It's been a tough week for the Canadiens and the NHL.Mike Cammellari converts on a nice feed from Jeff Halpern. Cammellari has been tearing it up against the Pens since last year's playoffs. Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images.
Don't know about you, but my heart hasn't been into it... so you imagine what the Habs have been feeling.
Well we got a sample of that with their performance in St. Louis against the Blues and everyone's favourite former Hab, Jaro Halak.
Well not that Halak was any better than Price. But the team in front of him was, and after a nice goal by Jeff Halpern it pretty much was St. Louis the rest of the way, winning 4-1. It was closer than that since it was 2-1 with less than 2 minutes remaining, when Matt D'Agostini showed his great eye-hand prowess to bat a puck out of the air past Price.
The Habs looked listless and uninterested... and who could blame them?? This should have been an exciting game, given the goaltending soap opera we witnessed over the summer. Instead, it was kind of a boring game with the Canadiens not fully out of their mental fog after what happened in Montreal to Max Pacioretty.
Well the show must go on. Good news at least that MaxPac went home and his recovery is well underway. Let's hope to see him at training camp.
In the meantime, the Canadiens still have their jobs to do, and so they marched into Pittsburgh yesterday for an afternoon show and put forward one of their more solid performances of late, winning 3-0. Price posted his 8th shutout of the year, putting him only one back of Lundqvist for tops in the league.
They scored quick to start the first two periods. First Plekanec off of a nice feed from Cammellari after a face off win 46 seconds in. Then Moen on a sweet shot past Fleury 24 seconds into the 2nd frame.
Then a bit later Cammerllari posted his second point of the game potting a nice goal off of a Halpern pass.
Honestly the Pens reminded me of how the Habs played in St. Louis the previous game. They didn't have a lot of emotion going and giveaways killed them. Fleury was pulled after the 3rd goal but not because of his play -- more just to shake up the team. But it didn't work. There's no doubt the Pens, even with their recent additions, just aren't the same team without Crosby and Malkin.
Price made some nice stops, notably one in tight off of James Neal when he found himself alone in front of the Habs net, did everything right, waited waited waited for Price to go down, only to see Price get his arm on the puck when Neal tried to roof it.
The team has now won 6 of 7 and find themselves only 2 measly points back of Boston, although they still have that freaking game in hand -- what's up with that?? They've had games in hand all friggin' season!!!
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