by Michael Ham-Fan, Staff Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine
MONTREAL, QC. — After a rough stretch of games earlier in the month, the Montreal Canadiens have settled down once again. They started the month of March on the wrong foot, losing five of their first six games, including a very difficult California trip, where they lost to the Sharks, the Kings and the Ducks. Since that stretch, the Canadiens have won four of their last five games. The recent winning streak has been the result of various players contributing to the team’s success.
The supporting cast’s contribution
The biggest turning point, for me, was the impact of a good support group of players, especially the bottom-six forwards. Earlier last week, it was the third line, formed by Jacob de la Rose, Lars Eller and Devante Smith-Pelly that contributed the most. This week, it has been the fourth line that has been playing with energy and grit.
The injuries to Torrey Mitchell and Bryan Flynn, forced Michel Therrien to return veteran center, Manny Malhotra, to the Habs’ fourth line. The coach decided to assign wingers Brandon Prust and Dale Weise to Malhotra’s line. Ever since that combination was tried, three games ago, they instantly clicked. Dale Weise and Brandon Prust both have three points during that stretch and added a combined 12 hits. Malhotra, on his part, has won 24 faceoffs in three games.
This fourth line is one of the most efficient I have seen this year. They are very good at keeping the puck down low in the opposing team’s zone, and they are all defensively responsible players. The solid play of the bottom-six has taken some pressure off the main two lines, making the top players more comfortable on the ice. Tomas Plekanec has four points in his last two games, and Max Pacioretty has three.
Alexei Emelin’s return and Pateryn’s emergence
Another factor of the recent success is the defense playing a sound game as a whole. Getting defenceman Alexei Emelin back from a shoulder injury, that sidelined him for a month, has definitely given the Habs’ blue-line a boost. The physical Russian defenceman has had 15 hits and seven blocked shots in 4 games since his return, on top of scoring a very important goal in the game last Tuesday against the Florida Panthers. Emelin wasn’t having a very good season before he was injured, but he certainly looks like he came back in better shape than he was at any point this season.
If you have been reading my latest articles, you would know that I have been very high on Greg Pateryn for quite a while. In the five games following his latest recall from the Bulldogs, Pateryn hasn’t had a single game with a negative plus-minus ratio. He, also, has had 10 hits and 5 blocked shots during those games. His stellar play has allowed more flexibility and more options for head coach Michel Therrien for his defensive formations. Personally, I find that the calmness and stability that he brings to the Habs defense can hardly be described in statistics and has contributed in the team’s recent run.
Carey Price’s career-year
Last but not least, Carey Price‘s performance this season is simply amazing. By now, you must have heard that Price is leading the league in nearly all goaltending statistical categories such as save percentage, goal against average, shutouts and wins. When you add in the team’s lackluster offensive production, averaging only 2.56 goals per game (23rd in the NHL), the fact that this team is currently tied for 1st in the NHL is mind-blowing and Carey Price has to be praised for that.
Although the team has been playing better hockey lately, Carey Price has bailed out his team on multiple occasions this year, and he will likely get consideration for four trophies: Hart Trophy (Most Valuable Player to his team), Vezina Trophy (Goaltender of the Season), Jennings Trophy (Best Save Percentage of the Season) and the Ted Lindsay Award (Most Outstanding Player judged by the NHL’s Player Association).
Tough week ahead
The Canadiens have had a very good week last week, winning all their games, but they will have a very intimidating week coming ahead. They will face-off Tuesday night against the Predators in Nashville, a team that are extremely hard to beat at home. Peter Laviolette’s team has a 27-7-2 record at home, compared to a 17-14-6 record on the road.
Following that that, they will head to Winnipeg to face a playoff-hungry Jets’ team on Thursday. The Jets are also dominant in their home building, as their 20-11-5 record shows. Then, they will close up the week, Saturday, with a tilt against the Panthers in Montreal. Florida, coming off a win against Boston Saturday, kept their playoffs hope alive. With that said, they would have to win a big majority of their remaining games to have a chance of making it, making the upcoming Habs-Panthers game very crucial to them.
Sources :
NHL.com :
http://www.nhl.com/ice/schedulebyseason.htm?team=MTL
http://www.nhl.com/stats/team?fetchKey=20152ALLSAAAll&ord=desc&sort=avgGoalsPerGame&viewName=summary
Yahoo.com :
https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/3005/
https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/4261/