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CHaracter Defines These Canadiens |
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Shame on you if you thought the Red Wings were going to cling to that 1-0 lead for a win. Maybe they'd have done it against a team that hadn't won four of their last five after surrendering the game's first goal, but this Montreal Canadiens team had the experience to draw on and the confidence to repeat history.
"We believe in ourselves," said Alex Galchenyuk, beaming with pride for his role in tying the game before David Desharnais made one point two in overtime. He expanded with the 2014-15 Habs mantra:
"We have great leaders on this team. We're a character team."
You're forgiven for thinking this was going the other way. It's not as if the umpteenth offside for the Canadiens wasn't an indication that this just wasn't going to be their night.
For the first two periods, Detroit matched Montreal's intensity and did a phenomenal job on the defensive side of the puck, fostering frustration at every turn. They were doing it through the first half of the third when Pavel Datsyuk--fresh off the IR--appeared to widen the gap before the officials blew down Justin Abdelkader for incidental interference with Carey Price.
"They're a really good team," Michel Therrien said afterwards. He remarked that the intensity on both sides was at a particularly high level at this early stage in the season before explaining what he felt was the difference for his team.
"You have to fight through a lot of things to get your ice, but we were resilient. We controlled our emotion."
There was no better example of controlled emotion than what Galchenyuk offered in response to the physical targeting Detroit defenseman Kyle Quincey had in store for him. It was Quincey who Galchenyuk abused on the tying goal after showing great maturity throughout the game when frustration could've overtaken him.
Galchenyuk's maturity shone bright in front of the cameras in the room too:
"I don't really try to pay attention to who I am battling. My job is trying to win most of those battles, and that's what I did in the end."
On top of maturity and confidence, Therrien got right to the heart of the matter in assessing the young player who's quickly becoming his most potent offensive threat.
"Galchenyuk competes really hard. That's the reason he scored that goal. The kid's got character; this is what we like about him."
Add all that leadership, confidence, maturity and character together and you've got the 6-1 Montreal Canadiens; still within striking distance of their best game, percolating towards that boil with every contest.
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1) Plenty to digest from Therrien's press conference from last night, but his opponent, Mike Babcock pointed to two things that really disabled Detroit's ability to gain a bigger lead:
a) Carey Price and his puck-handling abilities.
b) Losing too many key face-offs.
After the second period ended, Montreal dominated the shot count 15-5 through overtime. The Wings couldn't establish a forecheck, and they were chasing the puck a lot because Montreal beat them up in the dot.
In the third period alone, the Canadiens won 18 of 26 face-offs.
In the second period, the Canadiens won 8 of 9 face-offs at even strength.
On the whole, the Canadiens had a winning percentage in the defensive zone, the neutral zone and in the offensive zone.
If you don't think that matters, especially in a one-goal game, you're kidding yourself.
As for all the games, the Habs are at 55.5% in the dot this season. That's second-best in the NHL. They finished 17th in the category last season. Out of the 16 teams that finished ahead of them, 11 made the postseason.
As for Price's puck-handling last night, it dismantled Detroit's powerplay.
2) TSN voted P.A. Parenteau's missed cookie in the second period as the worst play of the day in sports. But Parenteau was far from Montreal's worst player in this game.
He was on the puck, he had a few quality chances, and on a line where Plekanec and Galchenyuk will get the bulk of the credit on any given night, you can't deny how well he's completing them right now.
If only he'd have completed a couple of plays last night, this game might not have been such a nail-biter.
3) Who's going to make the argument that Travis Moen's not earning his place in the lineup?
I get the frustration over sitting young speedsters like Michael Bournival and Jiri Sekac, but Therrien lit a fire under Dale Weise, and Travis Moen--playing for his NHL survival--has been unimpeachable.
I can understand the bellyaching over Therrien's insistence on Francis Bouillon and Doug Murray's inclusions over younger counterparts last season, but that was last season.
Therrien's biggest tool is keeping players on the edge with the internal competition he can dictate. This year, his bench doesn't include a roster-sinking player.
When was the last time the Canadiens could maintain their speedy look and turn to a more physical roster like the one Therrien iced last night?
They say hitting is usually a function of not having the puck. Well, the Canadiens had a lot of possession, though the numbers were slanted Detroit's way in the first period. They ended up outshooting the Wings 36-28, and we know the face-off situation, and they outhit them 24-16.
4) Going back to Saturday's game, Carey Price's level is trending in the right direction. Last night, he was--in a word--great. And you saw it from the very first big save he made; a blind one on a redirected puck off a skate right in front of him before the play scrambled from the corner back out in front, with Weaver blocking one and Price mopping up the second.
The powerplay didn't connect on their only opportunity last night, but it sure did create momentum. It's up to 14.3%, which is far from paltry after failing to click for what seemed like an eternity at the beginning of the season.
The penalty kill has shutdown 90% of the powerplays at home after only managing to kill off 77.8% of their penalties on the season-opening road trip.
5) The Canadiens have scored 15 goals at 5-on-5. That's second most in the NHL. Their next opponent--the New York Rangers--are two up in that category.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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