Oh boy was that ever a brutal game. There really is no way to make it look good. Remember the 1-0 loss to the Rangers that we were all saying was a complete embarrassment? The Canadiens finished that game with a 37% Fenwick while the score was close. That’s a full on blow up of extreme proportions.
Monday night against the Devils, the Canadiens pulled a Buffalo-like 27.9% Fenwick while the score was close. It was embarrassing to watch.
Montreal came out more than flat, they were gunning it with no tires on the rims. Every time they had the puck it was just a countdown to the next giveaway, with the Habs continually hemmed in their own zone. Brutal misplays by Douglas Murray (twice) and Danny Briere (once) caused two goals against on a night where Carey Price was nearly perfect, and still beat four times.
Only two of the four times he was beat ended up being goals, because the best defenseman in the world was there to bail him out.
Once in the first period:
And once in the third period:
Is there anything P.K. Subban can’t do? His assist on Rene Bourque’s goal was his 20th of the season, meaning he will assuredly beat his career high of 29, most likely before the midpoint of the season. Subban now has 62 points in his last 70 regular season games, 66 in his last 75 including last season’s playoffs.
Can you say, Norris? Can you say, Sochi? He’s winning more, and he’s going there. And before either happen, he’s signing a huge 8 year extension for a lot of money.
We could dwell on the garbage fire that was this game for a 2000 word article, but with the Habs heading to New Jersey for a rematch on Wednesday, I really can’t bring myself to do so. I also don’t think we will see the Habs play anywhere close to this poorly on Wednesday.
We can be honest though, and admit that if it weren’t for Martin Brodeur being a man out of shape time when it comes to goaltending, there’s just no way Montreal wins this game. It’s kind of funny when you think about it, because the narrative surrounding Devils games has always been that Brodeur owns the Habs. It’s always really been that the Devils were a great team and the Habs weren’t, but that’s Marty’s whole career.
Let’s focus on positives instead.
Michel Therrien promised after benching Alex Galchenyuk in the third period against Toronto that the kid would bounce back the next game. His game winning goal shows that to be a bold prediction that paid off.
Rene Bourque scored in his second game back from injury on a fantastic pass from David Desharnais.
Max Pacioretty is making us reconsider Pacioretty Week, and perhaps extending it to Pacioretty Month. Another awesome play from Desharnais gave Andrei Markov the space to set up max for a fantastic goal.
As awful defensively as Alexei Emelin has been, he has 3 assists in 8 games. Some powerplay time may be in order. Surely he’s a better option than Gorges or Bouillon.
Michel Therrien was practically glowing with pride at the post game presser while talking about how great Subban is. Who would have guessed that would happen? Therrien has been extremely hard on Subban and taken a ton of heat for it, but now he’s beginning to let the media in on how he truly feels about him.
Subban rules.
