HabsWorld.net --
It may not have been the prettiest at times but
the Habs pulled off a perfect 4-0 week to all but clinch a playoff spot.
The Bulldogs aren’t thinking playoffs but they managed to pull out a couple of
road wins to kick off a season-long road trip. There seems to be some
angst as to a Hamilton defenceman not getting his chance with the big club, my
Final Thought looks at the one that should be getting the attention but isn’t.
|
Cheers |
Cheers to…
1) The top line of Pacioretty-Desharnais-Vanek, who are quickly getting more
and more comfortable playing together with each passing game and the results
show it. This past week alone, they combined for eight goals and eight
assists. That’s a legitimate number one unit.
2) Depth. The Habs have lost their entire
fourth line due to injury in the past two weeks and the brand new fourth line,
while not as physical, has also been quite strong. On the blueline, this
mini-rotation of defencemen is keeping everyone fresh and no one’s playing
particularly poorly. It’s nice to see.
3) Peter Budaj, who quieted the critics
quickly. After a rough stretch that had some calling for Dustin Tokarski
to perhaps see more playing time as the backup, Budaj responded perfectly with a
big win against Boston. That should give the team some confidence to play
him in a couple of the games down the stretch to keep Carey Price rested.
Jeers to…
1) Alex Galchenyuk. When he first came
back to the lineup, his struggles could be attributed to rust but that’s no
longer valid now. In his last 14 games, he has a goal and an assist with a
-8 rating. What’s worse is that the drought comes with him playing more
than he was before getting hurt. He’s still young so expectations can’t be
too high but him getting going down the stretch would really help bolster the
secondary scoring.
2) The overuse of Andrei Markov. With a
playoff spot all but sewn up, he needs to be playing less per game. Right
now the opposite is happening. The Habs won’t be able to drop him down too
much but having him play over 25 minutes a night isn’t necessary at this time.
Let the depth guys get an extra shift here and there.
3) Third period let downs. Too often this
past week the Canadiens either took their foot off the throttle or got into
penalty trouble. To their credit they overcame these issues but the fact
they happened isn’t good. The coaches need to find a way to get the
players to stay aggressive and disciplined in that final frame.
|
StatPack: |
|
SKATERS |
|
# |
Player |
GP |
G | A | +/- | PIM | SH | TOI |
| 6 | Douglas Murray | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 4 | 2 | 42:48 |
| 11 | Brendan Gallagher | 4 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 4 | 8 | 60:01 |
| 14 | Tomas Plekanec | 3 | 2 | 0 | -1 | 4 | 9 | 62:55 |
| 15 | George Parros | 1 | 0 | 0 | E | 5 | 1 | 6:31 |
| 17 | Rene Bourque | 4 | 0 | 1 | E | 4 | 1 | 48:47 |
| 20 | Thomas Vanek | 4 | 2 | 4 | +7 | 0 | 16 | 75:05 |
| 21 | Brian Gionta | 4 | 0 | 1 | E | 0 | 9 | 72:54 |
| 22 | Dale Weise | 1 | 0 | 0 | E | 0 | 0 | 0:28 |
| 24 | Jarred Tinordi | 2 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 0 | 1 | 29:37 |
| 27 | Alex Galchenyuk | 4 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 3 | 58:57 |
| 32 | Travis Moen | 1 | 0 | 0 | E | 5 | 0 | 0:52 |
| 43 | Mike Weaver | 4 | 0 | 1 | +2 | 0 | 3 | 72:17 |
| 48 | Daniel Briere | 4 | 1 | 2 | +1 | 0 | 6 | 50:43 |
| 49 | Michael Bournival | 4 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 4 | 1 | 42:12 |
| 51 | David Desharnais | 4 | 2 | 3 | +6 | 0 | 4 | 75:57 |
| 53 | Ryan White | 3 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 2 | 5 | 29:26 |
| 55 | Francis Bouillon | 3 | 0 | 0 | +2 | 4 | 1 | 52:07 |
| 67 | Max Pacioretty | 4 | 4 | 1 | +7 | 0 | 13 | 78:48 |
| 74 | Alexei Emelin | 4 | 1 | 2 | +2 | 2 | 7 | 90:03 |
| 76 | P.K. Subban | 4 | 0 | 3 | +1 | 4 | 10 | 98:20 |
| 79 | Andrei Markov | 4 | 0 | 1 | +2 | 4 | 5 | 106:06 |
| 81 | Lars Eller | 3 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 35:31 |
|
GOALIES |
|
# |
Player |
Record |
SV% |
GAA |
| 30 | Peter Budaj | 1-0-0 | .966 | 0.93 |
| 31 | Carey Price | 3-0-0 | .945 | 1.68 |
|
SHOOTOUT |
|
# |
Player | G/ATT |
| 20 | Thomas Vanek | 0/1 |
| 27 | Alex Galchenyuk | 1/1 |
| 48 | Daniel Briere | 0/1 |
| 51 | David Desharnais | 0/1 |
|
SHOOTOUT |
|
# |
Player | SVS/ATT |
| 30 | Peter Budaj | 4/4 |
|
Scoring |
Goals: Max Pacioretty (35)
Assists: P.K. Subban (40)
Points: Thomas Vanek (63)
+/-: Tomas Plekanec (+10)
PIMS: Brandon Prust (121)
Shots: Max Pacioretty (247)
|
The Dog |
The Bulldogs had four road games this past
week. In two of them, they played well. The other two were some of
their worst efforts of the season. Mathematically they’re still
technically alive but they need a miracle and then some to make the postseason.
|
News and |
– Stefan Fournier has joined Darren Dietz
(hamstring, out for the year) on the injury list. He’s day-to-day with a
lower-body injury.
– With the college and junior seasons ending,
expect the Bulldogs to add a few bodies down the stretch. The first of
those is Nick Sorkin, who played his college career at New Hampshire. He
has signed an ATO with Hamilton.
– Davis Drewiske’s offensive game with the
Bulldogs is similar to his brief time with the Habs in 2012-13…there isn’t
much of one. He has yet to record a point in 13 games.
– Michael Blunden has matched his career high
in goals in a season with 16. He also had that many in his rookie year
with Rockford in 2007-08.
– Lines from the most recent game:
Forwards:
Sorkin – Macenauer – Thomas
Andrighetto – Dumont – Blunden
Holland – St. Pierre – Leblanc
Tarnasky – Czarnik – Nattinen
Defence:
Beaulieu – Pateryn
Chouinard – Drewiske
Schiestel – Ellis
|
Results: |
March 25:
Texas 4, Hamilton 0
March 28:
Hamilton 6, San Antonio 3
March 29:
Texas 6, Hamilton 1
March 30:
Hamilton 4, San Antonio 3
|
StatPack: |
|
SKATERS |
|
# |
Player |
GP |
G |
A |
+/- |
SH |
PIMS |
| 2 | Greg Pateryn | 4 | 2 | 2 | -2 | 13 | 6 |
| 4 | Davis Drewiske | 4 | 0 | 0 | E | 4 | 0 |
| 8 | Nathan Beaulieu | 4 | 0 | 3 | -4 | 6 | 0 |
| 9 | Justin Courtnall | 3 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 3 | 0 |
| 11 | Nathan McIver | 3 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 2 | 0 |
| 12 | Maxime Macenauer | 4 | 2 | 2 | E | 7 | 0 |
| 14 | Michael Blunden | 4 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 16 | 0 |
| 20 | Louis Leblanc | 4 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 5 | 0 |
| 21 | Nick Sorkin | 2 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | Drew Schiestel | 1 | 0 | 0 | E | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | Joonas Nattinen | 3 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 4 | 0 |
| 26 | Jordan Owens | 3 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 4 | 0 |
| 27 | Sven Andrighetto | 4 | 1 | 5 | +1 | 7 | 2 |
| 37 | Patrick Holland | 2 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 4 | 0 |
| 40 | Gabriel Dumont | 4 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 11 | 4 |
| 44 | Morgan Ellis | 4 | 0 | 0 | E | 6 | 4 |
| 59 | Joel Chouinard | 4 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 5 | 0 |
| 70 | Robert Czarnik | 3 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 5 | 13 |
| 74 | Nick Tarnasky | 4 | 1 | 1 | E | 3 | 0 |
| 92 | Christian Thomas | 4 | 2 | 2 | +1 | 11 | 0 |
| 93 | Martin St. Pierre | 4 | 0 | 1 | -3 | 3 | 0 |
|
GOALIES |
|
# |
Player |
Record |
SV% |
GAA |
| 29 | Robert Mayer | 1-0-0 | .906 | 3.00 |
| 34 | Dustin Tokarski | 0-1-0 | .861 | 5.11 |
| 41 | Devan Dubnyk | 1-1-0 | .889 | 3.50 |
|
Scoring |
Goals: Blunden/Dumont (16)
Assists: Martin St. Pierre (34)
Points: Martin St. Pierre (44)
+/-: Morgan Ellis (+7)
PIMS: Nick Tarnasky (128)
Shots: Gabriel Dumont (174)
|
Schedule: |
April 2:
Hamilton vs Oklahoma City
April 4: Hamilton vs Grand Rapids
April 5: Hamilton vs Grand Rapids
|
Final |
There is a growing sense of frustration among
the fan base as Nathan Beaulieu has not been recalled since being sent down for
the Olympic break. I think if there’s a case for people to be upset about
a defenceman not getting recalled, it shouldn’t be about Beaulieu staying down
but rather Greg Pateryn.
Pateryn has unquestionably been Hamilton’s top
defenceman all season long. He is their go-to blueliner in all situations
(which suggests he could be used in limited special teams roles with Montreal)
and has outscored Beaulieu, an offensive d-man, by a considerable margin (13-6).
In fact, his goal total places Pateryn second in the AHL amongst defencemen.
What also works for Pateryn is the fact he’s a
right hand shot. If Beaulieu (or Tinordi) were to play on the 3rd pairing,
it would be on their off-side whereas it would be Pateryn’s natural side.
With only two right-shooting defenders on the roster (Subban and Weaver),
there’s certainly a need to have another one ready to step in if necessary.
The fact is, there’s a very low chance any
blueliner will be recalled. Montreal has already used one of their four
allowable recalls (between now and April 19th) and there’s little point in
eating into what very little cap space the team has left as it would only
increase their overage penalty for next year. But if you want to be upset
about someone not getting their chance, it should be about Pateryn. He
most certainly has earned a call-up.
