1) A big part of the Montreal-Toronto rivalry this season has centred on two players that know each other pretty well--Max Pacioretty and James van Riemsdyk.
In the four games they've played against each other, these USA Olympic teammates have combined for nine goals. JVR's five beats Pacioretty's four, but Montreal's star winger added a couple of assists to his total.
After Saturday's game, Pacioretty said he's more of a rush player and that JVR is more of a net-presence with soft hands. Pretty accurate assessment if you ask me.
I can't help but laugh at the notion that people view Pacioretty as a perimeter player, or a player that doesn't get to the net often enough. If you were blessed with his shot, you'd shoot from everywhere too.
13--That's the number of pucks Pacioretty threw at Jonathan Bernier's net (8 on net, 1 blocked, 4 missed). You're never going to keep him off the scoresheet if he's allowed to shoot that much.
Let's go through the multi-goal games:
Pacioretty scored a hatty against Vancouver before the break with six shots on net, and another three shots wide.
Two goals against Dallas on January 2nd, seven on net, two blocked, two missed.
Two goals against Carolina on December 31st, four shots on net, three wide.
Two goals against Phoenix on December 17th, six shots on net, three wide.
Two goals against Toronto on November 30th, nine shots on net, three blocked.
Two goals against Pittsburgh on November 23rd, three shots on net, two blocked, two missed.
Three goals against Minnesota on November 19th, 10 shots on net, two missed.
Let's all shut up about the whole go to the net thing. Pacioretty does plenty of that. The mantra on him should be "shoot". He should shoot every puck that lands on his stick. That's why he has 29 goals this season. That's why he's scored 27 in his last 41!!!
2) Michel Therrien takes plenty of heat, and a lot of it is well-deserved, but he's got the Canadiens in home-ice advantage, eight points up on the playoff bubble, and the sense is that they can play better than what we've seen from them over three one-goal hockey games since the Olympic break.
One step back-- having Emelin and Murray on the ice against Phil Kessel, leading to what should've been a back-breaking goal to give the Leafs a 3-2 lead, despite a 2-0 deficit earlier in the game.
Two steps forward--proper use of a timeout, for once. Therrien settled everybody down and kept everybody positive after he noticed a huge sag on the bench as Kessel's shot found the back of the net.
3) Subban's shot on the powerplay was pretty clutch, but the goal summed up how defensively committed the Leafs are. You can't really fault any single player for the puck finding the back of the net on that shot, but I'd ask Canadiens' fans to remind me of the last time they saw Subban have as much time to get three one-timers off uncontested on the powerplay.
Nobody on the Leafs side pushed themselves into the lane to block his shot. Phaneuf was stuck having to do it from three feet in front of his goaltender. I can't blame players for not always wanting to step in front of Subban's shot, but to not play him closely on Montreal's powerplay is practically begging to get scored on.
4) Speaking of Phaneuf, it wasn't a great night for him in Montreal. That said, I have no clue how anyone comes up with the evaluation that he's not a great defenseman. He's not fun to play against at all, and he brings it on both sides of the ice. The thing is, he plays with Carl Gunnarsson. And Carl Gunnarsson is a turnstile. And looking past Gunnarsson, only Tim Gleason has any kind of pedigree in his own zone on that Toronto blue line.
It's a good thing they can score with any team in the league, but it's not that hard to figure out what limits the Leafs from getting to that next level.
If you mixed the Canadiens and Leafs, you'd find a pretty strong Cup contender.
5) Asked Therrien if he saw anything different from Lars Eller on Saturday night, he replied emphatically: "Intensity.".
I'd agree with that. Eller was intense, he was on the puck first, and he managed to make plays out there. That's a big step in the right direction. And you have to believe (it's harder to believe) that if he keeps it up, he's going to break through. If he keeps it up, he gives the Canadiens another dynamic to worry their opponents with.
6) Hockey's a game of details. Down 3-2, desperately in need of a goal, everyone's focused on that booming one-timer from Subban. That goal happened for two reasons:
a) Brendan Gallagher pulled a cleanly lost faceoff by David Desharnais out of Jay McClement's skates, and got it back to the point.
b) Gallagher parked himself in front of Bernier, and did more to get in front of Subban's shot than any of the Leafs did.
7) That pass by Andrei Markov on the winning goal...Are you kidding?
8) Detroit, Pittsburgh back-to-back, home to Toronto. Three games in four nights, an optional practice that had several participants on the Friday in between games, and the team nets five out of six available points with Carey Price not even dressed. You'd have predicted that, right?
This team is clearly committed.
Tough sledding ahead in Los Angeles, Anaheim, Phoenix and San Jose. Predictions?
.500 would be excellent.
9) .500 from here to the end of the season gives the Canadiens 95 pts. I like their chances of doing better than that.
Michel Therrien refused to attribute any more importance to this road-trip in contrast to the other games the Habs have in front of them. Pretty smart on his behalf. No need to apply extra pressure on his team; they understand the challenge that's ahead of them.
When asked if Therrien saw tonight's game against Los Angeles as time for payback for that ugly 6-0 pasting, he didn't bite. No bulletin board material offered.
10) Davis Drewiske was waived yesterday. Doubt he'll be claimed after not playing all year. Cap aside, this seems like freeing up a roster spot for Nathan Beaulieu, whether he or Tinordi both play or not.
Francis Bouillon...I'd imagine he'd happily accept a trade. Will there be a taker? If not, waivers seems like a likely scenario.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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