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The bar has been set

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So what really happened in the 2013 post-season for the Habs?

From Pacioretty, Plekanec and Price to Desharnais, Markov, Gorges and Ryder, the veterans on this team did not accomplish enough good things collectively in order to have a deep playoff run. Simple as that. No player bashing, no nailing to the cross. A lot of guys were hurt, or playing hurt and as much as they refuse to use that as an excuse, the fact is no team can sustain the losses and injuries that the Habs did to key players and hum along like nothing happened…except for the Senators. The Habs veterans were average-to-below average and that doesn’t get it done in playoff time.

Here’s what you really need to know:

  • Senators goaltending outplayed Habs goaltending, to the tune of a .950 save percentage for Ottawa versus .870 for Montreal.
  • Ottawa scored an average of four goals per game, while the Habs chimed in with less than half of that total, at 1.8.
  • The Senators scored 13 third period goals to the Canadiens’ grand total of zero.
  • The Canadiens centermen scored a grand total of zero goals.
  • The officials stymied the Habs at least once in a very costly way.

Game, series, and season…over.

What may come as a relief is that the Canadiens missing ingredients are painfully obvious and I think we can expect Marc Bergevin to remove some of the redundancies on the Habs current roster and fill the voids with what he, and the rest of us believe to be the missing pieces.

With the team set up with talented youth and a General Manager who seems to have a firm grasp on the realities of the league in 2013, there’s very little doubt that Marc Bergevin has a cogent plan to continue to remake his team. Even the most passive fan has been able to identify areas where the Habs need lots of help:

Size with toughness and scoring ability on the wings: The top nine forwards include the following names from the under-six foot clan: Plekanec, Desharnais, Gallagher, and Gionta. It’s hard to imagine the Habs charging in to 2013-14 with that many smaller bodies despite “how big they play”. 5’8” does not have the reach or power and dominance of 6’3”. To ignore this is to think yourself above the laws of physics, or that they don’t apply to the Habs. Dredge up any stat you like, but when everyone has long since come to the realization that small bodies wear out faster and more often than big bodies, the road map becomes clear. Even if the impact of physical dimensions of any given player is a point of debate, what the Canadiens do need both up front and on the back end is aggression and that typically that comes in larger packages. I’m not here to say that the Habs are criminally small and weak and fragile. While the Habs loss to the Senators is not specifically due solely to size, if you take a moment to scan the defense corps of the Habs division foes for next year, it isn’t a stretch to think that adding some beef and snarl up front is unreasonable. Of course, one-dimensional thugs need not apply, and Bergevin strongly hinted at this in his post-mortem press conference. Although we can be fairly sure that Michel Therrien would love to have one of those guys in his back pocket, it appears unlikely that Bergevin will waste a roster spot on a goon.

Universally respected as he rightfully is by his teammates, coaches, opponents, the media and fans, With Gionta’s contract going in to its final year, it’s not impossible that Bergevin could move the captain at some point once he has proven to be healthy and productive again. It would be an unpopular move to trade him but forward-thinking GMs do unpopular and bold things on the road to success. Fact is, they could use a right-handed, large body to compliment Pacioretty and Rene Bourque on the wings. Gionta may be an interesting acquisition to somebody out there who needs leadership, and scoring ability.

Clarity at Center: There’s a jigsaw puzzle down the middle. Tomas Plekanec is the Habs most complete forward, and until he can be adequately replaced on the fly, and not under an assumption or hope that Eller or Galchenyuk can replace him, there’s little sense in talking about trading him. That said, Plekanec is currently the Habs best centerman and would fetch the most return on the trade market. At 31 years old, he’s not getting any younger, and Bergevin appears to be in to moving “aging assets” before they’re worthless, but trading Plekanec now is premature, lest the Habs GM invoke the “unpopular, but bold” clause. Lars Eller was on the verge of breaking out in this shortened season. 2013-14 will be labeled as, and expected to be his full coming out party, but he is not yet ready to take on all of the duties currently held by Plekanec. We know Desharnais is both one dimensional, yet secure with his new deal, so the Habs will have to work around his, umm, shortcomings. Alex Galchenyuk remains the wild card. Drafted as the team’s future frachise #1 centerman, the 19-year-old spent nearly all of his rookie season on the wing, and with good reason. Though he led the team in +/-, that is the single most misleading stat in hockey. Rely on that number at your own peril. However, he cannot be counted on defensively just yet, especially when it comes to defensive zone faceoffs. Between his and Eller’s inability to take draws reliably, the Habs have much work to do, and until they get one, or both of them both up to speed, it makes Plekanec’s presence on the team a must.

Another top-four defenseman: This is a tricky one, but needs to be addressed. Andrei Markov’s play collapsed at even-strength in 2013; anyone with a pair of eyeballs could see this. He is no longer the team’s best defenseman, but is heavily relied upon nonetheless. He was very often caught behind the play after a bad pinch, and with ravaged knees, he no longer has the speed to recover, and once he gets back in to position, he is not physical enough to knock opposing forwards off the puck. Bergevin can get on his hands and knees and pray that Markov spends the summer strengthening his knee, and that Jarred Tinordi’s imminent arrival as a regular will be enough to save him from shopping for a pricey free agent, or trading assets to shore up the defense, but that’s a risky gamble. The blueline for next season is already crowded what with Subban, Gorges, Emelin (who may not be ready until November or later), Markov, Bouillon, and Diaz all but assured spots in the top seven (Weber and Drewiske won’t be back), which means that only one place remains for a kid like Tinordi. No upgrades have been made yet aside from the natural progression that young players demonstrate, and that’s no guarantee, either. For Habs fans who treat free agent frenzy like a free-for-all, this is sobering, disappointing news. If Bergevin decides to look outside the organization to make his defense better on the top two pairings, he’ll have a tough choice to make in terms of moving Markov or Gorges. Moving Bouillon is the easy call, but doesn’t create the hole needed to upgrade the top-four.

Iron in the bottom-six forwards: As a simple one-year band aid solution, Colby Armstrong won’t be back. Travis Moen disappointed many in 2013 on the heels of signing a four-year extension and may be moved as a result. But both players brought something to the table in terms of penalty killing and character. Bergevin will need to replace those traits, to the chagrin of the fancystat propeller heads.. Michel Therrien’s (and most fans, too) face turned unhealthy shades of greenish-purple when the Leafs and Sens (among others) took turns slapping the Habs silly in lopsided losses. In that respect it is the expectation of most fans that Bergevin fetch a player or two who can throw his fists. Therrien may be a changed man in front of the cameras and microphones, but I’d bet my last dime that he, too wishes he had at least one player with the ability to bust heads on a nightly basis. The rub is that players who can carry a regular shift (i.e. actually play hockey), yet acquit themselves well when the rough stuff starts don’t grow on trees, and Bergevin will need to decide how much this is truly a priority before investing time and energy in bringing in this sort of player.

The debate will rage all summer as to whether or not the real Canadiens were the team that streaked to a 26-9 record or the team that gave up 3.9 goals per game after clinching a playoff spot. That said, and whether it’s fair or not, expectations for the 2013-14 season are going to be sky-high for the Canadiens. Bergeron and friends will have no other mandate – both internally and externally from fans to build upon what was statistically speaking the best season from the bleu-blanc-rouge in 20 years. I hope you enjoyed drafting Galchenyuk at third overall last season because it will be the last time that they select that high based on merit for quite some time – at least that’s going to be the plan. Bergevin may not be able to make ALL of this changes required THIS summer, and no doubt this will piss off Habs fans who want it all right away. This year was like a honeymoon that ended with a nightmarish trip home. Fans will no longer be so willing to accept future first round exits if they are preceded by strong regular seasons, that much is plain and simple.

Sabotage

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Playoff game #4

Through 40 minutes, the Habs had done everything right, resulting in a 2-0 lead. Then they took a page out of the Jacques Martin playbook and sat back to defend that lead through the third period. Predictably, it did not work out for them. Without going through the painful exercise yet again, here’s why I think the Habs lost:

We can complain about the officiating all we want. By the letter of the law, the Sens’ first goal was legit. The tying goal was rife with officiating blunders from the icing call, to not calling Turris’ interference with Price.

In the end none of this matters.

The Canadiens were their own worst enemy last night when they had been their own best ally for two full periods. Now with Eller, Gionta, Prust, Pacioretty, and Price (that we know of) either playing hurt or outright injured, the Habs face a huge uphill climb.

After being the better team in three of four games in this series so far, the Canadiens certainly deserve better, but the hockey gods don’t work that way. Those of us who remember 2010 know this all too well.

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel

Not Good

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Playoff game #1

The game started well enough; the Habs skated hard, forechecked, took their shots at Craig Anderson…and then the Sens scored. Not an awful goal for Price to surrender with Erik Karlsson right on the doorstep, but it was certainly deflating.

But the Habs fought back, kept skating, kept shooting. That Anderson guy kept making saves. All of them. Suddenly, with a backhand shot that would make Vincent Damphousse proud, Rene Bourque tied the score. All seemed fine, and we had ourselves one heck of an entertaining game.

And then came Gryba.

Tattooing a defenseless Lars Eller in the head with his shoulder, leaving the Habs center bloodied and probably concussed, the air and electricity left the building. Sure the Habs scored on the resulting powerplay to take the lead, and continued to rain down shots on Anderson, but he was equal to the task. The Canadiens set a new team record in peppering Anderson with 27 second period shots; 50 for the game, but could only score twice. Amazing what a determined goaltender can do.

Enter Carey Price.

With his team dominating, all he had to do was not surrender any weak goals and game one would be theirs. Instead, he decided not to play the third period. All three goals were awful. The first went right though his legs. He got his glove on the second but it got by him anyway. The third was the result of a rebound that should have been steered in to the corner, but instead was punted directly in to the slot where a crashing Latendresse forced both himself and Subban to push the puck behind Price.

Poor focus. Poor rebound control. Poor resolve.

While certain Canadiens players were absent (hello Gionta, Ryder and Desharnais), the Canadiens were let down by their goaltender, who is paid and relied upon to deliver big saves in big moments. When the team was pouring its guts out (and in Lars Eller’s case – his blood), they needed Price to stand tall, and he simply did not. He failed, full stop. Price will have his share of apologists, who will try to once again pin the blame on everyone else aside from Price. Question their credibility, for they are not being honest with you, or with themselves.

Perhaps it’s for the best that they get right back to work tomorrow night. It leaves them with no time to dwell on this deflating performance from their most important player, but gives them just enough time to take a deep breath after an emotional game that saw one of their best players injured.

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel

All’s Well That Ends Well

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Regular season game #48

Canadiens coach Michel Therrien decided that resting key players was not as important as going all out to win the division. He did not rest any of his key players except for Carey Price, feeling that going for second place in the conference was the priority. As has been the case for the most part this year, his decision turned out to be the correct one.

Led by Lars Eller, Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher once again, the Canadiens regained a measure of confidence against the Leafs, who had inflicted the season’s worst beatings on the Canadiens. If Leafs forward Joffrey Lupul’s claim that the Leafs were the bigger and tougher team riled the Canadiens (despite the validity to the claim), then we can thank the injury prone big mouth for giving the Canadiens something to prove.

The Canadiens were clearly the better team all night, holding a listless Leafs team to just 17 shots in the entire game, including just one shot in the second period while they built a 3-1 lead. Once the Habs took a 4-1 lead early in the third period, the Leafs did what you’d expect. They tried to batter and pummel the Habs. Referees Wes MacAuley and Marc Joannette had to know that was inevitable; they cut off all antics at the pass, issuing game misconducts to both Frazer McLaren and Clarke MacArthur for things that would have otherwise been let go under different circumstances.

Fans always tell themselves whatever they need to in order to feel good about their team’s chances in a given situation. So if the Leafs and Habs do end up playing each other next week, both sides will have supporting arguments that seem entirely valid in their own minds. If you’re a Leafs fan, you tell yourself that you won the season series 3-2, including a 2-1 season-opening game in enemy territory, and two humiliating beatdowns in which they outscored the Canadiens 11-1. You tell yourself that the bigger Leafs will quickly wear down the smaller Canadiens. If you’re a Habs fan, you say that you won the final game of the year in convincing manner, that there is little connection between head-to-head regular season success and playoff success, that the Canadiens were fundamentally sound for most of the season while the Leafs were not, despite their winning record.

We don’t know who the Habs will play yet, but it has to provide Habs fans with a substantial measure of relief that the Canadiens won their last two games by a combined score of 8-3 when previously to that they were unable to do anything right. They look playoff-ready, which is the most important thing. Now we find out if the Canadiens perceived lack of size will be a problem, or if they will able to dig deeper and buck conventional wisdom.

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel

The Comforts of Home

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Regular season game #47

Tonight’s game against the Jets had two distinct flavors to it. The first 40 minutes saw the Jets’ larger forwards have their way in the Habs’ end, giving the defense fits. Another collapse looked imminent. As has become recent tradition, the Canadiens D seemed too willing to give up odd-man rushes and full-on breakaways. Indeed, it is a concern when callup Jarred Tinordi was the most effective player in the defensive zone.

With a 2-1 lead heading to the third, and with their playoff hopes on life support, the Jets got the news that they had to know was coming. Both the Rangers and Senators won, dashing their playoff hopes for good. Whether the Jets sagged, or the Habs showed some urgency, aided by some powerplays that allowed the Habs to at least temporarily fire up the scoring machine that had worked so well through 40 games, the game tilted heavily in the Habs favor.

With fourth place in the Eastern Conference now the lowest the Habs can finish, if I were Michel Therrien, I would take a pre-emptive wiz on the CBC’s Habs/Leafs parade and make Saturday’s regular season finale as unimportant as I possibly could. I would take the hype right out of the game. The Habs don’t need it. Regardless of the outcome, the Leafs will win the season series and take that advantage to the bank, and it only brings the possibility that some Habs regulars could get further banged up, or hurt altogether. After all, when a team boasts such hockey luminaries as Colton Orr, Frazer McLaren, and Mark Fraser, why allow these glorified goons one last opportunity to take cheap shots at the Habs more important players? They’ll likely play very sparingly, or not at all in the playoffs, so any “discipline” that may be doled out by Shanaban would be totally ineffective. In short, Price, Plekanec, Markov, Ryder, Gorges, Prust, Gionta and Bouillon all get to watch the game from the press box while Bulldogs fill the void.

Tonight’s game saw the Habs show more push-back and spark than they have in a couple of weeks. Good news indeed, but the best news – by far – is that Carey Price looked like Carey Price. He made several big stops when the Jets were up 1-0, and could have given the Habs the confidence they needed to forge ahead without the fear of a softy going in behind them. If Price has indeed reasserted himself and found his game once again, it can be nothing but bad news for whoever the Habs face in the first round. But before we get ahead of ourselves, the defensive coverage that the Habs have been displaying lately was not much better tonight. The Coaching staff still has more work to do, starting with giving some tired legs time to recuperate.

There’s one more game to go, but with any luck it will be but a mere formality.

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel

Flightless Birds, Flightless Habs

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Regular season game #43

Tick tock tick tock.

That sound you hear is the clock winding down on the regular season that has seen the Canadiens go from a well balanced, disciplined and resilient team to an impotent, wayward and fragile bunch. What gives? Is this more than just a simple slump?. Recently the Canadiens have been out of games in the first period, so perhaps some questions from Habs Nation are justified.

It was another all around rough night for everyone, including Norris trophy contender P.K. Subban, who looked out of sorts and eventually found himself tossed from the game in the third period. Conversely, two bright spots were Lars Eller, who had a pair of assists, and Alex Galchenyuk, who eased the pain of yet another beat down with a beauty goal from in-close on Fleury. While the vets look to keep the pace up, these two youngsters have turned on the jets.

This mini losing skid has been so surreal in the way that the Canadiens have completely imploded on defense, and on a compete level that you get the sense that there’s some sick joke at play from the hockey gods; teams that have played as well as the Habs have all year don’t suddenly forget who to play hockey. Unless you prefer to panic, or denigrate the team’s work to this point, then it’s important to note that the Habs success through 38 games was not a fluke nor an accident. They won games by being great at even strength, and not relying on goaltending to keep their even-strength dominance afloat. That they’ve given up 22 goals since losing Emelin is certainly a concern but I believe his loss is felt more in the domino effect of having to create new pairings, and ask more of older bodies more than the loss of the player himself. Let’s not forget that Emelin was struggling mightily on his own before tearing his ACL. So while the Habs are better with his physicality on the roster than without him, to suggest that this three-game slide is solely due to his absence is ludicrous.

If you’re glass half-full (and there’s no reason not to be), then chalk this up to a team that is going through what every team does at some point during the season. This team needs a break, and then it needs to get some quality practice time in, and in between it needs a players-only meeting to clear the air. While this is not a disaster yet, it hasn’t stopped Habs nation from plunging in to full-blown panic mode before the losing streak has really even heated up. Given the embarrassing the results of the last three games, giving in to panic might feel justified, but things won’t be allowed to fester for much longer. With a game tomorrow night against the saggy Lightning, the down time and the practice will have to wait at least another day.

Tick tock, tick tock.

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel

First Place For Another Day

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Regular season game #38

In the season’s final game of the long-running rivalry between the Bruins and Habs, it was the home team that finally broke through to claim victory, in the tightest of margins and the most stressful of manners.

Clinging to a one-goal lead with less than two minutes to play, Lars Eller grabbed a fistful of Zdeno Chara’s jersey and spun him to the ice. Whether the big ape helped himself to the ground is irrelevant; Eller, who had played a strong game to that point, showed a lack of judgement. Luckily it didn’t cost the Habs because the dismal Bruins powerplay was still dismal, even with the addition of Jaromir Jagr. They threw the puck around the ice and desperately hoped the big old Czech would fix everything for them. The final siren blared with the puck on Jagr’s stick and with no urgency from him at all.

The best Habs players list is starting to sound like a broken record. PK Subban had another two assists and had a Fenwick score of +16. For the #fancystats uninitiated, take my word for it: that’s really good (hat tip to @Heymynameiswill). His case for the Norris trophy continues to grow by leaps and bounds as he piles up the stats, minutes and defensive prowess needed to earn votes from the powers that be. Whether he wins the Norris or not isn’t all that important in the grand scheme of things. What is important is that the Habs have one of the league’s premier defensemen…if that hasn’t been obvious for a couple years already.

Carey Price was also stellar, turning aside from 26 of 27 shots and kept the Bruins third period push at bay. His rebound control was outstanding and the poise for which he’s become known for was on full display. It’s odd that it was his first win against the Bruins since October of 2011, but facts are facts, and with the playoffs around the corner, it’s a good confidence booster for Price to have should they face Boston in the postseason.

After suffering a reported groin injury on Wednesday in Philadelphia, Tomas Plekanec was back in the lineup and looked like his former self. He won 70% of his faceoffs which is key considering his Bruins counterpart, Patrice Bergeron sat the game out with yet another concussion.

It was a busy week for the Habs that saw them play five games in the last eight nights. Posting a 4-1 record during that stretch is absurd, and is only made more absurd by the fact that they surrendered just three goals in the four wins. This team navigates fatigue, travel and injury perfectly, and for that Michel Therrien, who has not had a full practice with his team in 8 days now, deserves an enormous share of the credit.

Next week is decidedly slower, with a home game against the resurgent Capitals on Monday, followed by two road games in Buffalo and Toronto.

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel

Ryde On!

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Regular season game #37

Just 24 hours after the apocalypse, the fallout has cleared, the sun has broken through, and the world has righted itself. Situation normal.

While nothing went right in Philadelphia, everything went right against the Jets. With major concern swirling around Plekanec’s absence, Habs fans wondered how their team would conduct itself minus their most important centerman. We’ll concede that while the Jets aren’t hockey’s Harlem Globetrotters, the Habs did pretty damn well, especially the two young centermen with the spotlight on them: Lars Eller and Alex Galchenyuk. Eller had a goal and an assist, and looked much more like the active, versatile player we’ve become accustomed to while Galchenyuk emerged from a prolonged slump to score his 4th goal of the year. It’s not abnormal for a rookie, even one with Galchenyuk’s gifts to lose their way a bit during their first season as a pro, but on his goal, he was circling like a shark in chummed waters. He found a dead spot eight feet in front of Pavelec and waited for the inevitable. Slump = over. Michael Ryder continued his torrid pace, with two goals and an assist, and P.K. Subban was up to his usual tricks with another two assists to vault him in to the NHL’s top scoring defenseman with 30 points. Peter Budaj for his part turned in another strong performance as Price’s backup, turning aside 33 of 34 shots in front of members of his family. He was well deserving of the second star, and should strongly be considered for a contract extension. It never fails to entertain me when fans denigrate his work by saying he only plays “weak teams”. Newsflash: he’s designated, and paid as a backup…of course he plays the “weak teams”! (Let’s conveniently forget that he’s 2-0 against the Bruins this year.)

We could be worried about the Habs two-game trend of taking minimal shots on goal in the third period, but with the team as battered as it is, it would probably make more sense to cut the team some slack considering they actually won the game quite handily and kept their grip on first place in the North East with just 11 games to go.

With a huge showdown on Saturday night against the Bruins, this was a home win the Habs simply had to have, and it’s par for the course to see them rally minus their best center to get the job done. Michel Therrien has kept a stern hand on the wheel and his decisions continue to work out remarkably well. He may not win the Jack Adams trophy, but he sure as hell deserves to be a finalist.

With Plekanec listed as day-to-day, Bourque scheduled to practice with the team, and Diaz skating for the second consecutive day, Bergevin showed that sometimes the best deals are the ones you don’t make. And in Ryder’s case, he showed that sometimes the best deals are the ones you DO make.

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel

Flying Low

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Regular season game #36

Let’s all take a collective deep breath….and exhale.

With the Habs turning in one of their worst performances of the year just hours after the trade deadline elapsed, it would be easy to slide in to a panic attack and question Bergevin’s decision not to make any moves to shore up the team.

Settle down.

Every team lays an egg once in a while. No, that’s not to say that it’s acceptable, because getting six shots in the final 40 minutes certainly isn’t acceptable. The fact is the final score flatters the Habs, since they did somehow manage to score twice in the second period. If not for the sloppy netminding of Ilya Bryzgalov, this game would have been a laugher.

The real concern following tonight’s game is the status of Tomas Plekanec, who left the game with just over 12 minutes left in the second period with a lower body injury. I’m only going to loosely make the connection, but without Plekanec, the Habs managed less shots during his absence than Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds had for the entire game on his own. If Plekanec is out for any length of time, the Habs are in serious trouble, since Eller, Desharnais, Halpern and Galchenyuk cannot replicate what Plekanec brings to the team. You can disagree, but you’d be wrong.

The Habs are a resilient bunch, and losing has not been their thing this season. All bets are off if Plekanec is seriously hurt, but considering how more than one goal deflected off of Habs defensemen and behind Price in to the net, I expect a livelier effort from the Habs tomorrow against Winnipeg coupled with a little more puck luck.

So with nothing more to talk about, the only thing to consider is what the plan becomes if Plekanec IS seriously hurt. Well, for starters, Lars Eller will take on a bigger role, and will hopefully be better than he was tonight. Jeff Halpern will also take on more minutes, especially when it comes to defensive zone faceoffs. Other than that, Desharnais will have no choice but to put points on the board on a consistent basis, and Galchenyuk will have to contribute a bit more than he has.

Again, let’s not let one loss set us on the path of despair. Until poor play becomes a pattern, assume that the Habs will bounce back, as they always have this season. If they lose the Jets tomorrow, raise an eyebrow. If they lose to the Bruins on Saturday…ok…go ahead and riot.

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel

Buffaslugged

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Regular season game #29

We’ve all heard about it, and tonight we saw the embodiment of it: the Habs, regardless of the year, regime, coach, roster and ocean tides take “lesser” opposition lightly. How else do we explain the Habs first-period performance against a team spiraling the drain, waiting for the inevitable? Sure, we could say the Habs were on a 13-1-3 run prior to this game, and that surely we can cut the team some slack. But does that make it acceptable? For a team with designs on first place in the division, if not the conference, the Habs can ill afford to leave points on the table against conference bottom-feeders.

From the tone of that opening paragraph, you’d get the sense that the Canadiens lost in regulation and walked away empty-handed. The truth is, they did not. In fact from the second period, until the end of regulation, the Canadiens ran the Sabres out of the building, outshooting them 26-8. The trouble is, a sluggish start to the first period cost the Habs, as they fell behind 2-0. As the game wore on, the Habs gathered their legs and began to pour it on. It was a strange performance from Sabres backup goalie Jhonas Enroth, who was shaky and dominant in equal measure. The game turned ugly on the Habs early in overtime when P.K. Subban went for a highlight-reel hit on a rushing Sabres player. With his stick up around the player’s head (but not making contact), Subban effectively took himself out of the play, and in to the penalty box. It was an ill-advised attempt for a home-run hit given how his teammates were dominating the game. At that juncture of the game, the only play was to keep skating the Sabres in to the ground and use the extra open ice to bury a game winning tally. Of course, we would be remiss to not mention the brain-dead penalty that Max Pacioretty took in the latter stages of the third period with his team still in full flight. Carelessly barging in to the blue paint with nobody around you is not smart. Although the Sabres did not score on the powerplay, it cost the Habs two minutes of time which could have been better spent trying to end the game in regulation.

In all, it was a decent effort from the Habs, minus the god-awful first period, which, in tandem with the Subban overtime penalty, and to a lesser extent, the Pacioretty penalty cost the Habs the win. With the Islanders and the Sabres yet again on deck this week, the Habs can set things right, or they can continue to waste the points that true contenders would happily snatch up. The Habs have given us precious little to complain about this year, so let’s take the point and hope for a more heady, complete performance on Thursday.

Follow me on twitter: @kyleroussel

PS – we are all still gobsmacked by Lars Eller’s rapid ascension, right?


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