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Welcome Back Mr. Plekanec! Habs Defeat Oilers 5-1 and Puck Props & Flops |
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The Montreal Canadiens took a step forward on Hockey Day in Canadiens they defeated the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 to stop their losing streak at four games. The Canadiens put on a show for their young fans in attendance on Saturday afternoon as the enthusiasm in the Bell Centre was contagious. For the first time in quite awhile, it looked as though the Canadiens were having fun and were not overthinking the game. It was also the first time since the Winter Classic that the Canadiens managed to score more than 3 goals, a game which also happened to be a 5-1 matinee victory.
It looked as though it might be a long afternoon for the Canadiens as the Oilers came out of the gate flying in the first period, thoroughly dominating the first 5 minutes. Rather than give up a backbreaking early goal, Ben Scrivens stood tall against his former team and gave the Canadiens to settle down while he made timely stops. A Canadiens power play changed the momentum as Brendan Gallagher redirected a Tomas Plekanec shot to give the home team a 1-0 lead. Less than 10 minutes later Lars Eller would score what would prove to be the game winning goal off a nice pass from linemate Tomas Fleischmann. Unlike previous games in which the Canadiens had a lead, the team came out for the second with their feet still on the gas. Midway through Plekanec would break up the Oilers play and score his 10th goal of the year. With less than two minutes left in the second, P.K. Subban joined the rush to net his 5th of the season. The Oilers got one back early in the 3rd period as Benoit Pouliot scored a short handed goal. The Canadiens though showed their resiliency as they continued to push and outshot the Oilers 13-4 in the 3rd. Tom Gilbert scored his 1st goal of the season to make it a final 5-1 victory for the Montreal Canadiens.
My Props & Flops from the game:
Props:
Ben Scrivens - He earned his 1st victory in a Canadiens jersey and did it in style, defeating his former team in the process. Scrivens looked calm, collected and confident throughout the game. He gave his teammates a chance to win and made the stops that he needed to. Will he start Sunday afternoon against the Carolina Hurricanes? There is usually a set plan for goalie starts but this might be a time to try to ride Scrivens out and carry forward some momentum…
Tomas Plekanec - Welcome back Mr. Plekanec of the first 20 games of the season! This was obviously his best game in quite some time and he looked re-energized while playing with youngsters Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher. Plekanec looked like a leader and contributed a goal and 3 assists. He made something positive happen just about every shift that he was on the ice. Will this be the start a new streak for him or a one off game? If the Canadiens have hopes to get back into a playoff position they need the former.
P.K. Subban - Played an outstanding all around game. He limited Connor McDavid’s chances whenever he was matched up on the ice against him and contributed a goal and an assist on the night. Subban is now riding a 5 game point streak in which he has 2 goals and 6 assists, 5 of those assists come on the Canadiens past 5 powerplay goals. He now has 41 points in 53 games to lead the Canadiens and sits at 4th overall in points by a defenceman.
Lars Eller - Is settling back into his role as a 3rd line center quite nicely. He has developed chemistry with Tomas Fleischmann and Sven Andrighetto and kept the Oilers second line at bay. While he filled in admirably on Galchenyuk’s wing for a good chunk of the season, it is clear that Eller is at his best as the team’s 3rd line center, capable of defending the opponent’s top lines and chipping in offensively as well.
Flops:
The 1st line of Pacioretty-Desharnais-Weise - Easily the weakest Canadiens line of the day and the one that was on the ice for Benoit Pouliot’s short handed goal. Weise had 3 shots on net and 6 hits but outside of his breakaway coming out of the penalty box, I can't say that I noticed him. This line is struggling and not working… The old magic between Desharnais and Pacioretty has seemingly run dry, a change is needed but coming off a victory it is unlikely that it will happen anytime soon.
Jeff Petry & Alexei Emelin - Something is off between these two players. Nathan Beaulieu sat out today’s game but I would argue that Petry and Emelin have played even softer as of late. When Therrien was unable to get Markov and Subban out against McDavid’s line it was obvious as that was when McDavid had his way with Petry and Emelin. I still like the Petry signing but am wondering if he is playing hurt. It is impossible though not to admire McDavid’s moves:
Michel Therrien Post Game Comments - It might be odd to put Therrien who coached a relatively good game in the Flops section. However his post game comments were so baffling that they deserved its own space:
Eller has his many fans and critics, but surely one thing that everyone can agree on is that he is defensively more responsible than David Desharnais. It is odd for Therrien to state his explicit trust in Desharnais after he had rough game and Eller’s line was the 2nd best of the night. Not to mention the outstanding job they did limiting the chances of Leon Draisaitl’s line. If Therrien truly trusted Desharnais more, why doesn’t he give him penalty kill time? It seems quite obvious that Eller is trusted more often in the defensive zone and especially shorthanded.
Puck Drops Sunday Against Carolina at 2:30pm - Can the Canadiens make it two wins in a row for the first time in over two months?
Cheers & Enjoy the Game!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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