HabsWorld.net --
It was a slow start to the week for the Habs but they finished with one of their best road games of the season. As for St. John’s, they managed to overcome a depleted roster to pick up points in all three of their outings.
Spotlight Players
Nathan Beaulieu: With this being his fifth professional season, some maturity is expected. As evidenced by Beaulieu’s misconduct against Washington, he hasn’t figured that out yet or doesn’t care. What possible good could have come from that? Your team has just allowed a goal, already has a defender in the box, and your response is to dare the referee to give you another penalty? That’s unacceptable at the junior ranks let alone the NHL level. If Andrei Markov is available to play on Tuesday, I’d put Beaulieu in the press box. When you’re not playing particularly well to begin with, that type of selfish stupidity cannot go unpunished.
Brendan Gallagher: He was one of the players who I thought was basically slump-proof. Yes, he could have a few quiet games but the style of game he plays usually lends itself towards getting a good bounce here and there before long. This stretch he’s currently in is putting my theory to rest as he is in more than just a slump. With Alex Galchenyuk out, Gallagher rediscovering his scoring touch would certainly help the team offset Galchenyuk’s missing production. He’s getting ample opportunity to do so as Michel Therrien has been patient with him – it’s time for that patience to be rewarded.
Zach Redmond: We saw all facets of his game on display in his two games. He’s a decent skater and puck mover but he’s prone to pinch too aggressively and also gets burned a bit too much in his own end. That’s why he’s a depth player and not an every game one. I’d like to see how he’d fare with someone that’s better in his own end and not a similarly-styled player in Beaulieu though in the hopes of hiding some of his deficiencies.
StatPack
Skaters:
| # | Player | GP | G | A | +/- | PIMS | SOG | TOI |
| 6 | Shea Weber | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 4 | 6 | 77:24 |
| 11 | Brendan Gallagher | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 5 | 8 | 46:25 |
| 14 | Tomas Plekanec | 3 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 0 | 6 | 55:37 |
| 15 | Chris Terry | 1 | 0 | 0 | E | 0 | 0 | 8:01 |
| 17 | Torrey Mitchell | 3 | 0 | 1 | E | 6 | 3 | 44:11 |
| 20 | Zach Redmond | 2 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 | 2 | 24:42 |
| 24 | Phillip Danault | 3 | 0 | 1 | E | 0 | 3 | 49:23 |
| 26 | Jeff Petry | 3 | 2 | 0 | +3 | 0 | 10 | 66:08 |
| 28 | Nathan Beaulieu | 3 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 12 | 5 | 56:03 |
| 32 | Brian Flynn | 3 | 1 | 0 | +2 | 0 | 2 | 33:20 |
| 34 | Michael McCarron | 2 | 0 | 1 | E | 2 | 3 | 23:10 |
| 41 | Paul Byron | 3 | 1 | 0 | E | 4 | 5 | 53:01 |
| 42 | Sven Andrighetto | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 0 | 0 | 8:49 |
| 43 | Daniel Carr | 3 | 0 | 1 | E | 0 | 1 | 27:20 |
| 45 | Mark Barberio | 1 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 0 | 2 | 10:50 |
| 47 | Alexander Radulov | 3 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 2 | 11 | 63:19 |
| 62 | Artturi Lehkonen | 3 | 1 | 0 | E | 0 | 3 | 42:02 |
| 65 | Andrew Shaw | 1 | 0 | 0 | E | 0 | 4 | 16:37 |
| 67 | Max Pacioretty | 3 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 0 | 4 | 59:22 |
| 74 | Alexei Emelin | 3 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 2 | 1 | 68:25 |
| 79 | Andrei Markov | 3 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 2 | 5 | 59:13 |
Goalies:
| # | Player | Record | GAA | SV% | SO |
| 31 | Carey Price | 2-0-0 | 2.80 | .897 | 0 |
| 35 | Al Montoya | 0-0-0 | 0.00 | 1.000 | 0 |
Team Leaders:
Goals: Max Pacioretty (12)
Assists: Andrei Markov (19)
Points: Max Pacioretty (25)
+/-: Shea Weber (+18)
PIMS: Andrew Shaw (58)
Shots: Max Pacioretty (90)
IceCaps Corner
The week got off to a bad start as the IceCaps played one of their worst games of the season against the worst team in the league. However, they rebounded despite a depleted lineup to pick up a win and an overtime loss in their weekend play.
News and Notes:
– Charles Hudon was injured in a collision with Chris Terry in Binghamton. The ankle injury isn’t believed to be too serious but he did miss the final two games of the week. He hopes to be available for their next game after Christmas.
– The team recalled winger Mathieu Coderre-Gagnon from Brampton of the ECHL but despite the team only having 12 available forwards for the final two games, he didn’t get into the lineup. He was sent back to the Beast on Sunday.
– Only two players have played in every game so far this season, centre Daniel Audette and defenceman Brett Lernout.
– Lines from last game:
Forwards:
Matteau – Audette – Friberg
Farnham – de la Rose – Gregoire
Broll – Eisenschmid – Veilleux
Crisp – MacMillan
Defence:
Hanley – Brouillette
Parisi – Lernout
Racine – Johnston
Samuelsson
Results:
December 14: Binghamton 4, St. John’s 3 (OT)
December 16: St. John’s 3, Utica 0
December 17: Rochester 3, St. John’s 2 (OT)
StatPack
Skaters:
| # | Player | GP | G | A | +/- | SOG | PIMS |
| 4 | Philip Samuelsson | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 0 | 7 |
| 5 | Tom Parisi | 2 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 3 | 0 |
| 7 | Ryan Johnston | 3 | 0 | 1 | -3 | 2 | 0 |
| 8 | Mark Barberio | 1 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 2 | 6 |
| 10 | Charles Hudon | 1 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | Max Friberg | 3 | 1 | 0 | E | 5 | 2 |
| 14 | Brett Lernout | 3 | 0 | 2 | +2 | 2 | 0 |
| 15 | Joel Hanley | 3 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 3 | 2 |
| 16 | Mark MacMillan | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | Bobby Farnham | 3 | 0 | 1 | E | 6 | 0 |
| 20 | Jacob de la Rose | 3 | 0 | 2 | +1 | 3 | 0 |
| 21 | Stefan Matteau | 1 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Chris Terry | 2 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 5 | 2 |
| 23 | Connor Crisp | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 2 | 2 |
| 24 | Daniel Audette | 3 | 1 | 0 | -2 | 4 | 0 |
| 26 | Julien Brouillette | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 4 | 2 |
| 27 | Sven Andrighetto | 1 | 1 | 1 | -3 | 3 | 0 |
| 28 | Yannick Veilleux | 3 | 2 | 1 | +2 | 3 | 11 |
| 29 | Jonathan Racine | 3 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 1 | 6 |
| 34 | David Broll | 3 | 1 | 1 | +2 | 3 | 0 |
| 37 | Jeremy Gregoire | 3 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 3 | 0 |
| 38 | Markus Eisenschmid | 3 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 5 | 0 |
Goalies:
| # | Player | Record | GAA | SV% | SO |
| 31 | Yann Danis | 0-0-1 | 2.92 | .897 | 0 |
| 35 | Charlie Lindgren | 1-0-1 | 1.96 | .946 | 1 |
Team Leaders:
Goals: Hudon/Terry (10)
Assists: Chris Terry (16)
Points: Chris Terry (26)
+/-: Markus Eisenschmid (+6)
PIMS: Stefan Matteau (55)
Shots: Sven Andrighetto (60)
Upcoming Schedule:
No games this week. Their next game is Boxing Day in Toronto.
Final Thought
It appears we’ve hit the latest ‘controversy that really shouldn’t be one but we’ll make it one anyways’ in Montreal. This time, it pertains to Carey Price and his reaction to getting pulled against San Jose. He glared at the bench and Michel Therrien which clearly means he hates his guts and wants him fired, yadda, yadda, yadda.
Here’s a little secret. No goalie likes getting pulled. Goalies not being happy while getting yanked happens quite a bit. Heck, Price’s reaction was tame compared to those who go out throwing their stick and smashing things. Did all of those instances represent signs that those goalies despised their coach and wanted him gone? Of course not so why should Price’s reaction mean that? It shouldn’t, plain and simple.
Price was mad and showed his frustration for getting pulled (a decision that made a lot of sense by the way). That’s fine. It isn’t anything more than that though and it doesn’t need to become a manufactured controversy just because there hasn’t been one for a little while. This wasn’t a big deal and it’s time to move on. Price and Therrien certainly already have.
