1) The good: Montreal extends the unbeaten in regulation streak to 10 games (nine of them being wins/five of them coming in consecutive games).
The bad: That shootout loss to Washington was in the bag for the Canadiens, as they led in the third period, and as they scored two goals in the shootout before Grabovski buried them.
The ugly: Andrei Markov rolling around centre ice, grabbing at his knee; a sight no Canadiens fan ever wants to see again.
And then he got up, and he was out on his next scheduled shift, and all was right with the world.
2) Tomas Plekanec had five goals and four assists, and was +8 over these last ten games. He matched up against Parise's line, Ovechkin's line, Crosby's line, Jagr's line, Kessel's line, and yes, even Buffalo's top line.
On the season, Plekanec has 22 points, and he's +11. For most of the year, he's played with wingers that can't score.
Patrice Bergeron's having an off-year.
Pavel Datsyuk's coming back from a concussion, and he's +3 on the year, with 23 points in 24 games.
Jonathan Toews is +7 on the season, but he's -3 through four games in December. Toews and the Hawks pounded the Panthers 6-2 yesterday, and he scored two assists, and finished the night at -1.
Could this be the year that Plekanec gets the elusive Selke nomination he deserves?
3) On what you might consider to be an off-week for Alex Galchenyuk, he book-ended it with game-winning goals and added an assist. Galchenyuk now has 47 points (17g, 30 a) in 79 NHL games, over which he's +14. He's only averaged between 14-15 minutes/game over these first 79.
Michel Therrien hasn't exposed Galchenyuk to unfavorable matchups. He hasn't exposed him to the hardships of playing his natural position of centre very much. He hasn't allowed Galchenyuk's confidence to dip, despite negligible ice-time in certain games.
If there were a blueprint for how to bring along a young player with superstar talent, this is it. It helps that Galchenyuk is wise beyond his years, mature, and saddled with a work ethic others would be jealous of.
Two to three years from now, Galchenyuk will have man-strength. Between now and then, he's going to do some very special things for the Canadiens. When he gets to that point, he's going to be an absolutely dominant force; he'll have handled everything Montreal could throw his way; he'll have learned how to deal with the ups and downs, and the pressure of being a Canadien.
4) It's the perfect transition to my next point: You can sort through my archives and the countless radio interviews I've done (you certainly don't have to), I've never wavered on my belief that bringing Price into the fold at 19 was absolutely the right thing to do.
This is not an argument made in hindsight. If Price hadn't experienced all he had to this date, he may not be the goalie he is right now. He still has an uphill climb to prove he can sustain this throughout the season, the post-season, and for the rest of his career.
Who's betting against him on that?
I'm not...
I think Price is exactly who he should be at this stage of his career, and it's marvelous to watch. He's been the best goalie in the NHL this season, and that's with great respect to Josh Harding and Ben Scrivens.
5) Corey Crawford went down, and could be out for the next little while. I don't think Chicago will panic, but it got me thinking: What kind of value does Peter Budaj hold in the marketplace?
Not that I'd advocate the Canadiens trading him. He's been as good of a backup as the Habs could've hoped for, and he serves as an excellent insurance policy if anything happens to Price, but I can't help but wonder if he's become Montreal best trade asset...
6) Back to Price, if Canada intends on deciding who their starter becomes when the games matter, and if they intend on starting Luongo for a preliminary game and Price for another, you'd hope they give Price the tougher assignment of the two. If in fact Price does have to win the position from Luongo, a statement against Finland would mean a lot more than one against Austria or Norway.
Canada's first game is against Norway on February 13th. Their second game is against Austria on February 14th. Their final game of round robin action is against Finland, on the 16th.
And yeah, I don't think Price going to the Olympics was an "if" situation past about game 5 of this season (probably was secured in the offseason).
7) I've seen a few people making the case recently, and I can't disagree with them. Milan Lucic deserves a look from Canada. He's playing excellent hockey right now. He's also shown at different times--especially in the playoffs--that he can take over games by himself. Game-breaking ability is a huge factor, and obviously, most members of Canada's Olympic team would have it.
On the same topic, I'm starting to think Stamkos is going to be named to this team.
I don't love it, but I do believe Kunitz will get a spot next to Crosby. I don't hate it, either, even if other players deserve it more. Sure, there's merit to the idea that Kunitz wouldn't be as good without Crosby--in fact, it's a given--but he does play with Crosby, and he is great with him.
8) I'm guessing there were some fans that weren't too happy with Lars Eller barely seeing the ice Saturday.
The fourth line of Moen-White-Prust was sensational, and they deserved every bit of ice they got.
As for Eller, watch closely for how he goes about his business tomorrow against the Kings. I'd imagine he'll play with the kind of fire we saw from him against Boston.
I'd also say that Therrien can't be liking the thoughtless giveaways in the neutral zone from Eller. He's done it a few times over the last couple of games--enough to make his coach mad about it.
9) Ryan White. Only player not to get a star Saturday between him, Moen and Prust. He was the best of the three of them, no matter what the statsheet says.
White has 25 PIMs in 25 games. None of them have cost his team what some of the stupid penalties he took last season did.
10) At practice, Habs are skating Galchenyuk with Plekanec and Gionta. Bournival has shifted to Eller's line with Briere.
The internal competition keeps this team going, so long as they're healthy...