The Montreal Canadiens recovered from their disappointing 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers by beating the New Jersey Devils 2-1 Wednesday night at the Bell Centre. Special teams stepped up for the Canadiens as Max Pacioretty scored a power play goal in the first period and Torrey Mitchell was the benefactor of a terrific move and pass from Paul Byron to score a shorthanded goal towards the end of the second period. Adam Henrique brought the Devils to within one early in the 3rd but Mike Condon would shut the door for the remainder of the game, earning his 12th victory of the season.
After the Winter Classic, the feeling was that the Canadiens edition from earlier in the season was back and the tide had turned. Players and fans got ahead of themselves and the poor effort against Philadelphia was a reality check that games were not going to be handed to them. The win against the Devils was a good game and solid effort by most players but you can sense that they are trying to keep the temperament even and not to get too high or low. It was a game that the Canadiens can take positives and build from.
First and foremost, to the relief of many Mike Condon seems to have regained his confidence and is providing the Canadiens with excellent goaltending. He has won his last 3 starts in a row and has played big in each of those games. Not only is he giving his team a chance to win hockey games, Condon seems determined to hold the fort and be there for his teammates. No longer are games slipping away from the Canadiens when he starts. Fortunately, the January schedule is relatively light compared to December with only 8 more games left to played. I certainly expect Condon to certainly get the next two starts at home against the Penguins this Saturday and the Blackhawks the following Thursday.
The Canadiens finally scored a powerplay goal and I believe that it is no coincidence that it happened on the evening that they decided to go back to the traditional 3 forwards / 2 defencemen approach. It was fine to try to shake it up with 4 forwards and P.K. Subban but the Canadiens do not have the personnel or a forward with that experience to make it sustainable and work. Now the Canadiens have to keep the momentum going on the powerplay and try to climb back into the top ten in rankings.
Paul Byron has been an invaluable pick up for the Canadiens this season and Torrey Mitchell has finally provided the Canadiens with the perfect 4th line center. Mitchell can be relied upon to play an effective 10-12 minutes a game, defend on the penalty kill and win faceoffs. Being a bilingual Montreal native is the icing on the cake. Byron’s speed is incredible but he is also a smart player and anticipates the play well, especially on the penalty kill. His move and pass on the 2 on 1 with Mitchell was as beautiful as it was surprising.
The surprise move from yesterday was that Tomas Fleischmann was a healthy scratch for the first time this season. Fleischmann had been a feel good story through the first 20 games of the season but had barely produced as of late with only 1 assist in the last 10 games and 2 goals and one assist in his last 20. Some of that could be attributed to the constant line shuffling that went on when Brendan Gallagher got injured and not playing as much with David Desharnais as he had grown accustomed to. Fleischmann was not the reason that the Canadiens had been losing, but he was the easiest veteran to bench to send a message to the team. In Fleischmann’s absence, Sven Andrighetto and the lines were shuffled to:
Pacioretty-Plekanec-Gallagher Carr-Galchenyuk- Andrighetto Eller-Desharnais-Byron Flynn-Mitchell-Smith-Pelly
When Galchenyuk’s was in the offensive end they looked fine but they got hemmed in their own zone on a few occasions. I can’t see this line sticking for Saturday’s match against the Penguins. It will be interesting to see if Fleischmann gets back into the lineup then and who will come out. The Canadiens are off today and will return to practice tomorrow at 11am.
Aside from the game, much of the chatter in Montreal has been about the possibility of the Canadiens trading for Jonathan Drouin. The Canadiens interest seems undeniable as it has been reported by numerous reliable sources. That’s not to say that the trade will happen, just that the Canadiens have a strong interest in Drouin. Really, who wouldn’t have interest in Drouin? By most accounts he is hard-working and has undeniable talent. Will it eventually translate to the NHL? It is hard to imagine that it won’t. It is also hard to imagine that Drouin gets traded before the Lightning figure out what is going on with Steven Stamkos. They cannot afford to lose both players. As well, the Canadiens would be forced to pay a premium for Drouin as the Lightning would be trading him to a divisional rival. The Ottawa Senators also have a real interest in Drouin and the Lightning could up the ante by playing teams off of each other. There was a flurry of trade activity and excitement yesterday so it is of course possible that a trade with Drouin gets done sooner than later... Drouin, another Montreal native would certainly look good in a Habs jersey but ideally they would be acquiring him to play with Galchenyuk, not instead of... Could a combination of a 1st round pick, Prospect Nikita Scherbak and Jarred Tinordi work? Is that too much? What and who would you be ready to give up on to acquire Drouin?
************* EDIT TO ADD ****************
Minutes after I posted it was announced that Canadiens goalie Dustin Tokarski has been traded to the Anaheim Ducks for Forward Max Friberg. The arrival of Ben Scrivens over the holidays left the Canadiens with a plethora of minor league goaltenders and it seemed obvious that Tokarski would be the odd man out. I wish Tokarski all the best with the Anaheim organization and hope he continues to rediscover his game. With Daniel Carr and Sven Andrighetto up with the Canadiens, the St. John's Ice Caps needed some re-enforcement on the front line. Friberg is listed as a Left Wing on the NHL.com's website but the Canadiens announced him as a Right Wing. He was a hero for Sweden at the 2012 World Junior Tournament scoring 9 goals. For a further scouting report on Friberg, check out:
Scouting report on Max Friberg (new #Habs , done on September 3, 2015- bottom of page).
— Ben Kerr (@LastWordBKerr) January 7, 2016Another possibility, are the Canadiens shoring up their AHL team in preparation for something bigger? Only time will tell...
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