Pacioretty Bites Back

Ryder returns, Pacioretty scores two as Habs down Leafs in LeafLand 5-2

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What did that crime dog MacGruff used to say?

Take a bite outta crime!?

Well luckily there wasn't any biting going on, but there was a dose of revenge for the Canadiens as they marched in to Toronto and dominated the Leafs 5-2 at the ACC.

Max Pacioretty continued his tear of late with his first goal of two on the night helping the Habs to a 5-2 win against the Leafs in Toronto. AP

Newly acquired Michael Ryder was not a factor, but newly minted #11 was: Brendan Gallagher gave the veteran sniper his #73 and grabbed Captain Koivu's old number (which he wore with the Vancouver Giants), then proceeded to score the game winner on a nice deflection from a shot from the point.

One game with #11, one goal. I think it took Gomez over 80 games, right? Way to exorcise those demons kid.

The Leafs were up in arms as Tyler Bozak blew the faceoff for reasons that he thought the faceoff was going to be restarted. I say he gave up on the play, and David Desharnais did not.

The Canadiens dominated on the scoreboard and shots on goal; Max Pacioretty potted two and continues to  have the hot hand.

This game should have been out of reach earlier than the third period, but Leafs goalie Ben Scrivens made a few good saves, notably on Brendan Gallagher.

Carey Price didn't have to be great in this one, but I'm sure he would have liked to have back MacArthur's goal. Even if it was a nice passing play, he could have sucked that one up.

But he did excel on Mikhail Grabovski's penalty shot when the game was only 2-1 Habs; had Grabovski scored the game might have turned in another way.

Credit the Canadiens for being very disciplined and not getting pulled into the goonish play of the Leafs like the last time. Honestly now that I look at it, the Leafs look like the poor man's version of the Bruins. They want to play tough and with skill, but they're just goons with flashes of talent.

And I'm still not that sold on their goaltending, whoever is between the pipes. Scrivens was a bit soff on a few of the Habs tallies.

The Habs were a motivated team last night and have yet to lose in regulation since their 6-0 drubbing at the hands of these very same Leafs. It might have been all about getting "the two points" but this game proved my point in an earlier post that the Leafs made a big strategic error in embarrassing the Habs in Montreal a few weeks ago. They awoke the beast in the Habs -- now Montreal has something to play for against Toronto. The flame has been re-ignited for the Canadiens in this classic rivalry.

Well now that the Leafs had their rears handed to them in their barn, will they respond and go on a tear like the Canadiens responded after their drubbing??? I wouldn't bet on it.

No ifs and buts about it: the Canadiens are a much harder team to play against this season -- exactly what Coach Therrien wanted. They keep limiting their opposition to under 30 shots a game and are now starting to dominate in the faceoff circle. It's all in the little details. Winning, that is.

Habs have a tough weekend which could say a lot in where they stand in the conference next week. Back home to face the Penguins on Saturday, then off to Boston to play the Bruins on Sunday.

As always: SHOULD BE FUN!!!

You know that Twitter thing? Yeah, I'm on it: #HabsFanLeafLand

Battle of the Backups

Budaj records first win of the year as Habs beat Flyers 4-1 in Montreal

NO EXCUSES

It's the Canadiens' slogan this year, emblazoned in large letters in the dressing room.

Habs continue their winning ways by beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 in Montreal. AP

The Flyers were coming off a loss in New Jersey last night while the Canadiens waited for them in Montreal, having won two straight in Florida.

NO EXCUSES not to win.

And they didn't disappoint. The Canadiens came out flying against the Flyers, taking the lead 1-0 on a goal by first star of the game Brendan Gallagher, who took a pass on the fly from Max Pacioretty and beat Flyers goalie Brian Boucher to the stick side.

Yes it was the battle of the backups, with Brian Boucher getting the nod while Peter Budaj took the crease for the Habs after it was announced that my man Carey Price was suffering from an intestinal flu.

Right away, twitter was ablaze, firebombing the Habs' chances with Budaj between the pipes. True the Habs backup was winless so far this year in two starts and more true, his career numbers against Philadelphia were pretty weak: 0-2-0 with a 4.5 GAA and .842 save percentage.

My view? Budaj was due. And he delivered when he had to.

But kudos to the Canadiens, they played a strong game in front of their netminder tonight keeping the Flyers to the perimeter. They made it 2-0 early in the second after Max Pacioretty drove the net then set up David Desharnais for the score.

Then the Habs got into penalty trouble and handed Philadelphia the momentum for the rest of the middle frame. Danny Briere got the Flyers on the board after his shot deflected off of Andrei Markov's skate past Budaj.

The third period so far this year has been a problem for the Habs so it was nice to see them come out and win the period adding goals by Plekanec and Bourque in an empty net. Final score 4-1 Habs and for now placing the Canadiens second in the conference with 19 points, one ahead of the Bruins but Boston has two games in hand.

The Canadiens faced a Flyers team that looked lost. Their best player, Claude Giroux, was nowhere to be found pretty much all night. Average goaltending and defense combined with injuries to Scott Hartnell and suddenly the Philadelphia Flyers are a pretty normal team. If this is any indication, they won't make the playoffs this year.

Unfortunately for Montreal the game didn't come without a price (ahem). Brendan Gallagher didn't finish the game as he fell awkwardly into the boards and Max Pacioretty also left the game after driving the net and apparently taking a skate in the ribs!? Let's hope both will be okay. Well we know Pacioretty is invincible, but Gallagher we'll have to see.

Other good points for the Habs on this night:

• Max Pacioretty seemed to have a lot more jump on the night and was driving the net -- as he needs to do to succeed; still goalless on the year, he finished the night with two assists;
• The Canadiens dominated the Flyers in the faceoff circle;
• The powerplay was powerless, but the penalty kill was perfect on the night.

Habs have a busy week, starting Monday against the suddenly hot Carolina Hurricanes.

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New book: Montreal Canadiens -- Stanley Cup Champions

Twitter has brought me into contact with a whole new world of Habs fans and so I wanted to give a stick tap to Habs Fan in New Brunswick Jocelyne LeBlanc, the author of the upcoming book Montreal Canadiens -- Stanley Cup Champions.

Jocelyne grew up cheering the Habs along with her father in Dieppe, New Brunswick. Her decision to write this book, celebrating the Habs' 24 Stanley Cups, is a tribute to her love of sports, hockey, the Canadiens and especially, her father who passed away in 2011.

I look forward to reading it when the book is ready, which she hopes will be this coming fall.

For now, you can check out the links below for more information:

English: http://www.indiegogo.com/montrealcanadiens

French: http://www.indiegogo.com/24CoupesStanley

Follow me on le twitter: #HabsFanLeafLand

SUPERBOWL WEEKEND JUST SUPER FOR HABS

Canadiens Collect Four Points in Back-To-Back This Weekend

Coach Michel Therrien went on the record saying he wanted his team to send a message after losing 5-1 this past week in Ottawa.

Well I think the team received the memo.

Two strong team wins against divisional rivals the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators put your Montreal Canadiens in fourth spot in the Eastern Conference. And if you want to get technical about it, the Habs with 12 points are tied with the Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning -- and the Pens have played one more game but get the nod because they lead their division.

Who could have imagined this?

Well, GM Marc Bergevin and Coach Therrien, that's who.

But even they couldn't have anticipated their team going 6-2 to start the season. Hey, it's only eight games, but there's no doubt it's been night and day from last year and with a healthy team, excellent goaltending and scoring through the lineup, you're going to see results.

And there's the continuing, inspirational story of Max Pacioretty, who returned to action a week after undergoing an emergency appendectomy. He was scheduled to return in three to four weeks.

Last year's Canadiens gave up leads, lost games in OT and shootouts and found ways to beat themselves -- kind of like the Calgary Flames are doing this year.

This year's squad is playing a solid team game, standing up for each other and scoring goals. On Saturday the Canadiens came out flying and took it to the Sabres who looked flat and uninspired safe for Tomas Vanek -- who is making an early play for the Hart and Maurice Richard trophies.

But if we've learned anything from last year's Canadiens, one scorer or even one scoring line does not a team make.

And so after promising his mates pre-game he'd be better, Ryan Miller did his best to keep his team in the game by only surrendering one goal to Rene Bourque right at the end of the first period. Bourque nearly scored a few minutes back on almost the exact same play -- driving the net and deflecting the pass into the side of the net. Nice play. For a second he looked like Yvon Lambert, without the chest hair jutting out from his jersey.

Did you ever see Mike Cammellari drive the net like that? I tweeted this question to the official Calgary Flames twitter account last night. I didn't get a response.

Coach Therrien continues to keep his finger on the right button in getting the most out of Rene Bourque and he's been one of our most consistent players of this young season, scoring two goals in the Canadiens' 6-1 drubbing of the Sabres. David Desharnais and Lars Eller had big games too, D2 scoring twice and Eller scoring one along with two assists. The two Gallys also came to the party with Brendan Gallagher scoring the game winner and Alex Galchenyuk getting two assists.

But the Canadiens were in for a different test on Sunday afternoon with the well-rested Ottawa Senators in town and they grabbed the early lead on a nice top shelf shot by Jacob Silfverberg when he was sent in alone with a nifty pass by Patrick Wiercioch. Price had no chance.

The Habs special teams came to the rescue with David Desharnais and Erik Cole closing the scoring out in the first period to take the lead 2-1, though Cole's goal came just at the end of a power play. Desharnais' goal came off of a nice feed from Pacioretty who seems to be able to play no matter what is thrown at him. Just please Max, don't contract Hep C or anything!!

Then it was Carey Price the rest of way, turning back 32 of 33 shots and taking his record to 6-1. Carey Price, Vezina trophy winner sounds good. Though Carey Price, Conn Smythe trophy winner sounds even better! But I digress...

The Senators appeared to have tied the game early in the third but the goal was called off due to goaltender interference. It was pretty borderline in my opinion and according to Sean Gordon of the Globe and Mail Ottawa GM Bryan Murray was livid with the referee's call on that play. Well you win some, you lose some. Nice to see the Habs win some.

So the Canadiens are winning games all sorts of ways this year and don't seem to be counting on trends like having to score first or whatnot. The only trend that counts is winning, any and all ways.

Habs Nation is a very happy place right now and this sets up beautifully the BIGGEST GAME OF THE YOUNG SEASON so far against the hated Boston Bruins on Wednesday. Should be a good one.

Follow-moi on le twitter: @HabsFanLeafLand

What'd I miss!? A lot, apparently...

GAMES NUMERO 4, 5 & 6 AND OTHER HABS STUFF

Wow! You go away for some fun in the sun for a few days and you can miss a lot in a lockout-shortened season.

For instance, I missed the Canadiens extending their winning streak to four before going down against the Senators in Ottawa in their first back to back of the season.

Buh-bye "triple low-five." The fans may like it, but you know what? The team lost a lot of games during the shelf-life of this celebration and it's time to leave it behind. 

It was universally stated by the media that the Canadiens lost the game in a four minute span in the second period where Ryan White took a bad unsportsmanlike penalty, put his team in the soup and the Sens scored three goals. It should be clearly noted that backup Peter Budaj was in nets for the Habs, while starter Craig Anderson was between the pipes for Ottawa. It's going to be that kind of year for Budaj but hopefully he can step it up when needed.

I missed a terrific performance by the two Gallys as they're now known, Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher against New Jersey last Sunday. Then head coach Michel Therrien announced after game four the two would stay with the team!!!!

Wow that's big -- big for the two youngsters and the team. Totally a major departure from the way the Canadiens have treated young talent in the past. A big deal was made of how Galchenyuk is the first eighteen year old to make the team like since Mathieu Schneider or Petr Svoboda or something. Nice. Well youngest to make the team since Guillaume Latendresse. But that's not saying much.

Youngsters are making their presence around the league with players staying with their squads. More on this after their true impact reveals itself after more games played.

The New Jersey game was supposed to be the first big test for this team. Well, they passed. Beating Marty Brodeur is always a bonus for this team because he plays so well in Montreal.

Then the Habs continued their winning ways against the Winnipeg Jets. They even came from behind in the third period. This team has character! Good! And the powerplay led by Andrei Markov has kept rolling along.

What else? Well my last tweet before heading down south was about Max Pacioretty who had an emergency appendectomy and would be out for roughly 3-4 weeks. That was Saturday. Today he went through a full practice with the team. This guy is unbelievable. Let's hope that's all for him in regards to the injuries but man the guy's healing and perseverance is inspiring.

And speaking of today's practice no way he's going to get his b@#!s  cracked by his teammates you know who made his first full appearance on the ice with his mates: P.K. Subban. This one is going to take a post of its own tomorrow. But let's just say I'm happy he took the two-year deal and I know the team and more importantly, the head coach, is going to break him in to the TEAM concept the Habs have been preaching this year. And so far, it's been working. The Habs are 4-2 without him, but are a better squad with this exciting, young rearguard.

Probably this means Tomas Kaberle will be the one to ride the pine or visit the press box. We'll see how it shakes down tomorrow afternoon against the Buffalo Sabres -- who had a nice win of their own last night against the Bruins in Boston.

Listen. Michel Therrien was on RDS' "L'Antichambre" all of last year and so it's quite well known what he thinks of Subban's showboating and style. Don't break the personality, but some things could be toned down, especially in the room. So it should be no surprise to anyone that today he came down on the "triple low-five" between Subban and Price after Habs wins. I don't mind it. This team is going to be "...more humble," in Therrien's words.

More on the PK signing and all that jazz in my next post.
Follow moi on Twitter: @HabsFanLeafLand

PS: Alex Kovalev scored the game winner for the Panthers against the Jets.

THE NEW ALEX IN TOWN

GAME NUMERO 2: PK WHO? & GALCHENYUK POTS FIRST OF BEAUCOUP TO COME AS HABS DOWN PANTHERS

One game does not a season make. Err, or something like that.

Maybe it's only a 48 game season this year but it's going to be intense and concentrated. Teams are going to play multiple games in multiple nights. That means there will be hockey on the tube practically every night.

I like that.

First goal for Alex Galchenyuk, first point for Brendan Gallagher and first win for the second coming of head coach Michel Therrien. Habs beat Florida Panthers 4-1 in Montreal. AP

So the Habs who hadn't played since their loss to the Leafs on Saturday night were able to take advantage of a somewhat sluggish Florida Panthers team playing their third game in four nights, taking them down 4-1.

What a confidence boost for beleaguered dman Andrei Markov, scoring two power play goals -- the first on a two man advantage in the opening period giving the Habs a 2-0 lead after Tomas Plekanec opened the scoring less than four minutes in off a nice feed from Brian Gionta.

Markov and Diaz looked pretty darn good quarterbacking the power play, for this game at least.

What a confidence boost for the power play.
What a confidence boost for the players, for the franchise.
What a confidence boost for Markov's orthopaedic surgeon...

That's how you take the pressure off of GM Marc Bergevin in the Subban contract negotiations.

Subban 1 - Bergevin 1

Who will blink first?

Markov's second of the game restored the two goal cushion after penalties caught up to the Habs allowing the Panthers to cut the lead in half with a power play of their own. Actually this game was riddled with penalties but this time around the Canadiens won the special teams battle and that's how you win hockey games.That fact alone might just have saved the Canadiens a few million bucks with Subban.

That's the first time Markov has scored two goals in a game in four years!

"Hey Carey, just saying hi." Alex Kovalev floats through this one. Get used to it Florida. AP

No doubt there's lots of work to be done, but the Habs came out with a lot more intensity than on Saturday. So much so that Alex Kovalev seemed more interested in watching the game rather than actually playing in it.

We've seen that before. Well Florida fans, welcome to the enigma that is ALEXEI KOVALEV.

And who should score, one #27 to another but the new Alex in town -- ALEX GALCHENYUK. First of many for his NHL career in bleu-blanc-rouge.

Pretty much across the board to a player the team played with much more urgency and intensity. And Kaberle wasn't really noticeable and that's probably a good thing too. Hopefully the team can sustain this as they head out to play the Capitals in Washington.

Lars Eller was the one who took the brunt of the new culture that Therrien is trying to instill. You don't compete, you don't play. Ultimately he wasn't the only one that deserved the wrath of Therrien but with the victory tonight, hard to imagine the lineup will change against the Capitals.

It's going to be pretty interesting if the Canadiens can string a few more victories together and if Galchenyuk and Gallagher can put some more points up on the board. Very interesting.

Et la premiere etoile, da first star ALEX GALCHENYUK!!! Remember voted by the fans (not by me). But nevertheless!! Let the lovefest begin.

Enjoy it dude. And keep it up.

Follow moi on le twitter: @HabsFanLeafLand