|
Price Pulls Another one Out of his Hat! |
|
|
|
|
|
The table was set for a huge showdown in Beantown last night, Price had recorded a well deserved shutout against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday and the Canadiens were back in a playoffs spot. Being 5 points behind the Leafs and only 3 behind the Bruins meant that the Habs can keep an eye on the teams in front and not just on the team chasing them in the standings. As we all know, the deeper you get into the season, the tighter the race becomes and the more important the points get.
The Bruins came out strong in the first as expected and the Habs looked a little taken aback. As often happens when a team is chasing its opponent, the Canadiens took a couple of penalties when Mike Reilly tripped Brad Marchand 8 minutes in and then when Kotkaniemi tripped Charlie McAvoy. While the Habs were able to kill the first penalty, they weren't so lucky on the second one. The Bruins have the third best power play in the league with a 27.9% success rate and Marchand coming off the wing unhindered (thanks to a rather poor pivot by Shea Weber) aimed a perfect shot in the top left corner of the net jut above Price's glove to make it 1-0 for the locals. A couple of minutes later, Nicolas Deslauriers had seen enough. He decided to ask Kevan Miller to star in their own version of The Fast and the Furious:
You may not be a big fan of Nicolas Deslauriers, in fact, not that many people are but last night, after this grinder who wore a full cage not long ago because of a facial fracture decided to take on one of the toughest players on the Bruins, the Canadiens came to life long enough to tie up the score. Jeff Petry took a shot from the blue line of a Danault's face off win and Gallagher deflected it perfectly to get it behind Tuukka Rask. At the end of the first, even though the Bruins led 11-6 shots wise, the score was all tied up. After the game, an excellent picture started making the rounds on Twitter, one that really sums up the nature of the Canadiens-Bruins rivalry, through the intensity of the Deslauriers-Miller fight:
The second frame was also dominated by the Bruins, shots wise at least (15-11) and when Mete took a penalty toward the end of it, it looked like the Tricolore was playing with fire. Enter Paul "the Roadrunner 2.0" Byron... We all know Lord Byron has got speed but boy did he ever turn on the jets! He breezed by Patrice Bergeron as if he was a freshly called up AHL player, cut inside to avoid the refs who could have stopped his effort although unwillingly, and got the puck past Rask on a breakaway to put the Canadiens ahead for the first time of the game. I'll admit, I couldn't help it, he made me jump up the couch and punch the air with my fist before a solid round of high five followed. The period ended without further blood being shed and the Canadiens retreated to the locker room with a one goal lead, setting the table for an intense and stressful third period.
What should have been the final period was played with as much pace as the rest of the game with the Bruins desperately trying to tie up the score and Price stopping shot after shot. The Bruins literally peppered his net with pucks taking 17 shots to the Canadiens' 4. As the Habs were hanging on for dear life with just over 2 minutes left to the third, Jordie Benn was struggling to clear his zone and Michael Chaput decided (rightly) to come to his aid but unfortunately, he cleared the puck straight into the crowd, giving the almighty Bruins power play another chance... With a man advantage and with Rask replaced by another forward, Boston was playing 6 on 4 and didn't miss its opportunity to tie things up through David Krejci with a tiny 38 seconds to play. At the end of 60 minutes of play, the score was 2-2 and Carey Price had faced twice as many shots as Tuukka Rask.
To start the overtime period, Claude Julien mixed things up a bit, sending out Paul Byron, Max Domi and Jeff Petry. Can you say right move? It took the trio 15 seconds to put the game through bed when Max Domi gave his all to take a threatening shot on Rask who couldn't retain the puck and Jeff Petry hit a homerun much like Mike Cammalleri in the the 2010 playoffs! I believe most everyone knows that Petry's dad was a MLB pitcher and right there, it looked like Petry might have taken a few batting practice with daddy in his youth!
There are many positives to take away from this game really;
-The power play didn't miss any chance (the Habs didn't get a single power play all night) and therefore was not able to be a momentum killer;
-Gallagher was his usual warrior self, he was everywhere on the ice, chasing every puck, battling with giant Zdeno Chara at every turn and pumping up his teammates on the bench;
-Carey Price was a wall stopping 41 of 43 shots (.953 save percentage);
-The Habs didn't give up even with the last minute equalizer that could have been rather hard to swallow;
-The team won what was a playoff like intense game.
Of course nothing's perfect and some things will have to be fixed:
-Domi played hard but in the second period he was lucky not to get slammed with a major or a supplementary 2 minutes penalty when he was frustrated and clearly seeking out a fight. He kind of reminds me of the early days' Gallagher, trying to agitate and ending up in the sin bin on his own too often. Now, Gally is a master of chirping and perhaps he'll be able to provide some guidance to Max.
-There were quite a few turnovers again in the first, of course, the Bruins do have Bergeron who's a defensive wizard but this is a constant concern for the Habs.
-For a rare time this season, the Habs relied too much on Carey Price by letting the Bruins dictate the play and unleash a barrage of shots.
When all is said and done though, the Canadiens pocketed 2 points even though they let the Bruins take 1 as well and it could come back to haunt them down the line. The Habs players gave the player of the game cape to Nicolas Deslauriers, clearly recognizing the impact his tilt with Miller have and I can't help but point out that on the day where Josh Gorges announced his retirement from hockey, it was Jeff Petry, wearing what was once Gorges' 26, who scored the game winner. Enjoy retirement and thanks for the memories Josh!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»