Islanders Have Habs Number!

Habs points streak ends at 11 games; Gionta scores 20,000th goal in Canadiens history in 6-3 loss to Isles

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Not a great game all-around, Habs vs. Isles on the island.

The defense was sketchy; Price didn't have the bounce back game we had hoped he would; and the Islanders took full advantage. So let's give that mediocre team the kudos they deserve for doing what they needed to do to get the two points.

Get it together Carey. Your team, your fans... need you to be at your best. Isles beat Habs 6-3 on Long Island. AP

But nevertheless, the Canadiens lost the chance to get two points against a team that does not play well at home; a team that probably won't make the playoffs; a team starting an aging, past-his-prime goalie in Evgeni Nabokov.

Michael Ryder had three assists and Captain Brian Gionta scored the Canadiens' 20,000th goal in its history. But it still wasn't enough.

Defensively, the Canadiens have been making a lot more mistakes of late. And Carey Price is getting the shaft because of it.

You know I'm his biggest supporter. As a goalie myself, I understand what it's like to play between the pipes.

But hey! The team needs a big save once in awhile. Lately, Price just doesn't look comfortable in his crease. That's the reality, that's the truth. You can blame the defense all you want, but it's nice when your goalie saves their behinds sometimes... that's what goalies are for!!

And Price just isn't doing it right now. To be honest, he hasn't looked the same since he came back from the flu. Maybe he's not totally 100%. But the fact is, he looks shaky. Point finale!!

Michel Therrien was clearly frustrated in his postgame presser. He was positive in general, didn't throw anyone under the bus, but he did mention how Price probably would've liked the Islanders' fourth goal back.

That's the one that hurt. The Canadiens came back from a 3-1 deficit to tie it up and needed a few saves to keep the momentum going. They didn't get it.

On twitter, Price's defenders were bashing anyone who even suggested Price was at fault for this game. My position was that the loss wasn't his fault per se, but just because the puck is deflected does not mean that automatically should be a goal. I've made plenty of saves off of deflections. So has he. Make some big saves when your team isn't playing its best. The Canadiens need that from time to time. Stand on your head!

When was the last time we said that? That Carey Price stood on his head to get the win for the HABS!? Seems like a long time...

Remember what Ben Bishop of the Ottawa Senators did to us last week? I'd like to see Carey Price do that for us sometime soon.

Hopefully he gets it together. Do we see Budaj or Price on Thursday against the 'Canes in Carolina?? I think Price needs to play through this... but he better get it together quick because it's still pretty tight in the Northeast division.

Hey did I tell you I'm on twitter? I have over 400 followers now: #habsfanleafland

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

Back to the Future -- Again!!

GM Bergevin pulls trigger on deal with Dallas Stars trading Erik Cole for Michael Ryder and 3rd round pick

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I was just about to get into the shower after a hard "insanity" workout. Then I heard from the television downstairs on RDS saying the Canadiens made a trade today. My immediate thought was "...oh what draft pick and prospect now!?"

But then I was shocked to hear the Habs traded big power forward Erik Cole with two more years on his four year 18 million dollar contract to the Dallas Stars for Michael Ryder and a third round pick!

Wow! Was I blown away.

Welcome back Ryder. Times have changed in Montreal. Good luck in Dallas Cole. Let me know if you find out anything I don't already know on the JFK assassination.

Why? Well Cole had a terrific season last year with 35 goals. He was off to a slow start, no doubt. But we at least thought that he was a good team guy, a leader and would get going.

I have to admit, I was a bit surprised when this veteran winger who clicked so well with Desharnais and Pacioretty last year came into camp saying he was going to retire at season's end. Seemed very odd. He was definitely rattled by the lockout, and maybe a change of scenery will be good for him.

Kind of a weird way to start a year. And then his play and lack of production has brought up questions about his fitness, leadership and will.

I admire Bergevin for pulling the trigger and making a splash to make his team better.

The big question is: was this the right deal?

From a numbers perspective, after looking at the specifics quite frankly, yes.

Cole has another two years left on an $18 million contract. Ryder is a UFA at the end of this season. So in one swoop, Bergevin frees up money against the cap for next season; gets a natural goal scorer who also scored 35 goals last season and so far this season has 14 points in 19 games -- tying him with team leader Plekanec; gets a player who'll be hungry to get a good contract for next year with whichever team; and gets a pick.

And the other intangible? Bergevin shakes his team up a bit, ensuring over confidence and complacency doesn't set in, and puts some of the other "leaders" on this team on the hot seat (I'm looking at you Brian Gionta).

The other big question? What else does Bergevin have up his sleeve? Is he done?

Ryder struggled under head coach Guy Carbonneau in his last season with the Habs and during his first year in Boston but now he's a veteran player who is confident in his abilities. He's a proven goal scorer, even if he is one-dimensional to some extent. He's a sniper. He'll be expected to snipe.

Erik Cole waived his no-trade clause for this. Maybe he wasn't happy? Maybe he wasn't the leader we were led to believe? Maybe Bergevin wants to purge anything Pierre Gauthier? Whatever the case, Cole can now retire a Dallas Star if he so chooses, while Michael Ryder can enjoy playing on an up-and-coming team that could be competitive in the post season this year.

Time will tell whether this works out for the Habs. In the end, Erik Cole was the best thing that happened to the Canadiens during last year's debacle. But I knew we wasted the best year of his career. Maybe Ryder still has his best in him.

Twitter! It's good, clean fun: #habsfanleafland

AK46 Hab No More

Andrei Kostitsyn, the one Habs forward who could pull us all out of our seats with his offensive flair, is a Hab no more.

Today he's being reunited with his brother Sergei in Nashville, exchanged for a 2nd rounder in 2013 and the conditional fifth round pick the Habs gave to the Preds in the Gill trade the other week.

In other words, not much eh?

Bye bye Andrei. Another victim of our miss the playoffs kind of year. You were fun to watch. I'll miss you. Pic: Getty

Now I'm an Andrei Kostitsyn fan, and sure he's definitely in one of his patented slumps right now, but why we'd trade a guy like this who is just entering his prime is beyond me. Why we'd let another head coach essentially write out players from their lineups -- Carbonneau and Michael Ryder for example -- is also beyond me, especially when the head coach is a temp.

Kostitsyn isn't setting the world on fire this year, with 12 goals and 12 assists in 53 games.

I would be more happy if we got something of substance for this guy but a measly 2nd rounder is a bit disappointing, if you ask me.

In the end, the deal turns out to be a salary dump for more important Carey Price and P.K. Subban contracts in the quicker than most would like to admit is coming" offseason.

But who can blame  him? This guy has been playing 3rd and 4th line minutes. He should be playing on the first two lines, in my opinion, for him to thrive. Last night he was playing with Ryan White for godssake.

Good luck Andrei it was fun. Now the guy we picked instead of Kopitar isn't around anymore to remind of that fact. I'm sure you'll do well in Nashville.

DO I SMELL TOP 3 PICK!!?? The Habs are well on their way especially after losing last night to Florida, and I'm fine with that. Let's see if the team makes a few more moves before the end of the afternoon today.