornqvist

Flyers keep Canadiens grounded

Date: 05/01/2016
Opponent: Flyers
Location: Philadelphia
Loss: 3-4

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

Habs goalscorers: Galchenyuk, Gallagher, Carr
Opposition goalscorers: B. Schenn, Couturier, Gostisbehere, Simmonds

Shark Bitten

Date:  15/12/2015

Opponent: Sharks

Location:  Montreal

Loss:  3-1

Habs Goalie: Tokarski (L)

Opposition Goalie:  Jones (W)

Habs goalscorers: Weise

Opposition goalscorers:  Marleau, Pavelski, Zubrus

Twenty minutes shy cost Habs' third straight.

Date:  09/12/2015

Opponent: Bruins

Location:  Montreal

Win:  2-1

Habs Goalie: Condon (L)

Opposition Goalie:  Rask (L)

Habs goalscorers: Byron

Opposition goalscorers:  Eriksson, Ferraro, Bergeron

New York-Montreal Game #3: Tokarski & Clutch

Date: 22/05/2014
Opponent: Rangers
Location: New York

Win: 3-2 (OT)

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

Habs goalscorers: Markov, Briere, Galchenyuk
Opposition goalscorers:Hagelin, Kreider

On Penalties, Posts and Kreiders

The opening of the third round has been difficult for the Canadiens thus far. The team lost game #1 within minutes of puck drop and have since lost another. The most penetrating wound inflicted by the Rangers being the injury to Carey Price, which removes not only a very good goalie from the Canadiens lineup, but also a whole system of play built over months.

I wanted to explore in a little more depth the incident that precipitated Price's exit from the lineup. Much has been said about the accidental hit already. Far less about what can be done to help prevent this. I hope to touch on a bit of both.

Boston-Montreal Game #7: The Depth of Desire

Date: 14/05/2014
Opponent: Bruins
Location: Boston

Win: 3-1

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

Habs goalscorers: Weise, Pacioretty, Briere
Opposition goalscorers: Iginla

Boston-Montreal Game #1: Habs' Award Snubs Outshine Nominees

Date: 01/05/2014
Opponent: Bruins
Location: Boston

Win: 4-3 (OT)

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

Habs goalscorers: Subban (2), Bourque, Bouillon
Opposition goalscorers: Smith, Krug, Boychuk

Tampa-Montreal Game #4: Pacioretty Sweeps Habs Into Round Two

Date: 22/04/2014
Opponent: Lightning
Location: Montreal

Win: 4-3

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

Habs goalscorers: Briere, Eller, Gallagher, Pacioretty
Opposition goalscorers: Palat, Hedman, Johnson

Making Your NHL Club

There was probably a time in the not too distant past where training camp really was a legitimate opportunity for a young prospect to take a run at a roster place. Years of accumulated commitments, collective bargaining agreements and roster regulations have changed that for the young hopefuls. Nowadays, a young player being invited to an NHL camp only needs to take a quick browse of the CapGeek website before lacing the skates to know how the Vegas odds makers are handicapping his chances of success.

After Game 5 of the preseason, in which Therrien iced an almost identical lineup to last year's edition of the Habs, we can reflect on how training camp has gone and why at the end of it we won't see the slowing veterans turfed by energetic youngsters by whom they were significantly outperformed.

Better Than Expected: 10 Reasons For Habs Quick Start

I don't think I'd be alone in saying these Canadiens are a fair bit better than I expected them to be. With a serious face, I repeatedly called for this team to be a basement dweller, a team with negligible (if any) improvement) from a 15th-place finisher.

If you want surprises, this is the way to go, let me tell you. The team greatly surpassing an out-of-whack evaluation is more fun to follow than the 2012 edition where the team similarly surprised, but in the opposite direction.

Habs Week 2 in Review

One good week is nice, a couple in a row in this shortened season is a serious head start for the playoffs.

I have to own up to being more negative than positive about this season, but factors which I could not understand (Bourque morphing into a player to be held as an example to all, Gallagher and Galchenyuk outmatching some serious competition by such a wide margin, Markov not only reviving the PP, but making it better than ever before) have conspired to make the team I was analyzing into another proposition altogether.

This is the review of the second week in which more players had multiple goals games, the PP kept ticking and the start goalie didn't lose.

Habs Week 1 in Review

After allowing the inauspicious start of first goal allowed on first shot to national rival on the big return to hockey on national TV, the Habs have really rebounded. Barring the rest of that mostly unwatchable game, the team has been an exciting combination of speed and efficiency, of system and flair.

For posterity, I am going to provide a short review of the week and what traces it left in the subjective and objective records.

Game 1 in Review: Low Quality Hockey On The NHL's Return

Thanks to everyone who responded by picking players for the dome. I think it went very well. It's not the dome I would have chosen, but I think we knew that would be the case after 5 years of arguing about these picks.

I won't be doing recaps after every game (sometimes, I'll group them in a weekly recap), but this being the first game, I'm making the exception.

Game #76 Dubious Calls, PK Serve Habs And Flyers Goals

Details

Date: 24/03/2012
Opponent: Flyers
Location: Philadelphia

Loss: 1-4

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

Habs goalscorers: Plekanec
Opposition goalscorers: Timonen, Briere (2), Read

Play of the game

I thought the lone goal was a beauty. My favourite aspect was the instinctual no-hesitation pass made by Lars Eller to a Plekanec on the break. So often a second of thought can diffuse an opportunity like this one. The right play through the brief window of opportunity allowed Pleks to display his talents as goalscorer one more time this season.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Lars Eller - Game Puck
I really found Eller suited to the Flyers defensive coverage. Their reliance on size was met by determination on his part and he frequently slipped his coverage to get excellent position. His early pass, had it been to Kostitsyn, or anyone but the abysmal Rene Bourque, might have been the highlight goal. There was his play of the game pass and a few more.

David Desharnais
Desharnais didn't win the best short guy award in this contest. Neither did he make me want to turn off the TV with over the top celebration and weaselly smirk. Once again, David was on the ball in his play, often dissecting the defence with a quick and precise pass. On the puck, he is prone to bumping, but amazingly seems to end games leaving a better impression of puck protection than his much taller and heavier counterparts.

Tomas Plekanec
This game was a microcosm of Plekanec's season. On the whole, one would have to say he's still proficient and a positive contributor to the team. He is generally good on the PK (despite the goals that ended up going in this one). But he can trace his lack of goals this season to the fact that most of his chances seem to come now on breakaways, with few people finding him in established shooting positions, on the PP or not. I look to his return to goalscoring next year, though it probably depends on a winger transplant of fairly significant proportion.

Defencemen

Alexei Emelin
This game wasn't a shining moment for an NHL defence. Emelin did OK in what he does. He ended up with a good number of his custom hits and frustrating the Flyers on several occasions. As he matures, he continues to show glimpses of an offensive instinct that I feel we will be thankful for when he can replace the now almost clueless Gorges on PP assignments.

Andrei Markov
The PP was not successful, but this was perhaps not Markov's fault. He is still the calm and confident QB that offers hope for something better. Yet again, he made plays that rank so high above anything that we saw before his return. Drawing the penalty on a late PP should have paid off, but for no one willing to stand in front of the net for shots on the 5-on-3 (whether it's their supposed MO or not).

Goaltender

Carey Price
Budaj was alright, but ultimately below the standard necessary to compete against a team like the Flyers. The positive aspect of this for the management and fans is that this is exactly the result we wished for when we heard Carey would rest. Budaj fulfilled the mission by allowing Briere an opening that should never have been there on goal three and sealing his team's fate in doing so. It's not often, a goalie will get kudos from me for being less than even his own best, but on a night his team was risking playing into points, he answered the call.

Comments

This is what games would have been like were it not for Hal Gill and the amazing PK this season. The Canadiens lulled into being near Flyers who fell or whose sticks needed a nudge to break would have lost games this way. The game was not as lopsided as the score indicated, but it served the goals of both teams at this point of the season. The Flyers got their points as they stretch themselves to gain home ice against either Pittsburgh or NJ. The Canadiens quietly lose another, cling onto 3rd place in their own race and erase another game in which they might have accidentally hurt their future prospects.

The question has been asked, and was examined again, whether the Canadiens can repeat the feats of the playoff eschewing Flyers from 2007. I would suggest there's a lot of ground to make up. Even if one suggests that the Canadiens stable is the equal of the Flyers youngsters back then, the Habs just never did enough at the trade deadline -- Geoffrion and some second rounders won't surpass Coburn, and the Flyers return for Forsberg that season. The reall proof will be in June and July when we watch to see if the Canadiens can match the haul of Timonen, Hartnell and Briere that Holmgren managed to really overhaul his fortunes. We accept that Markov can be the Timonen piece by virtue of return, but the Habs may still need to show grab a couple more forwards ready to produce now if the Habs hope to accomplish anything close to a Philly turnaround.

Last night was also, as it happens, the night the Habs were formally eliminated from the playoffs (so poor is the East this season). With a full bandwagon now to back the losses, it should be an interesting final 6 games. All that remains in their way are the other teams who are due to fall by the playoff wayside in short order.

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.