|
Montreal, Calgary and Pittsburgh Kick Boston Where it Hurts... |
|
|
|
|
|
We'll get to the defensive tragedies of last night's game in a minute because the Canadiens deserve some applause for their efforts in Boston, one night after a very tough loss in Pittsburgh.
Speaking of losing to Pittsburgh, it's not often a team gets beat by two opponents in the same night.
Montreal delivered a swift kick to Boston's genitals last night, and Jay Feaster and Ray Shero conspired to put on the steel-toes and join the party.
The Bruins had a deal done for Jarome Iginla. It wasn't just speculation. And Feaster turned back to Shero and the Penguins, took what he felt was a sweeter package, and shafted the Bruins completely. And though we can't predict the future, the package Feaster accepted doesn't appear to be as good as the one the Bruins offered.
Back to the game that was. Andrei Markov would certainly not be accused of playing his best one of the season. In fact, if Alexei Emelin struggled, it had as much to do with Markov's foibles in his own end as it did with Emelin's focus. Both of them were atrocious, but one of them scored the game-tying goal with less than 10 seconds on the clock in what would've been considered one of the harsher losses of the season.
Markov's command of the offensive blueline on that play offset the lack of control he exhibited below his own blueline. The fact that he scored that goal exemplified the determination of the Canadiens, who had ample reason to turn their cards in after the second period collapse and the backbreaking fifth goal by the Bruins.
In the second week of the season, the Bruins lost 7-4 to the Sabres. Since then, they haven't allowed any team to score more than four goals on them, let alone a team that was shutout the night before. That had to have been great satisfaction for the Canadiens. It was an impressive feat for a team that certainly could've started feeling down on themselves for missing so many scoring chances over the last week.
The Habs got off to their customary great start. Particularly on the road, this team has been lights out in the first period of hockey games. Boston's bounce back put the team's defensive efforts to shame, and Carey Price couldn't come up with the stops he was making in Pittsburgh the night before. Price exhibited signs of fatigue, and Therrien learned from his mistake in the 7-6 loss to Pittsburgh weeks back, electing to replace Price for the third period and give his team the motivation they required to compete for the win.
Watching with some friends of mine, I remarked that Budaj replacing Price wasn't the only motivation for the Canadiens in the third period, barring the obvious--of course--that this was a game for first place in the division; a game that could've easily been a third-straight regulation loss for a team that just lost their first consecutive games in regulation this season.
Without Brandon Prust, the Habs were in enemy territory, against a team that loves to hate them, and affording them a three-goal lead in that situation was cause for concern that things might get dramatically violent. I argued to my friends: that alone was enough motivation for the Canadiens to keep things close.
Peter Budaj sure held it together. He saved his teammates from that undesirable fate, and he gave them everything they needed to go out and do exactly what they did.
The Bruins make you skate tough minutes. Brendan Gallagher can confirm. But tough minutes are the type Gallagher likes to play. There he is putting the game within reach after a night of abuse, up against Chara and Seidenberg. There he is screening Tuuka Rask as Markov's shot deflects off of Chara's stick and into the net. And there he is winning the game when Galchenyuk, Desharnais, Eller, Plekanec and Ryder failed before him.
The Habs nearly lost the momentum Peter Budaj worked so hard to give them--especially after his performance in overtime. He gave them three chances to win the game outright in the shootout, and Gallagher stepped up and delivered.
The Canadiens earned a few days off, and life is so much brighter with them on top of the NorthEast Division, rather than coming home with their third straight loss, two or three points behind a Bruins team that holds a game in hand on them.
****************
-P.K. Subban. 'Nough said...
Actually, not enough. People will probably point to Letang and Karlsson's injuries as the only reason Subban will get Norris consideration this year.
Can't ignore that it would be tough for him to bust into that conversation with both Karlsson and Letang humming along at the paces they were setting.
Regardless, Subban's case as the league's best all-around defenseman this season is a strong one. He and Zdeno Chara will compete for the official honor between now and April 30th. And he deserves every ounce of praise he's receiving.
-Tomas Plekanec's line was on for a couple of goals against, but Plekanec was excellent in this game. The plays he made to set up Ryder were patient and brilliant, and he did as much as he could to keep momentum in Montreal's favor when they were able to capture it. Beyond the three assists, the stat-line on Plekanec isn't overwhelming, but thought it was one of his best games of the season.
-There were several instances in last night's game that Patrice Bergeron showed why he's the best defensive player in the world. And offensively, he was brilliant.
Every time you want to cut him out of your stacked Olympic roster, he makes it clear as to why he should be a lock on Team Canada.
-If Therrien had decided to juggle his lines a bit for the third period, I thought Alex Galchenyuk showed a lot that would've merited a bump upwards. He really had his game in order, and he made a great, great play on Subban's goal.
-Subban's average time on ice is 22:52. Markov--who ranks 20th in the league--has logged 24:47 on average. There are 15 games left on the schedule, and you can clearly see that Markov is tired. You can go back about 10 games and suggest the signs were pretty clear.
If the Canadiens intend on playing him as much moving forward, they have to cut down his practice time dramatically.
And clearly, Subban's average is skewed by his early season use. He played more than 30 minutes last night, while Markov clocked in at 27:51.
It's deadline time, and we're all considering what Marc Bergevin must do to keep the Canadiens in the hunt.
Adding to Mitch Melnick's point from yesterday, how much longer can the Canadiens ice Gorges and Bouillon as powerplay failures? Kaberle and Weber won't be turned to. Diaz isn't skating. Jarred Tinordi played 6:47 last night.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»