Jiri Sekac couldn't shed his wide smile after the Canadiens beat the Bruins in their home opener to get to 4-1 on their season. His goal in the second period was instrumental in a quick strike offense that helped the Canadiens overcome a 3-2 deficit, with P.A. Parenteau and Brendan Gallagher deepening the wound through the third.
"It was the greatest feeling of my life," Sekac mused. His smile widened when prompted to discuss his father's reaction; a jubilant, triumphant, intense celebration of his son's accomplishment.
"It was a dream come true," gushed Parenteau. "I know it's pretty cliche to say, but it's true. It was a great feeling to hold that (torch) just for a few seconds, and it's a night I'll never forget."
It was probably an unforgettable night for Milan Lucic too, even if he'd like to bury its memory immediately. Lucic--the center of most the attention before the puck dropped on this one--managed two assists, but was overwhelmed with rage by game's end after official Tim Peel whistled him down for boarding on Alexei Emelin. After an obscene, sexual gesture towards the fans, Lucic stormed out of the box premature thanks to Parenteau's empty netter, got himself ejected for giving Peel a piece of his mind, and never resurfaced post-game for any interviews.
Histrionics aside, the game featured the regular animosity you expect to see between Boston and Montreal--perhaps a level down from playoff animosity, but nonetheless, it was there. It also featured several defensive lapses on both sides, and some spotty goaltending too. With the Habs coming off a 7-1 drubbing and the Bruins playing their second of back-to-backs, you don't expect perfection.
"Not every game is perfect," said Max Pacioretty, who managed the Canadiens first powerplay goal of the season and added two assists in this one. "We got a couple of dirty ones tonight and that seemed to be the difference."
Still in search of that 60-minute effort, the Canadiens should be contented with a 4-1 start and a strong response to an atrocious beating the Lightning handed them earlier this week.
Next up, the Colorado Avalanche, who placed starter Semyon Varlamov on the IR ahead of yesterday's game with the Ottawa Senators before losing backup Reto Berra in the first period. Third stringer Calvin Pickard got picked apart as the Avs squandered a two goal lead in the game for their fourth loss in five attempts.
Imagine Patrick Roy suiting up at the Bell Centre, Saturday? It's about as comical as the notion of the Avs signing up Martin Brodeur to play for Roy. ****************
1) Obviously, there was a lot of positive to take out of this win for Montreal, from beating their arch-rival to bouncing back, to scoring on the powerplay, to the third line finding something, to the first goals for Sekac and Parenteau.
It's hard to fathom that Dale Weise was a healthy scratch. He didn't even take the pregame skate, which is pretty rare.
If he was healthy, then it's pretty clear Michel Therrien didn't want to give Lucic or the Bruins any satisfaction, or maybe, just maybe, he wanted to rattle them even further.
2) I don't know what the fallout is over Lucic's gesture towards the fans. All I know is that James Wisniewski got suspended for two games for doing something similar to mock former NHL pest Sean Avery.
3) I watched all of Boston-Detroit from the night before, and it was a playoff-type game. Extremely intense for a Bruins team that's stumbled out of the gate, and they played exceptionally well, only to end up with a shootout win at the end of it. They could've scored five or six goals but ended up with a 3-2 advance, and Jimmy Howard played the game of his life to keep it that way.
The analysis is that the Bruins might struggle to score goals this year. They don't have a suitable replacement for the 30+ Jarome Iginla potted last season, and while they managed four against Montreal last night, that fifth was ever-elusive in a pretty tame third period.
So here's what I found odd: The Bruins were chasing the game in the final 10 minutes of the third, and Claude Julien parked one of their premiere offensive guns in Reilly Smith for a large majority of it. Smith played less than 3:00 in the final frame.
4) Julien had a catch-22 last night. Tuukka Rask wasn't the busier of the two in Detroit, but the game still went to overtime and a shootout. It's the second week of the season, so starting your ace back-to-back is a questionable decision regardless. But Julien couldn't rob Rask of his chance at vengeance, and he couldn't throw back-up Niklas Svedberg into the fire of this rivalry with no experience to draw on, leaving him with no cards to play if things went awry for the kid.
Rask just can't seem to beat the Canadiens. For whatever reason, he's a different goaltender against the Habs than he is against the rest of the league. And though he's had moderate success against them in Boston, he's failed over and over again in Montreal.
Next time Boston's in town, I expect Svedberg gets the nod.
5) In a league where fighting is going the way of the dinosaur, tell me you wouldn't pay premiums to watch Brendan Gallagher and Brad Marchand go at it!
6) Despite a defensive lapse or two, oft-maligned Alexei Emelin had a standout game. Coming off an injury that took him from the lineup for two games, Emelin notched two assists, four hits--including a tone-setter on Lucic on their very first shift against each other, two shots on net in over 21:00.
Therrien's lineup tinkering bore fruit, even if some were questioning the decision to sit Nathan Beaulieu out of this one.
For his part, Jarred Tinordi fared quite well too. He collected an assist, and registered a couple of hits in 15:23 of reliable ice-time.
7) Simon Gagne hasn't played hockey in over a year, and after signing a contract with the Bruins for the league minimum, he gets into back-to-back games and manages a goal to give the Bruins a chance at tying things up in the third period last night. He also did it against the team he wanted to sign with last year, with the Canadiens passing on that boat on more than one occasion. It was a loss, but there's no way he didn't feel good about that moment, even if it was a flukey one.
8) There's got to be palpable concern for Bruins fans about their blueline this season. Torey Krug, Kevan Miller, Matt Bartowski and Dougie Hamilton are all on different parts of the learning curve. There will be blemishes, but the experience will make them all better. But the Bruins need all four of them to be real good, real reliable, real steady, and that's because Adam McQuaid isn't stalwart. Dennis Seidenberg is a rock; Montrealers know this better than anyone. But Seidenberg is playing his first season after reconstructive knee surgery, and Montrealers are also acutely aware of how that goes (see Emelin, Alexei and Markov, Andrei). Zdeno Chara is a year older. Johnny Boychuk is an Islander.
9) What does it say about Tomas Plekanec and Alex Galchenyuk that even on an off-night, they're picking up points?
10) Who are the Canadiens at full throttle?
Who are the Canadiens with Carey Price at the level we're accustomed to?
Who are the Canadiens with four lines rolling?
Who are the Canadiens with special teams shored up?
We're going to find out at some point. With all of that up in the air, the Habs are 4-1.