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The first three games of Round 1 have been
strong for the Habs who now find themselves a win away from a trip to the second
round.  There will be no playoff run for the Bulldogs this year as their
season came to an end this past week with a split of their last two games. 
Teams don’t often change winning lineups but my Final Thought looks at one
change that should be made for Game 4.

Cheers and Jeers

Cheers to…

1) Rene Bourque; this one was kind of obvious. 
At the beginning of the week it sounded as if he wouldn’t even play (making my
prediction from last week’s HW Recap seem even crazier) but he has had a huge
impact thus far.  He’s playing like a true power forward and has given the
bottom six a huge boost.

2) The aggressive style of play that Montreal
has exhibited thus far.  We saw it for most of last year but this season
has been another story.  The Habs are now trying to dictate tempo and are
chasing the puck down with a purpose.  It’s a tougher style to maintain
over the long haul but so far, so good.

3) The top pairing of Emelin and Markov. 
While they can’t match Tampa Bay’s speed, their smarts have – for the most part
– done enough to keep the Lightning’s top line at bay.  They’re playing
physical, blocking shots, and even generating some offensive chances at the
other end. 

Jeers to…

1) The Habs’ top line.  Even though
they’ve had some great chances, they’ve failed to capitalize on all but one at
even strength.  They’re looking for the fancy play too often and it has
taken them out of some good scoring opportunities as a result.  The good
news is that the rest of the team has picked up the slack but as their scoring
levels revert to regular season performance, the top trio will need to get back
on track.

2) Special teams which haven’t been very
special so far.  Not only is the powerplay still sputtering but now the
penalty kill is having its moments.  The Lightning are getting some goals
and other strong opportunities with the man advantage and that’s something we
haven’t seen opponents do for quite some time. 

3) Michel Therrien’s curious deployment of
Daniel Briere.  After he was one of the Habs’ best forwards in Game 1 –
where he set up the winner – he didn’t play much in the next two games.  In
fact, his combined ice time in those games barely matches what he saw in the OT
victory.  That’s not a normal way to reward someone who stepped up their
play.

StatPack:

SKATERS

#	Player	GP	G	A	+/-	PIM	SH	TOI
8	Brandon Prust	3	0	1	+1	9	2	45:54
11	Brendan Gallagher	3	2	2	+1	0	5	48:47
14	Tomas Plekanec	3	2	0	-1	0	9	63:29
17	Rene Bourque	3	3	0	+3	0	15	45:07
20	Thomas Vanek	3	1	1	+2	2	10	55:07
21	Brian Gionta	3	1	1	+2	0	8	52:20
22	Dale Weise	3	1	0	+1	0	2	30:28
26	Josh Gorges	3	0	1	+4	0	2	71:39
43	Mike Weaver	3	0	1	+2	0	1	42:29
48	Daniel Briere	3	0	1	+1	4	6	38:19
49	Michael Bournival	3	0	0	E	0	2	29:18
51	David Desharnais	3	1	1	+2	2	9	59:03
55	Francis Bouillon	3	0	0	+3	0	0	40:18
67	Max Pacioretty	3	0	1	+1	0	10	60:09
74	Alexei Emelin	3	0	2	+1	2	5	75:44
76	P.K. Subban	3	0	4	+3	4	7	80:52
79	Andrei Markov	3	0	0	-1	0	4	85:39
81	Lars Eller	3	1	3	+4	2	4	49:04

GOALIES

#	Player	Record	SV%	GAA
31	Carey Price	3-0-0	.914	2.12

Scoring Leaders:

Goals: Rene Bourque (3) –
tied for league high as of games played through Sunday
Assists: P.K. Subban (4)
Points: Eller/Gallagher/Subban (4)
+/-: Eller/Gorges (+4)
PIMS: Brandon Prust (9)
Shots: Rene Bourque (15) – league high as of games played through
Sunday

The Dog Pound

Although they defeated Lake Erie, it didn’t
stop the Monsters from passing the Bulldogs in the standings to ensure that
Hamilton finished last in the division for the third year in a row.  On the
plus side, they avoided finishing last in the conference (13th) and the league
(25th).

News and Notes:

– Connor Crisp joined Brady Vail on the junior
prospect injury list.  Crisp has an upper body injury while Vail missed
both games with an ankle issue.

– Although Martin St. Pierre wound up being
Hamilton’s top point producer, it’s safe to call his season a disappointment. 
His point total was eleven points lower than his career low coming into the
season.

– The Bulldogs announced their end-of-season
awards.  The notable winners:

Fan Favourite: Gabriel Dumont
Top D-man: Greg Pateryn
Top Rookie: Sven Andrighetto
MVP: Dustin Tokarski

– Lines from the last game:

Forwards:

Sorkin – Andrighetto – Thomas
Holland – Dumont – Blunden
St. Pierre – Macenauer – Leblanc
Tarnasky – Nattinen – Nevins

Defence:

Beaulieu – Pateryn
Chouinard – Drewiske
Schiestel – Ellis

Results:

April 15:

Hamilton 2, Lake Erie 1
April 19:

Syracuse 3, Hamilton 1

StatPack:

SKATERS

#	Player	GP	G	A	+/-	SH	PIMS
2	Greg Pateryn	2	0	0	-1	0	0
4	Davis Drewiske	2	0	0	E	3	0
8	Nathan Beaulieu	2	1	0	E	5	0
11	Nathan McIver	1	0	0	+1	1	4
12	Maxime Macenauer	2	0	0	-1	3	0
14	Michael Blunden	2	0	1	E	6	0
20	Louis Leblanc	2	0	0	+1	4	0
21	Nick Sorkin	2	1	0	-1	4	0
22	Drew Schiestel	2	0	0	E	1	0
23	Joonas Nattinen	2	1	0	+1	2	0
25	Jack Nevins	2	0	0	-1	3	15
27	Sven Andrighetto	2	0	1	-1	4	0
37	Patrick Holland	1	0	0	E	2	0
40	Gabriel Dumont	2	0	0	E	6	5
44	Morgan Ellis	1	0	0	-1	1	4
48	Connor Crisp	1	0	0	E	1	0
59	Joel Chouinard	2	0	0	-1	5	5
74	Nick Tarnasky	2	0	0	-1	2	7
92	Christian Thomas	2	0	1	-1	5	0
93	Martin St. Pierre	2	0	0	+1	2	0

GOALIES

#	Player	Record	SV%	GAA
29	Robert Mayer	1-0-0	.968	1.00
34	Dustin Tokarski	0-1-0	.885	3.04

Scoring Leaders:

Goals: Gabriel Dumont (19)
Assists: Martin St. Pierre (38)
Points: Martin St. Pierre (48)
+/-: Ellis/Pateryn (+4)
PIMS: Nick Tarnasky (137)
Shots: Gabriel Dumont (189)

Final Thought

Superstitions in the postseason
are quite common, even for the coaching staff.  We’ve all heard the term
‘sticking with a winning lineup’ which is what the Habs have done in both Games
2 and 3 in the first round.  Even though it’s working, I think it needs to
change for Game 4.

While it’s nice to see Brandon
Prust back in the fold, it’s clear he’s not 100% and as a result, he isn’t
bringing much to the table.  He’s a step slower than usual and looks out of
place on what has been a scoring line with Tomas Plekanec and Brendan Gallagher. 
With him playing a limited role and the team having a comfortable lead, it’s not
the worst idea in the world to sub in Ryan White for Prust and give him at least
the next game off.

For some reason, Michel Therrien
likes to use right shot wingers on faceoffs despite the fact that Gallagher,
Brian Gionta, and Thomas Vanek are all at or below 40% on the draw.  White
would give Montreal an actual right handed centre which might help in the
faceoff battle, an area that the Habs are very up-and-down in this series. 
White can also take a shift here and there shorthanded to cover what Prust
provides in that regard.

Doing this would also allow for
Daniel Briere to get more ice time than the sparing fourth line minutes he has
received since he set up the winner in Game 1.  In terms of generating
offence, he’s a much better fit than Prust.  Michael Bournival could also
log some shifts at a point in the game where a more defensive-minded player is
needed.

For the Habs to have a long and
successful playoff run, they’re going to need a healthy Prust in the lineup. 
Given the style that he plays, he’s going to get banged up quickly.  Giving
him the next game off to rest him up a bit more should be beneficial later on in
the postseason without compromising Montreal’s chances too much in Game 4. 
It’s a worthwhile switch to make.