Montreal Canadiens

[Killer67]

It really gets exhausting as a fan to constantly hear about injuries to everyone. This must be how Pens fans feel.....except their team is still stacked with 2 of the best in the world out.

[ericdaoust]

It really gets exhausting as a fan to constantly hear about injuries to everyone. This must be how Pens fans feel.....except their team is still stacked with 2 of the best in the world out.

Yeah it's very tiresome. Granted, a lot of injuries have been out of anyone's control (Cammy, Pacioretty for example) but I think there is a correlation between undersized players over 30 playing big minutes and injuries.

And for a random fun fact: Two of the three goals scored on Carey Price this season involved him being pushed into his own net. He has only been beat once clean.

[ericdaoust]

According to RDS Markov learned that he will not need a third surgery on his knee. They somehow called it good news. To me it's a minor victory in a stalemate that is hurting the Habs on the ice.

[ericdaoust]

Tonight was the home opener for the Canadiens and as usual the crowd brought a lot of noise. That energized the team for about five minutes.

I will admit that I did not watch the entire game attentively. I had my attention on other things. But what I saw was a lack of finish offensively, a lot of defensive zone breakdowns and the consequence of a low-scoring team not getting star-quality goaltending.

The Habs came out of the gate flying and quickly opened the scoring when Max Pacioretty and Andrei Kostitsyn combined to finish a 2-on-1. Then the team took three straight penalties leading to two Flames goals. A short time later the defence broke down and the Flames made it 3-1. That middle portion of the first period was the story of the game.

Carey Price did not have his best game tonight. He was not bad because the goals were primarily the result of defensive lapses and he did make several key saves to keep the score at 3-1. But he was not superman. I think the team will be in trouble this year whenever Price lets in more than two goals.

One thing that stood out was how often PK Subban turned the puck over. It was one giveaway after another. He was unable to handle any forechecking and when there was no opponent on him he managed to give it away anyway.

Any other thoughts/comments about the game would be appreciated.

[ericdaoust]

http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/328174.html

Ryan White has surgery for a sports hernia and is out indefinitely.

[ericdaoust]

I did not see the game. I was at a Sudbury Wolves game (OHL) with my new co-workers. They had a press box with tons of free food and alcohol.

I know the Habs came back in the 3rd to secure the point which is a good thing. Price looked weak in the shootout. That's all I know at this point. If anyone else saw the game please share your thoughts.

[loco man]

Grabbed Diaz off the wire and pretty happy with the results so far.

This kid looks pretty slick - that hesitation to fake Miller was really nice.

what can I expect out of him? The next Mark Streit would be nice

[ericdaoust]

Grabbed Diaz off the wire and pretty happy with the results so far.

This kid looks pretty slick - that hesitation to fake Miller was really nice.

what can I expect out of him? The next Mark Streit would be nice

In terms of his value as a prospect he is very similar to Yannick Weber. How both translate to the NHL long-term remains to be seen, but the upside is there in both cases. Asking for Streit production is a bit much IMO.

[ericdaoust]

Sorry guys, another game missed. This is the week where I defend my masters thesis so it's a bit hectic. It's nice to see Diaz get a goal and also nice to see the Pacioretty/Kostitsyn duo click again. However the team is so depleted of guys that have real offensive talent. It's going to be a rough ride until reinforcements arrive.

[ross10019]

As posted in the separate thread by Moose.

Was at the game tonight, I thought the Habs totally dominated and were simply beat by a Vezina-class goalie, as simple as that. Diaz looked good, Eller looked GREAT! Kostitsyn/MaxPac/Desharnais was a solid line all night, although Desharnais really needs to develop a shooter mentality (yes he's a playmaker first and foremost, but had he pulled the trigger quickly on a couple of shots he might have had a couple of goals). Price played well, just outplayed by a dominating Miller performance.

Gomez just plain sucked. At this point he's a borderline 2nd line NHL player, maybe even borderline 3rd, pucks died on his stick all night tonight. At one point I turned to my bro-in-law as MaxPac was attacking in the zone and going after loose pucks, and mentioned how much of a distinction there was with Gomez, who gave up on puck battles all night. Somehow, some way, he has GOT TO GO. And this is coming from a guy who has given Gomez a very long leash since his arrival, unlike some.

Diaz' goal was a beauty. Showed some real veteran savvy and patience on that marker, outwaiting Miller before pulling the trigger (not an easy thing).

[ericdaoust]

http://ourhometown.ca/sports/eastman/

Here is a link to some Habs articles written by Dean Eastman, who has also been posting these articles under PG Advised (username mooseiamcdn). It's a great read and I'll use this as a substitute for myself while I'm busy for the rest of the week. Once the week is over I will be back in full force.

I also highly encourage Dean to post links to his articles in here to get even more Habs fans to check out his work.

[ericdaoust]

As posted in the separate thread by Moose.

Was at the game tonight, I thought the Habs totally dominated and were simply beat by a Vezina-class goalie, as simple as that. Diaz looked good, Eller looked GREAT! Kostitsyn/MaxPac/Desharnais was a solid line all night, although Desharnais really needs to develop a shooter mentality (yes he's a playmaker first and foremost, but had he pulled the trigger quickly on a couple of shots he might have had a couple of goals). Price played well, just outplayed by a dominating Miller performance.

Gomez just plain sucked. At this point he's a borderline 2nd line NHL player, maybe even borderline 3rd, pucks died on his stick all night tonight. At one point I turned to my bro-in-law as MaxPac was attacking in the zone and going after loose pucks, and mentioned how much of a distinction there was with Gomez, who gave up on puck battles all night. Somehow, some way, he has GOT TO GO. And this is coming from a guy who has given Gomez a very long leash since his arrival, unlike some.

Diaz' goal was a beauty. Showed some real veteran savvy and patience on that marker, outwaiting Miller before pulling the trigger (not an easy thing).

Thanks for that. Seems like they know how to move the puck around and skate well but they just don't have the goal-scoring touch and killer instinct to put up big numbers. We saw this in the opening game too, they missed a half-dozen wide open nets that could have put the Leafs away early.

Good for Diaz. I don't know what the future holds for him but it's nice to see him be rewarded with a goal now.

[mooseiamcdn]

Hi Eric et al, here is my latest game summary on Tuesday night's contest:

P.S. for those of you who haven't yet checked out my sports column at www.ourhometown.ca, I am just your average 40-year-old 'Joe' with a love for my Canadiens. I was born in Cornwall, Ontario and raised in the Village of Long Sault, Ontario (an hour from Montreal).

I now call Whitby, Ontario home and work full-time for the Provincial Government. My articles are written out of pure enjoyment and interest. Hope you enjoy my coverage from game-to-game.

Thanks,
Dean
--------
PostGame Summary - BUF MTL 111018

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Sabres Had No Business Winning-Habs Get 'A' for Effort
Buffalo 3 - Montreal1

The Montreal Canadiens played much better hockey, but still ended up with the same result after 60 minutes of play on Tuesday night. The Buffalo Sabres road the coattails of an extremely sound goaltender in Ryan Miller as he stopped 40-of-41 shots and the visitors hung onto a 3-1 victory over the Canadiens.

The Sabres got goals from winger Thomas Vanek (game winner) and defensemen Christian Ehrhoff and Jordan Leopold. Ever-impressing rookie defenseman Rafael Diaz potted his first career NHL goal at 2:08 of the second period on a nice feed from Max Pacioretty.

Unlike their first four games, the Canadiens played an entertaining style of play, owning the first 30 minutes of the contest over the Sabres. The Habs fired 14 shots on Miller to Buffalo's 3 shots in the first period. Miller put on a goaltending clinic last night and was the primary reason why the Sabres escaped with the victory. Carey Price suffered yet another loss as he stopped 20-of-22 Sabres' shots (.909 save percentage).

The other reason the Sabres won was a mental lapse by usually dependable, Canadiens' defenseman Josh Gorges in the final few seconds of the second period. Notched at a 1-1 tie and with less than five seconds left, Gorges iced the puck. This was the turning point in the game.

The 6'5" Sabres' centreman Paul Gaustad cleanly won the faceoff versus the much tinier 5'7" David Desharnais in the Habs' defensive zone and with three seconds left to close out the frame, Vanek picked his spot and netted the game winner past Price.

The announced three stars of the game were Habs' defenseman Diaz (3rd star, scored his first NHL goal), red hot Pacioretty (2nd star, nine shots on net, one assist) and Sabres' 'tender Miller (.976 save percentage). There were 21,273 in attendance at the Bell Centre.

The Canadiens' next game is Thursday when the team travels to Pittsburgh to face the Crosby-and Letang-less Penguins. Michael Cammalleri is expected to return on Thursday as he has recovered from a laceration to his knee. Game time is 7:00 p.m. and can be seen on both TSN and RDS. TSN 990 AM radio will also broadcast the contest.

View from the Whitby Cheap Seats

Miller was a buzz saw on this night and closed the door on the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge in the third period. For anyone that watched last night's game, it was a fun game to watch even if the end result was more than frustrating to take. The Habs were the aggressor, were strong on the forecheck and they were shooting at will.

Once again, the Habs' power play was a non-factor as the team went zero-for-five on the evening. The Habs' power play sits at an embarrassing 10% after five games this season. Scott Gomez hasn't scored a regulation regular season goal since February 5, 2011. That being said, Gomez is shooting more and actually played quite well last night. He led all Habs' centreman in winning faceoffs with a .636 winning faceoff percentage (14-for-22).

Natural centreman Lars Eller continues to impress me game-after-game. I had my doubts about Eller last season, but so far this year he has played well after returning from injury and missing the entire Canadiens' training camp.

The line of Pacioretty, Desharnais and Kostitsyn was hot again last night. Note to Coach Martin--keep these kids together--you're lacking offense on a nightly basis (except for two prior contests) and these three seem to be your best chance of getting more goals.

Negatives to last night's contest for the Canadiens in my opinion was the play (or non-play) of Andreas Engqvist who had no shots on goal and saw the lowest amount of ice time with 5:21 minutes. Aaron Palushaj who was recently called up to Montreal to add scoring punch, saw only 6:04 of ice time in the game. The Canadiens might as well send both of these players back to Hamilton in order to let them play to find their game.

The Canadiens now sit at 1-3-1 on the season. Don't hit the panic button until at least the tenth game--the boys showed they can play last night. Let us hope for more of the same in Pittsburgh on Thursday.

Game Stats Review

* P.K. Subban led all Canadiens' skaters with 25:00 minutes of ice time. He registered four shots on net, was a -2 and saw 5:55 minutes of power play time.
* Montreal registered 27 hits to Buffalo's 18. Habs' rookie defenseman Alexei Emelin registered six hits in 15:04 minutes of play. I like the looks of this kid. His defensive play and hard hits are more noticeable game-after-game.
* Montreal won 36-of-71 faceoffs versus Buffalo. Andreas Engqvist was the worst of the centreman for Montreal (one-for-six, .167 winning faceoff percentage).

In Honour of Rafael Diaz' First NHL Goal

Thank you to KidThunder10 for sharing this video of 'Rafael' (tongue-in-cheek) where he actually scored his first NHL goal a few seasons ago against then Habs' netminder Jose Theodore. I don't know why it took the Canadiens' coaching staff so long to see Rafael had scoring potential. Why did it take them until the 2011-12 NHL season to insert him into the Canadiens' lineup?

View link here: http://youtu.be/SQJRUKSfrZY

Until next time, play every game as if it is your last one...

[ericdaoust]

Perfect way to offset my lack of being a hardcore fan this week! Nice long game report!

[ericdaoust]

More on last night's game:

http://www.hockeyinsideout.com/boone...-last-night-22