GameDay: Habs vs Jets Preview, Lineups, Tinordi, Ladd, Playoffs

All Habs GameDay: Thursday April 25, 2013

On this day in hockey history… In 1994 – Patrick Roy stopped 60 shots and Kirk Muller scored at 17:18 of OT (after picking up an earlier assist) to give Montreal a 2-1 win at Boston, in Game 5 of the Eastern Conf Quarter-Finals. It was Montreal’s 11th straight OT win, an NHL record.

PROJECTED LINE COMBINATIONS AND GOALTENDERS
(Will be updated following game day skate.)

TOP SCORERS

► Fix it, rookie: 

• Habs fans tend to use a shotgun approach, blasting away to find a reason for the team’s recent struggles: “It’s goaltending!” “They are too small!” “They got complacent after clinching!”  A more reasoned analysis reveals that the Canadiens defensive play, both 5-on-5 and 4-on-5, has been shaky all season and in steep decline since the injury to Alexei Emelin.
• Management has not adequately replaced Hal Gill on the penalty-kill nor secured a backup for the physical play of Alexei Emelin.
• Coaching staff has mismanaged time-on-ice for defenseman and stubbornly held on to a penalty-kill scheme that is clearly not working.
• With the wheels falling off, coach Michel Therrien has decided to put the burden on the shoulders of rookie Jarred Tinordi to add a physical component to the defense corps and help stabilize the penalty-kill for Thursday night’s game in Winnipeg.
• “Tinordi did well for us when he first came up and had all the excitement of making his first steps into the NHL. After that, he lost a little bit of his confidence. We want him to be more physical – that’s part of his game. He’s got to make sure that for a big kid like him, he’s a presence on the ice, and he did exactly that to finish the year in Hamilton. He’ll have an opportunity tomorrow and we believe in the young man.” — Michel Therrien
• Jarred Tinordi was one of the eight Hamilton Bulldogs called up on Monday. The so-called Black Aces have been practising in Hamilton under the direction of the Bulldogs coaching staff and are scheduled to arrive in Montreal on Sunday. Therrien determined that defensive help was needed immediately and Tinordi was summoned to Winnipeg.
• “It’s obviously special to be around the Montreal Canadiens around playoff time and as a kid it’s something you grow up always dreaming about. I hope to get the chance to play, so I’m just going to work hard, and wait to see what happens.” — Jarred Tinordi
• Coach Therrien will wait until game day to announce who will come out of the lineup to make room for Tinordi.

► Jets: Win and pray

• The Winnipeg Jets have a lot going for them.  In their past eight games, they sport an impressive record of 6-1-1. On Monday, Winnipeg forward Andrew Ladd was named NHL first star of the week.  The Jets captain had  two goals and six assists in three games powering his team to pick up five of a possible six points.
• That said, the Jets playoff hopes are slim.  Winnipeg currently sits in 9th place in the East with 51 points, one back of the Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers.
• With just one regular season game left, the Jets must beat the Canadiens and hope that Ottawa or New York lose all of their remaining games. The Rangers have two left with three games on the schedule for the Senators.
• Winnipeg does hold the tie-breaker on both the Senators and the Rangers if the teams end up tied in points.
• “It’s as simple as that: we have to win, it’s a must-win game for us. Everybody knows it in this dressing room. We’re going to come out and make it happen. It’s the last game of the season. We have to win and then hope and see what’s happening afterward. You want to control your own destiny, but for us there is one task and that is to win the game tomorrow night.” — Winnipeg forward Nik Antropov
• The Jets will have a playoff atmosphere at the MTS Centre in their corner and face a slumping Canadiens squad who have lost five of their last six games.
• “We’ve certainly left it all on the ice up to this point and we’re going to do that tomorrow night and cross our fingers and that’s the best we can do.” — Winnipeg forward Blake Wheeler

► Two games to get back on track:

• The Canadiens had an intense practise on Wednesday in Winnipeg lasting more than an hour.  Only Francis Bouillon and Andrei Markov were missing from the ice, with both defensemen taking therapy days.
• “I don’t think it’s a switch that you want to turn on and off. These next two games are going to be pretty huge for us to build our confidence and get in the right frame.” — P.K. Subban
• “We need to play with more intensity, we all know, especially when we start the game.  We did it for the most part of the season — establish the tone of the game — and we’ve got to get back to those good habits.” — Michel Therrien

► Rookie Watch:

• Tuesday night against the Devils, Alex Galchenyuk picked up an assist while Brendan Gallagher was held off the scoresheet.
• Gallagher remains at 13 goals and 12 assists for 25 points on the season.
• Galchenyuk has 9 goals and 16 assists, also for 25 points on the season.
• They are both tied for fifth in total points amongst rookies in the league.

Top 10 NHL Rookies / Total Points

1. Jonathan Huberdeau (FLA): 14G, 14A, 28PTS
2. Cory Conacher (TBL): 11G, 17A, 28PTS
3. Nail Yakupov (EDM): 12G, 14A, 26PTS
4. Brandon Saad (CHI): 10G, 16A, 26PTS
5. Brendan Gallagher (MTL): 13G, 12A, 25PTS
6. Alex Galchenyuk (MTL): 9G, 16A, 25PTS
7. Justin Schultz (EDM): 7G, 16A, 23PTS
8. Mike Zibanejab (OTT): 7G, 13A, 20PTS
9. Alex Killorn (TBL): 7G, 12A, 19PTS
10. Patrick Wiercioch (OTT): 5G, 14A, 19PTS

Coach Michel Therrien:

• “That’s the worst recipe to have to play these guys,” Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. “They don’t give you a lot of shots and they don’t give you a lot of opportunities to score. We were on our heels from the first period on.”
• “We gave up two power-play goals and that’s not how we play,” Therrien said. “We have to do a much better job on the penalty kill. We have to make the right decisions and we have to be smart.”