Yesterday, Claude Julien decided to hold Jesperi Kotkaniemi out of the line-up and replace him with Jordan Weal. For a lot of teams, a green rookie being given a game off wouldn't be seen as news but this is not just any team, this is Montreal. While Julien stated that KK was tired and needed a bit of rest, plenty of people were speculating, trying to work out if that was the real reason or if it was something else. Thankfully for Julien, his gamble paid off and Weal had a good game ever scoring the game winning goal. Yes, he did miss some pretty good chances, including a wide-open net but, as they say, no harm, no foul.
The Canadiens did not play a perfect game, but against a struggling Kings team, a good, honest performance was enough. Just 3 minutes in, Brendan Gallagher opened the score with his 30th goal of the season (that's 2 consecutive 30-goal seasons in a row for Gally) when he masterfully deflected Victor Mete's shot. Few people thought that Gallagher would end up being a 30 goal scorer in the league but it turns out that a great work ethic, being absolutely fearless (even after suffering two broken hands because of fast travelling pucks) and top notch hand eye coordination can get you far these days. At the end of the first, the Canadiens lead 10-7 in shots but were just above the 35% mark for face-offs. As for Price, he was ready right from the get go and there was no false start like against Pittsburgh. He looked focussed on the job at hand and it showed.
Montreal added a second goal midway through the middle frame when Jordan Weal received a perfect pass in the slot from a Kings' player. For once, it was rather nice to see another team commit a big fat juicy turnover. The Kings only took 6 shots during those 20 minutes while the Habs added 8 shots to their total. Number 31 really wasn't overworked in net but he was there when called upon.
As for the final frame, the Canadiens started it with a bang when Shea Weber sent one of his rockets straight past Jonathan Quick who looked anything but quick on the play. From that point on, the Kings did try to apply some pressure and managed to take 14 shots on net. Matt Luff did stick one behind Price at 11:03 but it was too little too late and pulling Quick for a 6th skater had little effect. At the final buzzer, Price recorded his 314th career win in a Habs uniform finally tying the legendary Jacques Plante's record. It's now time to see when he'll beat that record.
With those 2 points in the bank, the Habs are now back in the second wild card spot and look forward to the next 2 games of this road trip. Thursday, they are set to play the San Jose Sharks, who currently sit 5th in the entire league. It will be interesting to see if Julien decides to use Price again or if he dares to throw Antti Niemi in net. We all remember the last time he elected to do that...it did not go well at all. That being said, Price has played 12 games against the Sharks and is just 2-9-1 in those games. Knowing that the Sharks are a much tougher opponent than the Ducks, do you rest your number one and hope that Niemi can pull a rabbit out of hat or do you go all in with Price? The Canadiens are in a playoffs spot, but the Jackets do have a game in hand. Tough decision to be honest...
As for the Attack, since Julien's gamble in LA paid off, do you keep KK out and leave Weal in there? Personally, I'd put KK back in and take either Weise or Lehkonen out. Why? Because Weise isn't contributing much to be honest... As for Lehkonen, he's lost his confidence and perhaps a little rest would help? I certainly wouldn't take Thompson out, he did commit an awful turnover but he's normally rather useful in the face-off department.
While we wait for the late game tomorrow night, feel free to say what you would do if you were Claude Julien...
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