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Game 57: Canadiens vs Leafs AKA In the Nick of Time |
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It wasn't always pretty but the Canadiens found yet another way to win last night. Toronto rolled into town with their new goaltender as Frederick Andersen is still dealing with a neck injury and still missing their top D-man Morgan Rielly but that shouldn't be seen as an excuse should it? I mean the Canadiens did have to handle more than their share of injuries this season and are just now starting to look like themselves again even though the captain ha now gone down with an injury. Last night, Jonathan Drouin was making his long awaited return and his readiness to play meant that Ryan Poehling was sent back down to Laval to join Kotkaniemi and Fleury. In a season which saw the Tricolore give a lot of room to rookies, Nick Suzuki is the only one who has been with the team since October. I know, KK isn't a rookie anymore but he's still young enough to be one. With Drouin back in the line-up Claude Julien had to tinker his lines and this is what he came up with:
So, even with Drouin's return, Kovalchuk was able to stay in the top six alongside Nick Suzuki and Joel Armia. Speaking of Suzuki, how amazing has this young man been? He has now effectively taken over 2nd line centre duty relegating Max Domi to the third line. One might say that line numbers are just number but the ice-time doesn't lie. Last night, Suzuki saw 20:33 of action while Domi was on the ice for 14:49. In comparison, Philip Danault was on the ice for 21:50. There is no denying that Suzuki has become an insanely important part of this team.
The first period was an evenly matched contest each teams taking 7 shots on goals while the goaltenders were flawless. The second frame belonged to Toronto however has they launched 14 shots on Price's net while the Canadiens only managed 4 on Campbell's but once again neither masked man flinched. We had to wait until 1:06 in the third period before John Tavares put the Leafs on the scoreboard. This would turn out to be the only shot the Leafs would get in the 3rd. It seemed to ignite Les Habitants and they took over for the following 19 minutes and change. They pressed hard, dominated puck possession and bombarded Campbell with 16 shots. Campbell did well to stop them all until Marco Scandella beat him at 17:27 with his first goal in the bleu, blanc, rouge to make it 1-1. The deadlock would last until the final buzzer and for the third time in a row, the Habs faithful were treated to extra time hockey.
The extra frame would not even last 2 minutes though as the Habs settled the matter at 1:43 after Nick Suzuki (who else) broke away... Campbell showed great awareness by poke checking him but unfortunately for the Leafs' goaltender, Ilya Kovalchuk was hot on Suzuki's tail and wasn't going to miss that golden scoring chance. That was Kovy's 3rd game winning goal since joining the Canadiens and it's safe to say that he was ecstatic!
Carey Price received the first star of the game stopping 22 of 23 shots for a .957 save percentage while Jack Campbell was the third star and Marco Scandella the second. There's no denying that the Canadiens won't go down easy...even with 2 8 games losing streak, this team still wants to battle and try to make the playoffs. Mathematically, it almost seems impossible. The Habs are now 5 points behind the Leafs who are 3rd in the Atlantic and 6 points behind the second wildcard spot held by Carolina. To make matters worse, those teams have games in hand on the Tricolore. What does that mean? Well, it means that as things stand, the Canadiens are nearing a 4% chance of making the playoffs. That is a rather slim chance but a chance nonetheless and the players sure look like they believe it could happen.
While some fans are cheering on their team and still hoping that the impossible could happen, others are almost annoyed to see them pile up the wins. For them, the status quo is just unacceptable...The team needs to lose and get a better draft pick if they want to eventually get out of the mediocrity zone in which they have been for much too long already. The goal is not to make the playoffs, the goal is to win the Stanley Cup and for them, it won't be reached by just sneaking in the post season. It's hard not to see their point, after all, Montreal should not be used to missing the playoffs right now and that was just unthinkable not so long ago but here we are. But, que sera sera as they say and there's no point in being annoyed with a bunch of guys who are giving it their all right now. Sure, it would have been nice to see that kind of energy earlier in the season but losing Drouin who was on course to have a career year kind of seem to derail the season and losing Gallagher later on was a knockout punch. Bringing in Kovalchuk was a breath of fresh air and it energized the whole team but when Gallagher came back, everyone seemed to step up. Maybe it's too little too late but for now, we might as well enjoy the ride and the dramatic wins, Ilya Kovalchuk sure does:
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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