The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Vancouver Canucks at home by a score of 4-3 in overtime. A tough start to the match would prove to be nothing more than an obstacle for Michel Therrien’s team as the Habs erased a 3-0 deficit to make a comeback and secure a much-needed first win in three contests.
As I watched the first period, I jotted down notes that reflected my disappointment in the overall effort put out by the home team. A few giveaways and a glaring lack of discipline allowed the visiting team to take a 2-0 lead heading into the second period. Sloppy, nonchalant plays such as no-look drop passes were all too common, and it seemed as though the Canadiens had a hard time taking the Canucks seriously. After all, they held a 1-3-1 record in the last five games and were playing their sixth away game on their longest road trip of the season. Perhaps the Habs believed that their opponents were to start feeling fatigued. The Canucks would capitalize on two of their power play chances, and the Bell Centre crowd grew restless as they booed and jeered every play.
It would be the third game in a row that the Habs would concede the first goal of the game within less than two minutes played. Strangely, the defense corps that performed exceptionally well thus far this season was at the root of these goals, losing out to the opponents in puck battles and trying to catch up to the eventual goal scorers who were left alone. Jeff Petry, for instance, looked uncharacteristically slow and nervous, coughing up the puck twice with brain-dead plays. Last night’s game was no exception, although the home team would eventually demonstrate a knack for on-the-fly adaptability.
A shorthanded goal by Lars Eller on a poor line change by Vancouver would provide the spark that his team required to mount a comeback. Tomas Fleischmann scored the equalizer in the third period and continued to demonstrate that he is a great addition to this team, and David Desharnais maintained his early-season form by scoring the overtime winner thanks to a perfect passing play by Fleischmann and P.K. Subban.
Max Pacioretty impressed me on the Habs’ second goal by making his way to the front of the net. I cannot recall the last time Pacioretty scored a goal by being that close to the net, as he’s evidently known to have a rocket of a shot and can find the back of the net from practically any distance in the offensive zone. As he continued to struggle with scoring goals over the course of the past nine games, his decision to cut to the front of the net and cash in on a Brendan Gallagher shot was proof of a very important lesson that applies not only to hockey, but to life as well: if you keep doing what you’ve always been doing, you’ll always get the same results. Pacioretty is a finesse player/sniper stuck in the body of a power forward, and his mandate has never been to get in a goalie’s face or crash his crease. His style has always consisted of a reliance on his heavy and deadly accurate shot (of which he had nine last night), using his speed to find himself in a perfect scoring position in order to release his infamous wrister or fire off a one-timer. He stepped outside of his comfort zone by going to the front of the net – something he never does- and the result spoke for itself. If only somebody could remind Alexander Semin about that very philosophy…
I’m not sure if I’m alone on this one, but I feel really bad for Semin. If you may recall, I had posted a piece on how I felt that he was not necessarily ready to turn his career around based on his body language at the annual charity golf tournament. I got a lot of flack for saying that, and was even called an “idiot… on Twitter by numerous followers. My own friends and family respectfully disagreed with what I had to say. I nevertheless held my ground, because I truly felt that that was the case, yet deep down I hoped that I was dead wrong and that Semin would seize his opportunity to be a key element of the greatest hockey franchise in the history of the NHL. I was hoping that his $1.1 million salary would be considered a steal at the end of the year, and not a waste of money. Frankly, we all knew the type of risk the Habs organization was taking with a player like the enigmatic sniper.
I feel bad for Semin because he looked genuinely sad as he put his head down while sitting in the penalty box. He looked depressed as he leaned forward and blankly stared out into the open while warming the bench for the better part of the game. Maybe he was experiencing a moment of self-actualization and realized that he blew his chance to be a part of something amazing, including a potential championship team.
Perhaps he’s acknowledged that he’s simply done, and that there isn’t anything more he can offer the team. Maybe his legs have aged significantly faster than anticipated, and that his body cannot keep up with the pace of the new-age NHL.
Or, simply put, he might’ve realized that he blew his final chance at playing in this league.
One thing’s for sure, and based on Michel Therrien’s answers during his postgame press conference, Alexander Semin no longer has a place in the lineup of the Montreal Canadiens.