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Last week was a tough one for both the Habs and IceCaps as some sporadic offensive performances and untimely poor plays in the defensive zone resulted in a 1-2-1 record for both teams.

Spotlight Players

Jacob de la Rose: After a couple of mediocre performances, he has looked a lot better in his last two games.  This is a big chance for him to show what he can do with the trade deadline now less than six weeks away.  We’ve known for a couple of years now that he has the potential to be a quality bottom six forward.  This is his opportunity to show that not only to Marc Bergevin but to the other 30 general managers around the league.  He can’t afford to have many more of those lesser quality outings.

Alex Galchenyuk: Michel Therrien made the right call to drop him down in the lineup.  It’s pretty clear he’s not back to the form he was showing prior to the injury just yet and with Phillip Danault doing well in his absence, the Habs are fortunate to be afforded the opportunity to be able to ease Galchenyuk back in.  Him on the third line shouldn’t be a long-term proposition but for now, it allows him to work his way back with a bit less pressure on his shoulders.

Torrey Mitchell: It looks like we’ve hit the stretch of the season where he becomes completely invisible at the offensive end.  Since a three game point streak back in mid-December, he has just three assists in 19 games despite spending a lot of those contests in more than a fourth line role; he typically has a stretch like this every year.  Mitchell has never been a top scorer but bottom six scoring has been a key part of Montreal’s success and he’s not really bringing anything at that end.  If he picks it up, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Habs start to win a bit more often as usually when he gets going, some others do too.

StatPack

Skaters:

# Player GP G A +/- PIMS SOG TOI
6 Shea Weber 4 1 0 -1 0 10 96:54
14 Tomas Plekanec 4 0 0 +1 0 6 66:22
17 Torrey Mitchell 4 0 0 -3 2 3 46:50
20 Zach Redmond 4 0 0 -2 0 4 48:42
24 Phillip Danault 4 1 0 -1 0 2 63:24
25 Jacob de la Rose 4 0 0 -2 2 3 41:12
26 Jeff Petry 4 0 1 -1 0 14 93:59
27 Alex Galchenyuk 4 1 2 -4 2 8 67:32
28 Nathan Beaulieu 4 0 1 -4 2 5 82:30
32 Brian Flynn 4 0 0 -2 0 4 40:08
41 Paul Byron 4 0 1 E 0 3 62:55
42 Sven Andrighetto 4 1 0 +1 0 3 48:00
45 Mark Barberio 4 0 0 -1 2 5 71:39
47 Alexander Radulov 4 0 3 -2 6 1 72:24
62 Artturi Lehkonen 4 1 1 +1 0 5 53:03
65 Andrew Shaw 4 0 0 -3 0 7 58:23
67 Max Pacioretty 4 1 1 -3 4 15 78:52
74 Alexei Emelin 4 0 1 -2 4 4 86:21

Goalies:

# Player Record GAA SV% SO
31 Carey Price 0-2-1 2.65 .905 0
35 Al Montoya 1-0-0 1.00 .941 0

Team Leaders:

Goals: Max Pacioretty (21)
Assists: Alexander Radulov (25)
Points: Max Pacioretty (39)
+/-: Shea Weber (+18)
PIMS: Andrew Shaw (80)
Shots: Max Pacioretty (152)

IceCaps Corner

St. John’s was boosted with an entire front line returning to the lineup (Michael McCarron and Chris Terry were sent down while Charles Hudon returned from injury) and the IceCaps responded with some of their weakest and most disinterested efforts on the season.  The team was only able to muster up three of eight points against the teams that are one spot ahead and one spot behind them in the standings.

News and Notes:

– Markus Eisenschmid and Stefan Matteau are both out of the lineup with undisclosed injuries.  The team has provided no update on how long they might be out of the lineup.

– With Mark Barberio up with the Habs, the AHL has replaced him with Albany blueliner Vojtech Mozik for the upcoming AHL All-Star Game.

– Terry’s ten game point streak came to an end on Sunday afternoon.  Prior to being held off the scoresheet, he had put up a stellar 18 points (7-11-18) in that span.

– Sven Andrighetto, who played just one game with St. John’s in the past five weeks, finally lost the team lead in shots on goal early in the week.

– Lines from last game:

Forwards:

Hudon – M. McCarron – Terry
Veilleux – Audette – Scherbak
Broll – Farnham – Friberg
Ranger – MacMillan – Gregoire

Defence:

Brouillette – Lernout
Parisi – Hanley
Samuelsson – Racine

Results:

January 17: Utica 5, St. John’s 2
January 18: Utica 3, St. John’s 1
January 21:
St. John’s 4, Albany 2
January 22: Albany 2, St. John’s 1 (OT)

StatPack

Skaters:

# Player GP G A +/- SOG PIMS
3 Josiah Didier 2 0 2 E 6 0
4 Philip Samuelsson 4 0 1 E 7 6
5 Tom Parisi 4 0 0 -2 2 6
10 Charles Hudon 4 2 1 +1 12 4
12 Max Friberg 4 1 0 +1 6 2
14 Brett Lernout 4 0 1 E 2 0
15 Joel Hanley 4 0 0 -2 2 2
16 Mark MacMillan 4 0 1 -3 0 0
17 Nikita Scherbak 4 0 0 -2 9 0
19 Bobby Farnham 4 0 1 +1 6 21
21 Stefan Matteau 1 0 0 -2 1 0
22 Chris Terry 4 2 3 +2 8 0
24 Daniel Audette 4 0 0 -2 7 0
25 Michael McCarron 4 2 2 +2 12 4
26 Julien Brouillette 4 0 0 E 5 2
28 Yannick Veilleux 4 0 0 E 5 0
29 Jonathan Racine 2 0 0 E 0 0
32 John McCarron 1 0 0 -1 3 0
34 David Broll 4 0 0 -2 2 0
36 Anthony Camara 2 0 0 E 1 2
37 Jeremy Gregoire 3 1 0 -1 5 2
43 Alexandre Ranger 1 0 0 E 1 0

Goalies:

# Player Record GAA SV% SO
31 Yann Danis 0-1-1 2.51 .912 0
35 Charlie Lindgren 1-1-0 3.50 .885 0

Team Leaders:

Goals: Hudon/Terry (12)
Assists: Chris Terry (19)
Points: Chris Terry (31)
+/-: Brett Lernout (+7)
PIMS: Stefan Matteau (83)
Shots: Chris Terry (66)

Upcoming Schedule:

January 27: Toronto vs St. John’s
January 28: Toronto vs St. John’s

Final Thought

Daniel Carr isn’t having the best of seasons but the Habs aren’t exactly doing much to help him get out of his slump either.  He has been a healthy scratch in six out of the last eight games and he’s waiver exempt.  These are two things that shouldn’t be in the same sentence.  If you have a young player that isn’t playing much, that player should be heading to the AHL before too long.  Not only would it help keep him game ready, it also might help his confidence at the same time. 

Carr is the type of player who is likely to move at the trade deadline, a youngster that gets tossed into a deal as a secondary piece for some help now.  Unfortunately, it’s hard to get good value for a player who is starting to be scratched on a frequent basis.  I understand why he isn’t playing with the Habs with them wanting to give Jacob de la Rose a look and Sven Andrighetto putting together a decent stretch of games.  Knowing that, it’s time for him to go to the IceCaps.  Not only could they use him as they’re scuffling offensively, Carr could use the playing time. 

It’s never a good idea to have a prospect as a reserve player.  That’s what middling veterans are signed for, to sit on the bench to allow the youngsters with upside to play as much as possible.  Hey, maybe there is a practical use for Bobby Farnham on an NHL roster after all…