Montreal Canadiens

[ericdaoust]

Dawes also had a nice little run with Calgary a few years ago I recall.

Is Carey starting tonight or is Auld providing a break?

Don't know who gets the start tonight. Left Wing Lock does not have a confirmation, but if the entire season is an indicator it's Price until you're told otherwise.

[ericdaoust]

Price it is tonight, as per Jacques Martin. Pretty reliable source I think.

[MoreCanadianTeams]

Price it is tonight, as per Jacques Martin. Pretty reliable source I think.

The word on the street is that he knows someone on the inside


Edit: In thinking about Angus' ramblings.... if Carey gets to 38 wins then that will be the most since Dryden's 41 in 76-77...a team that iced a whole line of future HOF'rs vs this years team that ices a whole line of AHL'rs....one word....WOW

[ericdaoust]

If you read the article I wrote about Price in one of the early pages in this thread, the proof is in the pudding. When Price is the undisputed #1 goalie and can get into a rhythm, he is a top goaltender. When the platoon starts and he has to worry about isolated poor performances nailing him to the bench, the numbers falter.

One thing I would like to see over the years is more scheduled time off for Price. The fact that he has 34 wins on a 6th place team shows that he's probably playing too many games. I'd like to see a 60/20 split ideally and the hot/cold Auld is not good enough to pull that off.

[ericdaoust]

Game Notes:

-This game was decided in the first period. The Habs played terrible defensively and couldn't get the puck out of their zone. The turnovers all over the ice led to the goals. Can't really blame Price as the team was out of it until the 3rd period.

-Alex Auld was great in relief. He made several nice saves to keep the game within reach late and compensated for a continuing issue of turnovers by defencemen.

-I like PK Subban but if he's going to get in people's faces he shouldn't back down and hesitate afterwards. It's a minor thing for me as it doesn't affect him as a player but this is something I hope he can improve.

-Yannick Weber has been absolutely brutal since the acquisition of Mara and Sopel. He is better when he has a constant spot in the lineup and I think he is showing some insecurity with the recent surplus of defencemen. Two of the goals were a direct result of his turnovers.

-Not sure why you bother calling up Palushaj and Dawes only to play a combined 13 minutes. It's not like the rest of the team carried its own weight.

-Scott Gomez is useless more often than he is useful. I can think of two centermen on this team that deserve the ice time more than he does.

-Subban and James Wisniewski each scored a goal today. Both showed good patience to get pucks through to the net.

-David Desharnais really reminds me of Saku Koivu. Good honest effort, efficient skater, good hands and a strong body that allows for effective play along the boards. He had an assist on the Subban goal.

[mister_mcgoo]

bah humbug, this was a game we should have won

[MoreCanadianTeams]

Yeah, that was painful to watch. Hope we see a run starting in Minny tomorrow. I haven't heard any updates on Plekanec, one of the biggest pieces missing last night IMHO.

[ericdaoust]

Alex Auld gets the start today vs the Wild.

[ericdaoust]

Conflicting reports now, LeftWingLock and RDS say Auld will be in goal while TSN says Price will get the start. Honestly I think there is more evidence pointing to Auld.

[MoreCanadianTeams]

Wow, what an a$$-kicking. Minny deserves a better product for their fans but the Habs needed this one to catch the Bruins. Now if NJ can drop the B's on Tuesday and the Habs can drop the Swordsmen as well, then Thursdays game could swing the Division race for the Habs. Would love to see Home Ice advantage for the Bell Centre.

For what it's worth, I think I may have jinxed Carey Price a few posts ago with my positive speculation, so I'll go on record saying that he won't win another game this season, will not surpass Patrick Roy's win # and definitely not get another shut-out

[ericdaoust]

Game Notes:

-This was an excellent game where the Habs pounced on a lifeless opponent and took advantage from start to finish. I really liked the little things such capitalizing on scoring chances and sticking up for the team. I hope this builds some positive momentum that can carry the team until reinforcements arrive from the infirmary.

-PK Subban scored a hat trick and added an assist. Ever since the tough stretch where he was in and out of the lineup he has been a very good contributor to this team. I believe I read somewhere that the prior Habs' team record for goals by a rookie dman is 10, and Subban is now at 11. If so, hats off (literally) to PK!!!

-Alex Auld was solid in goal with 30 saves. The team did a nice job keeping the play to the outside and protecting the middle of the ice so that Auld didn't have to move too much laterally. He made a lot of good saves along the way. The lone shot to beat him was by Mikko Koivu on a penalty shot.

-Ryan White is a player that is really growing on me. He had a Gordie Howe hat trick today with a goal, two assists and a fight versus Clayton Stoner after a leaping check to Aaron Palushaj that should have been penalized.

-Getting back to guys sticking up for teammates, it was nice to see White and Paul Mara confront Cal Clutterbuck in the third period when he was running a bit wild looking to cause trouble. Mara and Clutterbuck were tossed with matching misconduct penalties. Nice job putting out the fire before it gets out of control.

-It was nice to see Benoit Pouliot bounce back with a solid game. He had three assists.

-Two more points for David Desharnais. He now has 21 points (eight goals) in 34 games. Pretty good for a guy that has trouble getting out of the 10-12 minute range in ice time.

-James Wisniewski was excellent today. He had a goal and an assist but from an overall standpoint he was just great at controlling the game. He made nothing but smart decisions all game.

-You know the team is playing well offensively when both Travis Moen and Tom Pyatt score goals.

-Good efforts by Mara and Alex Picard with four blocked shots apiece.

[ericdaoust]

Wow, what an a$$-kicking. Minny deserves a better product for their fans but the Habs needed this one to catch the Bruins. Now if NJ can drop the B's on Tuesday and the Habs can drop the Swordsmen as well, then Thursdays game could swing the Division race for the Habs. Would love to see Home Ice advantage for the Bell Centre.

For what it's worth, I think I may have jinxed Carey Price a few posts ago with my positive speculation, so I'll go on record saying that he won't win another game this season, will not surpass Patrick Roy's win # and definitely not get another shut-out

I wouldn't sweat it regarding Price. He played one bad game and it was a total team meltdown that first period against the Rangers. It just wasn't meant to be that night. He'll bounce back strong.

[MoreCanadianTeams]

I wouldn't sweat it regarding Price. He played one bad game and it was a total team meltdown that first period against the Rangers. It just wasn't meant to be that night. He'll bounce back strong.

I'm confident as well, but I'm also superstitious as hell too. Comes from being a goalie

[ericdaoust]

I must say that without the Hamilton Bulldogs the Habs would be nowhere this season. I think my next article will be analyzing the performances of all the guys that started in Hamilton and worked their way up, and with a fantasy spin for the future.

Max Pacioretty
David Desharnais
Ryan White
Tom Pyatt
Aaron Palushaj
Andreas Enqvist
Yannick Weber
Brendon Nash

Am I missing anyone?

[ericdaoust]

Source: http://www.hockeyinsideout.com/news/...alushaj-to-ahl

Aaron Palushaj is back in the AHL, Andreas Engqvist is up. This move makes sense as it serves no purpose to have a promising winger play the bench warmer role. I don't think Engqvist has much of a future in the NHL and he is a responsible two-way player so this makes a lot more sense in the fourth line role.

Also, PK Subban was named the NHL's third star of the week with four goals and two assists over four games.