CANADIENS
Montreal

3-2

MAPLE LEAFS
Toronto

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings 

[one_half]Pacioretty – Danault – Radulov
Lehkonen – Galchenyuk – Gallagher
Byron – Plekanec – Shaw
Andrighetto – Desharnais – Mitchell
[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Markov – Weber
Emelin – Petry
Beaulieu – Nesterov
[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders

Price
Montoya

Scratches

Michael McCarron, Brian Flynn, Greg Pateryn

Injured Reserve

Game Report

Get used to the term incremental progress. Slowly, probably too slowly for the liking of fans, Claude Julien is fixing the very broken Canadiens team that was handed to him from the previous head coach. Installing a new system may come with setbacks and even cause leaks elsewhere. But there are some positive signs that the Habs are headed in the right direction.

Start with enthusiasm. The celebration following Carey Price’s save on Auston Matthews and Andrew Shaw’s overtime goal tell you that the spark has returned. The Canadiens are motivated to play for each other again. And their effort level has been ramped up significantly since the coaching change.

A new first pairing was unveiled for Saturday night’s game. It is the one we have been calling for, for quite some time, with Andrei Markov alongside Shea Weber. Markov has been the Canadiens best defenceman since the arrival of Julien, and with Weber, the pair were solid against the Maple Leafs.

Put Alex Galchenyuk with Max Pacioretty and good things happen. The duo was on the ice for both regulation goals with Galchenyuk and Pacioretty each picking up a marker. Galchenyuk centred the second line with Brendan Gallagher and Artturi Lehkonen on his wings for the majority of the game but it appears that the transition to the top line is in progress.

The rehabilitation project that is Andrew Shaw is underway. Shaw has embraced having a more well-defined role and has even improved his discipline. Shaw’s determination on the winning goal is what Habs fans expected to see from day one. Better late than never.

But once again, this game belonged to Carey Price. Shaw would not have had the opportunity to play overtime hero if not for the spectacular goaltending of Price. Three stars aside, Price was the single most important reason for this Canadiens win. And a historic personal win for him, with Price moving past Ken Dryden to sit third on the Canadiens list of goaltender wins with 259.

~~~

▲     Carey Price, Shea Weber, Andrei Markov, Max Pacioretty, Artturi Lehkonen, Tomas Plekanec, Andrew Shaw, Alex Galchenyuk

▼     Phillip Danault, Jeff Petry, Alexei Emelin, David Desharnais

1.  Alex Galchenyuk  MTL
2.  Auston Matthews  TOR
3.  Andrew Shaw  MTL

• “[Carey Price] is one of the best in the world. All good goaltenders give their team a chance to win. We’re fortunate enough to have a guy like him that gives us a chance to win every night.”
• “He’s also given us confidence because if there is a breakdown, he’s making the save. He allows us to play with a lot more confidence.”

Andrew Shaw

• “I think Carey deserves full credit for his 259th win, not me. He’s the one who battled, and made the big-time saves, so it’s all on him. He deserved that win. He made some huge saves on the penalty kill, and his 5-on-5 play was outstanding. He’s like a third defenseman out there, he moves the puck so well. He was our best player tonight.”

Carey Price

• “Ken (Dryden) was the first Hab I ever met. I met him in Williams Lake, BC when I was about eight-years-old, and got his autograph on a piece of paper that I still have today.”
• “I was going through a tough time when I was about 21, but [Ken] called me and we had a good talk. I have a lot of respect for Ken — for what he’s done in the NHL, and what he’s done afterwards. He’s a very special human being. I was young, trying to figure out my game and who I was as a person. Having somebody like him call was a big life-changer, for sure.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

RECAP | Devils – IceCaps: Resiliency Pays Off in Comeback Win https://t.co/klXi50HIqH pic.twitter.com/0OEFQgpVNQ

— AHL Report (@TheAHLReport) February 26, 2017

HABS vs Leafs
Hockey Night in Canada
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— Jason Blakely (@TheRealJabone) February 26, 2017

#Habs Desharnais turnover won't do much to endear him to his new coach. pic.twitter.com/bb4TTudlhO

— HABSGIFS® (@HabsGifs) February 26, 2017

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