Not so fast.
Yes, the Canadiens did what they needed to do – winning back to back games for the first time since late November to give them a four point weekend. But it wasn’t perfect. By not beating the Hurricanes until the shootout they allowed a team they’re chasing to pick up a point. So instead of moving into a tie for 10th in the Eastern Conference they’re one point back of Carolina in 11th.
Two wins in a row is a starting point. Nothing else. Not with Tampa Bay (9-1) up next. The Habs have nine more games this month. If they can win seven or eight of them then perhaps you can point to Super Bowl weekend as some kind of reawakening. But until that happens it’s just a loud yawn. Kind of like the big game itself.
THE GOOD
- Ben Scrivens. See what can happen when a goalie is there to bail you out? The last time a Habs goaltender had a single game save percentage as high as .971 was October 20 when Carey Price stopped all 38 shots he faced against St. Louis for his second shutout in three games and the Habs 7th straight win. Among Scrivens’ 34 saves were game savers against Eric Staal (3 minutes left) and Jeff Skinner (83 seconds left). Throw in a perfect 5 for 5 in the shootout and you can say for the first time in a very long while that in a tight hockey game it was the Habs who had the best goalie on the ice. In stopping 57 of the 59 shots he faced over the weekend, Scrivens raised his season save percentage (6 starts) to .904. He’s finally entered Mike Condon territory. But at least he’s pulled away from Dustin Tokarski (.878). What happens against Tampa Bay might very well determine his future as a member of the Montreal Canadiens. But in the meantime, he’ll always have that W against the Oilers. “I’m not bitter about being traded” said Scrivens post game. “If there’s any bitterness it’s about…getting buried. To get sent down without a visa, spin your tires for three weeks and then get spot duty? I played 57 games in the league last year then to have that go against you…It’s a new management group and at the end of the day it’s a business…” Remember that word – business.
- Tomas Plekanec-Brendan Gallagher-Alex Galchenyuk. Who was that wearing #14 on Saturday? The four point performance by Plekanec was his first in over a year (January 17, 2015 vs NYI). He took what was supposed to be a Connor McDavid themed script and turned it into his own. In scoring once and setting up three others Plekanec equalled his point total in his previous 10 games. He was flat out flying. The trio combined for two goals, 7 points and was +9. They were a lot quieter against the much more structured Hurricanes (Plekanec was robbed by Cam Ward with time running out in overtime) but so were most of their teammates.
- P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov. They looked like a top D pair again. Subban extended his current point scoring streak to 6 games (2 goals, 7 assists) and has now picked up points in 15 of his last 17 games. Only three players in the NHL have more assists than Subban’s 37 – Erik Karlsson (48), Patrick Kane (44) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (38). Who thinks they should trade him?Unlike Staal, Markov was able to celebrate a victory in NHL career game #900.
- Lars Eller-Sven Andrighetto-Tomas Fleischmann. A terrific weekend for Eller who followed up a strong game against Edmonton (GW goal, 4 SOG, 69% on face offs while mostly checking Leon Draisaitl) by logging over 20:00 of ice time – most by a Montreal centerman and the most minutes he’s played since last February 14 against Toronto. Andrighetto was the only one of 10 shooters to score in the Sunday shootout while Fleischmann looked useful again.
- Max Pacioretty. Followed up a too quiet game against Edmonton (one shot on goal) by playing with a lot more passion against Carolina. His goal – his first in eight games – was vintage Pacioretty as he whipped a one timer past Ward. The Canadiens need their top goal scorer. When he scores he usually does so in bunches. But not this season. The Montreal captain has not scored in more than two consecutive games since Oct. 20-23-24. Now would be a good time. On the down side, Pacioretty appears to have taken breakaway lessons from Plekanec.
- Tom Gilbert. Way too soft on the Carolina goal by Jeff Skinner but played a very strong game against his former team on Saturday, culminating with his first goal of the season.
- Jeff Petry & Alexei Emelin. Petry too was much better against his former team on Saturday (even as he allowed Benoit Pouliot to walk around him during an early third period Montreal power play to spoil Scrivens shutout bid) while Emelin played one of his best games of the season on Sunday.
THE BAD
- Nathan Beaulieu. He didn’t play. And the Habs defense looked better without him. Beaulieu was visibly upset in practice on Friday when he clearly knew he would be scratched. But he has nobody to blame but himself. A young offensive defenseman who is not creating much offense (even at his best how many goals will Beaulieu score in the course of a full season with a shot from the point that looks like it belongs to Raphael Diaz?) while regularly losing one on one battles in his own end needs to step it up.
- Dale Weise. Potential UFA realizing his time in Montreal might be winding down. Finally used his body (9 hits) but not much else was going on.
- Fans who think it would be better if the Canadiens kept losing. What kind of cocoon are they in? Clearly they’ve never run a business.
THE UGLY
- St. John’s Ice Caps. Habs GM Marc Bergevin watched his AHL team lose back to back games Friday and Saturday to Utica (also known as the current hockey home of Chris Higgins, Yannick Weber and Brandon Prust). He saw Zach Fucale allow three goals on four shots on Friday night before getting yanked barely five minutes into the game (season save pct is .898). He was watching a team that has won just 19 of 47 games. There doesn’t seem to be much talent ready to assume any kind of meaningful NHL role. Veteran 28 year old Bud Holloway hasn’t stopped producing (37 points in 41 games) and probably deserves another look. But Bergevin also saw Jacob de la Rose score in both games. And perhaps he’s still trying to determine if Michael McCarron is ready for serious NHL action.
- David Desharnais. Not a good sign when you can’t generate any offense for yourself (zero shots) or your line mates (combined 3 SOG for Pacioretty-Weise) against a defensively challenged team like Edmonton. He wasn’t much better against Carolina. So what was he doing on the ice to start the overtime (with Pacioretty, naturally)? Desharnais got possession of the puck off the face off but skated into traffic in Carolina territory and promptly gave it away. Only once in five minutes did we see the threesome of Pacioretty, Subban and Plekanec together and they almost won the game in the final minute. Desharnais has now gone six games without a point while centering one of the top two lines. He’s currently on pace for a 37 point season. Perhaps Michel Therrien is starting to realize he needs to get offense from elsewhere as he didn’t even use the little guy in the shootout against Carolina. But for now it appears the only way the coach doesn’t keep giving Desharnais quality minutes is if the GM takes that option away.
