We know Marc Bergevin is a talented guy. A twenty year NHL playing career that was notable not just for its length but for the many practical jokes he played on all those teammates along the way. It takes a special talent to make people laugh. As GM of the Habs he assembled a very strong front office while at the same time managing to put together a wardrobe that is almost as impressive. It takes a special talent to build consensus while always looking so good.
What we didn’t know was that Bergevin does impressions. Maybe he picked up this unique talent by watching Rich Little or Jim Carey or Kevin Spacey. Because right now Bergevin is doing a great Nero.
THE GOOD
- Mike Condon. Like Ben Scrivens did in Philadelphia and Florida, Condon kept the Habs from getting blown out. He’s put a string of solid performances together (Washington, Tampa Bay, Boston, New Jersey, Pittsburgh) to get his save percentage back into respectable territory. During this five game stretch he’s stopped pucks at a .934 clip, raising his season number to .910 (still below the league average of .916). Maybe it’s the presence of Scrivens but Condon looks locked in again. Like he did when Carey Price first got injured. Condon said post-game that he wasn’t especially nervous facing the likes of Crosby, Malkin and Kessel since had had already faced them early in the season. Now it’s onto Toews, Kane and Panarin. For the first time.
- P.K. Subban. First goal in 33 games. Made up for what was an egregious turnover to 4 goal scorer David Perron (very similar to Dan Girardi giving the puck to Alex Ovechkin who, unlike Perron, had an empty net to score career goal #498 against the Rangers at MSG) by tying the game – for three and a half minutes – while playing half of it (30:01). Subban was also robbed a couple of times by Marc Andre Fleury who continues to be the Penguins MVP. And he hit the outside of the goalpost with a shot after catching Fleury out of position. Clearly frustrated after the game, Subban was hardly subtle in his criticism of the way his team played. If you think it’s too strong and that part of his job is to score goals, consider this: What was Subban’s specific pre-game assignment? What it usually is when the Habs face the Penguins – to limit Sidney Crosby’s scoring chances. He did that while also scoring (finally) one himself. Easily the Habs best skater. One other thing – for those harping on all those “Give Aways”? Yeah, I know he leads the league in that department. Curious who’s behind Subban to round out the Top Ten? 2. Brent Burns 3. Brent Seabrook 4. Drew Doughty 5. Jamie Benn 6. John Klingberg 7. Zdeno Chara 8. Andrei Markov 9. Joe Thornton 10. Erik Karlsson. Last year Karlsson was 4th – behind Subban, John Tavares and Burns. Two years ago, Karlsson led the league. (Thanks to Mitch Gallo)
- Nathan Beaulieu. Important for Beaulieu to pick his game up a notch with Jeff Petry out of the lineup. He did.
- Mark Barberio-Alexei Emelin. They continue to look good together. Barberio did a great job breaking up a two one one with Eric Fehr and Kris Letang during an early Montreal power play and didn’t flinch late in the game when Crosby tried to beat him one on one. Emelin did his thing, nailing Crosby twice. The second hit winded the Penguins captain who slowly made his way to the bench.
- Lars Eller. A lot of jump. Much more involved for the second straight game. Took a bad tripping call in the Penguins zone eight minutes into the third period but only after he was grabbed and spun around by defenseman Ian Cole who apparently sent Christmas gifts to referees Steve Kozari and Dan O’Rourke.
- Paul Byron. Yet another breakaway, this one 5 on 5, but was stopped by Fleury.
- Devante Smith-Pelly. Easily his best game since returning from a leg injury.
- Alex Galchenyuk. Get this young man a winger already. Maybe two.
- Carey Price. Still limping on his way out of the Bell Centre (maybe he had his bad knee iced. Or maybe he was on the stationary bike) but Renaud Lavoie reported during the game that “chances are high that Price will resume skating before the All-Star break”.
THE BAD
- Tomas Plekanec-Brendan Gallagher-Max Pacioretty. A “meh” kind of night, especially considering the opponent. Habs needed more. Like, at least a goal. To his credit, Plekanec won the face off that led to Montreal’s only goal. In fact, he was an uncharacteristic 71% (15-6) in the circle.
- Andrei Markov. I realize the four days off before their next game against Chicago but 28:27 is, at this stage, at least eight minutes too much. The major issue in pairing Markov and Subban again is exposing Markov to the added ice time. I don’t think he can handle it. Forget the terrible give-away to Fehr after Plekanec won the face off to apparently give Montreal one last shot to tie the game, Markov’s game (not just his skating) appears to be a half second slower than it used to be. That means opponents getting to more pucks, he’s not as quick recovering after getting caught out of position and he’s not nearly as elusive in slipping away from hits by opposing forwards. It all adds up. The vision and smarts and hands are still there. But can he regain the rest of his game? Not at 28:00 a night.
- Torrey Mitchell. Two bad penalties. It took Pittsburgh just 12 seconds to capitalize on his high sticking call in the Penguins zone. Not a single shot at the net. But he did help the Habs to a good night in the face off circle (62%) by winning 7 of 10 draws.
- Daniel Carr & Sven Andrighetto. When Michel Therrien said the Habs had some young players who appeared to be intimidated by Pittsburgh’s top end talent and that they spent the first period “watching too much” he was referring to Galchenyuk’s wingers. Carr did look more like himself in the third period.
THE UGLY
- Greg Pateryn. Took himself out of position to make a hit. He never reached the puck carrier while opening up his side of the ice so rookie Bryan Rust could skate in alone and beat Condon for the winning goal. Pateryn can’t afford to make these mistakes. Ironically, he had talked after the morning skate about adding a physical presence but not going out of his way to make a big hit. The last time Pateryn made a fatal mistake that cost the Habs a game – December 10 in Detroit – he didn’t play again for 18 days.
- Habs record since losing on home ice to the Washington Capitals on December 3 is 4-13 with no loser points. They are closer to dropping out of the playoffs than they are to the top of their division. Whether it’s grabbing the home grown Jonathan Drouin – who will likely be dealt by Tampa Bay within days – or somebody else with the offensive skills to compliment Galchenyuk, it’s time for Marc Bergevin to put down that fiddle.
