HabsWorld.net -- 

It wasn’t a pretty week for Montreal’s defence
corps as a multitude of breakdowns strongly contributed to a pair of losses
against teams behind them in the standings.  The Bulldogs suffered a
similar fate as they dropped their lone game to the AHL’s worst team.  The
coaching staff has showed a lot of patience with Alexei Emelin playing on his
wrong side, my Final Thought discusses why it’s time to end the experiment.

Cheers
and Jeers

Cheers to…

1) Brendan Gallagher’s gradual return to form. 
He still isn’t putting up points consistently but his offensive game is showing
lots of signs of coming around.  He has also played much more aggressively
in recent contests and is once again a pain in the side of all opponents around
the net. 

2) The decision to call up Joonas Nattinen. 
On a personal level, he has been one of my dark horse prospects so I was glad he
was (supposed) to get a chance.  It also served a message to the struggling
youngsters in Hamilton who many would have guessed would have got the call. 
Seeing someone off the minor league fourth line get the nod should serve as a
good motivator for the rest.

3) P.K. Subban’s road consistency.  Last
season, he tied for the team lead in road points.  This year, he once again
leads the Habs in that category.  With all of the extra grief he gets from
the crowds away from the Bell Centre, leading your team in scoring is a good way
to keep them quiet.

Jeers to…

1) The defence running around in their own end. 
There’s very little structure right now which has led to far too many prime
scoring chances against.  Compounding the issue is that quite a few
blueliners seem to have lost a skating step at the same time.  It’s time to
watch some game film and get back to the way things were early on in the year.

2) Lars Eller’s offensive struggles.  I
know he hasn’t had the best of linemates to work with but after looking like a
legitimate top six early on, he has completely lost his way.  He has
brought some other elements to the table which has kept him in the lineup
(that’s a good thing) but for this team to succeed, they need multiple lines
firing and right now, whoever Eller plays with isn’t producing.

3) The extreme reactions after each game from a
good chunk of the fan base.  Before the year, most would have acknowledged
that the Habs were around the area of a bubble team – between third in the
division and fighting for a wild card spot – and that’s where they are. 
The mantra of a lot of those teams is their inconsistency.  One or two
losses doesn’t mean the coach needs to be fired and twelve guys get traded, nor
does a couple of victories mean a long playoff run is in sight.  It can be
frustrating at times for sure, especially with their play lately but this is
probably going to continue.  Save the extreme highs and lows for late in
the year when each game can really affect the standings.

StatPack:

SKATERS


#

Player

GP
G A +/- PIM SH TOI
6 Douglas Murray 2 0 0 E 0 1 20:55
8 Brandon Prust 3 0 0 -2 4 2 43:01
11 Brendan Gallagher 3 1 1 E 2 18 52:08
14 Tomas Plekanec 3 2 1 -1 0 10 66:30
15 George Parros 3 0 0 -2 0 0 13:17
17 Rene Bourque 2 0 0 E 0 6 31:07
21 Brian Gionta 3 1 1 -2 0 5 60:13
26 Josh Gorges 3 0 3 -1 2 1 60:28
28 Joonas Nattinen 1 0 0 E 0 0 1:45
32 Travis Moen 3 0 1 -2 0 0 32:57
40 Nathan Beaulieu 1 0 0 +1 2 2 13:36
48 Daniel Briere 3 0 0 +1 0 4 45:21
49 Michael Bournival 3 0 0 -2 0 3 33:03
51 David Desharnais 2 2 1 E 0 5 38:32
55 Francis Bouillon 2 0 1 E 0 0 22:22
61 Raphael Diaz 2 0 0 -1 2 1 31:17
67 Max Pacioretty 3 2 1 -3 0 10 58:21
74 Alexei Emelin 3 0 1 -2 2 1 52:32
76 P.K. Subban 3 1 1 -2 0 6 82:46
79 Andrei Markov 3 0 2 -3 0 6 77:15
81 Lars Eller 3 0 0 -3 0 5 54:39

GOALIES


#

Player

Record

SV%

GAA
31 Carey Price 1-2-0 .879 3.71

Scoring
Leaders:

Goals: Max Pacioretty (21)
Assists: P.K. Subban (27)
Points: P.K. Subban (35)
+/-: P.K. Subban (+10)
PIMS: Brandon Prust (53)
Shots: Max Pacioretty (151)

Schedule:

January 22: Montreal vs Pittsburgh
January 24: Montreal vs Detroit
January 25: Washington vs Montreal

The Dog
Pound

Hamilton played just one game this past week
(their only one in a two week span) and unfortunately it did not go well. 
Despite playing the worst team in the league, the Bulldogs were able to muster
up just one goal which wasn’t enough for the win.

News and
Notes:

– Matt Grassi was reassigned to ECHL Wheeling
after being a healthy scratch for almost an entire month. 

– Steve Quailer (upper body) is the lone injury
for the Bulldogs.  He continues to be listed as day-to-day despite missing
nearly two months of action.

– After a strong start upon returning from
injury, Christian Thomas is in a funk for the first time with the Bulldogs. 
He has just two points in his last ten games and has only scored once in his
last fourteen contests.

– Lines from the most recent game:

Forwards:

Holland – St. Pierre – Andrighetto
Tarnasky – Dumont – Blunden
Leblanc – Macenauer – Thomas
Courtnall – Owens – Fournier

Defence:

Tinordi – Pateryn
Chouinard – Dietz
McIver – Ellis

Results:

January 18:

Utica 3, Hamilton 1

StatPack:

SKATERS


#

Player

GP

G

A

+/-

SH

PIMS
2 Greg Pateryn 1 0 0 -1 3 4
5 Jarred Tinordi 1 0 0 E 1 0
7 Darren Dietz 1 0 0 -1 1 0
9 Justin Courtnall 1 0 0 E 2 0
11 Nathan McIver 1 0 0 E 3 0
12 Maxime Macenauer 1 1 0 +1 1 2
14 Michael Blunden 1 0 0 -2 4 0
20 Louis Leblanc 1 0 0 -1 3 0
26 Jordan Owens 1 0 0 E 1 2
27 Sven Andrighetto 1 0 0 E 1 0
37 Patrick Holland 1 0 0 E 1 0
40 Gabriel Dumont 1 0 0 -1 1 2
44 Morgan Ellis 1 0 0 -1 1 0
47 Stefan Fournier 1 0 0 E 2 0
59 Joel Chouinard 1 0 0 E 2 2
74 Nick Tarnasky 1 0 0 -1 3 2
92 Christian Thomas 1 0 0 E 2 0
93 Martin St. Pierre 1 0 0 E 1 0

GOALIES


#

Player

Record

SV%

GAA
34 Dustin Tokarski 0-1-0 .939 2.01

Scoring
Leaders:

Goals: Leblanc/Tarnasky (9)
Assists: Martin St. Pierre (20)
Points: Martin St. Pierre (27)
+/-: Ellis/Pateryn (+9)
PIMS: Stefan Fournier (75)
Shots: Gabriel Dumont (95)

Schedule:

January 24:
Toronto vs Hamilton
January 25: Hamilton vs Lake Erie
January 26: Chicago vs Hamilton

Final
Thought

There are many attributes that make up a smart
coach.  One is that he is willing to experiment with the lines and
defensive duos and has the patience to let the test play itself out. 
Montreal coach Michel Therrien has shown that he’s more than willing to mix
things up but has been quick to pull the plug on them with one exception. 
Alexei Emelin is a natural left defenceman but the Habs have used him
predominantly on his off-side for the majority of the season.  The results
are in…the experiment has failed.

Throughout the season, the Russian rearguard
has regularly wandered into the wrong side of the ice (where he’d be if he was
playing the left side) which has made for some rather interesting moments
defensively.  Lately, some of those, among other mistakes, are starting to
prove costly.  In Emelin’s last fourteen games, he has been on the ice for
fourteen goals allowed (5-on-5).  It doesn’t take a mathematician to tell
you that this averages out to one GA per game and it doesn’t take a hockey
genius to tell you that a stat like that is really bad.

Now, simply moving Emelin back to his natural
side isn’t going to cure all that ails him.  He has lost a step skating
wise since returning from knee surgery (which isn’t particularly surprising) and
that has nothing to do with which side of the ice he’s defending.  Shifting
him back, however, would make him think less and play more.  Instead of
having to think of where he should be on the ice, he can react quicker and
instead of being a split second late (which he has been at times), he’ll be
there to make the play at the right time.

With only two right-shooting defencemen,
there’s no natural solution, someone is going to have to play out of place. 
Josh Gorges, however, has a lot more experience playing that side (several
years) and the drop-off in his game isn’t quite as dramatic as Emelin’s has been
this year compared to last.  It’s time to end the experiment and let Emelin
go back to his natural side.  The team should be much better off for it.