1) We'll get to the Habs in just a minute. If you haven't seen this fight between Joel Rechlicz of the Washington Captials and Milan Lucic of the Boston Bruins...
If Washington doesn't keep this guy on their roster, someone will scoop him up. I'm guessing the Oilers might want a mulligan on picking Steve MacIntyre after Vancouver's Matt Kassian smashed Sam Gagner's jaw with an errant stick.
By the way, good for the department of discipline for suspending Kassian for five games. I'm not sure it's much consolation to Gagner, who now looks like
this.
2) How many of you are cringing watching Brandon Prust take on names you don't recognize, in preseason hockey?
Prust took care of Alexander Urbom with relative ease, last night. And if he plays in one, if not both games scheduled against Ottawa to wrap the Canadiens exhibition schedule, he's likely to get into another scuffle.
Prust only knows one way to play hockey.
3) This is a good time of year for Brendan Gallagher to miss golden opportunities he's likely to bury once the regular season gets underway. Subban set him up in the third period with an absolutely brilliant pass that he failed to get on net. You won't see him miss those too often, but I think frustration is mounting for him. Let it boil over now, because when the season starts, his speed and tenacity are going to be factors that guarantee his success.
You worry about sophomore slumps with any player, and there's no doubt that his opponents will play much better attention to him this season. But Gallagher's the type of player that's going to bust right through that wall.
Stat that would be worth keeping this year:
How many infractions on Gallagher will go uncalled?
How many penalties will he draw per game, regardless?
4) Was speaking with newly appointed RDS.ca chroniqueur Francois Gagnon for a bit last night, and he brought up a really good point. He said that if Jarred Tinordi wanted to make the team out of camp, it would have to be on the right side of the ice. With Subban, Markov, Gorges and Diaz set in their positions, and Bouillon having to play the left side, I agreed with that assessment. Then I asked Therrien if he intended to test Tinordi out on that side after seeing him take a few shifts in the game there, but the coach wasn't really interested in answering the question.
On the Devils' second goal of the night, the Habs got stuck on a really long shift in their own zone while trying to kill off a penalty. Tinordi was playing the right side, and when the puck came to him early in the shift, he attempted to clear the puck on his backhand but flubbed it right to the Devils' point-man. The puck came back around to Tinordi twice on the shift, and both times, he hesitated to go backhand and got caught trying to reverse the puck.
It wasn't indicative of any kind of pattern. It was just something that was notable of a player that's being intensely scrutinized on every shift.
5) It's clear to see that Tinordi is the biggest story of this year's training camp. And you know, on that shift where things didn't go too well for him, one of his teammates suggested that the players on the ice needed to do a better job communicating with him in that situation.
Outside of that, he played another fantastic game last night. And lo and behold, he makes a simple play that leads to the game-winning goal.
6) Unnamed media member says Tinordi is the Habs' fourth-best defenseman. He quickly corrects to say he might actually be their third-best.
Sure, Josh Gorges has more composure and much more experience, but Tinordi's game is multifaceted.
Hard to disagree with that assessment.
7) Having the bodies is important, but the competition may be that much more important. In all likelihood, if everyone on the blueline is healthy, Tinordi will start the season in Hamilton. Though that seems (it is) to be a great injustice, it's not realistic to think that Marc Bergevin will can Douglas Murray before he even suits up for a game.
It's a lightweight contract to eat at $1.5 million, but would Bergevin take it on the chin for frivolously spending and then second-guessing himself?
If Murray were Davis Drewiske, this wouldn't be an issue. But Murray is a veteran with pedigree, and he'll be given a chance to show that he was worth the money before Tinordi swoops in for his job.
You have to wonder if some part of Bergevin is happy that Murray's injury is buying him the leeway to keep Tinordi here and have him in the starting six.
Say the Habs start the season with Murray hurt, and he comes back a week in, that'll give the Canadiens the chance to fairly pull their weakest link out of the lineup. I have grave doubts it'll be Tinordi.
In the meantime, the test isn't finished for Tinordi. He's played more than any Hab in the preseason, and he may very well suit up for both games against the Senators.
Will he break down?
8) Fact: Max Pacioretty is a supremely conditioned athlete, and though everyone in the league has to come into camp in peak shape, he's just a level above. It's helped him get off to hot starts in the past, and if he saves some of this preseason magic for when it counts, he's likely to get off to another hot start this year.
World class shot on the first goal he scored last night. And Pacioretty's second goal was a beauty because he only had backhand as an option, and he still buried it.
Therrien's assessment was pretty accurate. He lauded Pacioretty's power and his speed, calling him an intimidating player when those factors come into play.
9) You have to believe Michael Bournival will get one last chance to prove himself. If he does, I think he'll make it count.
10) Don't read too far into the personnel or the systems deployed on the special teams, last night. The Canadiens haven't really worked on that too much yet, though they're beginning to set things up.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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