Rocket:
It’s mildly amusing to hear a certain segment of the media try to diminish Carey Price’s importance to the Montreal Canadiens. Some speak about Price and Jaroslav Halak as being 1A and 1B. Price-haters such as PJ Stock and Murray Wilson are regularly overzealous in their enthusiasm for Halak’s play. While Guy Carbonneau rarely says anything positive about the performance of Price, Carbo goes out of his way to praise Jaro.
Recently, some speculated about a Canadiens roster that did not include Carey Price. Instead, they suggest, Bob Gainey should have chosen Anze Kopitar with their first round pick in 2005. They concluded that Marc Denis and Cristobal Huet could be an effective tandem. This is pure nonsense and would be a nightmare scenario for the Canadiens. With all due respect to Kopitar, I have to agree with Bob McKenzie who said that Carey Price will rival Sidney Crosby as the player from the 2005 draft who makes the biggest impact in the league.
Which brings us to tonight’s game. Carey Price has an undisclosed lower body injury. It is not known how long he will be sidelined. Jaroslav Halak started the game against the New Jersey, a team who was struggling to score before Christmas. But tonight, Halak would gift wrap a victory for the Devils.
Some will blame the loss on the long list of injured Canadiens. Others may simply chalk it up to a bad night for Jaro. The truth is that Halak has not played well all season. At times, he has played with confidence but his technical game has been weak. His stats actually flatter the way he has played. Halak is having trouble tracking the puck, suffers from poor positioning, has a weak glove hand and has difficulty controlling rebounds. In addition, he doesn’t handle the puck well outside the crease.
Tonight the wheels fell off for Jaro. Both New Jersey first period goals were very weak, a stoppable stick side shot by Gionta and a slow shot along the ice by Parise. Despite outplaying the Devils, the Canadiens trailed after one.
Guy Carbonneau elected to let Halak continue in net to start the second period but it was clear that things were not going to get better. While killing a penalty, the Devils cleared the puck down the ice. Jaro looked very shaky having to make a kick save to salvage a little pride. Throughout the period, Halak gave up big rebounds and pucks danced in and out of his glove hand.
After a horrible pinch by Patrice Brisebois created a two on one, Halak gave up his 3rd soft goal of the game on a glove side shot by John Madden. Later in the period a shot from the blueline hit Halak. He spun around looking for the rebound. He had no idea where the puck had gone. He looked lost. His confidence was severely shaken.
Marc Denis would start the third period. Last season Denis played in 10 games with Tampa Bay. He only finished 6 games and posted a 1-5-0 record with a .859 save percentage and a 4.05 goals-against average. Reports are that he has played well with the Bulldogs this season in an attempt to resurrect his career.
Unfortunately, Denis’ play would more closely resemble last season, against NHL-calibre competition tonight. The first Devil shot of the period by Zajac rang off the post as Denis was slow to react. Denis seemed to be battling the puck and stumbled outside the crease even though the Devils only managed 7 shots in the period. Marc looked very awkward trying to stop a chance by Patrik Elias as the puck squirted through the crease. Denis was very deep in the goal as he allowed a soft goal to Jamie Langenbrunner.
At the other end, the Devil goalie was the game’s first star. And Martin Brodeur was in the press box! Scott Clemmensen was solid in making 33 saves.
The rest of the Canadiens played well enough to win. With less than 4 minutes left in the first period, the Canadiens were outshooting the Devils 12-5 but were losing 0-1. Kovalev, the Kostitsyns, Plekanec, D’Agostini, Latendresse and Lang all had multiple shots on goal but couldn’t get one past the Devil goalie.
Max Pacioretty got his first NHL goal on his first shot; a laser that was the only one to beat Clemmensen. Pacioretty showed his speed and in a game that wasn’t very physical, delivered a big hit on Andy Greene. Kyle Chipchura had jump in his play and was winning battles for the puck. Chipchura picked up an assist on Pacioretty’s goal, and had his own chance to score while killing a penalty.
Tom Kostopoulos deserves mention for taking on heavyweight David Clarkson and holding his own.
With neither goalie looking sharp, Guy Carbonneau will have a tough decision to make for the next game. Let’s all hope that Carey Price will be ready for Sunday’s game against Florida.
Pre-game:
Condolences to the family of Don Sanderson of the Whitby Dunlops who passed away this morning due to a head injury suffered in a game three weeks ago.
Price, Tanguay, Higgins, Dandenault, Koivu, Laraque out with injuries.
O’Byrne and Maxwell to Hamilton. Bulldog call-ups: Pacioretty, Chipchura, Weber, Denis.
Rocket’s 3 stars:
1. Scott Clemmensen
2. Zach Parise
3. Jamie Langenbrunner
(photo credit: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)