Carey Price offered Canadiens fans full value on Tuesday night, taking a 3-0 shutout to the bank for another two points in the standings.
Price labeled his save on Evander Kane--a sharp blocker stab on a 2-0 break in the first period--as his best of the night, but he made several high quality stops en route to his first shutout of the year. When Price wasn't capable of scrambling to a loose puck in the dying minutes of the hockey game, Andrei Markov forced another Kane shot over the yawning net.
Jiri Sekac continued his impressive run, taking the puck hard to the net in the second period to generate another goal for Lars Eller; the Canadiens' first of the game. It was Eller's third in his last five games, and the chemistry with Sekac and Brandon Prust would have one believe more is on its way.
Alex Galchenyuk deepened the gap in the third, grabbing a puck that bounced off Brendan Gallagher and swiping it in awkwardly after a swing and a miss on the first attempt. The goal was his first in five games.
Tomas Plekanec scored the Canadiens' second shorthanded goal of the season into an empty net, with the team down 6-on-4 after a bogus call sent Sekac to the box with a little over a minute to play.
The Winnipeg Jets came into Montreal as the league's hottest team, having won six of their last eight, picking up points in the other two games. Ondrej Pavelec, who'd been their best player over that stretch, kept them in this game long enough to give them a chance to win it, but when the Jets weren't stymied by Carey Price, they hit posts and missed nets.
Speaking of missed opportunities, the Canadiens finally got multiple powerplays in a game, but failed to convert, practically failing to create any chances to convert.
Next up-- Boston. Sergei Gonchar will join his new teammates and likely play his first game as a Montreal Canadien. ********************
1) What's the general consensus on Jiri Sekac?
Sure, he may not crack the team's top six before there's an injury, but is there any question that his skill level places him among the team's most talented players?
Sekac creates something nearly every shift he plays.
He's big, he's lightning fast, and he's rather fearless out there too. He's seemingly had more successful zone entries in the last three games than any other player. Whether he's carrying the puck over, or dumping it to retrieve it for himself, he's generating major possession time for two linemates that are good along the boards.
Bradon Prust played 19:08 last night.
Lars Eller was over 16:00.
Sekac was at 13:48.
2) One way to boost that ice-time a bit and take more advantage of Sekac's speed: Put him on the powerplay.
It's not like the team can't use his zone entry, his intensity, his creativity there.
3) P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov don't work well together as a pair, and right now, they're working even worse together as a pair on the powerplay.
Virtually all the Jets' scoring chances in the game happened with Subban and Markov on the ice. You expect some of them, with the Canadiens' top duo taking on the bulk of the heavy matchups, but eventually, if they're going to be the top pair, they're going to have to win more than half the shifts they play. Last night, they lost far more than half of them.
The struggle for Subban is concerning. They've got to find him the right partner.
4) Boy was Marc Bergevin cryptic about what bringing in Sergei Gonchar means for Jarred Tinordi and Nathan Beaulieu.
Seems more than likely one of them is headed to Hamilton. That could be announced as early as today when Gonchar arrives.
Bergevin said both Tinordi and Beaulieu know they can be better, when he was asked to evaluate their play--to date.
Arpon Basu asked Marc Bergevin if the fact that Gonchar's played the right side for most of his career factored into the decision to bring him to Montreal. Bergevin admitted he was very aware of this fact, and the basis for the question was to leave it as an open possibility that perhaps Beaulieu or Tinordi would keep a spot in the lineup in favor of a right-handed defenseman like Mike Weaver.
5) I asked Bergevin what he thought the identity was of his blueline. Thinly veiled, I'll admit, but you can't outright say "Hey Mark, is you d-core too soft?"
"It's all about balance. You can't have six of the same--either puck-movers, or shot-blockers, or stay at home defensemen. Right now, I think we have a good balance."
Here's what he said before he got to that statement:
"Andrei Markov and P.K. Subban are definitely puck-movers. Tom Gilbert makes a good first pass. Emelin's a physical defenseman. Mike Weaver's a shot-blocker and a penalty killer that could give you--like we saw in the playoffs last year--15 to 16 good minutes, and we have the two youngsters."
Toughness wasn't mentioned anywhere.
6) That's a double-edged sword though, isn't it? Most of the guys lauded for their toughness don't have the foot-speed to play significant minutes. Exhibit A is Tinordi sitting in the press box, likely packing his bags for Hamilton as we speak.
7) "We let go of a good leader; a good person; a guy that never complained and was always there for his teammates; always accepting his role," said Michel Therrien in describing Travis Moen.
I wouldn't disagree with a word of it. A lot of people bemoaned Marc Bergevin's decision to extend Moen for four years back in 2012, but he made that decision before the team landed Brandon Prust on the open market and reminded everyone yesterday that it wasn't a given Prust would agree.
For a long time, Moen was the only player on the team willing to drop the gloves, even if it meant that he'd catch a beating. He's a player with a concussion history, and the one he suffered at the hands of Kevan Miller last year was devastating. Did it render him less effective in his role? Marginally.
Moen was traded because the opportunity presented itself to swap him out for an expiring contract. He was traded because the Canadiens felt they had the depth to replace him and they could benefit from the speed Michael Bournival could bring in his place.
For now, Drayson Bowman can fill in without hurting the team. And Rene Bourque's just a phone call away... Just kidding. Sorta.
8) Therrien went out of his way to talk about how Gonchar is a great teammate, and a real mentor for young players, citing Gonchar's role in Evgeni Malkin's development. He sure left the door open for some serious questions once Tinordi or Beaulieu hit the farm, and the one staying in Montreal rides the pine...
9) Call it a hunch, or an educated guess based on some interesting conversations with a couple of scouts, but Bergevin might very well be dangling one of his defensemen right now. No guesses on who he might move, but word is he's scouring the market for a forward.
Thinking about teams that could use some help on the blueline, the first one that comes to mind is Colorado. Edmonton is right there with them. Columbus too.
10) Price's save percentage jumped from .912 before the game to .918 after it. He went from 2.78 goals against to 2.56.
The Canadiens have only allowed two goals in their last three games after allowing 13 in the previous three. There was a lot of talk about them regaining their structure. They're not all the way there, but there's been a steady progression from the Buffalo game through the Winnipeg game.
Good timing. Boston's up, Philly next, then it's off to Detroit, back home to Pittsburgh, St. Louis, back on the road to Boston and New York (Rangers. Counting last night's game against the Jets, that's 8 games in 13 nights.
Time to see what this team is made of.