And the hits just keep on coming.
But really, who’s going to remember this game – other than Zane McIntyre?
THE GOOD
- Carey Price. He’s 8-0 with a 1.63 GAA & Save Pct of .953. In his last 20 starts for the Habs Price is 18-2. Yawn.
- Alex Galchenyuk-Alexander Radulov-Paul Byron. Which one of these is not like the other? To his credit, Byron sniffed out a chance to win the game by heading to the net. He easily beat his check – David Backes – and slipped the puck in to win with 62 seconds to play. Byron appears to have inherited the old Dale Weise role under Michel Therrien: Move him up, move him down, move him all around….at least until the GM finds a better alternative to play on the top line. It was Radulov, naturally, who made the play on the game winner by doing what he does best – hang onto the puck to buy some time to figure out what to do with it. “He’s my favourite Hab to watch” said Mitch Gallo on the Post Game Show. “Of all time”. Galchenyuk’s goal was also a treat as he beat Zane McIntyre from in close with a nifty backhand – the kind of goal he used to score in shootouts. (PS – Is McIntyre the first pro athlete to play in Montreal with the name Zane since Zane Smith pitched for he Expos in 1989-90?)
- Shea Weber. Another strong effort at both ends of the ice. His blast on the power play opened the scoring and officially welcomed McIntrye to the Bell Centre. And his only blip defensively (3 hits, 5 blocked shots) came on the first shift after Byron’s goal snapped a 2-2 tie (below).
@HunterZThompson @MitchyGallo @BWildeCTV What goalies see when Shea Weber takes a slap shot.https://t.co/F14KFPF4f8
— HockeyCool (@hockeypaisan) November 9, 2016
- Team Canada Revisited. Brad Marchand carries the puck with speed over the Montreal blue line, performs a stutter step to easily skate around Weber, drops the puck into the slot area where Patrice Bergeron doesn’t get great wood (aluminum?) on it but it’s still a good scoring chance which Carey Price saves because he’s in perfect position. Like a September practice during the World Cup.
- Jeff Petry. Was that really Petry slamming Ryan Spooner into the boards a la Alexei Emelin? Petry’s best game in awhile.
- Daniel Carr. Strong return. It was Carr’s work in front of the net that got Zdeno Chara to take a high sticking penalty which led to Weber’s opening goal.
- Jack Nicklaus. How random was that? Maybe he’s in town looking for some land.
Jack Nicklaus a rencontré les Canadiens avant le match
Jack Nicklaus gave the boys a pregame pep talk
VOIR/WATCH -> https://t.co/TOvebqrCYA— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) November 9, 2016
THE BAD
- Max Pacioretty. Looks lost. Spending most of his time on the ice stuck in neutral. A goal will loosen him up, won’t it?
- David Desharnais. The Habs are 11-1-1.
- Andrew Shaw. He joked early on that he was playing for the first time with a centreman who actually wants to get him the puck. Zero shots combined for Shaw and Desarnais. And that shift in the third period when Shaw twice had control in his own zone only to cough it up to a member of the Bruins? The kind of shift that gets a younger player under Therrien nailed to the bench.
THE UGLY
- What happened America?
Donald Trump President Elect Of The United States After Hillary Clinton Concedes; New Reality Season Starts https://t.co/NOj7bD0TFT pic.twitter.com/S6uBMsKZp7
— Deadline Hollywood (@Deadline) November 9, 2016
