Varlamov once more bails out the Islanders, saving two huge early-third-period chances from Panarin (breakaway) and Zibanejad (2 on 1), to take the win and shutout.
-
-
Not sure if these are great appointments or just show a lack of imagination.
Comment
-
If it gets Burke off his TV appearances then it's a great move.Originally posted by Hot Pepsi View PostComment
-
He is indeed gone from SportsnetComment
-
-
Ken Dryden on goalies and how they, and their equipment, are spoiling the game:
Comment
-
I’d like the idea of making the goal a little bigger and, to make it standard, it could be metric. Two meters by 1.4 meters would make it just a bit bigger than it is now.Comment
-
Islanders manage to keep the Sabres shotless in the third period yesterday, making it look very easy indeed to hang on to their 3-1 lead.Comment
-
And tonight Sorokin shuts Buffalo outComment
-
Horvat looked pretty good yesterday, and the rest of the Canucks didn't look too shabby either. It was an eyebrow-raising moment when Markstrom flattened that one Canuck halfway out of the defensive zone, and pretty cathartic when he conceded a goal while trying again.
I'm getting quite some mileage out of that nhl.tv subscription. Good stuff.Comment
-
The Flames are overplaying Markstrom. It'll bite them big time if they don't adjust.
Boeser has quietly being playing up a storm (second in league goals) while the rest of our vaunted top six have been struggling. The good ship Canuck is gradually turning around, but our defence will remain a liability I think.Comment
-
The outdoor game at Lake Tahoe is suspended at the end of the first period due to it being too sunny.Comment
-
The sun opened large ruts in the ice surface in which a number of guys were catching their skates
They are lucky to have gotten through the period without any injuriesComment
-
Final two periods to be played starting at 9pm local time (Midnight Eastern)Comment
-
This year delivered a unique chance to move the game to Texas. It would make no sense to do so, but it would have been very funny.Comment
-
Claude Julien sacked by Montreal.
Not really a shock. Strip out those games against Vancouver earlier in the season and the Habs have been very inconsistent. At times they've looked really good. Too often they've looked poor. Losing against Ottawa is a sign that things aren't going well, even if I don't think the Sens are as bad as their early season form suggested. The difference is that Ottawa have found a way to make it tough for opponents. They'll still lose more than they win - probably a lot more - but they'll be close games. Montreal never really looked like they could win those close games or grind out results. The Habs were either pretty good or pretty awful. I've got a soft spot for them as I've said before (it annoys my Leaf supporting friends) but they just weren't playing well enough for Julien to remain in the job.
Problems start at the back. Price is liable to make some great saves in the same period as he gives up a howler. Right now I think Allen gives Montreal better goaltending than price does. Carey's 8-figure cap hit is just ridiculous for a goaltender who just isnt a game winner any more. Injuries and a loss of that absolute game winning ability have caught up with him.
I think Montreal should be stacked defensively. They've got Chiarot, Edmundson and Kulak to pair up with more offensively minded D. You add in Petry and Weber as the offensive D options and that leaves 1 spot for a rookie. Right now it's Romanov. I don't really rate him or Mete. I think Romanov makes a little too many mistakes and Mete is just too small. Fleury is still developing, but at 22 it's maybe time for him to up his involvement? Most teams would kill for Petry or Weber and to have both of them gives Montreal 2 impressive QBs on their powerplay, which makes their power play struggles more than a little baffling. The Habs D just seem good for a mistake or two per game and Price isnt going to bail them out of those.
Up front there are real problems. Toffoli is coming on to a game against opponents not from BC. For a big part of the opening stretch of games he only turned up against Vancouver. He's had a few more goals now against other opponents and is proving to be a great signing. Josh Anderson too - if he can stay healthy then he's looking like recapturing his offensive numbers from a few years back. Outside of those 2? Problems.
- Nick Suzuki has 4 goals in 18 games. He has 13 points, but some of those assists are bound to be secondary assists. He's not showing up as the 2nd line offensive centre that Montreal expect him to be.
- Danault is a bit of an all-rounder. Not a prolific goalscorer, but last year he was good for 13 of them and 47 points total. This year? 0 goals and 8 assists. He's there to play a sound all round game, win face offs and bring his more lethal teammates into the play. Right now he just isnt doing that.
- Byron cleared waivers unclaimed. The 40+ points player from a few years ago is gone. 4 points from 17 games and it's unclear what he actually brings to the team. Certainly not a 2-way threat.
- I don't like Gallagher as a player. No doubting that in previous seasons he's been an offensive contributor for the Habs. I just don't like his style of play. 6 goals in 18 games is probably not far off what you'd expect based on previous years. He needs help and he isnt getting that from Thomas Tatar. Tatar has 4 goals in 17 games. Lehkonen has 2 in 16.
- Drouin just isnt playing like a 3rd overall draft pick. He's contributing for sure (10 assists in 18 games) but he isnt a $5mil per season player.
Before a puck was dropped I was worried about Montreal's lack of goals. Last year they were tough to play against and made opponents work hard for any openings they were able to get. They had just enough goals in them to rely on their defence keeping the opposition quiet. I was hopeful with Toffoli and Anderson but still thought that it would be tight defensive play, and the signing of Allen to give them a solid 1-2 in goals, that would be key to their season. Remove that defensive stubbornness and you're left with a team that blows hot and cold, isnt good enough on the power play and ships some soft ones. On nights when Julien had it clicking they could still score their share of goals. They managed 4 last night. They even showed a bit of resilience coming back from 3-1 down. They just found a way to fail at a crucial time. A couple of those Sens goal were fortunate, but the grit of Brady Tkachuk kind of showed what Montreal were lacking. They just never seemed tough enough to get the job done. Julien takes a lot of the blame for their poor powerplay. I think his tendency to try and ice all 4 forward lines also cost him. He never seemed to find big moment, go-to guys. The underperforming forwards were getting plenty of ice time but it just wasnt working for them. The longer they were on the ice then the longer the Habs were going in games with no real threat in the opposition zone. He was unwilling to increase ice time for the guys who were performing and that was essentially shooting himself and his team in the foot.
So what now for the new coach Dominique Ducharme? He has the rest of this season to convince the owners and GM that he's the right guy for the job. He had a relatively nothing playing career, making it as far as League Mangus in France. Not a big problem: Mike Babcock played in goals for the Whitley Warriors in the BHL. He's coached in the QMJHL but hasn't been a head coach in a Men's professional league. No route via the ECHL or AHL. Ducharme went from coaching major junior to being an assistant on the Canadiens staff. Thats a huge jump to make. Maybe he was impressing within the coaching set-up in Montreal? Maybe. Joel Bouchard may have been an option from Laval. At least he's got some head coach experience in a mens pro league even if Laval havent exactly been setting the AHL on fire. Alternatively Ducharme may be warming the seat until the Habs appoint somebody else this season, but if they do then it'll be another known name from the NHL head coach merry-go-round and that isnt going to bring anything new to Montreal. There's little help on the horizon as quarantine rules mean that anybody they trade for who currently plays for an American-based team would need to quarantine for 2 weeks before even joining training sessions. You're looking at 3 weeks from trade to actually playing as we've seen with Dubois in Winnipeg and Dzingel in Ottawa (due to make an appearance some time next week - perhaps). I know that people were talking about Sid being on the trade block and Montreal would be an obvious option for him, but that kind of trade would take time and the Penguins would want something that helps their rebuild. I don't think that we're talking draft picks either - you could be looking at Montreal having to trade a good forward prospect. There were noises that Suzuki might have been an option if they'd gone for Dubois. You've got KK in there who may be a more realistic option for an ageing Crosby - he's surely better than the 2 goals in 18 games Kotkaniemi has so far and would give Montreal help sooner than KK is going to develop for them.
And thats the problem for Montreal. They're far too good to tank and try to rebuild. Nobody in Montreal would accept that. They're just not good enough to be a contender. Better coaching will get them into the play-offs this season. They have too much talent on their roster to miss out. But they need to improve their special teams and they need to solve some serious performance issues - both scoring goals and being that ruthlessly effective defensive team we've seen for the past couple of years. Julien didn't look like he was able to do that any time soon. Whether it's Ducharme for the rest of the season or whoever they can appoint, Montreal fans will need to hope that they can get things working fast.Last edited by BallochSonsFan; 24-02-2021, 22:16.Comment
-
An unconventional reaction to being pulled after conceding four goals in half an hour
https://twitter.com/jamierivers08/status/1365889363285008387
Comment
-
Tom Wilson does what Tom Wilson does again, this time to Brandon Carlo of BostonComment
-
-
Wish I could like that more than once.Comment
-
Very bummed to hear of Mark Pavelich’s death.Comment
-
Indeed. It didn’t have to turn out that way.
Comment
-
Can we play them every night?Comment
-
Thatcher Demko has the highest GAA in the Canadian division, and we beat the Leafs two games straight. We can all go home now.Comment
Comment