CANADIENS
Montreal

BLACKHAWKS
Chicago

Flynn – Plekanec – Gallagher
Blanchard – Dumont – Gregoire
De La Rose – Mitchell – Kassian
Carr – Hudon – Smith-Pelly

Emelin – Petry
Beaulieu – Lernout
Barberio – Johnston

Price
Fucale

Game Report

It’s just the pre-season!

They are very easy words to say but are so very powerful. The phrase has the power to wipe out poor performances and absolve players and coaches of any responsibility.

The Canadiens are 0-1-2 in pre-season play but don’t worry, none of that matters, according to some. Once the regular season begins on October 7th, Michel Therrien will flick that magic switch and the Habs will cruise to the second best record in hockey.

No, second in the NHL was last year, and they have made some changes so that automatically means Montreal will grab the top spot.

Are you listening to yourselves?

The preseason is a time to evaluate young players and try some things. But it does matter. Bad habits are tough to break.

In the limited work done to tie pre-season success to that of regular season the general rule is that it happens about two-thirds of the time. That’s not a strong correlation, but nor is it zero. Fans will not doubt be reassured that the Chicago Blackhawks had a preseason record of 2-3-1 in 2014-15 before going on to win the Stanley Cup.

But more than the record, what is important is the way the team plays. And apart from a few individuals, your Canadiens haven’t impressed.

The usual retort is: but look, it’s an AHL lineup! The truth is that in two of the three Habs games, the opposition has iced a lineup with far less NHL talent.

As you might expect, the league has rules about such things meaning that teams must ensure that eight “vets” play in each preseason game (the definition of vet is a little convoluted.) For the Blackhawks on Friday night, they had three players who were part of their Stanley Cup run: Andrew Desjardins, Teuvo Teravainen and David Rundblad. With all due respect, they are not individuals who played a crucial role in capturing the Cup. Runblad played just five post-season games.

But from the start, the Hawks outskated and outworked the home team pressuring Canadiens puck carriers as soon as they took possession. Chicago owned the area outside Carey Price’s crease and quickly opened a 3-0 lead.

Matt Kassian briefly gave Habs fans some hope to start the second period with an unassisted goal that Scott Darling would have liked back. But by the three minute mark of the frame, Chicago had restored its three goal lead. Montreal didn’t mount much of a threat the rest of the way.

Despite being abandoned much of the night, Carey Price had a strong game playing all three periods. Brendan Gallagher was the best Canadiens skater with five shots on goal. Daniel Carr was promoted to the top line on the left side of Tomas Plekanec when Brian Flynn faltered and didn’t look out of place.

Brett Lernout had a tough night on the back end. A full season in St. John’s will help him be quicker with his decision-making. Alexei Emelin didn’t have a great start but finished the game with nine hits.

The Canadiens are in Toronto on Saturday to meet the Maple Leafs.

▲     Carey Price, Brendan Gallagher, Daniel Carr, Charles Hudon

▼     Brett Lernout, Alexei Emelin, Nicholas Blanchard, Devante Smith-Pelly, Brian Flynn

1.  Kyle Baun  CHI
2.  Garett Ross  CHI
3.  Charles Hudon  MTL

• “There were two questionable hits and the guys reacted accordingly. If there’s something we should praise, it’s really their reaction.”

Nathan Beaulieu

• “Starts are one of the biggest things we talk about each year. We’ve usually been a good starting team. Tonight was a mental lapse, but we know what to do.”
• “We weren’t very good tonight. It didn’t seem like our heads were in it straight from the beginning. It’s tough coming back in this league from a three-goal deficit right off the top. They were better than us tonight.”

Zack Kassian

• “We were chasing a lot. We weren’t attacking, and when you’re chasing, it’s a tough game. You’re always behind and it’s tough to make things happen.”