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Habs and Price bounce back to defeat the Capitals 2-1 |
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In some ways, the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday night be just be the team’s most important victory of the season to date. The Canadiens were badly outplayed and unprepared in their Friday night 4-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks. Everything that could go wrong did and the team had no one to blame but themselves as they hung Carey Price out to dry. Perhaps getting right back onto the saddle away from the Bell Centre was the best remedy as the Canadiens did not have the time to dwell on their loss. They needed to focus immediately on the task at hand, to slow down and try to beat the streaking Capitals who had won six games in a row before prior to Saturday's game.
Rookie Artturi Lehkonen scored his sixth goal of the season on a wraparound to beat Braden Holtby in the first period of play and give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead. In the second period, the Canadiens got into penalty trouble as Nathan Beaulieu took a hooking penalty and Alexei Emelin followed it with a debatable interference penalty while on the penalty kill. Nicklas Backstrom would tie the game for the Capitals while on the ensuing two man advantage as Price had little chance to stop the shot. As Beaulieu exited the penalty box, he stick tapped the ice, mocking the referee. He was fortunate to only receive a ten minute unsportsmanlike penalty for his inappropriate action. Jeff Petry would go on to score the game winning goal in the second period, joining the rush and making no mistake on Max Pacioretty's perfect pass in front of Holtby’s net. In the third period, the Canadiens played an excellent period of road hockey defending their lead as they rarely allowed the Capitals to set up in their zone and held them to only 5 shots in the final frame. Almost more impressively, they did so without the services of Andrei Markov who was injured in the third period and would not return to the game.
Puck props and flops:
Props:
Carey Price - He of all the players did not have to prove anything against the Capitals. It wasn’t Price who gave up on the Sharks game before it even began. However, no one doubted that he was going to come back Saturday night and do his part to lead the Canadiens on and off the ice. There is a reason he is often called the best goaltender in the world and his incredible mental game and ability to focus on making the next save plays just as big as part as being so technically sound. The victory also gave Price his 250th career NHL win. Postgame, Price put #StareGate to rest as he honestly answered when questioned about his bench glare when pulled on Friday night:
Shea Weber - So Weber has not scored in nine straight games and is without a powerplay point in the past eleven games. Weber was a monster in his own end against the Capitals, containing Alex Ovechkin which is certainly no easy feat. He led all Canadiens with 26:39 minutes of ice time and five blg blocked shots. The only disconcerting thing about his game was that he had zero shot attempts.
Artturi Lehkonen - He has impressed with his on ice smarts since he first arrived in training camp from Frolunda of the SHL and has shown flashes of offensive skills and a quick release. Since his return from injury Lehkonen has been putting it all together and has been one of the Canadiens most consistent forwards night in and night out. He plays a responsible 200 feet game and is relentless on the puck. Despite this, he is not getting enough ice time, playing only 13:18 against the Capitals alongside of Tomas Plekanec and Brian Flynn on the third line.
Phillip Danault - It is somewhat incredulous to think that Danault has gone from starting the season on the left wing of the fourth line and has risen (due to injuries) to the role of first line center. He has taken advantage of just about every opportunity thrown his way this season and has proven to be invaluable to the Canadiens, demonstrating why so many Chicago Blackhawks fans were disheartened to see him traded away last season. Danault won 57% of his faceoffs against the Capitals and uses his speed and hockey smarts to keep up with Pacioretty and Alexander Radulov. The chances are small that he will stay on the top line until Alex Galchenyuk is healthy again but for now he is stepping up and finding ways to contribute.
Jeff Petry - After a rough stretch of games on the Canadiens five game road trip a couple of weeks ago, Petry has turned it around in both ends of the ice. Offensively, he scored for the second time in as many games and third in four games. He is now just one goal shy of tying his career high of seven goals in just 30 games played. While Petry has formed a very solid second pairing defensive unit with Andrei Markov, for the past two games he has finished the game playing with Nathan Beaulieu. It remains to be seen if Markov will miss an extended amount of time due to injury but Petry has had success in the past playing with Beaulieu and there is little reason to think that his game would suffer without Markov by his side.
Flops:
Nathan Beaulieu - When he played Beaulieu was actually very good and he stepped up to pay in Markov’s spot quite well for the last half of the third period. However, his sticktap towards the referee was immature and unnecessary. The referee was generous in not giving Beaulieu another minor penalty resulting in what would have been another two man advantage for the Capitals. Questions regarding Beaulieu’s maturity have been surrounding him every since he was drafted by the Canadiens in the first round of the 2011 draft. While he has seemed to have turned a corner this season, that act of complete disrespect demonstrates that he still has much to learn. I admit to being a fan of Beaulieu and believing that he has the potential to be a very good top four defenceman in the NHL. Consistency and maturity have always been his achilles heel. I have little doubt that with this year’s leadership group, he will have learned from his on ice mistake.
The Canadiens Power Play - Once again they came up short in their two opportunities with the man advantage. It is is more about how disorganized they look than not scoring. If they were getting scoring chances then at least it could be said that their time will come. However, teams are keying on Weber’s shot and without Galchenyuk the Canadiens are struggling for a solution. In all fairness, they are lacking the personnel for the powerplay, especially on the second unit. However, it should not look like a man disadvantage, regardless of who is on the ice.
The Canadiens will return to practice Monday morning in Brossard as they will host the Anaheim Ducks Tuesday at the Bell Centre.
Cheers and follow along!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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