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Habs Bank Four Points in Florida...Undefeated Against SE Division |
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I'm not sure you could call a 1-0 overtime win a perfect road game, but you couldn't accuse the Canadiens of imperfection in this one.
Sure, it didn't have the carpe diem approach most of the Canadiens wins thus far have been generated by, but the Habs limited the Florida Panthers to very few scoring opportunities. And when the pressure was on, Carey Price colled things down with distinct composure he's become known for.
Michel Therrien was able to roll four lines throughout the game, and he got solid work from each one of them. It wasn't an offensively prolific performance, but it was a job executed with precision and patience.
Alex Galchenyuk deserved a shift in overtime, and it was fitting that Rene Bourque scored the game's only goal after being the most implicated player on the ice last night. Galchenyuk made a nifty play that resulted in a broken play. Bourque made lemonade out of lemons, batting a puck past Jose Theodore, who's virtually never played better against the Canadiens than he did last night.
With that, the Habs travelled home from Florida with nice tans and four points in their pockets. A date with Philly Saturday gives them a sterling opportunity to completely erase three straight losses they suffered last week.
So far, the Canadiens are 6-0 against teams outside of their division.
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-Thought it was a great performance for Price. But he wasn't the only Hab that shined in this one. Alexei Emelin and Andrei Markov were notably more on top of their games, Subban was excellent.
-The line of Lars Eller, Colby Armstrong and Travis Moen seems to be developing some nice chemistry. They started the Canadiens off on the right foot in this game, and set the tempo for the team to play at the rest of the way. There were a couple of let downs, but it was a pretty consistent performance from the team, and a really consistent one for this line that probably should've had a couple of goals on the night before all was said and done.
-There's a fine line between continuing to struggle and showing signs of life-- and it's blurred in David Desharnais' case without the numbers to reflect improvement. I thought he played well against Florida, even if he didn't get on the board. I'm sure others disagree. Also thought when Pacioretty joined Desharnais and Cole for shifts in the second and third period, they showed more together than they have since the beginning of the season.
-Best players on Florida last night, Gudbransson, Kulikov and Jonathan Huberdeau. Not much else going on there in terms of depth. I think they really missed Kris Versteeg last night, and all things considered, they need a lot more than just him.
-That was probably the best officiating we've seen all season in a Habs game. They may have missed a few, but they weren't a part of the story line in this one. Doesn't happen often enough...
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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