HABS TAKE CHARGE IN 4-1 WIN AGAINST CAPS

GAME NUMERO 3: HABS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF LISTLESS CAPITALS FOR 1ST ROAD WIN OF 2013

It's nice to be wrong every once in awhile. Once in awhile, okay?

My Habs vs. Capitals pregame thoughts were this: playing in Washington, Caps are 0-2, Ovechkin has yet to score and with all of that, figured we would should could be in for a long night.

Markov is back en force. Habs beat Caps 4-1 in Washington. AP

Then when the Habs took the early momentum on a power play just over a minute into the game and didn't capitalize, I thought "oh boy, I've seen this before." The Canadiens continued to create solid chances but couldn't finish. Brian Gionta open net, missed! Bourque in tight, no go! Alex Galchenyuk barging to the net and flicking a high backhand... nice save by Caps 'tender Neuvirth.

The Habs were skating, clicking, making solid first passes, turning the puck up the ice quickly and the Caps were completely flat. But yet the score was still 0-0.

That always scares me.

What I expected to come then was the Caps would get the first goal and then take the game by the scruff of the neck.

Instead, the Caps took two quick penalties to start the second period, went down 5-on-3, Tomas Plekanec scored his second in two games and the Habs never looked back in a solid 4-1 win in Washington.

The Habs' power play, its bread and butter for so many seasons of late -- except last year -- suddenly seems to have roared back to life with the return of Andrei Markov, who scored the second goal of the game and whose pairing with Raphael Diaz appears to be a stoke of genius on Therrien's part.

Should could would you have ever thought, even dreamt of uttering the following after the last few years of futility and hard times for the Russian:

Andrei Markov leads the Montreal Canadiens in goals!?

Well it's true. The veteran blueliner now has three. Not only that, with his goal and assist tonight he's now the fifth highest scoring defenseman in Habs history. Not bad. He's got to be feeling great for himself and what an impact a healthy, confident and surgically-repaired Andrei Markov has on this team.

When even Josh Gorges gets into the scoring action, you know things are going the Canadiens' way.

With all the good that is going on with the Habs -- for these past two games at least -- let's not forget how bad the Capitals were. Goalie Neuvirth could not be blamed for this one. The Caps came out completely listless. No energy, no tempo, no synergy. And the Canadiens took full advantage.

And all this without the first line really going on all cylinders as of yet. Pacioretty picked up a couple of assists and Erik Cole hit a post but that line has yet to fully assert itself.

Brian Gionta continued the trend of the bounce back with his second goal of the year on a nice set up by Rene Bourque. And you know what? Suddenly, Bourque brings a size element to the Plekanec line. Another nice move by Therrien. The man is pushing the right buttons so far.

And where was Ovechkin in all of this? Did he play!? Personally, I think he's not into it. He doesn't want to be in Washington. If he's going to play in the NHL, the guy wants to win. And it looks like already, the Capitals' time has passed.

------------------------------------------------

Last night I had a bit of a negative twitter exchange with a hockey writer (who shall remain nameless) who was absolutely adamant that trading P.K. Subban would be an absolute disaster, and that I was completely WRONG for suggesting that he could be traded for the better of the team. Personally I found his tone completely unprofessional and insulting. But I guess that's the twitter-verse.

While I like P.K. and think he's a great player with so much upside, I also think that he isn't bigger than the team, and if Carey Price and Max Pacioretty can take the so-called "bridge" contracts of two years before they cash in longer term (which they did) then so can Subban. What makes him so special?? He didn't win the Norris. He didn't drive into the ground lead the power play last year. He still needs to grow up.

If Patrick Roy can get traded, anyone / anything is in play. Geez Wayne Gretzky was traded!! This talk that trading Subban would be a disaster is utter nonsense and is a purely emotional response. I'm not saying I want him to be traded. I'm saying if the deal is right, it's an option.

And the Canadiens all of a sudden seem to have depth on the blue line. Raphael Diaz is taking full advantage of the P.K. situation playing with Markov. Frankie Bouillon is eating up solid minutes. Josh Gorges is doing his thing as usual. And Kaberle is trying his best to stay out of their way. And with Tinordi and St. Denis just a call away and Nathan Beaulieu working on his development... well, I'm not saying I want Subban to be traded, but what I was trying to communicate to this "writer" was that Bergevin should do the best move for the team... whatever that should be.

With tonight's victory and Markov, Diaz and the rest of the defense pairings performing as they did, the score is now:

Bergevin 2 - Subban 1

It's certainly bringing up a lot of emotional responses from Habs fans. But hey, if we could get a Sean Couturier from the suddenly nosediving Flyers, well, why not?

It dawned on me today that the ebullient Subban is the Canadiens' version of Gary Carter. Carter was a bit despised by his teammates when he played in Montreal because he was always smiling, always camera-ready and always available to talk to reporters. He was misunderstood. We know he wasn't grandstanding. As we probably know that P.K. isn't grandstanding.

But the difference is, Carter took more than a few years to assert himself as a leader on the Expos' teams of the late seventies and early eighties and he did it with style, integrity and grit. Not to knock P.K. but it's true, the guy has rubbed some of the veterans on this team the wrong way; and if you know hockey, you know how tight the room has to be for a team to win.

I personally feel P.K. needs to sign his "bridge" deal, find his place on the team's pecking order, and keep his flash for the ice.

Next game: The Devils are in Montreal for a somewhat rare Sunday night tilt at the Molson Centre.

And by the way: Alex Kovalev is no longer leading the league in points. :)

Follow moi on le twitter: @HabsFanLeafLand

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

Back to Normalcy

I awoke to a better world this morning.

A world that is back in sync; one where things feel and look like I remember them.

A world, namely, which does not include the Boston Bruins as Stanley Cup Champions.

You may have noticed my radio silence during this opening round of the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs.

This was not completely intentional.

I needed a bit of a break but also, since I was behind in posting my first round predictions I decided to let things unfold before chiming in.

Now I can...

Sometime after 10pm in my home last night, it was if the Stanley Cup had been won. But indeed it had been lost, and was as much of a victory for me as anything.

The Boston Bruins are now relegated to that spot where they can only watch who will take the trophy away from them, like an outgoing Prime Minister who's lost the election, or a Richard Nixon watching his foe in JFK taking the oath from another Nixon foe, Chief Justice Earl Warren (I'm reading his bio now, thus the reference).

Timmy Thomas didn't do his usual race off the ice after losing in overtime bit. This time, all he could do is watch. Caps beat the Bruins 2-1 in OT to win the series 4-3. Thank you.

LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bruins lose, Bruins lose. Hey Jack Edwards, what do you say!!!???

It has been quite the interesting first round: Nashville's Shea Weber taking Zetterberg's head in hand and whacking it against the boards; the Raffi Torres hit; the OT's; the crazy (read: crap) goaltending in the Philly/Pittsburgh series; the Torres suspension; the lack of suspension to Weber; and now the Caps taking out the Bruins. There's more.

LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh that deafening silence in Boston when Joel Ward slipped that rebound past a sprawling and finally not-so-lucky Timmy Thomas. Beautiful.

You got to love the irony, that it's Washington to beat the Bruins, after the now infamous snub of President Obama by Thomas when the team visited the White House. God Bless America, Timmy!

It's kind of funny that Ward scored the winning goal. I was thinking last night how clutch he was last year in the playoffs for Nashville and then signed a juicy contract with the Caps based on that performance. And this year? Disappointing to say the least.

But then he goes and redeems himself with the biggest goal of his career -- and for me, the biggest goal of the year!!!!!!!!!!

The playoffs make strange bedfellows. I found it somewhat odd rooting for a Capitals team that I so often have despised, especially in 2010 vs. the Habs. But there I was, sweating along with every play as if it were Carey Price in nets instead of the upstart rook Holtby.

Can he pull a Kenny Dryden and take the Caps all the way!?

Why not!? Even more possible if the Senators stay keep with the programme so far and knock out the Eastern Conference top seed New York Rangers.

And of course you know I was rooting for the L.A. Kings against Vancouver--a team I'll never root for again after letting the Bruins win the Cup.

Once it's set, second round predictions will be posted -- I promise.

Gonna Hurt More Before It Gets Better

Hockey is a funny game sometimes.

It's amazing how a team can look so good one night, only to look pathetic the next.

Just ask Leaf fans about that...

Andrei Kostitsyn misses last night against Caps' Holtby. Photo by Pierre Obendrauf, The Gazette.

But lately, Habs fans could only wish such a fate, because the team has looked pathetic in its last 3 outings with last night's latest blanking at home to the Washington Capitals 2-0.

It's very simple. No matter how good your team is, if you don't score, you're not going to win.

And the Habs have now been shutout 3 games in a row -- something I've never seen. The last time this happened was in 1949. The team "record" is 4 in a row, dating back to 1928!!

This is one record I hope remains intact.

Poor Carey Price. As a goalie, I can sympathize. It's tough when your team is in a scoring funk because whatever you do, you feel like you're still going to lose. The Habs had their chances last night but ultimately continued a bad trend by taking too many penalties, especially in the 1st period. It just killed any momentum they created.

They showed much more effort and desperation than the listless edition that showed up in Boston the other night, but unfortunately the result was the same.

It's sad the team was booed off the ice, but that's Montreal for you. You get the love but you also get the scorn -- when deserved. We have to show our displeasure somehow, and that's the way it works. We don't just laugh it off like Leaf fans...

Now, the team is in 6th place by the thinnest of margins, having won more games than the Rangers, each with 87 points. New York beat Boston 1-0 last night and are potentially playing their best hockey of the year. Buffalo is sniffing right behind with 85 points. Luckily, 9th place Carolina is 7 points back, so making the playoffs doesn't appear to be in jeopardy, me hopes.

Instead of enjoying their usual eggy-weggies on a cold but sunny Montreal Sunday, coach Jacques Martin has the team practicing today in Brossard.

The only bright side to last night? The fact that my brother didn't shell out hundreds of dollars to go see the game like originally planned. We were both in town visiting our mother and were thinking about seeing the game. As they say, a good "non call."

Habs look to break out of their funk Sunday at home against Atlanta. No excuses now...