CANADIENS
Montreal

BLACKHAWKS
Chicago

Game Notes:

Pat on the back.  There seemed to be a lot of self-congratulatory quotes coming out of the Canadiens dressing room after the game.  The guys in white were awfully proud of the game that they had just played. And lost.  If only the Habs had benefited from a break, the result would have been different was the message of the coach.  Granted, the Canadiens did a lot of things right. After falling behind behind by two first period goals, Montreal scored three straight.  They were able to match the level of play of one of the best possession teams in the league. That’s all positive.

But going by the standings the Canadiens are supposed to be one of the top teams in the East. So why the just-glad-to-be-here attitude? Are they too starting to doubt that their record is for real?

Stellar again. One player who was wasn’t part of the ‘good times’ quotes was Carey Price. It’s reasonable to expect that Price was not happy after once again turning in a brilliant performance particularly on one-on-one saves against Marcus Kruger and Patrick Kane. Price deserved at least a point, or even two against a team that drove to the net all game long.

Be prepared. Hey coach, whatever you are doing to prepare your team, ditch it.  The Canadiens have scored just eight first period goals after 27 games this season; that’s the fewest in the NHL, after one-third of the schedule. Digging out of a hole is an unsustainable formula for success especially against the top teams in the league.  The Blackhawks scored just over two minutes in effectively utilizing a circle-to-circle cross-ice pass, not an easy feat with three Canadiens in between.  But a lack of intensity by Brandon Prust, Mike Weaver and Tom Gilbert meant there weren’t any sticks in the lane.  Having his team well-prepared right from puck drop and acutely aware of opposition capabilities and tenancies is the responsibility of the head coach.

Get lucky. So apparently Michel Therrien added ‘luck’ to his Christmas wish list after Friday night’s game.  But weren’t the Canadiens ‘lucky’ when Patrick Kane was called for a tripping penalty even though Brandon Prust was already on his way down?  The Habs scored their third goal on the subsequent power-play.  And what about the ‘good fortune’ to face the Hawks without their best scorer last season in Patrick Sharp and Corey Crawford, their No. 1 goaltender sidelined with a lower-body injury suffered at a concert at the House of Blues?

The Canadiens were in for a dose of bad luck themselves as Lars Eller, the team’s best centre for the past handful of games, did not play after the first period. Eller sustained an upper body injury serious enough that it appears he won’t play against Dallas.  Sven Andrighetto was called up from the Hamilton Bulldogs following the game.

Wait and see. Montreal scored their fourth road power-play goal of the season. Before we dub it cured, let’s wait for more evidence.  All three Canadiens power-plays used a perimeter strategy which doesn’t bode well for consistent long-term success. It worked on the P.K. Subban only due to a beautiful touch pass from Andrei Markov.

Gold star. The Alex Galchenyuk backhand pass to Brendan Gallagher for a top shelf goal from one knee was a thing of beauty.

Plus / Minus

▲   Carey Price, Brendan Gallagher, Alex Galchenyuk, Max Pacioretty, Sergei Gonchar, P.K. Subban

▼   David Desharnais, Mike Weaver, Brandon Prust

1.  Brandon Saad  CHI
2.  Jonathan Toews  CHI
3.  Sergei Gonchar  MTL

• “[Brandon Saad’s game-winner] was just a bad break. I thought our effort was there and we competed against a really good hockey team. At times you need breaks to win the hockey game, and we didn’t have the break tonight.”

P.K. Subban

• “I thought we played well and I thought we gave ourselves an opportunity to win the game. There were some unfortunate bounces that cost us. We probably want to stay out of the box more. You can’t give them as many opportunities on the power play. My penalty cost us a goal where we had the lead. Maybe if I don’t take that penalty, they don’t score and we have an opportunity to hold onto that lead.”
• “But I don’t know what more we could have done on that [winning] goal. It bounces one way and he takes a swipe at it and it goes in. But good teams get those types of bounces. We have to try to create some of those bounces for ourselves.”

Tomas Plekanec

• “You look at the way they play and the confidence they have and how they move the puck and how they’re on the same page. That’s an unbelievable team over there and I thought we did a really good job tonight.”
• “If we’re going to play like that most of the nights, I don’t think we’ll have anything to worry about. We played a hell of a team game tonight. It was a tough way to lose, but if we keep going like that, we’ll be good.”

Brendan Gallagher

• “You’ve got to try to find ways to win those close hockey games against a really good team in a tough building to win. We did a good job giving ourselves a chance. We got down 2-0 even though we were doing some good things at the time. We stuck with it and found a way to battle back. We had the lead, and then they came out in the third period and found a way to win the game.”
• “Obviously we haven’t lost confidence in this group. We know it will continue to be a process for us and we can take a lot of good things from this one, but at the same time we’re disappointed that we lost. We lost the game, so we need to find ways to improve. We have to just focus on playing our style of hockey that’s given us success in the past and we’ll continue to have success. It’s just a matter of sticking with it.”

Dale Weise

• “I think that game shows how good we can be when we play the right way. When we play the way we did tonight, if we consistently play like that, I think we’re going to be happy with the results.”

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville

• “I think there was composure [despite trailing to start the third period.] You could sense on the bench there was no desperation. We were heading in the right direction. Let’s be positive in finding a way.”