Digital Dividend » Kamal Panesar

Canadiens-Bruins Playoff Musings on a Rare Two-Day Break

Kamal Panesar — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 15:07:24 +0000

Doesn't it feel wrong not having a hockey game to watch tonight? Somehow, to me, it breaks the rhythm of a playoff series.

I remember watching playoff hockey in the 80s and 90s, and there was always, without exception, a game every second night. That went from the beginning of the playoffs until the end, making for one grueling race to the finish.

But alas, in the Gary Bettman era, things have changed.

So much so that nowadays there are sometimes two days off between games. In addition, there are even back-to-back games, which, in my opinion, are much worse than the long breaks. Playoff games are too intense to be playing back-to-back and too much is on the line.

Regardless of my feelings on the matter, the fact remains that these variations from the norm have become a part of playoff hockey. So looking at the Canadiens-Bruins first-round matchup, I can see how the players would appreciate the extra day off but not so much the fans.

Irish eyes are smiling

Reading Fluto Shinzawa's Boston Globe piece on the Bruins this morning, the Bruins feel like a ton of pressure has been lifted off their shoulders. Their 4-2 win over the Habs on Monday gave them a little breathing room and, perhaps, a well-needed dose of confidence.

Boston had been stymied by the Canadiens' system and Carey Price's goaltending over two games, with Montreal simply taking advantage of turnovers and defensive mistakes.

The same could not be said of the Habs' performance in Game 3.

In addition, Tim Thomas finally came to play on Monday. Despite letting in two softies, he made key saves when his team needed him to, ensuring the victory.

So today, with the Bruins scurrying to the safety and obscurity of Lake Placid, the team is loose, happy and looking forward to Game 4 tomorrow night in Montreal. Their confidence is renewed and they know they have a golden opportunity to turn the series on its head tomorrow night.

Change up

Benoit Pouliot, who day-by-day plays himself further out of a contract extension, has been a complete no-show for the Habs so far in the playoffs. He had another up-and-down season this year with a few flashes of brilliance, but ultimately has not shown enough for Montreal to keep him around past this season.

So during Game 3, when Pouliot took an ill-advised charging penalty and subsequent fighting major, he did little to ingratiate himself to Coach Martin. So much so that he didn't see a second of ice time after that point.

While the Bruins didn't score on the PP, they potted one only seconds after it had expired, early in the third to make it a 3-0 game. Sure the goal was the result of a horrible giveaway by Carey Price, but Martin was fed up with the inconsistent winger and nailed him to the bench.

Pouliot finished the night with five shifts and only 3:21 of ice.

As a result, the word this morning is that Pouliot will be a healthy scratch come Game 4 tomorrow night. With Jeff Halpern on the cusp of a return to action and Yannick Weber playing a solid Game 2, Martin has options.

If Halpern is ready to go, his defensive and faceoff abilities would make him an excellent addition to the lineup. Weber too would be a good fit, perhaps playing as a forward and getting spot duty on the power play. In the one game he played, he not only scored a goal but had three shots on goal, one blocked shot and two solid body checks.

All of that with only 10:53 of ice time.

The bottom line is that Martin has options and either player would make the Canadiens a better team. So far everyone has been pulling in the same direction for the Habs, and there is no place for a solo-artist like Pouliot.

Sorry Benoit, you did it to yourself.

Lesson learned or failure to launch?

By all accounts, the Montreal Canadiens were excessively loose and perhaps even nonchalant, during the morning skate prior to Monday night's Game 3. That lackadaisical attitude is what led the team to come out flat in the first period and miss a golden opportunity to put Boston on the mat.

As a result, the Bruins were able to jump out to a 3-0 lead before the Canadiens finally woke up. Montreal dominated the last 30 minutes of the game, coming within a goal of tying it, but ultimately fell short. It was too little too late and the Canadiens, to a man, seem eminently aware of that fact.

So was the loss a wake-up call for the Habs, or have they now taken their foot off the Bruins' neck and let them back in the series? We'll find out on Thursday. That being said, I don't think it's overly dramatic to say Game 4 will be the Habs' biggest game of the year.

Losing tomorrow and going back to Boston tied at two games apiece would be disastrous for Montreal. It would suddenly become a brand new, best-of-three series with Boston holding home-ice advantage. This is a scenario the Habs do not want to face.

As such, and given Montreal's seeming awareness of their Monday night misgivings, I expect a full 60-minute performance tomorrow night. However, with the opportunity to tie things up going back to Boston, I expect an equally intense performance from the Bs.

Quite simply, Game 4 has the makings of a classic. Tune in tomorrow night to find out how the story unfolds!

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Kamal is a freelance Habs writer, Senior Writer/Editor-in-Chief of HabsAddict.com, Montreal Canadiens Blogger on Hockeybuzz.com and Habs writer on TheFranchise.ca. Kamal is also a weekly contributor to the Sunday Shinny on The Team 990 (AM 990) every Sunday from 8 - 9 AM. Listen live at http://www.team990.com/

Follow Kamal on Facebook, Twitter, HabsAddict.com and Hockeybuzz.com

Read more NHL news on BleacherReport.com

NHL: Montreal Canadiens Shut Out for Third Straight Against Washington Capitals

Kamal Panesar — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 17:20:50 +0000

The Montreal Canadiens lost 2-0 to the Washington Capitals last night at the Bell Centre, getting shut out for a third game in a row.

The last time Montreal was shut out three games in a row, Maurice Richard was leading the charge, and the year was 1949.

If that wasn't bad enough, the shutout loss was the Habs' ninth loss by shutout this season, a record of futility for the Canadiens' organization.

So do you think this team has problems scoring?

After getting destroyed by the Bruins on Thursday, you really thought Montreal would bring a solid effort to the rink. Unfortunately for Habs fans, the Canadiens let in an early first period goal, took penalty after penalty, looked frustrated all night and managed only 18 shots on net in the process.

To the Caps' credit, they played a smart, patient game and used their size to completely shut down the middle of the ice.

Carey Price was once again the only player who showed up for Montreal.

With the Habs trailing by a goal, a brutal neutral zone turnover led Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin down the ice for a 2-on-1. Semin potted a sweet feed from Backstrom to close out the game with 3:41 to play.

For the record, Montreal has now gone 186:05 without a goal, while being outscored 11-0 since beating the Wild on March 20.

Final score: Caps 2, Habs 0

Habs scorers: None
Caps scorers: Marco Sturm (5), Alexander Semin (26)

Three stars:

Carey Price
Braden Holtby
Marco Strum

Game Notes

Tomas Plekanec Still Has a Ways to Go.

In his second game back after missing five due to injury, Tomas Plekanec still isn't playing up to par.

He turned over the puck at the Caps' blue line on an early shift, leading to a 2-on-1 break for Washington.

Marco Strum put the puck past Price to make it 1-0.

After the goal though, with the Habs handing several man-advantages to the Caps, Plekanec started to play a little better.

Shortly after the second penalty kill, he chipped the puck past the Caps' defender, then turned on the afterburners, setting up a 2-on-1 with Andrei Kostitsyn.

AK46 wasn't able to convert Plek's beautiful saucer pass, but that play gave the Habs a ton of momentum.

I think it's pretty clear Plekanec has not yet fully recovered from his injury. That being said, he looked better last night than the previous game. So hopefully, for the Habs' sake, he will only get better from here.

The Habs Have No Confidence.

That's what happens when you are on a losing streak. You get stuck in a funk, and right now, the Habs just don't believe in themselves.

The Canadiens are certainly not an elite team, but they are also not as bad as the one we have seen the last few games. Last night, as the game wore on and Montreal's offense continued to fire blanks, their frustration became palpable.

Sights of players gritting their teeth, swearing, constantly arguing with the refs and linesmen, slamming their sticks on the ice and otherwise expressing their angst, became commonplace.

The only person who seemed to have their wits about them was Price.

The funny thing is that the Bell Centre crowd, often able to will their heroes to victory, were just as frustrated as the players. By the mid-point of the second period, there was a smattering of boos for the homeboys.

By the third it was a chorus.

On the bench, the Habs looked like a defeated bunch with slumped postures and heads down.

It is a truism of human nature that winning and losing are both equally contagious, and right now, the Habs are suffering from the plague of defeat. With six games left in their season, you figure Montreal will get a win at some point.

But until that happens, it looks like they need a priest to exorcise their demons.

No Ovechkin, No Problem.

Much has been made this year about the midseason system change that Washington made. It was a tough road for a while, as the all-out-offensive system was changed for one that offers more balance and a tougher overall opponent.

Last night the Caps were missing their best offensive threat in Alexander Ovechkin. In addition, their best offensive-defenseman, Mike Green, continued to be on the sidelines.

The Caps' new system is bigger than one or two players though, and the Caps seemed largely unaffected by these huge absences last night.

The work that Bruce Boudreau has done this season is truly remarkable and puts him in the Coach of the Year conversation. His team now plays a system rather than a style.

The Caps' new way of playing has won them 12 of their last 14 games, including the win over the Habs.

A Tale of Two Goalies.

Is it just me, or does Braden Holtby remind you a lot of Carey Price?

Big, position-solid, lighting quick reflexes and, above all, cool as a cucumber.

While the Caps are looking like the team to beat in the East, their one potential Achilles' heel is their goaltending.

Don't get me wrong, Holtby looks really good, as does Michal Neuvirth for that matter, but none of the Caps' net-minders are playoff proven.

That doesn't mean they will fail come playoff time, just that they are the one question mark for the Caps.

For Montreal, Price bounced back nicely from the seven-goal shellacking at the hands of the Bruins—Price let in five goals that game before being pulled. More importantly, he continues to be the only player who shows up for Montreal night in and night out.

As has been the case far too often this season, Price was once again the only reason this game wasn't over early.

I firmly believe Price lost any chance at the Vezina Trophy in the game against the Bruins, but he continues to make a strong case for the Hart Trophy.

Can you imagine how bad this team would be without him?

Standings and Next Game.

The Habs' recent tailspin has put them in an extremely precarious position in the standings.

Montreal remains stalled in sixth with 87 points, now tied with the Rangers, who are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games. Buffalo, 2-0 winners over the Devils, are now only two points back of the Canadiens with one game in hand.

So while Tampa is only four points ahead of Montreal, the objects in their rearview mirror are truly larger than they appear. The Habs now have two days off before taking on the Atlanta Thrashers, who are 5-4-1 in their last 10 games.

Kamal is a freelance Habs writer, Senior Writer/Editor-in-Chief of HabsAddict.com, Montreal Canadiens Blogger on Hockeybuzz.com and Habs writer on TheFranchise.ca. Kamal is also a weekly contributor to the "Sunday Shinny" on The Team 990 (AM 990) every Sunday from 8:00-9:00 a.m. Listen live at http://www.team990.com/

Read more NHL news on BleacherReport.com

Canadiens-Rangers: New York Scores Six, Chases Carey Price in Big Win

Kamal Panesar — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 15:02:41 +0000

Last night's match between the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers was not exactly what fans were expecting. With their three previous matchups this season being tightly contested and decided by no more than a two goal margin, you expected more of the same last night.

Well, that was not to be.

The Rangers set the tone early, and I mean real early, when Brandon Prust challenged Travis Moen to a fight with both dropping the gloves off the opening faceoff.

In the scoring department, New York got on the board first when Yannick Weber's point shot was blocked by Artem Anisimov, who skated in for a clear break and a 1-0 lead. Montreal got that one back less than two minutes later on a seeing-eye blast from the point by P.K. Subban.

After that the Rangers blew the doors off the game scoring four more goals in the first, and driving Carey Price from the net in favour of Alex Auld.

Montreal looked slow, tired and demoralized for most of the first period and with nine regulars on the sidelines and two games in 24 hours, I guess that was to be expected.

The Habs had a little more oomph in the second and third periods, making things interesting on goals by James Wizniewski and Brian Gionta before the Rangers put the game away with less than three minutes to play.

Final score: Rangers 6-Habs 3

Habs scorers: P.K. Subban (8), James Wizniewski (9), Brian Gionta (25)
Rangers scorers: Artem Anisimov (17), Dan Girardi (4), Ryan Callahan (22), Marian Gaborik (21), Brian Boyle (21), Vaclav Prospal (5)

Game Notes

1. Habs showed toughness around their net.

Well, at least in the first blush of the game they did.

There were several plays early in the match where the Habs defense showed some rare aggression around their net.

Subban got the party started by tackling Prust after he was pushed into Price. Next it was Weber cross checking a Rangers player who got too close to Price after the whistle. Paul Mara too—a player who seems to habitually abuse opponents that stray too close the net—got into the action pushing, shoving and otherwise letting the opposition know that the blue paint was a no-fly zone.

These are actions which while sometimes earning your team a penalty, protect your goaltender and give him more room to operate. In addition, they send notice that your team won't be pushed around.

So as much as you expect it from a player like Mara, when you see smaller players like Weber get into the action, the words "team toughness" suddenly jump off the page and into reality.

2. Pop goes the bubble.

Did you hear that sound? That popping noise? That was the sound of the Canadiens bubble finally bursting.

This is a team that has gotten it done all season despite being weighed down by a truckload of injuries but last night it all caught up to them.

Playing without Brent Sopel, Jaroslav Spacek, Andrei Markov, Josh Gorges, Hal Gill, Max Pacioretty, Mathieu Darche, Tomas Plekanec and Jeff Halpern, inevitability finally caught up to the Habs.

The Canadiens, whose roster reads like an American Hockey League lineup in recent games, played like an AHL team on the ice.

But again, given all that's going on with this team it's certainly not the end of the world. The only real surprise is that the Habs didn't fall apart sooner!

Last night's game goes under the "file it and forget it" category.

3. Subban is the Habs best defenseman.

With the Canadiens down by four goals in the second period and all hope seemingly gone, P.K. Subban carried the puck up the ice, through the neutral zone, past a maze of Rangers' defenders and straight to Henrik Lundqvist.

While he didn't score on the play he did plow right in Lundqvist, bowling over the Rangers netminder and drawing the ire of Kurt Sauer. After a bit of posturing both players dropped the gloves but the linesmen stepped in before any punches were thrown.

I won't question the fact that Subban played "the game" a little there, waiting for the linesmen to show up before dropping the gloves. It was pretty clear that he didn't want to fight Sauer.

That aside, it was a great move by Subban to try to spark his team and it was the first time that last night that any Hab crashed the Rangers' crease, a favour they did not return in chasing Price from the game.

So while his move only served to make Subban even more hated by opposing players, his ability to agitate while skating with the best in the league is something the Habs have not seen since the days of Chris Chelios.

4. Brian Gionta is playing his best hockey in a Canadiens uniform.

With injuries to mainstays like Pacioretty, Plekanec and Halpern, the Canadiens need the rest of their veteran forwards to pick up the slack. Unfortunately for the Habs, aside from Brian Gionta this has simply not been the case.

With Michael Cammalleri continuing to look unhappy and frustrated on the ice and Scott Gomez continuing to look like he forgot how to play hockey, the Canadiens are ridiculously thin up front.

That is except for the captain.

Gionta scored the Canadiens third goal last night at a time when the Rangers were back on their heels. If Montreal had been able to capitalize on any of their subsequent power plays there would have been a very real chance of a comeback.

You could see that before Gionta's goal his teammates didn't seem to believe. After it, however, they played their best hockey of the game.

With a goal last night, Gionta now has nine points (5G, 4A) over his last 12 games. In addition, he leads all Habs with 26 goals this season and looks like he should hit 30.

So while players like Cammalleri and Gomez have been ridiculously disappointing this season, the captain continues getting it done with or without help. Just imagine how many goals he would have if he hadn't been stuck playing with Gomez for the first 15 or so games of the season!

5. The team is Price and Price is the team.

I'll make this short and not so sweet—the Habs go as Price goes. If Price doesn't play lights out, the team has almost no chance of winning on any given night.

This was the case at the beginning of the season and it still stands true with 10 games to play.

Last night, Price was certainly not to blame for the loss as the team in front of him, and in particular his defense, simply did not show up for the first 20 minutes. The Habs' horrendous defensive coverage and terrible turnovers meant that Price was pretty much a sitting duck.

Unlike he has done on so many other nights this season, Price was unable to bail his team out as they fumbled and bumbled in their own end.

So the Habs lost and lost badly and this is exactly what will happen come playoff time if Price doesn't stand on his head.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Montreal will go exactly as far as Carey Price can carry them this post season.

Standings and Next Game

Fortunately for Montreal they had a seven point lead over the Rangers before last night's game. As such, the loss leaves them in sixth in the East with 85 points, five up on the seventh place Rangers and eight up on the Buffalo Sabres.

Montreal missed an opportunity to inch closer to the idle Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins, both with 88 points.

The Canadiens now enjoy a rare Saturday off before traveling to Minnesota to take on the Wild on Sunday evening.

Follow Kamal on Facebook, Twitter, HabsAddict.com and Hockeybuzz.com

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Quick Hits: Andrei Kostitsyn Excels, Vincent Lecavalier Should Be Suspended

Kamal Panesar — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 16:11:47 +0000

With the injury depleted Montreal Canadiens pulling out a 3-2 shootout win over the Tampa Bay Lightning last night, they continue to inch closer toward securing a playoff spot.

Montreal's win came without the services of Andrei Markov, Josh Gorges, Jaroslav Spacek, Brent Sopel, Hal Gil, who was sick with the flu last night. As well as Mathieu Darche, Max Pacioretty, Thomas Plekanec and Jeff Halpern.

Are you kidding me?

Not only did Montreal win, but they played an excellent game against the Lightning in a potential first or second-round matchup preview, depending on where these two teams finish.

Montreal has 85 points in the Eastern Conference standings with 11 games left to play. If you figure that they need a minimum of 92 points to qualify for the postseason, then they need seven more points in the standings, or about four wins.

With seven more games against teams who are below them in the standings and nine of their remaining 11 against conference opponents, the Habs fate is truly in their own hands.

Despite being decimated by injuries and illness all season long, the Canadiens continue to win against all odds, a testament to their superior depth. The Habs have a bevy of young, talented forwards who are getting the job done, and just when one player goes down another youngster steps up to fill the void.

While it's great to see the youth movement picking up the slack, Montreal absolutely needs more out of Michael Cammalleri and Scott Gomez to continue to succeed.

Is Andrei Kostitsyn playing the best hockey of his career?

Well maybe "best" is not the right word but consistent certainly is.

The much maligned Kostitsyn was a player that most were sure would be moved leading up to this year's trade deadline, and fans would have been happy to see him shipped out of town for a bag of pucks.

The problem with Kostitsyn has never been his skill, but his seemingly lack of motivation, in addition to his brutal inconsistency. When he is on his game, he is one of the most effective players in the Habs lineup, but when he's off he is more like a ball and chain, dragging the Canadiens down.

Since being placed on a line with rookie Lars Eller, however, Kostitsyn seems to have found his ideal center and is playing his most consistent hockey in a long time.

Kostitsyn's chemistry with Eller through his time spent on the third line has paid dividens. One reason for this appears to be that the Habs are finally just letting Kostitsyn play. Whereas before, he looked lost and like he was thinking too much while playing with either Scott Gomez or Tomas Plekanec. Right now, he is just playing hockey and relying on chemistry and instincts rather than over-thinking his game.

The result has been that over the last 11 games, Kostitsyn has 11 points (5G, 6A), and the Canadiens have gone 8-3-0.

Without him and Eller's seven points (4G, 3A) over the same span leading the way, the Canadiens would be in dire straits right now.

Hopefully for Montreal, they can keep it up because the rest of the top six veterans are just not getting it done.

The refs are to blame on the Vincent Lecavalier slash.

With nine seconds left in the first period, and P.K. Subban and Lecavalier fighting for the puck, the latter took a two-handed lumberjack chop to Subban sending him to the ice in palpable pain.

Though Subban had just slashed Lecavalier and got a two-minute minor for the infraction, Lecavalier's retaliation got him five for slashing, a 10-minute misconduct and was tossed from the game.

Lecavalier's retaliatory hack on Subban was a clear attempt to injure, for which he will surely be suspended a game or two.

The real problem is that the situation was entirely avoidable

Watching the replay, you can see Subban and Lecavalier were battling for position in front of the net for a good 30 seconds before the slash. Pushing, cross checking and face washing.

As the players became increasingly frustrated, each response became a little more extreme. So why didn't the refs step in?

Had the refs sent both players to the box for roughing, which was clearly merited by both, everything that lead to the slash would not have happened. But, because the refs neglected to step in, it got to the point where Lecavalier dealt with the situation himself, right or wrong, with a blatant attempt to injure.

And, once again, the problem of inconsistent refereeing rears its ugly head.

The Habs are back at it tonight with another critical four-pointer, this time against the New York Rangers who are seven points behind Montreal in the East Conference standings.

With the race to the finish line in sights, this is sure to be another great match.

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Kamal is a freelance Habs writer, Senior Writer/Editor-in-Chief of HabsAddict.com, Montreal Canadiens Blogger on Hockeybuzz.com and Habs writer on TheFranchise.ca. Kamal is also a weekly contributor to the Sunday Shinny on The Team 990 (AM 990) every Sunday from 8 - 9 AM. Listen live at http://www.team990.com/

Follow Kamal on Facebook, Twitter, HabsAddict.com and Hockeybuzz.com

Read more NHL news on BleacherReport.com

Canadiens Game Day: Habs Limp into New York for Critical Match Against Rangers

Kamal Panesar — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 16:07:36 +0000

Fresh off the heels of a well-earned 3-2 shootout win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Montreal Canadiens take on the Rangers tonight at Madison Square Garden.

With seven points separating these two teams in the standings and the playoffs only 11 games away, this is sure to be a tightly contested match.

Tonight's match is the fourth and final game between the two teams this season with Montreal winning the first three in tight, low-scoring affairs.

Standings

Montreal is sixth overall in the East with 85 points, three behind the Lightning and the Bruins, who have one game in hand. While the Habs are looking up in the standings, the Rangers, who have won two straight games, are looking behind them.

New York is seventh overall in the East with 78 points, two ahead of the Sabres, who have one game in hand, and four ahead of the Hurricanes. The Rangers have struggled to find consistency this season and are on a bit of a slippery slope right now.

A few more wins and they could start to put some distance on the teams behind them. However, given the logjam in the standings, losing a few in a row might see the Rangers slide right out of the playoff picture.

As such, the Canadiens had better be ready for an intense match from the Rangers, who are well rested and ready to battle for a much-needed two points.

Goaltending

Carey Price was again a major factor in the Canadiens' victory over the Lightning yesterday, stopping 35 of 37 shots fired his way.

Unless he is too fatigued to play again, I fully expect Price to get the call tonight. With an inter-conference match against the Wild on Sunday, that would seem like the right time to start Alex Auld.

For the Rangers, Henrik Lundqvist will get his 16th straight start and his 58th of the season.

Scoring and Special Teams

The teams are relatively evenly matched with the Rangers having the 12th overall goals-for at 2.8 per game, the 15th-best power play at 17.7 percent, the sixth overall goals-against at 2.4 per game and the 13th penalty kill at 83.1 percent.

Montreal, by comparison, has the 23rd goals-for at 2.6 per game, the seventh-best PP at 19.4 percent, the eighth goals-against at 2.5 per game and the ninth-best PK at 83.5 percent.

So there really is not a lot between these two teams statistically speaking, which explains the three close games so far.

Roster Changes and Injuries

Same old, same old for the Canadiens who continue to play without nine regulars from their lineup—Andrei Markov, Josh Gorges, Jaroslav Spacek, Brent Sopel, Mathieu Darche, Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec, Jeff Halpern and Hal Gill.

Gill, who missed last night's game due to a flu bug, could be back in the lineup depending on how he is feeling today.

Neither Plekanec nor Halpern accompanied the Canadiens on their road trip, meaning neither will be in action this weekend. Their absences will keep Nigel Dawes and Aaron Palushaj in the lineup for the foreseeable future.

The Rangers are a relatively healthy team, save for Chris Drury, Alexander Frolov and Derek Boogaard who are all on the injury reserve.

Game time is at 7:00 PM EDT.

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Kamal is a freelance Habs writer, Senior Writer/Editor-in-Chief of HabsAddict.com, Montreal Canadiens Blogger on Hockeybuzz.com and Habs writer on TheFranchise.ca. Kamal is also a weekly contributor to the Sunday Shinny on The Team 990 (AM 990) every Sunday from 8 - 9 AM. Listen live at http://www.team990.com/

Follow Kamal on Facebook, Twitter, HabsAddict.com and Hockeybuzz.com

Read more NHL news on BleacherReport.com

Canadiens-Blues: Flat Performance in St. Louis Ends Habs Streak at Five

Kamal Panesar — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 04:40:33 +0000

The Montreal Canadiens and St. Louis Blues faced off last night in a game that featured four players playing against their former teams.

On the Habs side, you had Lars Eller, once a top prospect in a very deep Blues development system and on the other end of the ice you have the man he was trade for, Jaroslav Halak.

Halak faced off against his former goaltending partner in Carey Price while former Habs forward Matt D'Agostini rounded things out in a Blues uniform.

Despite all of the storylines, it was far from being a spectacular game.

The Blues, who played the night before in Columbus, looked fast, focused and on their game while Montreal struggled to find cohesion, looking distracted and disorganized.

The result was a game that was largely dominated by St. Louis with a handful of strong sequences from Montreal.

The Canadiens got on the board first when Jeff Halpern deflected his 11th of the season past Halak off an Alexandre Picard pass. But the Blues took control of the game after that with David Backes tying it at one 6:29 later.

Halak was solid for the Blues but wasn't really tested,and his teammates ultimately did an excellent job of limiting the Canadiens shots to the outside.

Carey Price, who continues to be the MVP for Montreal, was the only reason this game wasn't over early, making several spectacular saves to keep it a one goal game.

Despite Price's best efforts the Blues would add a second period marker from Andy McDonald and two more in the final two minutes of the game—one into an empty net—to clinch the victory.

Former Habs Halak and D'Agostini got the victory with D'Agostini, who played an excellent game, scoring the insurance marker on his 14th of the season.

And with that, the Habs five game winning streak is dead. Long live the streak!

Final score: Blues 4 - Habs 1

Habs scorers: Jeff Halpern (11)
Blues scorers: David Backes (24), Andy McDonald (17), Matt D'Agostini (14) T.J. Oshie (8)

Three stars: 1. Jaroslav Halak, 2. Andy McDonald, 3. Matt D'Agostini

Game Notes

1. The Habs heads were just not in the game.

Only two days after the "hit heard around the world", the Montreal Canadiens were back on the ice to take up arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them.

Shakespeare reference aside, the Canadiens have had a hell of an emotional last couple of days and it showed in their play.

From the start of the game Montreal looked lost, disorganized and ridiculously flat. St. Louis was the team playing back-to-back games but it was the Habs who looked tired.

Montreal had a few sequences here and there where they played more like the team that had previously won five straight games, but were a step behind the play far too often last night.

So like driving a car for the first time after you get into an accident, Montreal was just trying to get back on the horse. It will pass and the Habs will find their fire again. Just give them a few days.

2. Price was in MVP form.

Like a broken record that keeps skipping back to the same part of the song, Price was once again the difference maker last night. And while his team didn't come out of the game with a victory Price's strong play gave them a chance to win despite their lethargy.

About 12 minutes in with the Blues on the power play and applying a ton of pressure in the Canadiens zone, Price made a spectacular left-to-right save on a one-timer from the high-slot. While Price is big and plays an incredibly sound positional game, it is always amazing to see how quickly he makes his lateral displacements, especially considering his 6'3", 219 lbs frame.

With St. Louis blitzing the Habs zone for long stretches of the game, Montreal's defenders were scrambling and Price seemed like the only player who knew what was going on.

It is during games like this that we start to see why Price's name is starting to come up in more and more MVP conversations.

The Habs go as Price goes, and he once again kept them in the game when they were clearly struggling to keep up.

3. St. Louis really is an up and coming team.

With players like T.J. Oshie, David Backes, Patrick Berglund, Chris Stewart, David Perron (who is out with a concussion), Jaroslav Halak, Alex Pietrangelo and Matt D'Agostini, among others, the Blues are truly an organization on the rise.

The level of speed, skill and size in their lineup is beyond impressive and with a few years of experience and perhaps the addition of some key veterans, the Blues should become a dangerous NHL team in the not-so-distant future.

While there is no question that the Habs didn't bring their "A" game to the table, you have to give full marks to the Blues who used their speed and skill to cycle the puck. Montreal struggled to get the play out of their zone several times during the course of the game and, again, if it wasn't for Price the game would have been over early.

4. Benoit Pouliot is not a top-six player.

Pouliot, who has been having a good season while playing in the relative obscurity of the Habs third line, got another golden opportunity to show that he belongs in the top-six.

I know it's only one game but so far he didn't do a very good job.

Whereas Pouliot has looked both mentally and physically engaged while playing on the David Desharnais line, last night he looked completely lost.

Not only was he unable to get it done in the offensive zone but Pouliot also struggled to do the job in the defensive zone, cleanly losing a faceoff that led to the first goal—not that it's his job to take faceoffs—and making a defensive zone turnover that led to the Blues second marker.

It has never been clearer to me that Pouliot is simply not a top-six forward, and last night he seemed to whiter under the weight of expectation.

So I think it is time for the Habs to admit that Pouliot is a bottom six player and a pretty decent one at that. So just put him back on the Desharnais line and let him do his thing and the team will likely be better off.

5. The Max Pacioretty injury leaves a huge hole in the lineup.

The injury to Pacioretty and his indefinite absence from the lineup is going to be a big problem for the Habs offense.

Forget all the discussion about the hit itself, its consequences and the leagues reaction to it. I'm talking about the top-six vacuum that has opened up with his absence from the lineup.

Patches has been one of the Habs hottest players over the last 20 games, with 15 points (11G, 4A) over that span. More importantly, Pacioretty play had revived the Habs second line, with Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez.

The Habs first line is already struggling to get things going with Jeff Halpern, a bottom-six center, playing as a top-line winger. So with the Habs paper thin depth in the top-six, Montreal absolutely needs more out of Tomas Plekanec, Michael Cammalleri, Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta.

It's great that the Lars Eller line has been getting it done lately, but the Habs need their veteran offensive players to start getting it done on a regular basis.

Those four players are the ones who must carry the load for Montreal in order to keep this party going otherwise things could get ugly in a hurry.

Standings and Next Game

The loss snaps a five-game winning streak for Montreal who remain in sixth overall in the East with 81 points in the standings. With Boston falling 3-2 in overtime to the Sabres, Montreal missed a prime opportunity to inch closer to them.

Montreal is three points back of Tampa and five back of Pittsburgh who has one game in hand.

The Habs continue to have a comfortable buffer on the seventh place team, which is now the surging Buffalo Sabres who have 74 points and one game in hand.

The Habs will now return to Montreal where they have a Saturday matinee against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Bell Centre.

I'm headed to New York City for the weekend so I won't be doing my pre and post game pieces, but I'll still be updating my news links on a daily basis.

Have a great weekend folks!

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Zdeno Chara, Max Pacioretty Fallout: An NHL Backlash Is Growing

Kamal Panesar — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 20:28:13 +0000

After Zdeno Chara knocked out Max Pacioretty on Tuesday night—Pacioretty is out indefinitely with a severe concussion and a fractured cervical vertebra—the NHL saw fit to hand out exactly zero games of suspension and a zero dollar fine to the Bruins defenseman yesterday.

Well, from the moment the decision was announced there has been a massive backlash against the NHL that seems to be growing by the minute.

Bloggers, fans and media alike are furious for various reasons that the NHL deemed the play a "hockey play" with no further punishment required.

During the course of the day today it was announced that the Montreal police would be launching a criminal investigation into the Chara hit, and yesterday the Canadian House of Commons, led by Michael Ignatieff, said that if the league did not take action to curb concussions and hits to the head, they would.

In addition, Air Canada, the NHL's largest sponsor, sent a strongly worded letter to the league telling it that if it did not take immediate action to rectify a problem that has become a plague in the league, they would pull their corporate sponsorship.

Clearly this is not just a case of homerism from Habs fans, but rather a public outcry that seems to be getting louder by the hour.

The Crux of the Matter

Many, if not most people, have been arguing the point of intent and whether or not Chara had the intent to injure Pacioretty.

While I don't think that Chara intended for Patches to be as badly injured as he is, he certainly did intend to delivery a painful body check in a dangerous area of the rink, and for that he should be held accountable.

Intent is a curious thing because without a confession, it is nigh on impossible to prove. As such, and since it wasn't called on the ice in the form of an attempt to injure penalty, I say that it is time to take intent out of the conversation.

What is important is that Chara's play was reckless and illegal—interference—and caused a severe injury to the Canadiens player. How then can the league say that it was merely a "hockey play" meriting no further suspension?

If I was driving my car at 60 kilometers per hour in a 50 zone and I hit and killed someone, I wouldn't be charged with first-degree murder—which is premeditated—but I would certainly not get off scot-free.

My action would be reckless, and as such I would likely receive a charge of manslaughter or second-degree murder, for which I would most certainly expect some jail time.

Looking at the Chara hit on Pacioretty, and again, removing intent from the discussion, Chara made a reckless play that damn near killed another player but did not receive any supplementary discipline.

How can that make sense in any world, especially in the NHL, where concussions and head shots seem to happen far too often and where the league has said it wants to curb them?

The amazing thing is that as much as the league talks about wanting to get head shots out of the game, it continually drops the ball when given the chance to send a message.

So should Chara have been suspended because he intended to hurt Pacioretty? No. But he should have been suspended for a reckless play that almost cost Pacioretty his life.

Instead, they sent the message that if you insult another player's girlfriend, as Sean Avery did a few years back by calling Elisha Cuthbert—who was then dating Dion Phaneuf—"sloppy seconds," you get a six-game suspension.

However, if you make a reckless play on the ice that comes frighteningly close to ending another person's life, it's just part of the game and you should not be held accountable.

Wow, it sounds like the lunatics are running the asylum to me, and I think that the NHL is in need of a serious change at the top before someone gets killed on the ice.

A Note on Air Canada

A good friend of mine, Chris, used to be involved in auto racing at a very high level and at one point had a meeting with Air Canada to discuss them becoming a sponsor of his racing team.

Chris, who excels at face-to-face meetings, charmed the pants off them by talking about his team's passion to win and even going so far as explaining his vision of what an Air Canada-sponsored car would look like!

Well, needless to say, the AC execs loved his plan, enthusiasm and ideas but said that there was no way they could become a sponsor. Their reason was that Air Canada, as an airline, could not associate itself with anything or any sport that has the continual potential for people to die. Given that many people are scared to fly to start with, aligning itself with something that can make people think about death was a non-starter.

So while some are saying that Air Canada's public condemnation of the NHL and pressure on it to make changes is a pure PR play, I think there could be a lot more to it than that.

When Pacioretty fell to the ice, there were many, myself included, who thought he was dead. Personally, I felt that it was that seminal moment in hockey history that many have talked about and everyone has feared—where a player would die on live television because of a reckless play.

That he survived and is not more seriously injured is a miracle, but it made many people realize just how close the NHL came to losing a life.

It is time for the league to make a serious deviation from their hands-off mentality, because the next time a player is hit like that, he might not get up.

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Montreal Canadiens vs. Florida Panthers: Carey Price, Habs Declaws Panthers

Kamal Panesar — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:26:00 +0000

The Montreal Canadiens were back to their old tricks yesterday as they took on the Panthers in Florida. The game started with good pace, but the Habs once again fell into bad habits.

Good rhythm to game? Check. Nice early scoring chance? Check. Good jump from your players? Check. Useless early-game penalty that has the potential to destroy any accumulated momentum? Check.

Fortunately for Habs fans, instead of losing momentum off the early penalty, they came roaring right back, intent on reversing that trend. Less than three minutes after the penalty had expired, Hal Gill—yes Hal Gill—fired his first goal of the season and 34th of his career past a screened Tomas Vokoun.

The goal was Gill's first in 100 games, dating back to December 31, 2009.

Andrei Kostitsyn kept his hot streak going when he took a short pass from Travis Moen and rifled it past Vokoun from 30 feet out with no screen. That was enough for Panthers coach Peter DeBoer, who pulled Vokoun in favour of Scott Clemmensen after giving up two goals on three shots.

Sadly for Florida, their fate didn't change with a new keeper in the net, as the Canadiens added two more before the end of the game to bury the depleted Panthers 4-0.

While he wasn't tested often, Carey Price was the uncontested star of the game, coming up with several excellent saves, especially in the third period and on a late second period power play. At that point, it was 3-0 Montreal and a goal by the Panthers could have let them back into a game that they far too often looked content to lose.

Price earned a 30th win—second in the league—for the first time in his career.

He also earned his seventh shutout of the season—11th of his career and second most in the league this season—and is making a strong case for both Hart and Vezina Trophy consideration.

Final score: Habs 4, Panthers 0

Habs scorers: Hal Gill (1), Andrei Kostitsyn (16), David Desharnais (7), Lars Eller (5)
Panthers scorers: None

Three stars: 1. Carey Price; 2. Andrei Kostitsyn; 3. James Wizniewski

Game Notes

1. Well hello, Mr. Kostitsyn, it's nice to see you again!

With a goal and an assist last night, Andrei Kostitsyn has quietly become one of the hottest players in the Canadiens lineup.

Kostitsyn now has seven points (3G, 4A) and a plus-three rating over his last five games. The interesting thing about his resurgence is that it has all taken place since he was placed on a line with Lars Eller and Travis Moen.

I've previously discussed how Eller is a much better center than winger and how the Habs would never get the best out of him as a winger. So switching him to center with Kostitsyn was a logical move.

At least to me it was.

Almost more importantly, the trend of players suddenly performing when they are no longer playing with Scott Gomez continues.

This article by JT from "The H does NOT stand for Habs" spells out the numbers and they are ugly.

If you're not into reading it, I'll spare you the suspense: every winger has a better points per game (PPG) average when playing with Tomas Plekanec versus playing with Gomez, with the exception of Benoit Pouliot.

As for Kostitsyn, well, the timing of his revival could not be more important to the Habs as they enter the home stretch and are in desperate need of secondary scoring. But we've seen this movie before and we know how it ends.

Arpon Basu pointed out on Twitter last night that while Kostitsyn lacks consistency from game to game, he is consistent from season to season averaging 0.55, 0.56 and 0.56 (so far this season) PPG over the last three seasons.

So while Kostitsyn's production is great, I caution fans not to get down on him if it drops off again. This is his sixth year in the league and if we don't know his trends by now, we never will.

2. The Habs did what they had to do.

Despite only managing six shots in the first period, Montreal was the better team and didn't have much trouble handing the lowly Panthers.

To Florida's credit, their lineup reads more like an AHL roster than an NHL team, so you can't really expect too much more from them. That being said, the Habs need to beat teams like the Panthers and far too often are unable to.

As a team that often plays up or down to the talent level of their opponents, the Habs avoided the trap of taking the opposition lightly and outplayed the Panthers, kept their shots mostly to the outside, cleared rebounds and screening player and, overall, made short work of the Florida.

Good for them because that is exactly what they were supposed to do!

3. Bench management

Since acquiring Paul Mara and Brent Sopel, Coach Martin has been doing some shuffling and tinkering with his players' ice time. And, at first glance, that might make a lot of sense since many of them, like Roman Hamrlik and P.K. Subban, have been playing a boatload of minutes lately.

So why not rest them in time for the playoffs? Makes sense to me.

To a man, the Canadiens defensive squad had the following ice time last night:

Hamrlik 22:24 (1:09 on the PP), Subban 18:53 (1:09 on the PP), Wizniewski 20:41 (0:51 on the PP), Sopel 18:47, Alexandre Picard 17:57, Hal Gill 20:31.

I understand the desire to rest players, but shouldn't the desire to win and ice your best lineup trump the former?

With Yannick Weber and Paul Mara both available for duty, why was Picard, who is clearly behind them on the depth chart, in the lineup? No offense to Picard, but having either Mara or Weber in the lineup makes the Habs a better team.

In addition, why did The Wiz play over 20 minutes, but only 51 seconds on the PP? Isn't he the hired gun who is supposed to keep the PP rolling? And if you're trying to rest Hamrlik, as the coach said publicly this week, then why play him for 1:09 on the PP instead of the Wiz?

On the topic of strange lineup changes, why was Tom Pyatt in the lineup instead of Ryan White?

White has done nothing but show he belongs in the handful of games he's played and he makes the third line, with Desharnais and Pouliot, a much better line.

Without White mucking it up in the corners and the front of the net, you could see that the third line was much less effective last night.

Pyatt, like Picard, is an acceptable player, but the Habs are a better team without these players in the lineup. So to have them randomly inserted in the roster in place of two players who undoubtedly bring more to the table makes no sense at all.

It's almost like the coach is trying to be fair or some other such insanity. You'd figure if he's going to sub any players it would be for an opportunity to rest some of the veterans.

I guess I'll never fully understand the Jacques Martin way.

4. David Desharnais is a legit NHL player

We have yet to see what he can do in the playoffs where games are much tighter, play is more physical and every inch of ice is that much more hotly contested. That being said, so far in this NHL season Desharnais is showing that he is a legitimate NHL player.

For some reason Jacques Martin and Co. have been reducing his ice time a lot over the last few games. But despite this reduction, Desharnais is still putting points on the board with 10 (4G, 6A) and a plus-four rating over his last 11 games.

This despite playing 5:01, 8:53, 10:46, 13:50 and 10:24 over his last five games.

In addition, having played 26 games this season, Desharnais has 15 points (7G, 8A) and a plus-one rating. This translates into a 0.577 PPG total, which would equal 47 points over 82 games, all while averaging no more than 12:17 per game.

I still think that the real solution for this team's lineup is to play Gomez on the third or even fourth line with a couple of muckers and promote Desharnais to the second line with Max Pacioretty and Brian Gionta or Benoit Pouliot.

The result would likely be more production from the second line and with the third line seemingly in place, the Canadiens would suddenly have three capable scoring lines.

Sounds pretty good to me!

5. What is the plan for the Habs' top line?

Since uniting AK46 with Eller and Moen, Jacques Martin has had Jeff Halpern on the top line with Tomas Plekanec and Michael Cammalleri. And while they seem to be playing decently together, Jeff Halpern is not a top-line player.

Halpern, the Canadiens' best faceoff man this season with a 56.77 percent success rate, is now playing on the wing, a position that does not allow him to use this unique skill of his.

Moreover, while he has 23 points (10G, 13A) this season, Halpern is not a goal-scorer, especially not a first-line scorer. As a result, the Plekanec-Cammalleri duo are once again in the position where they are flanked by a player who is not up to snuff.

Now that the trade deadline has passed, there are no reinforcements coming from anywhere and as such, this is the lineup that will skate into the playoff. So does that mean that Jeff Halpern is now going to be a first-line winger?

Whereas Cammalleri has looked more comfortable since returning from injury, over the last two games, and especially last night, it looks like the frustration is starting to creep back into his play.

Cammy is the Habs' best and highest paid sniper and it is looking more and more like he is not a fan of the way Jacques Martin runs the ship. While nothing will happen in the short term, this is an issue that is bound to come to a head at some point in the future.

Standings and Next Game

The streaking Canadiens, winners of three straight games, now have 77 points in the standings with a 35-23-1 record. More importantly, their road record has finally reached the .500 mark at 15-15-1 (no longer the worst among playoff teams).

In addition to their three-game win streak, Montreal is 3-1 in their past four and 5-3-2 in their last ten.

Despite Montreal's success, the teams ahead of them all won last night, meaning that Montreal kept pace rather than inching closer.

Ahead of the Canadiens are the Capitals with 80 points, the Pens with 81, the Lightning with 81 and one game in hand and the Bruins with 83 points and a game in hand.

Behind them, the Habs are starting to pull away from the usual suspects with the Canes in seventh with 71 points, the Rangers with 70 in eighth and one more game played and the Sabres in ninth with 68 and two games in hand.

The Habs will now jet to Tampa to take on the Lightning on Saturday night in a critical four-point match. A win by the Canadiens would put them only two points behind Tampa in the standings and allow them to keep a good buffer on the teams behind them.

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NHL Trade Deadline: Did Montreal Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier Miss the Boat?

Kamal Panesar — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:54:56 +0000

Another NHL trade deadline has come and gone and, once again, Montreal Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier failed to make a trade for an impact player. As such, when the 3:00 PM EST deadline came and went yesterday afternoon, the anger and hand-wringing among Habs fans started in earnest.

It seems that year after year—since Bob Gainey became the GM of the team in June, 2003—the Canadiens have failed to act at the trade deadline while teams around them are continually making deals.

Aside from the trade that brought Alex Kovalev to Montreal at the 2003-2004 deadline, neither Gainey nor Gauthier has made anything more than depth acquisitions over their tenures.

So what does this say about the Canadiens' management philosophy?

Are their GMs, from Gainey to Gauthier, timid, uninterested and delusional about the quality of their teams or just too conservative to make an impact trade?

Hardly.

Love them or hate them, Gauthier, and Gainey before him, are eminently qualified to be General Managers in the NHL. Moreover, as much as fans and media alike enjoy pontificating about moves that should or shouldn't be made, few of them, myself included, have the ability to actually manage an NHL team.

So while it's nice to dream, there are some very clear realities in place that often trump the desire to make a splash.

Gauthier was working the phones

By all indications, Pierre Gauthier was extremely aggressive in this year's trade market—working the phones in an attempt to add scoring punch to his team. But when you're out there fishing for big fish, the asking price is usually high and sometimes you have to know when to walk away.

The name that is on everyone's lips this morning is Dustin Penner, since he is a player that many Habs fans thought would be a great fit in Montreal. Moreover, most thought that the Canadiens could just swap Andrei Kostitsyn for Penner, straight up.

While Penner undoubtedly brings the scoring size that the Habs are missing from their lineup, he also brings baggage and a hefty price tag. Penner has scored 21 goals this season and scored 32 last year, but much like Kostitsyn, he's been dogged by inconsistency.

Moreover, with one more year remaining on his contract after this season at $4.25 million, Penner would not exactly have been a cheap addition.

Prior to him being dealt to the Kings, there was a rumour floating around that the Habs had acquired Penner for Jarred Tinordi and a first-round pick. Looking at how much the Kings gave up for him, that price sounds about right.

The L.A. Kings, in my estimation, grossly overpaid by giving up defensive prospect Colten Teubert, a 2011 first-round pick and a 2012 conditional third-round pick. Teubert, who was selected 13th overall in the 2008 draft, is projected to be a power-house stay-at-home defenseman who should grow into a top two or three role in the future.

The only players or prospects in the Habs' system that fit this bill are Tinordi and P.K. Subban.

The Habs are not a contender

If the Canadiens were going to compete with or beat the Kings offer, they would have had to give up a similar package—essentially two first round picks and a conditional third.

Would that have been in the Habs' best interest? Would Habs fans be happy to see Tinordi or Subban shipped out of town for Penner?

In my estimation, no.

The reality is that despite some success this season, the Canadiens are a middling team and need more than once piece to be considered a contender.

Sure, adding a big, scoring winger to the mix would help the Canadiens but it wouldn't put them over the top.

The Habs have too many holes to be plugged by just one player and unless they would be acquiring a young, proven player that could play on the team for three-plus seasons, there was no reason to mortgage the future.

The window to being a contender is just starting to open, for Montreal, and there was no reason to jump the gun by trading away key picks and assets unless there was a reasonable certainty it would get them to the Cup final.

With young players like Lars Eller, David Desharnais, Max Pacioretty, Carey Price, Subban and Ryan White already playing on the team and prospects like Louis Leblanc, Jarred Tinordi, Alexander Avtsin and Danny Kristo in the pipeline, the future is already bright for the Canadiens.

So while acquiring a player at the deadline is always exciting for fans, it's not always in the best interest of the team. As such, I believe that by sitting on his hands Pierre Gauthier made the right move by not moving at all.

The Canadiens fate lies in the player’s hands now. The lineup is set and despite their struggles they still have the ability to start the playoffs with home-ice advantage.

From there, as they have done all season, Montreal will go as far as Carey Price can take them.

While they're not a contender on paper, anything can happen once the playoffs start.

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Montreal Canadiens Game Day: Habs Begin Homestretch Against Thrashers

Kamal Panesar — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 16:43:26 +0000

In Montreal, the 2011 NHL trade deadline has once again come and gone with little fanfare. And while fans are wringing their hands over another uneventful deadline by GM Pierre Gauthier, the players are surely breathing a sigh of relief as they can now focus entirely on hockey.

Despite adding Brent Sopel, Paul Mara and James Wizniewski over the course of the season, Habs' GM Pierre Gauthier was unable to land that coveted scoring winger to slot in to his top-six.

As such, the roster remained unchanged on deadline day, save for the demotion of Ryan White to the Hamilton Bulldogs.

With the deadline behind them, the Canadiens take on the Atlanta Thrashers tonight in Atlanta, officially kicking off the home stretch.

Tonight's game is the third of four meetings between the teams this season. The Thrashers have won the first two contests.

Standings

Coming off a 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, Montreal is sixth in the Eastern Conference with 73 points and a 33-23-7 record. Despite the victory and winning two out of their last three games, the Habs have only three victories in their last 10 games (3-5-2). Fortunately for Montreal, most of the teams around them have also been struggling to string together wins, allowing the Canadiens to maintain a three-point cushion over the seventh place Rangers.

While the Habs have certainly not been tearing up the league lately, the Thrashers have been in a definite free fall.

Atlanta is coming off a 4-3 overtime victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs—a win that snapped a five-game losing streak. Despite the win, Atlanta has only two victories over their last 11 games (2-7-2) and has fallen out of playoff contention as a result.

The Thrashers are currently tied with the Leafs for 10th place in the East—four points out of a playoff spot—with 63 points and a 26-26-11 record.

Goaltending

With Carey Price missing the Canadiens game against the Canes due to illness, there is no official word yet on whether or not he will get the start tonight. If he will well enough, expect to see him in the net.

With Ondrej Pavelec still listed as day-to-day, look for Chris Mason—who has started the last two games and is coming off a victory—to get the call for Atlanta.

Special Teams and Scoring

The Thrashers have an acceptable offense, averaging 2.8 goals per game (13th overall) and the eighth overall power play at 19.7 percent efficiency. It is on the defensive side of the puck that Atlanta's game falls off the map.

They have the 26th best goals-against at 3.1 per game and the 28th penalty kill at 77.3 percent efficiency.

Montreal, on the other hand, scores an anemic 26th overall 2.6 goals per game. However, it has the 10th best goals-against at 2.6 per game, the ninth best PP at 19.4 percent and the 10th best PK at 83.3 percent.

As such, if Montreal can get the puck behind the Thrashers defenders and cycle with speed, they should be able to draw penalties for some good scoring chances against a weak Thrashers PK.

Roster Changes

Aside from the recent acquisition of Brent Sopel and demotion of Ryan White to the Bulldogs, the Habs lineup will basically be identical to the one that defeated the Canes on Saturday.

Brent Sopel, acquired last week by the Canadiens, will be facing his former team for the first time.

The Habs are still without long-term injured players Josh Gorges and Andrei Markov, while Jaroslav Spacek and Mathieu Darche continue to be on the injury reserve.

There is still no official prognosis on either player.

The Thrashers added and subtracted a bevy of players leading up to the deadline with the hope of turning around a fading season. Despite their changes, the Thrashers continue to be without the services of Jim Slater, Freddy Meyer, Ondrej Pavelec, Patrice Cormier and Alexander Burmistrov.

Game time is at 7:00 PM.

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