As we now know, the 4-1 loss the Canadiens handed the Flyers played a role in Peter Laviolette's dismissal this morning. The nail in the coffin was a 2-1 loss to the Hurricanes last night, which put the Flyers at 0-3 to start the season after they failed to make the post-season, last year.
It was a character win for the Canadiens, and a bounce back in nearly every category from their opening night performance against the Leafs. It was a step back from the Flyers, who accomplished little more than icing the puck and taking an ungodly amount of penalties in the game.
With Max Pacioretty sidelined for the game, the story had much less to do with Daniel Briere and David Desharnais' contribution, and everything to do with Lars Eller, Alex Galchenyuk, and Brendan Gallagher's impact in a stronger role.
Eller was over 18:00 for the first time this season while Galchenyuk played a career-high 16:42. Both players were exceptional, with the former notching a goal and an assist, and the latter making two great plays that led to goals.
Saturday's performance combined with Thursday's three-point showing for Eller helped place him among the league's three stars for the week (he was second star), and the talk after Saturday's game was all about confidence; Eller's, and that of his coach, who feels he can depend more on his trio of improved youngsters.
The progression of Eller's line means a lot in the grand competition for ice-time. Michel Therrien knows he has three lines he can depend on, any one of which can emerge on any given night to propel the Canadiens to a win.
Therrien was quick to credit the line of Tomas Plekanec, Brian Gionta and Rene Bourque, who may have flown under the radar with a couple of goals on Saturday after Eller's line created and sustained all kinds of pressure in the Flyers' end.
The ice-time will be Eller, Galchenyuk and Gallagher's to lose, and after practice this morning, Therrien told reporters in attendance that
he expects "the competition level to rise" on Desharnais' line. Easier said than done, but success on that line will largely depend on Pacioretty's expected return to the lineup--possibly as early as Wednesday, in Calgary. Pacioretty practiced this morning in a non-contact jersey and is currently in transit with his teammates.
Solid performance from Carey Price on Saturday, as he turned away 23 shots and was sharp when he needed to be. The team did a superb job in front of him of making it extremely difficult for the Flyers to get up the ice and sustain any kind of tangible pressure. The disjointedness of the game was the result of a parade to the penalty box, and you'd probably call it an ugly win for the Canadiens, and an even uglier loss for the Flyers.
Regardless, the Habs will take two valuable points in the standings, notching an all important victory at home before this four-game road trip that will see them play back-to-back games with the Flames and Oilers, Wednesday and Thursday, Vancouver on Saturday and Winnipeg next Tuesday.
The Western swing is typically a strenuous trip, but most of the Canadiens are eager to spend some time away from the rink together, and to get it out of the way nice and early in the season.
Therrien confirmed to reporters at practice that Peter Budaj will start one of the games this week, and it's assumed it'll be the one against Calgary or the one against Edmonton.
George Parros remains out indefinitely with post-concussion symptoms, and Doug Murray continues to rehab an upper-body injury. Alexei Emelin has been skating on his own at Brossard, with no update on when he might return.
Nathan Beaulieu's been on the NHL-AHL yoyo since the season began. No word on whether or not he'll be joining his teammates in Calgary, but with Davis Drewiske still among the group of injured defensemen, don't be surprised to see Beaulieu join the team on this road trip as an insurance policy.
Brian Gionta stayed in Montreal for family reasons, but will join his teammates in Calgary.
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-Confidence is the right word. Carey Price says it's everything. Lars Eller says he's feeling it, and he certainly didn't need to proclaim it for us to know that it's true.
Eller also says he undoubtedly playing with two players who had impressive NHL debuts; two players that have gotten even better over the summer. Make it a trio. All three of these guys have gotten better individually and as a group.
Eller says the key to his line is puck pursuit. The kids are making it harder for their opponents to make clean breakout passes, and the resulting turnovers is giving their talent-laden trio ample opportunity to put points on the board. So far, they've taken advantage.
-Confidence is contagious. That line is displaying it, full throttle, and the coach is gaining confidence to rely on them more. Most would argue that Therrien has had ample time to reach this assessment, but he insists that the little things--details in the defensive zone, decisions with the puck--are making the decision to reward these players with more ice-time easier.
-There wasn't much made of it, mostly because the kid line had it going on, but P.K. Subban played more than 28 minutes against the Flyers.
Also of note, Raphael Diaz was at 17:35.
-Don't be fooled by Subban's use on the penalty kill Saturday. He was the Habs fourth most-used dman on the penalty kill because Diaz took two penalties in the game.
-Michael Bournival's first game didn't really afford him the opportunity to show very much. Powerplays limited him to two nervous shifts in the first period. He played nine more throughout for a total of 6:09.
-As for the prediction that Briere would score his first goal against Philly, he didn't even register a shot on goal in his 13:56. He took two minor penalties and won only 30% of the faceoffs he took.
In speaking with Briere after the game, he noted that it wasn't a very easy situation for him to be playing the Flyers in his second outing with the Canadiens. He didn't make any excuses, but admitted that he's still adjusting to the system, which has proven slightly more difficult with one of his linemates down this early in the season.
-Last week, Ray Ferraro was on Melnick in the Afternoon talking about the Flyers having the most expensive blueline in the league, and the cheapest goaltending duo to boot. When you consider that their defense core isn't very strong, and that their goaltending duo leaves much to be desired, it's not that hard to figure out why Laviolette is without a job. And yet, none of that really falls on him.
Paul Holmgren has stuck with the model owner Ed Snider has insisted on. All the wheeling and dealing is blowing up in their faces, and Laviolette payed the price.
Holmgren can't be far behind if things continue at this rate. The Flyers have attempted to stop the bleeding right now, but they may have created more instability and doubt with this move than they can currently deal with.
Someone out there is going to gain a great asset in Laviolette. This is a coach that any good GM will be after. But, man, what a raw deal for him to chew on over the next few weeks...
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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