Montreal Canadiens news and notes
- The Habs relied on some desperate and spectacular hockey to help extend their division lead. [Sportsnet]
- The gap could get bigger between now and season’s end. [Arpon Basu]/
Habs-Sens next Saturday is Montreal’s only game between now and the end of the season against a team currently in a playoff position.
— Аrpon Basu (@ArponBasu) March 20, 2017
- Brendan Gallagher feels great about the weekend he contributed so heavily in. [TSN690]
- Montreal definitely served notice to the Atlantic Division, but are they top-five contender material? Down Goes Brown doesn’t think so. [Sportsnet]
- Captain Max Pacioretty is within striking distance of the goal-scoring lead, but he’s not concerned with the Maurice Richard Trophy race. [Montreal Gazette]
- Paul Byron joins Justin Schultz and Viktor Arvidsson among the more underrated players this season. [ESPN]
- Jordie Benn has defied the odds in making it into the NHL, and now he’s playing with the league’s most storied franchise. [Montreal Gazette]
- The trade deadline has passed, but Keith Urban swapped guitar lessons for hockey tips while visiting the Canadiens’ practice facility in Brossard. [Canadiens]
- Les Canadiennes’ Katia Clément-Heydra and Charline Labonté give their tips for breakaways in their latest skills video. [Les Canadiennes]/
Around the league and elsewhere
- Matthew Tkachuk has been suspended for two games for his elbow on Drew Doughty. [NHL]
- You thought it. I thought it. Daniel Winnik thought it too, and he’s saying as much. The NHL’s playoff format is dumb. [Sportsnet]
- Conor Sheary is a small, undrafted player who’s now getting the benefit of playing with Sidney Crosby, and making the most of it. [Pensburgh]
- Erik Karlsson is a dominant defenceman in the NHL. The Ottawa Senators drafted him in 2008 and haven’t regretted a moment. [Journal de Montréal]
- The San Jose Sharks have dipped into the NCAA talent pool, signing Quinnipiac’s Tim Clifton. [San Jose Sharks]
- Lake Superior State’s Mitch Hults also signed in California, with the Anaheim Ducks. [SBN College Hockey]
- NHL scouts are now including Grenoble, France on their scouting trips, to check out teenager Alexandre Texier. [Journal de Montréal]
- Auston Matthews vs. Makenna Newkirk: an excellent long read on the national development system. [Pension Plan Puppets] /