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Habs win one for Julien, defeating the Rangers 3-2 in a shootout |
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A collective breath of relief was shared by many as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the New York Rangers 3-2 in a shootout on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. The win was the team’s first with Claude Julien behind the bench. It is debatable as to who was more relieved to get that first victory under Julien’s tutelage, Julien himself, the players or fans.
To say that a matchup against the Rangers would be a big test for the Canadiens would have been an understatement to say the least. The Rangers came into the game as one of the hottest teams in the league, winners of seven of their last eight games. Expectations for the Canadiens were low considering their dismal February and how rusty they appeared in Julien’s first game against the Winnipeg Jets as the team’s head coach, which unfortunately coincided with their first one back from the team’s bye week. After two consecutive practices and a full team reporting to the morning skate, the players came out ready to go from the moment the puck was dropped and demonstrated that they've been paying attention in practice.
The Canadiens never trailed in the game and kept focused despite allowing the Rangers to twice tie the game. In some ways the game had the air and pace of a playoff one as both team’s competed hard and Carey Price and Henrik Lundqvist each played a very strong game. Price though would prevail as he made a highlight reel save in the dying seconds of overtime and stood tall in the shootout, giving the Canadiens multiple opportunities to win the game before Paul Byron finally scored to put the game away.
Puck props and flops:
Props:
Carey Price - Is it safe to say that Price is back? He followed up his strong performance against the Jets by being simply outstanding against the Rangers. He made 28 saves to go along with four stops in the shootout. Most importantly, he looks like himself again. Confident and calm. Making the hard saves look easy and the difficult ones routine. The Canadiens were never worried about Price and his weak play throughout January and much of February. He is an elite level, world class goaltender and competitor. However now that he appears to have regained his form his teammates can all breathe just a little bit easier knowing that Price is fully there in body and mind.
Claude Julien - His first win behind the bench in his second stint with Montreal was a big one. The Ottawa Senators had won their match and so a regulation loss would have put the Senators atop the Atlantic division standings. More than keeping the Canadiens first in the division, Julien has gotten his players back to playing their game and having fun. A win against the Rangers, a team with more points than them should do wonders for their confidence and boost their morale. Julien has his team skating and competing again. It's not going to be all rainbows and roses until the end of the season but the victory against the Rangers is certainly a start.
Shea Weber - His powerplay goal was his eleventh scored on the man advantage as Weber was able to blast his patented howitzer of a shot past Lundqvist. He now has fourteen goals on the season and is back to playing big on defense. Against the Rangers Weber appeared confident and always focused on the task at hand. He seems to have a bit more jump in his game as he is more actively engaged on offense, similarly to how he was playing in the first month of the season. On defense he is making himself big again and has that gleam back in his eye, the one that says you don’t really want to mess with me. Not to mention Weber is doing his best to cover up his partner Alexei Emelin’s mistakes…
Andrew Shaw - On a newly formed line with Artturi Lehkonen and Tomas Plekanec, Shaw played his best game in quite some time as he scored his first goal in eleven games. His goal came off a strong shift forecheck by himself and his linemates that led to him grabbing the loose puck and getting it past the out of position Lundqvist. He was aggressive without crossing the line and seemed to work quite well with especially Lehkonen. Unfortunately Shaw still took an unnecessary penalty that negated a Canadiens powerplay in the third period but it was a game that Shaw can certainly build from.
Artturi Lehkonen - The young rookie from Finland did not get onto the scoresheet but he played a terrific game. He constantly tried to make something happen from nothing. Lehkonen is always in constant pursuit of the puck but he does so responsibly. He so rarely ever gets caught out of position. The points will come for him, especially with repeated efforts like that. One thing is certain, Lehkonen is making a quick positive impression on his new coach:
Flops:
Alexei Emelin - He has lasted longer than anyone thought possible as Shea Weber’s partner but perhaps it is finally time to separate the two defensemen. Emelin has been consistent playing a simple and physical game for much of the season but lately he has appeared to be much slower as he is getting beat all too often. If he keeps playing like this he will soon replaced by either Andrei Markov or Nathan Beaulieu, both puck moving defensemen who would better compliment Weber.
Alex Galchenyuk - His play was far too inconsistent against the Rangers. At times Galchenyuk would look very good with Brendan Gallagher as they created a few scoring opportunities but his confidence is obviously lacking as he had zero finish. That was evident even in the shootout where he missed his shot. A goal would have gone a long way towards getting his mojo back. Galchenyuk once again struggled on faceoffs, winning only 37% of them. Galchenyuk is too talented to continue struggling. What is encouraging is that it appears that Julien will work with him as much as possible to get him back playing the way that he can:
Neither here nor there:
The duo of Nathan Beaulieu and Greg Pateryn played solid third pairing minutes for the Canadiens. In Pateryn’s first game under Julien he laid out five hits and had two blocked shots in just over 13 minutes of ice time. Pateryn never really got much of a chance under Michel Therrien but he has the tools to be an everyday NHL player. Perhaps things will be different under Julien of Pateryn is able to continue to contribute quality minutes.
Brendan Gallagher backed up his words and went right back to standing in front of the goaltender, even with Weber on the ice. On Weber’s goal Gallagher was right there screening Lundqvist, undeterred by the possibility of Weber’s shot hitting him once again. He is paid to do it but it still takes a lot of guts…
Byron atoned for his pregame warmup mistake of getting a shot high up on Price’s collarbone by scoring the game winner in the shootout. Price left the warmup early and panic buttons were ready to pressed but he just had to shake off the stinger. Price never seems to have much luck when it comes to his health against the Rangers.
The Canadiens finally have a day off today and will host the New York Islanders on Thursday.
Cheers and follow along!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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