Montreal 3 Pittsburgh 0 (Consol Energy Center)
MONTREAL, QC.– ‘A must win’ — it’s an overused phrase. In Montreal, click on the radio, and you’ll hear it in October. I will use a slight variation with a completely different meaning, so bear with me.
Your Montreal Canadiens needed to win today.
A team rocked by a devastating and vicious hit on Max Pacioretty needed this win for focus and confidence. The Habs needed to win for Carey Price who was the best player on either team on Thursday night in St. Louis but was playing behind a distracted bunch of skaters who didn’t have anything to give. And lastly they needed to win for Pacioretty who is displaying a special brand of strength and courage in the face of steep odds.
It was the Canadiens’ top six forwards doing the scoring with each one getting at least a point. All three goals came at even strength, with one scored in the first minute of each of the first two periods. The Habs were 0-for-2 on the power play while the Penguins were 0-for-3.
Team defense was on display in the first period with Montreal blocking eight shots and only allowing five to get to Price. Marc-Andre Fleury contributed in the second period giving up two goals on the three shots he faced. Brent Johnson came on in relief but only had eight saves to make in a period and a half’s work. Price was the story the rest of the way stopping 21 shots in the final two periods for his eighth shutout of the season.
Price leads the league with 33 wins.
Did Pittsurgh coach Dan Bylsma really having tying the game on his mind when he pulled Johnson for the final 1:46 with the Canadiens ahead by three? The Penguins were on a power-play for all but 12 seconds of that but the feat was rather unlikely even overlooking that Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were out of the line-up. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt but don’t rule out that good ole fashioned shutout busting was at play.
The Canadiens return home for two games at the Bell Centre this week: the Washington Capitals visit Montreal on Tuesday and the Tampa Bay Lightning come to town on Thursday.
Plus/Minus
▲ Travis Moen was bumped up in the lineup. He needed to play like a top six forward and that he did scoring 24 seconds into the second period.
▲ Yannick Weber helped the Canadiens breakout and showed he can play physical too with a huge hit on Matt Cooke.
▲ With the Canadiens up 3-0, Paul Mara didn’t have to, but he fought Maxime Talbot when the play started to get chippy.
▲ Lars Eller didn’t notch a point but was solid at both ends of the ice. Eller fit in nicely in Pacioretty’s spot on the power-play.
▲ Roman Hamrlik had seven blocked shots and was a plus-3. Hamrlik logged the most ice-time of any Canadiens player at 24:15.
▼ It wasn’t a good afternoon for the Habs fourth line of David Desharnais, Benoit Pouliot and Tom Pyatt. They couldn’t generate any offense and struggled with turnovers.
▼ Alex who?
All Habs game stars
1. Carey Price
2. Mike Cammalleri
3. Tomas Plekanec
Roster notes
Alexandre Picard was a healthy scratch. Brent Sopel, Max Pacioretty, Mathieu Darche and Jaroslav Spacek are out with injuries. Andrei Markov and Josh Gorges are out for the season with a knee injuries.
(photo by Getty)