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Habs Look Good, But Not Good Enough In Loss. *UPDATE: Streit shopped+Lines* |
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***UPDATE: Habs are actively trying to deal Mark Streit. Makes sense. He has no place on the club and should have been a PTO. ***
Habs Can’t Light The Lamp Against Hawks, Or Anyone.
The Montreal Canadiens had another awesome light show and home opening intro last night inside the renovated walls of the Bell Centre. The show is always grand and top of the line as Geoff Molson doesn’t typically spare any expense. Unfortunately, the Habs show was all sizzle and no steak as they lost their 3rd game in a row, 3-1 to the visiting Chicago Blackhawks.
The Habs came out strong, in fact they were dominating to start this game. A quick snipe by Tomas Plekanec at 1:15 of the first period nearly blew the roof off the arena and the Canadiens didn’t take their foot of the gas for the rest of the period. That was until the Habs were shocked by two Blackhawk goals with barely two minutes left as Debrincat and Saad scored 19 seconds apart to completely mitigate all the good the Canadiens had done until that point. The first goal was a good shot, but one I would think Price would want back and the second he had no chance on as Mete did his best to defend a 3 on 2 rush but some very precise passing led to Price being sprawled out and Saad getting the easy tap in.
The second period was a more even match up until a bad holding penalty by Danault led to the nail in the coffin PP goal by Anisimov at 10:44 of the second. At this point you could feel the feet get kicked out from under the team, and the crowd.
Montreal came out hard in the 3rd, a good sign in these deflating times, but it was a battle that went unrewarded as Montreal couldn’t capitalize and the Habs were put on ice as the final buzzer sounded.
The Canadiens are getting chances, in fact in this game they had a lot of them. They outshot the Hawks 42-25 and had a 5 -2 edge in PP chances. Jonathan Drouin looked like the exact type of player the Canadiens have needed for decades a center. He was relentless, creative, and fast. His line was easily the Canadiens best and sooner or later the dam will break and the goals will flow. When that will happen I just don’t know.
I think Paul Byron is being under utilized at the moment and this is very evident when you look at his ice time this game, 11:05. Byron is a burner at both end of the ice. He doesn’t quit or take a shift off. To bury him like this makes no sense. I understand they want to see what they have in Hudon, but at this point Hudon is getting chances but looks like he isn’t up to the same level as a NHL top 6 forward. He is reminding me of post concussion Zednik where he looks like he skates well and should make something happen, but instead just loses the puck or makes a play that sends the opponent the other way. For the 16:10 of ice time he is getting I just don’t see the value yet, I would rather see Byron get a chance to create with similar time and opportunity. In fact, the recently scratched Ales Hemsky had more time (11:53) than Byron and that shouldn’t have happened.
***UPDATE @ 10:42am: Of course after I wrote this the Canadiens practice lines were reported and there's Byron with Plekanec and Gallagher with Lehkonen being moved to the first line. Interesting change. I like everything except Hemsky staying in and Galchenyuk on the fourth line. I'm starting to wonder if a trade of the kid may be best for everyone.... I know he would leave MTL and be a stud somewhere else, but still...
Here are the lines at Practice:
Pacioretty - Drouin - Lehkonen
Byron - Plekanec - Gallagher
Hudon - Danault - Shaw
Galchenyuk - Mitchell - Hemsky
De La Rose
Mete - Weber
Alzner - Petry
Benn - Davidson
Morrow - Streit
Schlemko
Price
Montoya***
I know some may think that “Oh ya, Byron will patch the hole on this Titanic *rolls eyes*” and that’s not what I’m saying at all. I think that the team played really well and the goals will come, but a player as committed as Byron deserves a top 6 chance with literally no one scoring. That and Hemsky is not fast and should be dealt so we can get McCarron or Scherbak back up. There is no way anyone can tell me they would be any worse than Hemsky.
I feel that we are all waiting for that explosive first period, like Vegas had last night in their very touching home opener.
Can I say, what a class act the Vegas organization has been. In the face of absolute sickening horror they have had work through and put on a show, they have done so in just about the best way possible. I am moved by the teams standing behind Vegas players for the National Anthems. I had something in my eyes during their opening ceremonies last night. They are becoming the face of unity in the face of terror. A band of players, and fans, from around the world, standing proudly together against those that seek to see the great nations in North America cower in fear. Canada and the USA will never cower in fear to anyone #VegasStrong.
The floodgates will open, the goals will come, the stats tell us this much. Unless the Canadiens are going to end up worse than last seasons Avalanche, then we will all wait for the bounce off a bar to go in the night instead of out, the desperation save to become the water bottle popper, and the hunching over onto the knees and stick to become the yelling group hug. My patience is being tested, but my logic tells me that good things come to those that wait. So until then, let’s all keep pulling the same way.
The Canadiens continue their search for goals, wins, and respect Saturday at the Bell Centre against the high scoring Toronto Maple Leafs in what's surely going to be Toronto media's most anticipated game in the last 50 years. Hopefully, it's one to remember.
GHG
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Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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