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Therrien blends a perfect puree, Habs come alive |
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Max Pacioretty hadn't found the back of the net in his seven games back from a lengthy absence with a strained hamstring. Admittedly, it was starting to get to him.
"You don't just feel you let the team down when you don't produce," said Pacioretty, as relief poured out of him, adding "you feel you let the whole city down.". This, after the struggling Montreal forward got the door ajar three minutes into the second period, kicking it clean off the hinges with two more over the next 10 minutes. Pacioretty's natural hat-trick created a whirlwind of momentum, and the Canadiens never looked back in their win over the Minnesota Wild, at the Bell Centre.
Rarely did adjustments fail to bear fruit for the Canadiens over their successful march towards the top of the NorthEast Division last season, so it would have to be considered less than ironic that Michel Therrien's decision to reunite last season's lines for a game would garner immediate success.
The Habs, who couldn't manufacture goals over a porous eight-game stretch headed into last night, got them from all four lines. Therrien couldn't help but indulge himself with a smile on the bench after the last of his trios lit the lamp on the powerplay in the third period.
If it was the perfect storm for the Habs, it was a hurricane of disappointment for the Wild, who had come into the game 8-1-1 in their last 10. Josh Harding--he who's authored one of the most inspiring and incredible starts to the season--was chased from the game after Pacioretty buried his third. Star rearguards Jonas Brodin and Ryan Suter finished -4 and -3, respectively. The lone bright spot for Minnesota being a third period effort from Nino Niederreiter, breaking Carey Price's shutout in the process. Dany Heatley added a meaningless goal with a second left on the game clock.
The Wild's performance aside, this was a confidence inspiring victory for the Canadiens. David Desharnais finally had a couple of bounces go his way, as he set up two of Pacioretty's three goals--the second of which was an unbelievable blind pass through the slot. Michael Bournival capitalized on a phenomenal shift in the second period from Ryan White and Travis Moen, notching his 6th goal of the season. As the Wild began to push for chances in the third period, Tomas Plekanec transitioned a 3-on-2 up the ice, feeding Gionta, who then feathered a pass to Briere, who buried it. It was Alex Galchenyuk's roof job on the powerplay that put the smile on his coach's face, and with that the Canadiens took their most complete victory to the bank.
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1) Alexei Emelin showed his first signs of rust, but he also laid a couple of big hits in this one. It's a very welcome presence on the blue line, and there's no discounting how much it lifts the team up to have a player like him back.
Speaking of lifting the team up, that's what Brandon Prust did in a scoreless, but excellent first period for the Canadiens. It may not have seemed it, given that the puck didn't find its way in (as it's failed to, too often in the early part of this season), but the Habs didn't give the Wild anything in the first. Prust's fight with Zenon Konopka was an example of how hard the Canadiens were going to compete in this one.
2) I know he's often criticized for taking shots from all over the map, and most people would like to see him get to the net with the puck more often. I think that's fair. I wouldn't go as far to say that Pacioretty's avoiding it or purposely playing on the perimeter, but the proof is in the pudding, as they say (does anyone really say that anymore?).
But here's the thing: Pacioretty has one of the league's heaviest shots, and seemingly, no matter where he shoots it from, it's usually going to generate a rebound.
Enter Brendan Gallagher. We know Gallagher's best asset is his puck pursuit. His willingness to go full speed to the hard areas, to pursue the puck, is his meal ticket. This is why this line works. It's not just one game, it worked very well last season too.
3) And this is where Rene Bourque fails. He's a second too late, or he's shy on the finish, and the scoring chances remain only chances instead of goals.
Pacioretty needs a player on the other wing that can do what Gallagher does. It's a big part of what turned Cole into a 35-goal scorer in Montreal. It's what Cole stopped doing as hockey resumed last year.
It's not an easy job.
4) Yes, it was a lovely play by Desharnais to give Pacioretty his second goal of the night. Now let's talk about why that goal was possible, because it started in the defensive end.
If you give P.K. Subban that much time to wind up from behind his own net, you're going to be in a world of hurt. Subban has reeled in his game dramatically over the last few weeks. He seems to be on a mission to show his decision making is as high up on his skill list as his skating and play-making. He had the time to take advantage and rush the puck, and he didn't hesitate for a second. Looked like he was shot out of a cannon on that rush.
5) You can't pick out a player on the Canadiens side from last night's game to criticize. On most nights this season, Francis Bouillon's been an easy target. Last night, with the exception of one bad giveaway in the third period of a game that was put to bed in the second, Bouillon was excellent. He made a bunch of high quality plays that led to offensive pressure, and he was stalwart in his own end.
It was also fun watching him tell Matt Cooke he'd be more than happy to damage him in a fight.
6) No one asked Michel Therrien to explain why he was smiling on the bench in the third period. It seemed pretty obvious.
On that third period powerplay, the idea may have been to get Pacioretty and Desharnais back out there, see if they can make this an even more special night for themselves.
Instead, Therrien tapped Eller, Prust and Galchenyuk--his only line to have not produced a goal--and Galchenyuk had that look, like there was no chance he'd be denied. He shot his first scoring chance into backup Darcy Kuemper. He buried his second one sniper-styles, with Andrei Markov feeding him a pass that, even interrupted, gave Galchenyuk plenty of time to pick his spot.
Galchenyuk had spent extra time on the ice at the morning skate practicing his shot.
7) The fourth line. Reliable. Spent most their shifts in the offensive zone. Didn't take penalties. Scored.
8) Habs would've won this game with Kuemper in their net, but that doesn't take away anything from what Price provided at certain key moments.
Not much else to say about it. Would've been nice for him to have the shutout, but I doubt he cares very much about that.
9) Therrien talked about not panicking at all through this rough stretch the Canadiens were embroiled in. He talked about generating chances and finally capitalizing on them, and ensuring that his team didn't cheat to create offense.
You review the game-tape, and it would've been tempting to cheat after another good but scoreless first period. The gameplan didn't change.
Speed and chemistry. That's what changed. The Habs made a team commitment to skate the Wild into the ground, and chemistry took care of them capitalizing on their chances.
10) Will Therrien have Price in nets against Washington and Pittsburgh, Friday and Saturday?
With Budaj being as good as he's been, Therrien doesn't really have to worry about playing him, but the team just put it's most impressive win in over a month, and given that Washington would be a better game to play Budaj in, it's hard to imagine any changes to the lineup.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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