HabsWorld.net --
The Habs got off to a good start this past week
with a pair of victories early on but failed to build on that momentum with a
pair of Western losses. The Bulldogs continued their strong play of late,
collecting three of four points and earning top spot in their division.
There has been a lot of P.K. Subban Olympic talk in recent days, I contribute my
two cents to the discussion in this week’s Final Thought.
|
Cheers |
Cheers to…
1) The penalty kill. What was a big
problem last year and looked even worse in the preseason is on a bit of a hot
stretch right now. The Habs have allowed just one PPGA in their past seven
games, going 16/17 (94.1%) in that span.
2) Defensive discipline, something that
Montreal’s top four defencemen have shown in recent games. In the past
seven games, Diaz, Gorges, Markov, and Subban have combined for a total of two
minor penalties.
3) Louis Leblanc. Even though he hasn’t
hit the scoresheet, he has made a positive impression in each of his games.
It’s far too early to make any long-term conclusions but his play has suggested
he may still turn into a regular NHL’er just yet.
Jeers to…
1) David Desharnais, for a different reason
this week. When you’re in a slump, the way to get out of it is typically
to keep shooting; eventually, one will go in. He did the opposite this
past week, collecting just two shots (he whiffed several more times) in over 61
minutes of accumulated ice time. He’s going to have a hard time getting
that first goal on the board if he keeps shying away from shooting.
2) The 4th line combination of Blunden, White,
and Parros (I’ll give him a bit of a pass since it was his first game back).
They were on the ice for three goals against vs Minnesota which was the
difference between a win and a loss. This is the risk you run when you go
with a 4th line whose best (only) role is to hit and to put it lightly, they
were a disaster. If I never see that combination again, it will be too
early.
3) The recent over-usage of Francis Bouillon.
In the past six games, his ice time in five of those have been over his season
average. After being relegated to a 5th/6th d-man role early on, his ice
time is starting to creep up to that of a #4 on some nights. On the whole,
Bouillon hasn’t played bad at all this year. History has shown with him
though that the more he plays, the worse he does. Less is more with him,
the coaches need to recognize that.
|
StatPack: |
|
SKATERS |
|
# |
Player |
GP |
G | A | +/- | PIM | SH | TOI |
| 6 | Douglas Murray | 4 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 4 | 1 | 52:34 |
| 11 | Brendan Gallagher | 4 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 2 | 12 | 67:45 |
| 14 | Tomas Plekanec | 4 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 0 | 7 | 74:46 |
| 15 | George Parros | 2 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 7 | 0 | 8:45 |
| 17 | Rene Bourque | 4 | 1 | 0 | E | 2 | 8 | 70:21 |
| 21 | Brian Gionta | 4 | 1 | 1 | E | 6 | 12 | 75:10 |
| 26 | Josh Gorges | 4 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 0 | 1 | 79:17 |
| 27 | Alex Galchenyuk | 4 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 0 | 4 | 62:17 |
| 45 | Michael Blunden | 3 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 18:12 |
| 49 | Michael Bournival | 4 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 0 | 8 | 63:44 |
| 51 | David Desharnais | 4 | 0 | 0 | E | 0 | 2 | 61:31 |
| 53 | Ryan White | 4 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 5 | 2 | 36:02 |
| 55 | Francis Bouillon | 4 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 5 | 5 | 69:53 |
| 61 | Raphael Diaz | 4 | 0 | 2 | +1 | 0 | 6 | 84:15 |
| 67 | Max Pacioretty | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 2 | 5 | 21:00 |
| 71 | Louis Leblanc | 4 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 2 | 5 | 50:02 |
| 76 | P.K. Subban | 4 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 0 | 16 | 94:51 |
| 79 | Andrei Markov | 4 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 2 | 10 | 99:39 |
| 81 | Lars Eller | 4 | 0 | 1 | -3 | 0 | 8 | 72:09 |
| 82 | Patrick Holland | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 0 | 0 | 16:56 |
|
GOALIES |
|
# |
Player |
Record |
SV% |
GAA |
| 30 | Peter Budaj | 1-1-0 | .947 | 1.51 |
| 31 | Carey Price | 1-1-0 | .904 | 2.52 |
|
Scoring |
Goals: Brendan Gallagher (7)
Assists: P.K. Subban (11)
Points: P.K. Subban (14)
+/-: Andrei Markov (+6)
PIMS: George Parros (27)
Shots: Brendan Gallagher (50)
|
Schedule: |
November 5: St. Louis vs Montreal
November 7: Montreal vs Ottawa
November 10: NY Islanders vs Montreal
|
The Dog |
It was a light week for the Bulldogs but a good
one as they picked up three of a possible four points and secured an important
victory over division rival Toronto to maintain their slim lead in the North
Division.
|
News and |
– Darren Dietz remains out of the lineup with a
wrist injury. Christian Thomas (hernia) has resumed skating but there is
no timetable yet for his return.
– Both Robert Mayer and Dustin Tokarski have
made five starts so far this season. Tokarski has won four of his five
starts while Mayer has won just one of five but both goalies have identical .925
save percentages.
– Martin St. Pierre is on a six game point
streak (3-5-8 in that span). That’s the longest streak for any Bulldog so
far this year. That streak may be put on hold as he was surprisingly
recalled to Montreal on Sunday night.
– Lines from the most recent game:
Forwards:
Andrighetto – St. Pierre – Aliu
Tarnasky – Dumont – Holland
Nystrom – Macenauer – Fournier
Courtnall – Nattinen – Quailer
Defence:
Tinordi – Nygren
Beaulieu – Chouinard
Schiestel – Ellis
|
Results: |
November 1:
Hamilton 2, Toronto 1 (OT)
November 2:
Abbotsford 3, Hamilton 2 (OT)
|
StatPack: |
|
SKATERS |
|
# |
Player |
GP |
G |
A |
+/- |
SH |
PIMS |
| 5 | Jarred Tinordi | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | Nathan Beaulieu | 2 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 4 | 2 |
| 9 | Justin Courtnall | 2 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 10 | 0 |
| 12 | Maxime Macenauer | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 3 | 0 |
| 13 | Steve Quailer | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | Erik Nystrom | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 2 | 0 |
| 19 | Akim Aliu | 2 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 1 | 4 |
| 22 | Drew Schiestel | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 7 | 0 |
| 23 | Joonas Nattinen | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 2 | 0 |
| 27 | Sven Andrighetto | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 4 | 0 |
| 32 | Magnus Nygren | 2 | 0 | 3 | E | 10 | 0 |
| 37 | Patrick Holland | 2 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 2 | 0 |
| 40 | Gabriel Dumont | 2 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 6 | 2 |
| 42 | Ben Duffy | 1 | 0 | 0 | E | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Morgan Ellis | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 2 | 2 |
| 47 | Stefan Fournier | 1 | 0 | 0 | E | 7 | 2 |
| 59 | Joel Chouinard | 2 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 2 | 0 |
| 74 | Nick Tarnasky | 2 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 2 | 0 |
| 93 | Martin St. Pierre | 2 | 3 | 0 | E | 8 | 0 |
|
GOALIES |
|
# |
Player |
Record |
SV% |
GAA |
| 29 | Robert Mayer | 0-0-1 | .944 | 1.85 |
| 34 | Dustin Tokarski | 1-0-0 | .960 | 0.95 |
|
SHOOTOUT |
| # | Player | G/ATT |
| 15 | Erik Nystrom | 0/1 |
| 27 | Sven Andrighetto | 0/1 |
| 93 | Martin St. Pierre | 0/1 |
|
SHOOTOUT |
| # | Player | SVS/ATT |
| 29 | Robert Mayer | 0/3 |
|
Scoring |
Goals: Nick Tarnasky (5)
Assists: Magnus Nygren (7)
Points: Nygren/St. Pierre (8)
+/-: Sven Andrighetto (+5)
PIMS: Nathan McIver (23)
Shots: Magnus Nygren (27)
|
Schedule: |
November 6:
Hamilton vs Rochester
November 8: Grand Rapids vs Hamilton
November 10: Utica vs Hamilton
|
Final |
A few days back, there were reports that as of
this moment, P.K. Subban’s potential Olympic status ranged from murky to a long
shot. Immediately thereafter, reactions poured in, suggesting that Team
Canada management was anything from racist (both covertly and overtly) to an
‘old boys club’ to picking favourites, and many things in between. The
fact of the matter is at this point, they’re none of the above. Why?
Simple, the roster hasn’t been named yet and won’t be for quite some time.
The past few days, blogs, columns, message
boards, and call-in shows have been flooded with fan frustration over what is
literally a hypothetical scenario. Nothing is set in stone with Subban’s
Olympic status, nor is anyone else’s for that matter. Until such time
where the team is officially named, there’s no point getting worked up over
reports that may suggest where national team management views a player at that
point in time. Lots can and will happen between now and the deadline to
name a roster. If Subban isn’t on the final roster, by all means feel free
to question and criticize the decision; there would be a very good case to do
so. Until then though, don’t sweat the hypotheticals.
