PRE-SEASON Game 5: Montreal 3 Boston 7 (Halifax Metro Centre)

Written by Rick Stephens, AllHabs.net

MONTREAL, QC. — On Saturday night, the Anaheim Ducks beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-1 at Rogers Area with a line-up that featured 14 regulars. Anaheim had lost three straight games and head coach Randy Carlyle was looking to inject some confidence into his team. He defended his decision to ice a majority of starters saying that sometimes it isn’t fair to put young kids in an unrealistic situation.

Perhaps like facing the defending Stanley Cup champions?

With only three games left in the pre-season, the Montreal Canadiens have made just five cuts to a roster of more than 60 players. How much do we have to see Dany Masse to know that he is best suited for the ECHL? Is the confidence of Nathan Beaulieu better served by having him struggle for his past two outings?

Let me be the first to say that the process is more important than the game result in pre-season. But when the Canadiens are pasted 7-3 by the Bruins, was there much process to evaluate?

Listen, no one wants to see an injury to a regular roster player before the season starts. But this team must come together, and it would appear that the Canadiens will have just two pre-season games to work out the kinks with cuts expected after the Monday night game against Boston. So far in training camp, there has been only one hour-long practise with the players who are expected to be on the ice on opening night.

“It was a little ugly. You put an emphasis on winning games at all times, particularly late in the preseason. This is Game 5 for us so we want to start putting some wins together to get some momentum going into the regular season.” — Brian Willsie

Montreal is now 1-4 in the pre-season with their only victory coming in a shootout. So, is it really accurate to write off this game with a “men vs. boys”, “rookies against regulars” explanation?

On defense, the Bruins iced Zach McKelvie, Stephen Kampfer and David Warsofsky. Not exactly household names. Montreal countered with Beaulieu, Morgan Ellis and Alex Henry.

Up front, Boston had youngsters Zack Hamill, Trent Whitfield, Max Sauve, and Jordan Caron. Two veterans, Chris Clark (attending camp on a try-out contract) and Daniel Paille (played only 43 games for the Bruins last season,) are not everyday NHL players.

More importantly, the Bruins went with their third-string goaltender Anton Khudobin, who is slated to spend the upcoming season in Providence. Peter Budaj, the starter for the Canadiens, was described by head coach Jacques Martin as a significant upgrade over last year’s back-up Alex Auld. It is anticipated that Budaj will shoulder more of the goaltending load than Auld did when he started 16 games for the Canadiens last year.

For Budaj, it was a night that couldn’t end quickly enough. At least half of the goals allowed could be put in the soft category. That said, the Canadiens spent far too much time in their own zone (again.)

“After they scored a power play and two shorthanded goals, everything started going their way. It was a bad game. I have to be better. Even though it’s preseason, it’s no fun. We have pride. It was a bad night for me and it was a bad night for our team.” — Peter Budaj

The game was not as rough as some expected. However, with a blindside headshot to Erik Cole, Bruins’ Steve Kampfer should be hearing from league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan. Kudos to Yannick Weber who was the only Canadiens player to come to the aid of Cole.

The game was also an opportunity to reacquaint ourselves with the members of the Boston media and their unique style. Head cheerleader for the Bruins and part-time CSNNE.com reporter Joe Haggerty described the illegal hit on Cole this way, “Things seemed a bit calm until Steve Kampfer cleaned Erik Cole’s clock near the Montreal blueline.”

Plus / Minus

▲ Scott Gomez: So far, he is the new and improved Scott Gomez. Playing hard during the exhibition schedule is a smart move by Gomez — it will somewhat reduce the scrutiny of him when the season starts.

▲ Alexei Yemelin: It was a solid game for Yemelin. Nathan Horton was flattened by Yemelin in the crease, something the Boston forward didn’t have to fear last season.

▲ Brendan Gallagher: With a bit of luck on his side, we could have been talking about a multi-goal game for Gallagher. He continues to create scoring chances for himself and his line-mates.

► Morgan Ellis: Playing before a large number of family and friends, it was a good showing for Ellis who got more confident as the game went on.

► Alexander Avtsin: He displayed flashes of brilliance but got no help from line-mates Dany Masse and Olivier Archambault.

► Aaron Palushaj: With the third Canadiens goal when the result was no longer in doubt, Palushaj partly atoned for an off-night.

▼ Alex Henry: His lack of foot-speed and mobility was very much on display as the Bruins used their speed to exploit him on almost every shift. Henry dropped the gloves with Shawn Thornton to settle an old personal score but missed the opportunity to address Kampfer’s hit on Cole despite being on the ice.

The Canadiens return home to the Bell Centre to meet the Boston Bruins again on Monday night.

All Habs game stars

1. Scott Gomez
2. Brendan Gallagher
3. Alexei Yemelin

All Habs Out Loud

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