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Game 52: Canadiens vs Sabres AKA 2 Games in One |
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Last night, Brendan "Spark Plug" Gallagher was back in the line-up and while his presence didn't have an immediate effect, it was the difference maker in the end. The Canadiens looked like they wear sleep walking early on, it took them 10 minutes to register a single shot on goal and only Carey Price seemed to be aware that the game had started. It took a Sabres power play to allow them to beat Price and make it 1-0. That also served somewhat as a wake-up call and the Canadiens slowly came out of their slumber, finishing the first frame with 8 shots on Carter Hutton's net.
I've no idea what Julien told his players of if someone else spoke up in the room but the Canadiens came out swinging in the 2nd and tied the score just 44 seconds in. Suzuki and Armia each got a helper on Kovalchuk's 8th goal of the season when the Russian took advantage of Buffalo's when he was given two chances to shoot. Then, just over 2 minutes later, Brendan Gallagher was left all alone in front of the Sabres net and had all the time in the world to get the puck past Hutton and he did so with ease, picking up his 16th goal of the season. Hopefully, Gally will not be feeling any concussion symptoms after this second return to the line-up. To be honest though, he must have been feeling absolutely fine since he was playing soccer prior to the game and even heading the ball... I quite frankly would have preferred not seeing that.
Not much happened on the scoreboard after that, the Canadiens dominated the last 40 minutes shooting 22 times while the Sabres only tested Price 10 times. Nevertheless, Hutton kept his team in the game and the Habs were only able to add an insurance marker when Suzuki generously gave the puck to Tatar and he put it in Buffalo's empty cage. Carey Price did try to score last night but his effort didn't make it to the Sabres' zone, perhaps Price is sick and tired of hearing that he can make all the saves but he can't score goals.
What can we take away from this game? Well, while Jesperi Kotkaniemi was the healthy scratch that allowed Gallagher back in, Nick Suzuki had himself quite a game. He was the 2nd most used forward, logging in 17 minutes and 50 seconds of ice-time, getting two assists and 3 shots. It wasn't his best night in the face-off department since he only won 36% of his draws but he was involved in every aspect of the game and anchored the 2nd line with Kovy and Armia beautifully. Meanwhile, Max Domi was back at centre but on the third line alongside Cousins and Lehkonen and Ryan Poehling was on the 4th line seeing only 8 minutes and a half of ice-time. On defense, Cale Fleury was once more on the press gallery while Brett Kulak saw over 21 minutes of action. This morning, the Habs announced that Fleury was being sent down to Laval.
With this win over Buffalo, the Habs saw their odds of making the playoffs jump to a whooping 1.6% and those to win the draft lottery go down to 6%. While no one will make me believe that the Canadiens will make the spring dance, there's still Something satisfying about pulling off a win here and there... I mean who enjoys seeing their team lose? From now until the end of the season, this is what it's all about, finding ways to enjoy what's left of this train wreck of a season... As the Canadiens get nearer to elimination, they might just decide to send the youngsters down and let them play a lot of minutes in a playoff run with the Laval Rocket so enjoy them while you can.
The Habs are now back in Montreal and as is the tradition during the Super Bowl weekend, they'll be playing back to back afternoon games Saturday and Sunday. First, the Panthers will roll into town (they are 8 points ahead of the Tricolore in the standings) and then, the Blue Jackets (the current first wild card team in the east) will come knocking. Losing those games would pretty much be the final game in this season's coffin, it will be interesting to see how Montreal handles the pressure that will come with those match-ups... With a 10-13-4 record at home, the Bell Centre is hardly an advantage for Claude Julien's men.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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