HabsWorld.net --
It may not have been pretty but the Habs
managed to pull out a pair of victories against the West before heading into an extended
Christmas break to keep them in the hunt for the lead in the Atlantic.
Things didn’t go as well in Hamilton as they now have lost five straight.
The World Juniors are nearly upon us, my Final Thought looks at one player who
is poised to play a key role and make a strong impression on Montreal fans.
|
Cheers |
Cheers to…
1) Max Pacioretty, who has bucked the trend of
cooling off in December. Prior to this season, he had just three goals in
37 December games. This month, he has twice as many in just 11 contests.
2) David Desharnais, for quietly turning his
year around. After a four point week, he now has 14 points in his last 17
games. Some are still going to complain about him no matter what but right
now, he’s not the problem when it comes to the current offensive struggles.
3) A third period comeback. It took
nearly half the season but the Habs finally won a game when they were trailing
after 40 minutes as the Habs scored three unanswered to beat Phoenix 3-1 on
Tuesday.
Jeers to…
1) A pair of struggling defencemen in Raphael
Diaz and Alexei Emelin who have hit the wall at the same time. Diaz has
completely gone away from his strengths – especially his skating – and his
confidence has gone way down. As for Emelin, he looked as if he was
running on fumes all week. That’s not to be unexpected given the fact he
didn’t have a training camp but since he’s a top four blueliner, his struggles
have really impacted the team.
2) The coaching staff for not putting Daniel
Briere in a position to succeed. We knew from past years that he struggled
on the right wing and played his best hockey at centre. However, he has
spent most of his time on the right side in 2013 and has spent a comparable
amount of time at centre as he has on the left wing, a position he hadn’t
played for a long time. Yes, he has struggled this season but at some point, Briere needs to
play his natural position for more than a few shifts at a time. Perhaps
that can help get him going.
3) 5-on-5 struggles. Last year, Montreal
was among the top teams in 5-on-5 goals for/against ratio. This year,
they’re in the bottom half of the league and near the basement when it comes to
teams sitting in a playoff spot. The Habs are in good shape in the
standings despite this, in large part due to their special teams. If they
can maintain their success there while producing more 5-on-5, they’ll get out of
this funk quickly.
|
StatPack: |
|
SKATERS |
|
# |
Player |
GP |
G | A | +/- | PIM | SH | TOI |
| 6 | Douglas Murray | 3 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 44:36 |
| 8 | Brandon Prust | 3 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 8 | 0 | 36:16 |
| 11 | Brendan Gallagher | 3 | 1 | 1 | +2 | 2 | 4 | 50:15 |
| 14 | Tomas Plekanec | 3 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 14 | 55:36 |
| 17 | Rene Bourque | 3 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 1 | 35:56 |
| 21 | Brian Gionta | 3 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 0 | 5 | 50:39 |
| 26 | Josh Gorges | 2 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 0 | 0 | 44:28 |
| 27 | Alex Galchenyuk | 3 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 2 | 43:22 |
| 32 | Travis Moen | 3 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 5 | 2 | 35:30 |
| 48 | Daniel Briere | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 2 | 0 | 18:33 |
| 49 | Michael Bournival | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 0 | 5 | 21:53 |
| 51 | David Desharnais | 3 | 1 | 3 | +2 | 2 | 8 | 51:40 |
| 53 | Ryan White | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 10:47 |
| 55 | Francis Bouillon | 1 | 0 | 0 | +2 | 0 | 0 | 23:52 |
| 61 | Raphael Diaz | 3 | 0 | 0 | -4 | 0 | 1 | 43:40 |
| 67 | Max Pacioretty | 3 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 4 | 15 | 60:47 |
| 74 | Alexei Emelin | 3 | 0 | 1 | -3 | 2 | 2 | 52:29 |
| 76 | P.K. Subban | 3 | 1 | 1 | +3 | 4 | 9 | 80:29 |
| 79 | Andrei Markov | 3 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 10 | 5 | 74:14 |
| 81 | Lars Eller | 3 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 2 | 4 | 49:38 |
|
GOALIES |
|
# |
Player |
Record |
SV% |
GAA |
| 31 | Carey Price | 2-1-0 | .900 | 2.97 |
|
Scoring |
Goals: Max Pacioretty (15)
Assists: P.K. Subban (22)
Points: P.K. Subban (27)
+/-: Andrei Markov (+12)
PIMS: Brandon Prust (44)
Shots: Max Pacioretty (113)
|
Schedule: |
December
28: Montreal vs Tampa Bay
December 29: Montreal vs Florida
|
The Dog |
If you thought the Habs were having a hard time
getting goals, it’s even worse in Hamilton. The Bulldogs have managed just
five goals in their past five games. Not surprisingly, all of those
contests were losses.
|
News and |
– For a short time, things were looking up on
the injury front as Justin Courtnall, Sven Andrighetto, and Christian Thomas all
returned from injuries. Unfortunately, Thomas (undisclosed) is hurt again
while blueliner Drew Schiestel also went down. Steve Quailer (upper body)
remains week to week.
– Matt Grassi, who played briefly in Hamilton
last year, was recalled amidst concerns that Nathan Beaulieu also isn’t quite
100%. He has yet to play since the recall.
– After being on fire to start the year, Nick
Tarnasky has cooled off considerably lately. He has just one point in his
last 13 games and three points in his last 22.
– Lines from the most recent game:
Forwards:
Blunden – St. Pierre – Andrighetto
Holland – Macenauer – Leblanc
Tarnasky – Dumont – Owens
Courtnall – Nattinen – Fournier
Defence:
Tinordi – Pateryn
Beaulieu – Dietz
Chouinard – Ellis
|
Results: |
December 18:
Chicago 5, Hamilton 2
December 20:
Iowa 3, Hamilton 0
December 22:
Abbotsford 3, Hamilton 2 (SO)
|
StatPack: |
|
SKATERS |
|
# |
Player |
GP |
G |
A |
+/- |
SH |
PIMS |
| 2 | Greg Pateryn | 3 | 0 | 0 | -5 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | Jarred Tinordi | 3 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 5 | 7 |
| 7 | Darren Dietz | 3 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 2 | 5 |
| 8 | Nathan Beaulieu | 3 | 0 | 0 | -4 | 7 | 2 |
| 9 | Justin Courtnall | 3 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 2 | 2 |
| 12 | Maxime Macenauer | 3 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 7 | 0 |
| 14 | Michael Blunden | 3 | 0 | 0 | -5 | 4 | 4 |
| 20 | Louis Leblanc | 3 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 8 | 2 |
| 22 | Drew Schiestel | 1 | 0 | 0 | E | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Joonas Nattinen | 2 | 1 | 1 | E | 4 | 0 |
| 26 | Jordan Owens | 3 | 0 | 1 | E | 7 | 0 |
| 27 | Sven Andrighetto | 3 | 0 | 1 | -3 | 7 | 2 |
| 37 | Patrick Holland | 3 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 4 | 0 |
| 40 | Gabriel Dumont | 3 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 7 | 4 |
| 44 | Morgan Ellis | 3 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 8 | 9 |
| 47 | Stefan Fournier | 2 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 5 | 7 |
| 59 | Joel Chouinard | 2 | 1 | 0 | E | 2 | 0 |
| 74 | Nick Tarnasky | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 6 | 15 |
| 92 | Christian Thomas | 2 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 7 | 2 |
| 93 | Martin St. Pierre | 3 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 5 | 0 |
|
GOALIES |
|
# |
Player |
Record |
SV% |
GAA |
| 34 | Dustin Tokarski | 0-1-1 | .892 | 4.01 |
| 35 | Mike Condon | 0-1-0 | .914 | 2.25 |
|
SHOOTOUT |
| # | Player | G/ATT |
| 20 | Louis Leblanc | 0/1 |
| 27 | Sven Andrighetto | 0/1 |
| 40 | Gabriel Dumont | 0/1 |
| 93 | Martin St. Pierre | 0/1 |
|
SHOOTOUT |
| # | Player | SVS/ATT |
| 34 | Dustin Tokarski | 1/3 |
|
Scoring |
Goals: Leblanc/Tarnasky (8)
Assists: Martin St. Pierre (18)
Points: Martin St. Pierre (24)
+/-: Steve Quailer (+7)
PIMS: Nick Tarnasky (54)
Shots: Louis Leblanc (68)
|
Schedule: |
December
26: Hamilton vs Toronto
December 27: Toronto vs Hamilton
December 28: Hamilton vs Utica
|
Final |
The World Juniors are always a fun time of year
for hockey fans. This years’ edition should be of particular interest to
Montreal supporters as no fewer than half a dozen prospects will be suiting up
for their countries. Even more intriguing is that most of them are
expected to play important roles as well. Sebastian Collberg, Martin Reway,
and Artturi Lehkonen are all strong candidates to be top liners while Zach
Fucale may be the starter between the pipes for Canada. Charles Hudon is
also on the Canadian squad, his role has yet to be determined.
Despite all that, the player I’m most
interested in keeping tabs on is 2013 2nd rounder Jacob De la Rose. The
hometown Swedes have an abundance of talent up front but that may actually work
in his favour. Because of all of the skill in front of him, De la Rose
will most likely be used as a 3rd line, two-way forward, a role that lines up
quite well with his skill set. He’ll be used against opponents’ top lines
and will kill penalties, but he’ll also be surrounded by enough talent to still
pose a threat offensively. His numbers probably won’t wow anyone at the
end of the tournament but I think De la Rose is poised to make a strong
impression. He’s certainly going to be one to watch with interest.
