That was a tough way to lose--with less than three minutes to play in a game the Canadiens would've gifted to Columbus had it not been for Carey Price and the outstanding effort from the penalty kill.
Jarred Tinordi's intended pass to Mike Weaver was ill-conceived, and his attempt at a recovery on the play--as Ryan Johansen barreled in on Price--fell short. It was a particular shame because up until that point, Tinordi has played a marvelous game, especially in helping the Canadiens overcome all those penalties.
A lot of fingers were understandably pointed at the coaching staff thereafter, as many wondered aloud as to what Tinordi and Weaver were doing on the ice at that juncture of the game. A curious matchup between Columbus' first line and Montreal's third sent the puck back towards Montreal's end, and after all of that, down 3-2, with an empty net and a chance to tie the game, Brendan Gallagher was assigned faceoff duties in the offensive zone--a lost mission.
When it came down to it, Therrien was cobbling together lines having several key players burned from killing penalties for the first half of the third period. An even-strength shift led to Max Pacioretty and Thomas Vanek connecting on a gorgeous goal to knot things at two, and the Habs tried to stall their way into overtime after that, instead of grabbing the opportunity to attack a wounded, frustrated Blue Jackets team that had gone 0/8 on the poweplay.
There was no question, Price didn't deserve to lose, but the Blue Jackets definitely deserved to win, and win they did!
The Habs loss made the playoff picture tighter. Columbus picked up the points to push ahead of the Rangers for third spot in the Metropolitan Division while Detroit picked up a huge come from behind victory against Pittsburgh to stay in the race--one point out of a playoff spot, and six back of the Habs with two games in hand. Tampa Bay jumped ahead of the Canadiens into second place by beating on hapless Ottawa; their fifth straight win.
The Canadiens and Leafs have each played 71 games, and their matchup on Saturday affords Toronto the opportunity to pull within one point of Montreal.
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1) Cam Atkinson is a 6th round pick, weighing in at 175lbs, sized up at 5"7. He's 24. Atkinson has 18 goals and 16 assists in 66 games. He's feisty, he's skilled, he's fast, he's right-handed, and though he's not as tenacious as Brendan Gallagher, he too is not afraid of the dirty areas of the ice.
Gallagher's listed at 5"8, 175lbs, has 18 goals and 20 assists. He's only 21, and he was selected in the 5th round.
Two pretty excellent players.
2) Ryan Johansen is a lethal threat. He started off the game poorly, and he got sucked into some of the emotion it evoked, but he sure finished it off properly. That was an A-1 move to keep Price from playing him aggressively, and he shot right at the right time. Pretty persistent considering how many goals Price took away from him on the powerplay.
3) Habs killer R.J. Umberger was a healthy scratch for the first time... maybe ever. Aside from having incredible success at the Bell Centre, Umberger has 18 goals on the season, and eight of them have come with the man-advantage!
Sufficed to say, they could've used him last night.
Going back to note one, Atkinson was a healthy scratch in three of the five games coming into last night's.
This is the new Columbus. They've got 15 healthy forwards, and they're sitting down healthy guys that have combined for 36 goals this year...
4) That was a pretty uncharacteristic penalty from Plekanec, and somehow, it didn't kill the Canadiens in this one. Somehow, the other seven penalties they took didn't kill them.
They finally even up the game at two--and yes it's called a bench minor--but Brendan Gallagher jumped on the ice to join a rush while five other players were already on the ice. It was a terrible brain cramp on his part. That was a gift to Columbus that Price stole away.
Tinordi's gaff was inexcusable, and you can't say it wasn't inevitably the reason the Canadiens lost the game, but they were playing with fire.
For what it's worth, Tinordi was there to answer the tough questions, but not before teammate Carey Price exhibited a beautiful piece of leadership to try to get him out of it. Have a read from Brian Wilde, who describes a great scene in the Canadiens' room after the game.
5) Let's talk about the Blue Jackets, who nobody is going to want to face in the first round of the playoffs. They are exhibiting the type of desperation you need in order to win at this time of year, and they are desperate, and they're doing it better than anyone else. The results haven't always been there, but they are a punishing team that comes at you with full physicality, committed to grinding you into oblivion. They've got skill up front, they have grit and size on the wings, and they have a great goaltender in Bobrovsky, who's found his groove in the second half of the season.
The injury to Ryan Murray could've killed them, but they're soldiering on with character and determination. Watch out for this team.