Montreal 3 NY Rangers 1 (Madison Square Garden)
It seems that the formula has changed. Remember earlier in the season? Game after game, the Canadiens were outshot, with 40 shots against not being unusual. The Habs could only win with “excellent goaltending and special teams.”
It was a stock phrase used at many post-game news conferences by coach Jacques Martin. During that time, the Canadiens had the No. 1 ranked power-play in the league.
Anyone questioning the contribution of goaltending should recall that either Carey Price or Jaroslav Halak has won the monthly Molson Cup. Price earned the honours in October and November while Halak won for December and January/February segments.
But times have changed. We haven’t heard those words from Martin in awhile, and certainly not on the six-game winning streak.
While the Canadiens’ penalty-killing has continued to be strong, the power-play has not been as dominating as it was earlier in the season. And goaltending just hasn’t been required to play a major role.
Halak, the Habs’ starting goaltender was called on to make just 19 saves in tonight’s game.
Instead, during the winning streak, the Canadiens have been getting goal support, a balanced attack, excellent neutral zone play and good defense.
The Habs are forechecking and dictating play. Forwards called small earlier in the season are being referred to as speedy and are exploiting vulnerable defences. With all four lines contributing the Habs are able to dominate.
While the Canadiens controlled the play from beginning to end tonight, the second period was their best outshooting the Rangers 18-to-5. With the Canadiens spending more time in the offensive zone, there has been less pressure on the defense. With managed minutes, all three pairs of defenders are playing better than they have all season.
This is the team envisioned by Bob Gainey when he assembled the pieces last summer, and made a few key acquisitions in the fall. Let’s hope that Gainey finally gets his due.
Tomas Plekanec, who was a game-time decision with a suspected hip injury, once again proved why he is the MVP of the Canadiens this season. Plekanec had a goal on four shots while getting 20 minutes of ice-time, the most of any forward. He had power-play and penalty-killing shifts and was 75 per cent on faceoffs.
Sergei Kostitsyn was excellent defensively with his team short-handed and he scored the winning goal. Kostitsyn now has six points in the last six games. Brian Gionta had eight shots on goal.
The Canadiens are now in sole possession of sixth place in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of Philadelphia. The Flyers lost in a shootout to Nashville. Looking ahead in the standings, the Habs trail fifth place Ottawa by only one point and third place Buffalo by four. The Senators have one game in hand while the Sabres have three.
Montreal is coming together at an ideal time in the season. At the end of the game, I jokingly asked, ‘Can Cammalleri crack this lineup?’ Of course, he will play, but it does allow coach Martin the luxury of waiting until he is close to 100 per cent healthy before returning him to the line-up.
Cammalleri will take Tom Pyatt’s spot on the Plekanec line. Marc-Andre Bergeron’s return will not be as straightforward. Martin will have the choice of Pyatt, Bergeron or Max Lapierre for one place in the lineup.
Both Cammalleri and Bergeron will not be ready for the weekend. Ben Maxwell, who was a healthy scratch tonight, will be returned to Hamilton on Wednesday.
The Canadiens will have a day off and will return to practise on Thursday to get ready for their Saturday night game with the Leafs in Toronto.
Rocket’s three stars
1. Sergei Kostitsyn
2. Henrik Lundqvist
3. Tomas Plekanec
special mention: Brian Gionta, Andrei Markov
Player quotes from wire services were used in this report.
(photo credit: Getty)