The Montreal Canadiens are off to a perfect 3-0 start to the 2015-206 regular season after defeating the Ottawa Senators 3-1 on Sunday night. Goaltender Mike Condon was victorious and solid in his first NHL start. It was the first time since October 14th, 1967 that both starting goalies (Matt O’Connor for the Senators) were making their NHL debuts in the same game. The Canadiens will enjoy the day off on Canadian Thanksgiving and then finish their road trip Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
While I usually like to give the same amount of Props & Flops from a game, there was a whole lot more to like than dislike in last night’s Canadiens win:
Props:
Mike Condon - He won the right to backup Carey Price with his stellar play during the preseason. If there was any concern that he would buckle under the pressure of playing in a game that actually counted, Condon erased those fears last night against Ottawa. What is most impressive about Condon is his ability to stay calm and not get flustered. Condon is always aware of his surroundings and is constantly tracking the puck. Take a look at the sequence in which Condon lost his stick, P.K. Subban went to retrieve it and while they were about to exchange their sticks back, Condon kept his focus on the play and made sure he was there to make the save.
Condon’s calmness, like that of Carey Price is contagious. You could tell that his teammates felt very comfortable with him in net. Subban was full of praise postgame:
“What surprised me was his composure. He was just very, very composed in there. He wasn’t scrambling. He just was set. He trusted his structure as a goaltender. He wasn’t swimming out there. When he had to get out of his structure to make a big save, he did it,
“A lot of times when the backup goes in there, you see a sense of changing things up. But, we didn’t change anything. I felt that guys felt confident with him in there. He established early that he was ready,”
If Condon is able to continue to provide this high level of play on a consistent basis, the Canadiens will be a better team for it.
Flop:
The powerplay - Is it beginning to sound like a broken record? The Canadiens went 0-7 on the powerplay including another 5-3 opportunity. On top of it they gave up a shorthanded breakaway and goal to Jean-Gabriel Pageau, the only shot to get behind Condon all night. Players appeared static on and the Canadiens only managed 3 shots on net. I like the idea of having Pacioretty play with Galchenyuk and Semin, especially with the two man advantage. The only problem is that they appear out of sync and it looks like they need more practice time together.
Props:
Tomas Plekanec - He followed up his 500th point in the NHL with scoring two goals against Ottawa. While O’Connor would love to have the first one back as Plekanec’s harmless looking shot on net squeezed in on the short side, his second goal was a beauty on a breakaway while the teams were playing 4 on 4 hockey. Plekanec had a chance at a hat trick but hesitated on a perfect seeing eye cross ice pass from Brendan Gallagher in the third period. Instead of one timing it he received the puck, waited and then shot the puck, allowing O’Connor the time to get into position and make the save. The Pacioretty-Plekanec-Gallagher line has gotten better with each passing game as they are rediscovering their chemistry from last season’s playoffs.
Flop:
P.K. Subban - It’s not that Subban played a terrible game, however his two giveaways were brutal and the one on the powerplay directly led to Pageau’s goal. He played over 28 minutes against a weakened Boston team the night before and did not appear as sharp in Ottawa, even with his reduced ice time of 24:19. On back to back nights, Canadiens coaches will need to pay closer attention to the ice time allotment of all their defencemen on the front end of these situations.
Props:
Ice Time Allocation - I was critical of the use of the Canadiens defence and forwards against Boston but the coaches rebounded and distributed the players ice time efficiently against Ottawa. Andrei Markov played 20:21 while Nathan Beaulieu and Tom Gilbert saw their ice times rise to 16:24 and 16:40 respectively. On the forwards side, Alex Galchenyuk finally outplayed David Desharnais as he played 17:00 compared to Desharnais’ 13:47. The 4th line contributed very solid hockey in less than 10 minutes ice time. Torrey Mitchell scored his first regular season goal in a Canadiens uniform and Brian Flynn had 6 (!) shots on goal. It was a heartbreaking decision for Therrien not to dress Paul Byron in his hometown but the fourth is truly playing excellent hockey right. It is hard to pull anyone out of the lineup.
Props:
The Habs outshooting their opponent - for the second consecutive night the Canadiens outshot the opposing team, this time by a margin of 34-21. Perhaps this is the biggest difference when comparing last year’s team to this year’s edition. Playing 5 on 5 hockey, the Canadiens are winning the puck possession battles and limiting their opponents opportunities. The season is still young but this is a most encouraging sign.
Neither here nor there:
- Curtis Lazar might be my favorite player on the Senators. The young man gives 110% each and every shift, is fast and always has a smile on his face. You can really sense the joy he has playing professional hockey
- Erik Karlsson did not look like the reigning Norris trophy winner or even same player who excelled in last year's playoffs against Montreal. He and defence partner Marc Methot were on the ice for each of the Canadiens goals. Karlsson has the ability to change the game with the puck on his stick but he was barely noticeable last night.
- Tomas Fleischmann might have played his best game of the season last night. He looked very involved in the play and created opportunities in Ottawa’s zone.
- The Canadiens have been doing a very good job of drawing penalties using their speed and refraining from retaliating. Good things happen when you keep your feet moving. If only they could keep that momentum on the powerplay.
- Tom Gilbert played a very strong game with 3 hits, 4 blocked shots, one takeaway and two shots on ice. Will he be able to keep this up night and night out?
Cheers & Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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