Yes, the Habs are still on the outside looking in but at least last night's win over Philadelphia and the Blue Jackets' loss to the Flames means that they are now sitting one point behind the Columbus outfit which is currently in the second wild card spot. However, since the Jackets have more wins in regulation, if the two teams were tied come the end of the season, the Habs would stay in 9th place.
Now back to last night, the Flyers are not exactly a force to be reckoned with, but the Canadiens played a solid game and the leaders really stood up. Look no further than the man who scored the first goal of the game: Brendan Gallagher. I was watching the game on RDS yesterday and I was surprised when they mentioned that in the last two seasons, Gallagher has 18 of his team's first goal of the game and is the best in the NHL in this respect. While the diminutive winger might not be the team's captain officially, he leads as if he was. Tatar (29) and Folin (6) got the assists on that play.
Speaking of captains, the man wearing the C made it 2-0 with a hard shot from the blue line with the helpers going to Domi (39) and Shaw (20). There's no denying that Shaw has been a big part of this team all season long (minus the games missed through injury) but it's great to see him backing his words with concrete actions. He called out his teammates last week saying that some players or lines are taking nights off and that is not acceptable. He also added that from now on, all games are game 7s and it showed in his play that he really believes that.
Max Domi completed the score after Sean Couturier made it 2-1 and gave Habs fans a little scare by scoring their lone goal on an in-shape Price. That empty net goal was number 25 for Domi on the season and no they were not all empty net goals, I do believe this was his first this year after he had 4 last season for the Coyotes. It should also be noted that Thompson's clearance and Shaw's pass to Domi made that goal although the fact that the Flyers appeared to be asleep did help too.
As things stand, Domi leads the team with 64 points, Tatar is 2nd at 51, Drouin is 3rd with 50 and Gallagher (47) and Danault (46) close the top five. Last night Drouin, who has been pointless in 9 games and goaless in 11 games (his last point was in the 8-1 demolition of Detroit at the end of February and his last goal was on February 23rd against Toronto) was the least used forward at 10 minutes 55 seconds. His linemates, Kotkaniemi and Armia had 12 minutes 28 seconds and 14 minutes 9 seconds respectively. Granted, he's in a terrible slump but people should not forget that he will likely establish career best numbers this season. He's 3 away from his 53 career high season in 2016-2017. That being said, last night not only did he not have a single point but he had no shots, no hits, no takeaways, no blocks but at least, he didn't have any giveaways. What would you do with Drouin? And don't say trade him, this is not an option right now.
Thursday, the Islanders will be in town before the Sabres take on the Habs on Saturday and you can expect a couple of tough games considering the Tricolore must win them all and Barry Trotz's team just got beaten 5-0 by the Bruins last night. The puck will drop at 19:30 Thursday and let's hope it's the good version of our Jeckyll and Hyde team that shows up...As long as the leaders are showing the way, they should be ok!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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