Last night the Coyotes beat the Canadiens in the 63rd game of the season, while Dallas also won, maintaining their two point lead on the Coyotes for the final playoff spot in the West.
The game marked an offensive explosion for the Coyotes who hadn't scored four goals in a game since January 26 in a 5-4 OT loss to the Canucks. Even with the Olympic break factored in, that is a long time to go without an offensive explosion.
Thursday night's game was also the debut for Martin Erat, acquired earlier in the week from the Capitals. Erat skated on a line with fellow Czech Radim Vrbata and while Erat didn't have any points, Vrbata responded well, potting two goals in the victory.
According to TSN, this was the first time the Coyotes have beaten Montreal since 1998! It was December 9, 1998, Bill Clinton was the President, Kid Rock was still popular, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson was seven years old. Since that night, Phoenix record vs. Montreal was 0-9-2. Crazy stuff!
Despite scoring five goals, the Coyotes didn't exactly dominate the game. They came out flying, racking up a 3-1 score after the first against a Montreal team that didn't arrive in Phoenix until 3am the night before.
Unfortunately, as has been a tendency of this team this year, once they had a lead, they stopped playing. Montreal was dominant in the second period as the Coyotes took several penalties and went over 21 minutes without a shot on goal.
Smith stood tall during the barrage, allowing only one second period goal - on a Galchenyuk tip in on two-man advantage.
In the third, the Coyotes rebounded and were able to add two more goals for the 5-2 victory. The win keeps the Coyotes on pace with Dallas, and puts seven points between them and Nashville, as well as three points and two games-in-hand on the Canucks who appear to be done. What was a five team race for one spot coming out of the break now appears to be a three team race, though caution is advised in making this assumption, since if one week can swing so much, then anything can happen with six more remaining.
The Coyotes face the Washington Capitals and new goalie Jaroslav Halak on Saturday in Washington.
Also, note that Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored his 100th career point last night.
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While I was no fan of what the Coyotes did at the trade deadline - because I think they horribly sabotaged the value of David Rundblad by refusing to play him, and because I think bragging about how ownership OK-ed the adding of salary while only adding a one goal scorer whose contract next year is significantly cheaper than his cap hit - I thought one team went unheralded for their moves at the deadline, The Toronto Maple Leafs.
Though both Toronto and Phoenix both basically did nothing, it is interesting to compare how two teams - both fighting for a playoff spot - can do virtually the same thing and have the results be so different. In doing nothing (basically) the Coyotes did not, in my opinion, do enough to get them into contention, while the Leafs, in doing nothing (literally) perhaps actually strengthened their team.
The Leafs made no moves at the deadline, and I think this was a significantly underlooked and excellent choice.
The Leafs remain one of the NHL's youngest teams, and are perhaps on the verge of moving from fringe playoff team to actual contenders. As Eklund's recent chart of standings since December 1st shows, they are only 2 points back of Boston during that time. They seem on the verge of becoming a contender, and it makes sense to see how they respond in this year's playoffs before deciding what they need to make the jump into the NHL's elite teams.
There have been times this year when the Leafs looked like they were already there. They have one of the best first lines in hockey, one of the best groups of wingers and some of the best young defenseman.
It would have been easy for GM Dave Nonis to swap a couple of his younger players - Kadri and Gardiner for instance - out for players who would help them now. The fact that he - like Brian Burke before him - operates the Leafs without attempting to placate the NHL's largest fan base is the best thing you can say about him. His patience this year will pay off ten times more than any acquisition they could have made.
It's very easy to be caught up in the present, but this is a team hovering near the top of the standings since December who is giving regular minutes to three young players who are only just scratching the surface of their potential. Kadri, Rielly and Gardiner are probably not even half the players they will be once they reach their prime. Contrary to what most people wanted, Nonis has elected to see what they can do now that they are approaching their second try at playing important games at the pro level.
On the surface, it looks like this team might be only a top pairing defenseman from being contenders. They have great goaltending, one of the best players in hockey (Phil Kessel) on one of the top lines, they have depth at centre, wing, and if a top pairing defenseman was added and everyone moved down a slot on the depth chart, they'd have depth at virtually every position.
This, however, is misleading. If they moved assets to acquire that defenseman, they are probably still too young and inexperienced to truly be a Cup threat, and yet they would have had to spend assets they don't fully understand the value of yet. By standing pat, they are giving Gardiner and Rielly the chance to develop into the top pairing defenseman (by giving them more important minutes at a more important time then they otherwise would have) that they need. Maybe they don't have to go outside of the organization to get that top pairing defenseman after all. The same exact line of reason works with Kadri too.
Since they weren't going to win the Cup either way, this strategy, while not as fun for the fans, makes perfect sense.
As the Leafs currently stand, they will be getting back David Bolland soon, and he will be one of the highest impact players added to any team in and around the deadline anyways. (Note to fellow hockey analysts: "impactful" is not a real word!) Bolland gives the Leafs - long noted as weak at centre - a solid set of four centres. Who in the league has a centre as good as Jay McClement on their fourth line? Only a few teams, if any. Bozak is one of the most underrated players in the entire NHL and Kadri will just get better and better.
Add in the fact that Clarkson, Bolland, and Lupul, if they remain healthy, will almost certainly bring more to the table than they have so far, and this is a team that clearly made it's best move by doing nothing.
And if either Kadri or Rielly or Gardiner becomes a star in the NHL, Wednesday's decision to do nothing could end up being one of the most significant days in Leafs history.