THE GOOD
- Paul Byron. Maybe his best night as a Hab. Not only did he finish off the only Montreal scoring play by going to the net but he took care of his defensive assignment for the night – the only Montreal forward who can skate with Patrick Kane did just that. The NHL’s leading scorer was held to just two shots on goal. Waiver pick up Byron has scored 8 goals. Only one Montreal centre has scored more.
- Alex Galchenyuk. Easily the most dangerous Montreal forward, whether he was at centre, right wing or left wing. He was hungry. He made things happen. He hit the net. You can wonder about him away from the rink but know this – his work ethic borders on Gallagher-like. He worked like crazy to make the NHL as an 18 year old. Through the rocky road to NHL centre he’s had some on ice issues. But hard work is not one of them.
- David Desharnais. Key to setting up the Montreal goal was keeping the puck along the ice. There were certainly offensive sparks when he was teamed up with Galchenyuk in the third period. On the other hand, as if to highlight the Habs scoring woes, Desharnais had the puck on his stick in the high slot with nobody in front of him early in the third period. Instead of shooting he went wide left as he tried to get in closer. End result was a Chicago defenseman recovering in time to get his stick on what was a weak, harmless shot. Desharnais took himself out of his own Grade A scoring chance.
- P.K. Subban. Oh yeah. Played nearly half the game (27:54) against the hottest team in the league. Subban’s biggest issue? He doesn’t have enough teammates who are close to him in talent. But he didn’t score and he makes nine million dollars a year so he must have fucked up again.
- Jeff Petry. No surprise that he makes a difference when he’s healthy.
- Alexei Emelin. Dramatically increasing his trade value.
- Lars Eller. Like a lot of his teammates he woke up after the first period. Seemed energized by the move back to centre in the third period.
- Daniel Carr. Of all the young forwards who’ve suited up this season he appears to be the most NHL ready.
- Mike Condon. Did his job. Has put a string together of six consecutive solid starts. But has won just three of them.
- Michel Therrien. I thought the Habs were ripe for a blowout loss. The last time I felt that way the LA Kings were in town. Montreal outshot Los Angeles 45-28 that night. But couldn’t beat Jonathan Quick. In this one it was Corey Crawford. Montreal outshot Chicago 40-33 including 17-10 in the third period. But Crawford improved his career numbers against his hometown team to 4-0-2 1.32 .952 and even better at the Bell Centre where he is 2-0-2 1.24 .965. There is no question part of the recent skid has been opposition goaltenders. The Habs have been “Carey Priced” by Crawford (season save pct is .929) Marc Andre Fleury (.926), Michael Neuvirth (.934), Roberto Luongo (.927), Braden Holtby (.933) and Quick (.925). But the anti-Therrien crowd have somehow convinced themselves that he has “lost the room” or has been “tuned out”. Therrien successfully managed Andrei Markov’s minutes (23:50 instead of the ridiculous 28:00 he played against Pittsburgh), he put Byron on Kane and he shook things up in the third period which resulted in a dominant 20 minutes by his team. But he didn’t score and his team is sliding in the standings so he must have fucked up again.
THE BAD
- Chicago’s second goal. Ryan Garbutt scored on a slap shot from near the boards. Very reminiscent of a goal Condon surrendered to Kyle Palmeiri in late November at the Bell Centre when the Devils’ winger tied the game with just 22 seconds to play in a game that was won by New Jersey in overtime. It was Garbutt’s second goal of the season. Game winner.
- Andrei Markov. Played ok but you cannot lose sight of Jonathan Toews and leave him alone in front of an empty net.
- Tomas Plekanec-Brendan Gallagher-Max Pacioretty. Gallagher (no scoring chances, no shots at the net) is still working himself back into game shape. But his line mates are so tight “you couldn’t pull a nail out of his ass with ten inch pliers” (Bill Lee). Early on Pacioretty had the puck on his stick in the slot but seemed to freeze. Hesitating just long enough to make you think he was thinking pass instead of shot. By the time he did shoot Crawford took the net away from him. Later in the game he fired the puck over the net on a one-timer. Plekanec, meanwhile, admitted post-game that his offensive outage (one goal in 28 games) has gotten to him. “I had an open net and you want to put it in so badly and you miss it. You’ve got to fight through it. You’ve got to find a way.” Can it get any worse? I suppose if you’re Ryan Getzlaf it can. The Ducks’ captain has 3 goals in 38 games while earning over 9 million a year. He’s paid to score goals.
- Nathan Beaulieu. Poor play along the boards resulted in a turnover and eventually the game winner. Benched for a bit. Seemed himself again in the third period. Limited to 13:15.
- Dale Weise injury. Miss him yet? This is the kind of big game match up that Weise loves. At least he’s getting close to returning.
- Marc Bergevin. What’s he waiting for? Steve Yzerman. Once the Tampa Bay Lightning GM decides to send Jonathan Drouin out west (St. Louis? Anaheim? Minnesota?) Bergevin will be able to move on to Plan B to help the offense. Surely there is a Plan B.
THE UGLY
- Montreal “fans”. It started before the puck drop. A few idiots yelling during the moment of silence for Rene Angelil. Yes it was a very small number but it set the tone. The grumbling (by hundreds, if not more) started early, when Lars Eller iced the puck. The tension aimed at Subban that I sensed in an earlier game picked up again. Normally, when the Habs star defenseman gets going with the puck there is a rush of anticipation that is palpable. But on this night it was mostly silent. There were boos for the lone Montreal power play (one shot on goal). And more boos at the end of the game when Chicago got the puck out of their end following some strong pressure applied by the Habs after Therrien pulled Condon with almost 2:00 to play. I get it that fans are frustrated and sense a season slipping away. And they’d like to see more goals. But on this night the Canadiens put on a good show. It wasn’t a win but it was very entertaining. I don’t know how long they can keep losing (back to back Saturday-Sunday in St. Louis and Chicago doesn’t sound promising) but they will get going again. At some point. Soon. (Won’t they?)
