CANADIENS
Montreal

BRUINS
Boston

Game Notes:

The Rivalry.  There is something immensely satisfying for Canadiens fans when their team comes out on top of a game played against the Boston Bruins.  But a win in their building, via a shutout no less?  That’s hard to match in the regular season.  The folks at Hockey Night in Canada seemed intent on diminishing the win emphasizing the “injury-depleted” Bruins lineup and parroting Claude Julien complaining about their schedule.  The Habs have earned wins in each of the three games against Boston and in November have already clinched the season series.  According to Arpon Basu, the Canadiens have now won 10 of 11 regular season matchups.

Top of the world. There are a number of ways of evaluating goaltenders. But ask an NHL GM who he’d want as his starting goaltender and the overwhelming answer would be Carey Price. He wins. And he wins in pressure situations against the team’s biggest rival in their own barn.  Vezina trophy winning Tuukka Rask is now 3-12-3 in his career against the Canadiens. Price not only makes the saves and makes it look easy, he controls the pace of the play, he calms his teammates and expertly handles the puck to relieve pressure on his defencemen. He was superb against the Bruins.

In defence. With Andrei Markov leading the way, it was one of the more complete games by the defense core on Saturday. Markov had the game-winning goal on the power-play all while playing less than 19 minutes. The coaching staff fully used all seven defencemen with Bryan Allen playing his first game for the Habs.  Alexei Emelin, who certainly seems to enjoy playing the Bruins, had the most ice-time at 21:32, dished out six solid hits. This has the potential to be a solid unit when P.K. Subban’s game finally arrives.

Milestone. It was Andrei Markov’s 100th goal as a Canadien putting him in the company of Larry Robinson (197), Guy Lapointe ((166) and Serge Savard (100). Markov has tied Savard despite playing in 130 fewer games.

Power-play. The power-play finally scored its first goal of the season on the road.  And it did so with the first wave on the bench.  After the David Desharnais line could not register a shot during a 46-second power-play shift, Lars Eller came on to win a draw and get a shot on goal. On the ensuing faceoff, Tomas Plekanec beat Patrice Bergeron to set up Andrei Markov for a 59-foot perfectly-placed wrister that found the net.

Press box trip overdue. David Desharnais is following up a dreadful playoff performance with a terrible result 22 games into the regular season, particularly when considering his pampered position in the lineup. From the best linemates to ice-time including a generous allotment of power-play time, offensive zone starts. The number one centre on the number one team in the league has just two goals this season on only 20 shots on goal.  His stats have been somewhat padded by being on the ice to collect a high number of secondary assists.  On Saturday, he was a pathetic 22 per cent at the faceoff dot (by comparison Lars Eller was 75 per cent.) When the centre who is getting the majority of the offensive zone starts and first wave of the power-play is handing the puck to the opposition 8-of-10 times, the team’s offensive opportunities are severely restricted.

Plus / Minus

▲   Carey Price, Andrei Markov, Lars Eller, Alexei Emelin, Jiri Sekac, Brendan Gallagher, Tomas Plekanec

▼   David Desharnais

1.  Carey Price  MTL 
2.  Tomas Plekanec  MTL
3.  Brendan Gallagher  MTL

• “We played a solid defensive game, a good-checking game, and I thought for the most part we managed the puck well. We didn’t want to give them any life with the puck, and we were capable of scoring the second goal by playing the turnover, and we got a really quick counterattack, so it was important for us to know to manage the puck really well against the Bruins tonight.”
• “With Andrei Markov, you always know what you’re going to get. That he scored his 100th career goal as a member of the Canadiens says a lot. Not just about him as a player, but as a person. His 100th goal was really important in tonight’s game because he scored on the power play and really gave us momentum.”

Tomas Plekanec

• “”Every time we play in Boston it’s a fun game. It’s fun to win those games and it seems like we’re always ready when we come to this building. I don’t think it was our best game tonight but we had [Price] in the net and with him we have a chance to win every night.”

Andrei Markov

• “Something special, not just for a defenseman, like for any player. I don’t know what to say. I’m just happy to have those and score those 100 goals. Thanks to all my teammates who’ve supported me and helped me for that. Without them, I would never be there.”
• “Scoring 100 is something special for sure, but it’s more important that we got the win tonight. I’m just happy to have those two points.”

Carey Price

• “Yeah, [games against Boston] are harder. They’re a hard-working team, blue-collar. They make you earn it every time you come here, and tonight I thought we played a pretty good road game.”

Brendan Gallagher

• “With Marky, he doesn’t talk too much and he lets his play do most of the talking for him.  Since I’ve been here, he’s always been a guy who shows up and wants to win. He competes hard and does the right things day in and day out at the rink on the ice and leading by example off the ice. He’s such a smart player and that’s pretty good company for him to be in.”

Bruins coach Claude Julien

• “You almost need a perfect game, and you need a bounce here or there. Their first goal, that puck had eyes and went through a bunch of people and just inside the corner. So we could have used that break. But again, I credit my players for just going out there and competing hard and well and giving ourselves a chance.”