Montreal 2 Toronto 3 (Air Canada Center)
MONTREAL, QC. –Has the season started yet?
It seemed so. The Leafs trotted out their alumni, even someone who had played one full season in Toronto. In a touching video, with stops in each province, tears from Leaf fans since 1967 were gathered and used to flood the Air Canada Center ice.
It was a ceremony that was as corny as it was painfully long.
But while the 48th Highlanders packed their bagpipes, the teams in blue and white played a brand of hockey that was not too different from what we saw the in pre-season. It was a sloppy game with both sides looking like they could have used an extra week or two at the practise rink.
Some will spin that the Canadiens would have looked much different with Andrei Markov, Roman Hamrlik and Mike Cammalleri in the lineup. Undoubtedly. But shouldn’t the Habs have been able to take care of a team whose top line center is Tyler Bozak?
This will also be billed as the game that White missed. There is no question that Ryan White (or Max Pacioretty or Ben Maxwell) would have made a bigger impact on the outcome than Mathieu Darche. A second period brain cramp by Darche, who took a penalty for flipping the puck over the glass without a Leaf’s player nearby is not the kind of mistake a veteran is supposed to make.
But it was behind the blueline where the Canadiens fell apart and primarily it was the veterans who were to blame. The winning goal was scored as Clarke MacArthur went around Jaroslav Spacek with ease. If MacArthur can make Spacek look silly, how will he defend Sidney Crosby on Saturday night?
Hal Gill was caught, giving Kessel a free pass to the net for Toronto’s second goal. It wasn’t a banner night for Gill and Josh Gorges. The Leafs first goal was scored on a tip in front of the net with Alex Picard caught badly out of position.
The Habs shouldn’t need to take so many penalties when playing a team like the Leafs. They looked disorganized in their own end, and had difficulty making crisp passes to break out.
For Canadiens fans, there were positives to take from the game. The team played much more aggressively by pressuring the Toronto forwards. The third and fourth lines for the Habs were particularly effective.
Lars Eller had an outstanding regular season debut with the Canadiens. He won puck battles, went to the front of the net and created scoring chances. He fit well as a top six forward and looks primed to displace Benoit Pouliot in that role for Saturday’s game.
Plus and minus:
▲ Dustin Boyd had a strong game, scoring once and was an effective penalty-killer.
▲ Max Lapierre had one assist but played key roles on both Canadiens’ goals.
▲ Carey Price was solid while making spectacular saves on Kessel, one with less than two minutes left giving his team a chance to tie the score.
► Brian Gionta had five shots and came close to tying the score in the dying seconds of the game but was limited throughout the game by his linemates.
▼ Benoit Pouliot’s play was soft. He had no shots on goal, created turnovers and didn’t finish his checks. He was replaced on the Gionta line at times by Darche.
▼ Scott Gomez was invisible.
▼ Mathieu Darche was slow, took two penalties, and seemed out of place.
▼ The power play is still a work in progress going 0-for-3.
The Canadiens make their first appearance at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh on Saturday as they play the Penguins.
All Habs game stars:
1. Dustin Boyd
2. Lars Eller
3. Max Lapierre
(Photo by Abelimages/Getty Images)
You hit the nail on the head: there’s no way the Canadiens, depleted of top names as they were, had any business losing to the Leafs. I’ve been saying all summer that the Leafs will be better than most people think simply because their goaltending will be better. We saw evidence of that last night. If that was still Toskala in goal, the Habs win easily.
In my mind, our top 2 centermen were invisible. Gomez looked too relaxed all night while Plekanec was the opposite of the guy who ripped up the preseason.
It’s amazing how Eller, Boyd, and Lapierre almost carried the Canadiens to a win all by themselves. All 3 were outstanding, even if they didn’t set the scoresheet on fire.
I thought Darche played well up until he took his delay of game penalty. He just can’t do those kinds of things, even if the PK unit kills off the infraction. Still, I think by placing a healthy amount of blame on a guy who plays single-digit minutes, we remove too much responsibility from the guys who are paid to produce. For the most part they were a non-factor, which is simply unnacceptable. It sounds like I’m pushing the panic button, but I’m really, really not.
The defense, as stated, was a mess. Subban, and to a much lesser extent, Gorges were the only ones to have showed anything close to poise last night. Hamrlik and Markov can’t get back soon enough.
Finally, I love how Price competed right until the end, culminating in that huge save to give the Habs a chance. I’m sure there were many Habs fans just waiting to come out of the woodwork and say that the 2 goals against in 9 minutes put the Habs in a deep hole. Well Price then played well enough to give his mates a chance, if they were only up to the task.
If this is the best this group can do against a team that is anything but a contender, then I wonder how things will go Saturday against the powerhouse Penguins? They’ll be loathe to start their season 0-2 in their new barn, and they’ll be very tempted to exorcise the Habs demon that ruined their spring.
The leaf ain’t that good, Habs didn’t show up. Crank up the energy boys!
*sniff sniff* Yea. Needs more Ryan White ;)
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