CANADIENS
Montreal

2-1

BLUE JACKETS
Columbus

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings: 

[one_half]Pacioretty – Plekanec – Smith-Pelly
Eller – Galchenyuk – Andrighetto
Fleischmann – Desharnais – Weise
Byron – Flynn – Thomas[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Markov – Subban
Beaulieu – Petry
Emelin – Gilbert[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders:

Condon
Fucale

Scratches:  
Injured reserve:  Brendan Gallagher, Torrey Mitchell, Carey Price, Alex Semin
Suspended: Zack Kassian

Game Report

Post-game Max Pacioretty spoke about his team having a killer instinct. Once again the Canadiens found a way to win. But other than that, there wasn’t much to be proud of as the first place team in the League eked out a win over the 29th place team.

It was indeed an entirely forgettable game, other than the guys wearing stripes and the one in the expensive suit behind the Habs bench who were looking for attention.

With the game tied at one nearing the end of the first period, Alexei Emelin hit an unsuspecting Matt Calvert with a shoulder-to-shoulder check. Compared to most Emelin hits, this one hardly moved the needle on the Richter scale. But Calvert went down having been winded.

The hit was late and worthy of a two-minute interference penalty. But the officiating crew of Kelly Sutherland and Kevin Pollock decided to assess a five-minute major for interference and a game misconduct. Truly bizarre. Emelin and the Canadiens were stunned.

When asked for an explanation, Pacioretty said that officials told him that the hit was late and that Emelin didn’t let up. The first part of that statement can be construed as being true, the second is not. Emelin could have destroyed Calvert but simply glided into him.

Emelin had adroitly timed his hit when the puck arrived to Calvert. Problem was that Brandon Dubinsky’s errant pass glanced off Tom Gilbert’s skate. The context helps determine that the check was not malicious nor was it a dumb penalty as some tried to claim.

Contrast this play with the dirty hit by Nick Foligno midway through the second period who led with his knee as Tomas Fleischmann tried to get around him. With neither referee willing to make the penalty call, Nathan Beaulieu stepped in to challenge Foligno. In the resulting fight, Beaulieu was stunned with a right hand that had him following the concussion protocol during the second intermission.

Two blown calls by the officials depleted the Canadiens defence corps. Emelin was dispatched from the game in the first period and could have put the d-men down to four if the Habs had shown an abundance of caution with Beaulieu.

Meanwhile, Michel Therrien could no longer restrain his tinkering addiction. With the line of Alex Galchenyuk, Lars Eller and Sven Andrighetto once again being the best on the ice, they were spared. But the three remaining lines each received a makeover, with little impact.

It’s odd. Whenever certain members of the team struggle, they are dropped to the fourth line, they are benched and/or criticized publicly. But when David Desharnais is struggling, as he has been for more than a week, the third line centre is reunited with Max Pacioretty. Three lines were juggled to try to get Desharnais going.  Sometimes it is unclear whether Therrien is coaching a NHL team or running DD Day Care.

As much as is made of the supposed chemistry between the captain and Desharnais, it is Dale Weise who had more primary assists on Pacioretty’s goals last season. And it was Weise and Pacioretty who combined on the power-play in this game for the game winner.

It is unclear whether 67-51-22 will be the Canadiens first line on Thursday night at the Bell Centre against the Capitals, but given Therrien’s history, it wouldn’t be a surprise.

▲     Paul Byron, Christian Thomas, Alex Galchenyuk, Lars Eller, P.K. Subban

▼     Devante Smith-Pelly, Brian Flynn

1. Max Pacioretty   MTL
2. Paul Byron  MTL
3. Nick Foligno  CBJ

• Coach Therrien was annoyed with the media’s focus on the concussion protocol (Beaulieu) post-game. At one point he exclaimed, “What about the game we just won?”

Max Pacioretty

• “They had their chance on the power play and it seems like the story so often this year with special teams is a big difference. Our kill was great today and the difference is scoring on the power play.”

P.K. Subban

• “It seems like it’s been a trend for us this year whenever we get those opportunities late in the game and we find ways to get it done, and [Max Pacioretty] stepped up and scored a big goal.”

Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella

• “We played well against one of the top teams in the League, but we found a way to beat ourselves with sloppiness.”
• “Both goalies made great saves, but you just can’t lose a game like that the way we did. And this is what kicks you at the end of the year; you have no chance of competing in any type of postseason play if you lose games that way.”
• “Both teams killed penalties very well. At the end, they score one, so they win the game.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

#Habs Beaulieu was not available to the media postgame. Team official says he was in the medical room.

— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNWpg) December 2, 2015

https://twitter.com/SterlingAgres/status/671885814326931457

Tomas Plekanec is having flashbacks right now. And not the good kind. #givemeawinger

— Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) December 2, 2015

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