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The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Game
Season 2016-2017

THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY GAME 12 Montreal 5 Philadelphia 4

Mitch
Season 2016-2017The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Game
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Almost on cue the battered and bruised (egos) Canadiens jumped out to an early lead but could not keep the Flyers away from their goaltender. It was a win but once again – inside their own zone – the Habs leaked more than an FBI agent at a Rudy Giuliani rally for the politically insane. At least the guys who wear an ‘A’ brought their game back to that level.
THE GOOD

  • Carey Price. A shaky start, by Price standards, turned into another example of why his team manages to win games they ought not to. Price was especially hot in the middle period when the Flyers outshot Montreal 15-3. He was the best player on the ice. Again. Off the ice, he’s just as good.

  • Tomas Plekanec. Looks rejuvenated. Or maybe it was –

  • Andrei Markov. The old guy got it going early, started to fade halfway through, and then seemed to catch a second wind. First multiple point night of the season. More impressive was seeing him aggressively push back on rookie Travis Konecny during a scrum in front of Price during an early second period Philly power play. Markov took enough crap in Columbus.
  • Brendan Gallagher. The buzz saw was back.
  • Alex Galchenyuk & Alexander Radulov. The last time two hard working, gifted offensive players had this much chemistry together was – ?
  • Phillip Danault. Strong night earned him a third period shift on the top line. Has already surpassed his Montreal point total of a season ago (5 points in 21 games).
  • David Desharnais-Andrew Shaw-Paul Byron. Excellent effort. Opening goal by Markov at 1:06 was the result of a turnover forced by Shaw while Desharnais went to the net. The trio were also responsible for setting up Greg Pateryn for the Habs second goal  just 39 seconds after Philadelphia had taken a 2-1 lead. It was Desharnais who kept a clearing attempt inside the zone which eventually led to Pateryn neatly picking the far corner through a mass of bodies. Desharnais ended up playing just 10:44, mostly because the Habs ran into penalty trouble.
  • Eastern Promises. Late in the second period with the scored tied, Alexei Emelin levelled Claude Giroux in the middle of the ice inside the Flyers blue line. A minute later it was Markov to Radulov to Galchenyuk and a 3-2 Montreal lead on just their second shot of the period. The last time this many Russians excelled at the same time in an NHL game on Montreal ice was likely in December 1995.


THE BAD

  • Max Pacioretty. Is he playing hurt? (I once asked Steve Shutt about a talented offensive player who was struggling when Shutt was an assistant coach. “He’s not paying hurt” said Steve. “He’s just playing like shit.”) Clearly pressing the way his current centreman was. Too many shots from the outside (“From the parking lot” said Knuckles Nilan) and when he does get a legit scoring chance from close range he’s missing the net. And in his own zone, like several of his mates, he’s a mess.
  • Special Teams. Habs went 0-3 on a disorganized looking power play while for the second consecutive game their PK unit was no match for one of the NHL’s top power plays.
  • Penalties. All six minors (including Andrew Shaw’s double for high sticking) were utterly avoidable. Even Torrey Mitchell, who has been playing such strong, smart hockey went full brain fart mode with just over five minutes to play to give Philadelphia a chance to come back.
  • Arturi Lehkonen. If Daniel Carr can’t get into the line up after his team loses 10-0 when does he get in? Maybe as soon as the next game against Boston. Lehkonen appears to have hit a wall. While failing to generate offense playing with Galchenyuk and Radulov, Lehkonen did not properly cover his man at the blue line – Shane Gostisbehere – whose goal gave the Flyers a brief 2-1 lead. On his next shift he took a holding penalty in the offensive zone. He played just 8:07 while Danault took at least one of his shifts in the third period with Galchenyuk and Radulov.
  • Dale Weise. Anybody else not really notice the former Hab? His stat line in 9 games as a Flyer: 0-1-1 with 7 SOG. Nice looking contract though.

THE UGLY

  • Michael Neuvirth. The Flyers became the first team to put more than two goals in a game behind Carey Price.  But their own guy gave them goaltending that was reminiscent of the Tommy Soderstrom years. The Flyers are a good looking young team. But Ron Hextall can play better than Neuvirth (.859) and Steve Mason (.878). And the Flyers GM is 52 years old.
  • In their last 4 games the Habs have been outshot 189-125. They look sloppy ‘n slow. In fact, in how many of the 12 games this season has Montreal been the quicker team on the ice? That’s a real good looking 10-1-1 to start the season. Some see a radiant smile. But I also see blemishes.
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Mitch

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14 Responses

  1. You forgot another good: M/T separated DD and Patches finally. No matter where Patches shoots from it’s still better than having him paired with DD anymore. DD back to where he should be at least on the 3rd line if not in the press box some nights. Another bad that may not look so bad last night but why does MT continue to play Markov on back to back games. Give those old legs a rest so if we make the post season he has something in the tank. Another good by MB for not signing Weise to long expensive contract. I liked Weise a lot but not for that kind of money.

    1. He broke them up the night before in Columbus. But I understand if you had given up by then.

  3. There’s a storm a Brewin, I don’t like what I’m seeing, and I’m not talking about Carey Price. 🙂 But hey at 10-1-1, 3/4 of the fan base thinks they’re great and can do no wrong.
    It’s gonna get ugly when the bounces stop going our way (Blue Jackets), and our goalies have to make this many saves night after night.
    This team with different faces looks the same as any other Habs team since 2012.
    It will take some real losses to have changes made, and we all know where to start.
    Shane from Brandon, MB

  4. So many blemishes…Markov is old and slow…at best a 3rd pairing D. Emelin the same…Desharnais/Plekanec must be the worst 2/3 centre combo in the NHL. As for 67, I’ve had it with him. A soft, soft player with zero leadership skills.

    1. I disagree with you on Plekanec. Excellent in the circle, and excellent shutting down top lines. As for leadership, we have no idea what goes on in the dressing room. What we do know is that he has been a Captain or Alternate Captain on every single team he has played on since Peewee. Unless you have other information, I disagree. That’s OK though, all fans are different, and can’t be as Great as Me! 🙂
      Shane From Brandon, MB
      @sholi2000

  5. I’m wondering if there are any off-ice issues Pacioretty is dealing with … I remember that affecting Sheldon Souray’s play a few years back … I’m not saying this is case (or that it’s any of my business), but it would explain a lot … heard Garry Galley say last night that Montreal’s system is centered around protecting Carey Price and they weren’t doing very well doing that … seems to be a pattern of late … glad for both Tomas Plekanec and Greg Pateryn who both scored their first goals of the season … good observation on the 3rd line, Mitch … thanks again for great postgame synopsis …

    1. Pacorietty is very soft! Instead of playing like a power forward, like he should he cruises around the ice accomplishing nothing! All of his shots are from far out and he avoids the front of the net where his size and skill set would be very valuable! Captain, I don’t think so! Captains lead by example, Pacioretty doesn’t! MB should sit him until he plays with some intensity!

      1. This guy has been the Habs leading score for the last five season. Let him play out of his slump rather than all of us bashing him all the time.

      2. That’s because he’s not a power forward? He never has been, that’s not his game or his style. Did you look at Jagr and Lemieux (both big guys) and wonder about how soft they were, how they “cruise around the ice accomplishing nothing […] instead of playing like a power forward”?
        Pacioretty is a skill guy, not some mucker and grinder who should be out there banging heads together. Sure, you can ask a guy to be a bit more physical when he’s not scoring, but hitting guys isn’t going to help him score more goals.

      3. Thanks Larry … I respect the opinion, certainly … Pacioretty has been a streaky player traditionally, or so it seems to me anyway … it could very well be just that, but if there is a behind-the-scenes problem I’m hoping the organization would helping him with that … having said that, I’m also hoping he comes out if it soon … we could use the offence …
        Cheers.

  6. But, had Max not taken a look up the boards and seen that it was clogged on the PK and instead wrapped it around to Plekanec he does not score the eventual winning goal so it has not been all bad for Max.

  7. Well I stand by my comments about breakouts and the speed of our defense, and I’ve said them enough there’s no point in repeating them.
    Instead, regarding Philly’s goalies, Steve Mason has actually been pretty solid over the last few years: his first full season in Philly was 13-14 (.917 sv%), since then he’s put up a stellar .928 and a more-average .918. If you combine 13-14, 14-15, and 15-16, his total sv% was .921, tied for 8th best in the NHL for goalies with 50+ games. He’s not far off from 2nd either (Price’s .931 stands out, 2nd was .924).
    This year’s .878 is clearly his worst since leaving Columbus, but I would assume it’ll improve, at least to average, based on how good he’s been the last 3 years.
    Therrien’s treatment of Carr reminds me of his treatment of Tinordi and Pateryn a year ago. Sit them in the press box for months on end even while players ahead of them aren’t playing that well. I do like our 4th line players, but none of them are a great fit in the top 9, so I’d rather see Flynn scratched for Carr. But maybe you’re right and Lehkonen needs a chance to step back for a few games. Either way, it’s baffling that Carr isn’t playing.

  8. Always my favourite read – Good/Bad/Ugly. Allows me to see how much I agree/disagree as do other readers. Nobody really believes this team should be 10-1-1. Equally nobody should be looking what heads to chop off (other than MT who let’s face it as long as we’re winning he’s the coach and I don’t want to lose in order to get rid of him). The only way we get a new coach is for players to complain to management that he’s ruing their games and the best players to do so would be those that MB dealt for this summer. That being said, I agree Markov can’t play two games in a row, Weber didn’t need to play almost 30 minutes in the debacle in Columbus and if MT was not going to play CP31 no matter what, we should have brought a goalie up from St John’s because nobody should be subjected to that humiliation that Montoya was. That should tell MB it’s time to get rid of MT before the wheels fall off of this at best middle of the road (for now) team. If Rads should be playing on the right wing and isn’t do you think he may go looking for a new team after this year? And if he does, what was that deal all about, MB? Time for MB to decide who’s more important – the team or the coach?
    Everyone loves Max when he’s scoring and everyone hates him almost all other times. And yet he gets us 30 goals a year. He’s not a physical player but he can be strong when he needs to be. He’s a guy who finds the sweet spot. So get off his back and let him do his thing. On the other hand if being “C” for the Habs is too much for him he should hand it over. I think it would be so cool for him to ask Weber to take the captaincy. Shea knows what it means to be a captain and then Max can focus on scoring.
    One last thing: I moved to Vancouver a long time ago and am going to just my 2nd game at the Bell Centre this Saturday. If nothing else, boys, let’s win for me and my family, OK?

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