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Reports out of Montreal are that Price is skating and trying to push his return... Is this about to muddy the waters for tonight's game? Should Price get the start if he can go or has Tokarsky proven worthy of the starting job right now?
At this point, unless Price is 100% ready, and I don't see how that could be the case, I don't think Tokarski should be messed with. He is most definitely NOT the reason the Canadiens are down 3-1 at this point. The Habs power play and their inability to create on offense, combined with some players being exhausted from over use while others are not getting enough ice time at all.
The Habs are currently a 2 line team going up against a 3 line team of defensemen. And that is starting to show as the series reaches into its elimination stage of games 5, 6, and 7.
For example.
The Rangers had 9 forwards who played roughly 15 minutes or more, but only 2, St Louis and Hagelin were on the ice for 17:30 or more.
The Canadiens had 5 forwards, Gallagher, Plekanec, Gionta, Desharnais and Pacioretty over 19 minutes of ice time, Galcheynuk with 17 minutes and no other forward over 13:30 in ice time, with most being under 13 minutes.
That is catching up with the Habs...especially when you consider that Bourque, Eller and Vanek, who lead all Habs forwards with 5 playoff goals a piece, played 13 minutes or less in a 66 minute game.
Meanwhile, on defense, Mike Weaver, who is a +8 in the playoffs, on a team where no one else is higher than a +4, played 13:39 While Markov and Emelin, both -4 in the playoffs, played 28 minutes and 24 minutes respectively.
On the Rangers side, St Louis and Hagelin lead the team in goals with 6 a piece. St Louis played 21:01. Hagelin played 23.44.
Another way to look at it is the Habs biggest minute players, with the exception of PK Subban who played over 33 minutes, are also the team's worst +/- players and not their leading scorers in the playoffs.
Wanna see who is out coaching who in plain numbers? Let's Look at the nine players who played more than 19 minutes in the last Habs game and what they have produced so far in the playoffs....
Subban 33:16 5-8-13 (-2)
Markov 28:20 1-6-7 (-4)
Emelin 24:02 0-2-2 (-4)
Desharnais 21:55 1-6-7 (+2)
Paccioretty 21:47 4-5-9 (-2)
Georges 21:16 0-2-2 (even)
Gallagher 19:48 4-6-10 (even)
Plekanecs 19:33 3-5-8 (-7)
Gionta 19:07 1-5-6 (0)
Total 19 goals 46 assists for 65 total points in 135 Total games and a combined MINUS 19 in the playoffs. HOW IS THIS A TEAM IN THE CONFERENCE FINAL? The Habs as a team have scored 45 playoff goals and given up 41. Two reasons. Big clutch goals and defense from players who are getting almost no ice time and great clutch goaltending. And PK Subban. No question.
Meanwhile in NY...The top ice getters in the last game...
McDonough 30:13 3-7-10 (-1)
Girardi 27:57 1-6-7 (even)
Staal 24:53 1-3-4 (+6)
Hagelin 23:44 6-4-10 (+5)
St. Louis 21:01 6-7-13 (+2)
Stralman 20:11 0-5-5 (+6)
Moore 17:27 2-4-6 (-3)
Zuccarello 17:15 4-7-11 (+7)
Nash 17:00 2-6-8 (+1)
So the basics of who is out-coaching who comes down to this...
Playoff Points and +/- for the top 5 players with Ice-time in game 3
The Rangers top 9: 25 Goals, 50 Assists, 75 points a combined +23 in the playoffs so far.
The Canadiens top 9: 19 Goals, 46 Assists, 65 points a combined -19 in the playoffs so far.
The one thing a coach truly can be held accountable for is ice time...It is up to him as to which players are on the ice and when.
Let's look at the players the Habs didn't play as much...
Galchenyuk 16:51 1-0-1 (even) in 3 games
Weaver 13:39 1-3-4 (+8)
Eller 13:20 5-6-11 (+3)
Vanek 13:14 5-4-9 (-3)
Bourque 12:54 5-3-8 (+1)
Briere 12:31 3-4-7 (+2) in 14 games
Bouillon 12:23 2-0-2 (+4) in 7 games
Weise 9:40 3-2-5 (+3)
Bournival 8:42 0-1-1 (-1) in 12 games
25 goals 25 assists 50 points a combined +13 in the playoffs so far in 111 total games.
Playoff Production of Habs top 9 ice time players vs bottom 9 ice time players in Game 4.
Therrien's Top 9:
Total Icetime in Game 4: 209 minutes
135GP. 19 Goals, 46 Assists, 65 points a combined -19 in the playoffs so far.
Per Game: .14G .34 Assists .48 points.
Therrien's Bottom 9:
Total Icetime in Game 4: 107 minutes
111GP. 25 goals 25 assists 50 points a combined +13 in the playoffs so far.
Per Game: .22G . 22 Assists .45 point.
Wow, right? Michel...what the hell?
To be clear...The 9 players Therrien decided to play half as much in the pivotal game 4 have been scoring almost twice as many goals and equaling the production of Therrien's top nine...WITH LESS THAN HALF THE ICE TIME. And they are a combined +13 versus a -19 for the nine players Therrien played the most?!?!
This is why Habs fans should be frustrated on one hand and optimistic on the other. The fact of the matter is the Habs are in the Conference Final and while they have to win 3 straight, they have two games at home. And the other fact is they just took the Rangers to overtime despite not using their players in their optimal way.
At the end of the day it doesn't matter if Price is in goal or Tokarski, or even you...What matters right now is that the time has come for Therrien to play the players who are performing and have somehow gotten them to this round...despite the limit time they have had to do so...
Thoughts? Podcast going live at 1pm.
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