CANADIENS
Montreal

RANGERS
New York

Game Notes:

Goal differential.  It was something we have been mentioning here as a concern since October. After 23 games, the Canadiens have only scored four more goals than they have given up, quite remarkable for a team with 16 wins sitting atop the NHL standings.  Interpret that as you wish but it likely means that they are relying on their goaltender too much to win close games.  And it’s also indicative of a bubble that may be ready to burst. In their six regulation losses, the Habs have been outscored 30-3.  Not quite the numbers you would expect from a contender.

System, what system? Michel Therrien installed a new system prior to the start of the season that was supposed to create more opposition turnovers. It didn’t. So it was abandoned as the Habs returned to a more familiar structure.  But there still seems to be confusion and a lack of execution. Neutral zone play was horrendous against the Rangers who were able to generate speed for the attack all game long.

Defenseless. While the cheerleaders of Marc Bergevin praise him for fleecing GMs around the league, it should be clear that Bob Murray helped the Anaheim Ducks by getting rid of an over-priced seventh/eighth defenseman to make room for their young rearguards. Not a bad idea.  Bryan Allen looked awful against the Rangers and seems to be a downgrade on Jarred Tinordi.  Allen and Tom Gilbert were both minus-2 on Sunday.  P.K. Subban was also a minus-2 continuing to be a huge disappointment this season. Defensive zone coverage at MSG was a nightmare.

Let’s be real. David Desharnais is not a No. 1 centre in the NHL. Desharnais is not talented enough to centre the number one line in Edmonton so why is he doing it with the top team in the NHL?  No team can use tokenism as the basis for decision-making and win the Cup.  Desharnais’ line was a combined minus-9 against the Rangers.  Desharnais is dragging down his linemates and is a determent to the Canadiens power-play.

Goaltending. For a rare occasion, the Canadiens were let down by goaltending in New York.  Dustin Tokarski had a tough night overplaying the puck and finding himself caught out of position. His lack of rebound control didn’t help either.  That’s not to say that better goaltending would have led to a different result but Tokarski certainly contributed to the loss.

Plus / Minus

▲   Alexei Emelin, Tomas Plekanec

▼   Tom Gilbert, Bryan Allen, P.K. Subban, David Desharnais, P.A. Parenteau, Max Pacioretty, Dustin Tokarski, Michel Therrien

1.  Henrik Lundqvist  NYR
2.  Martin St. Louis  NYR
3.  Dominic Moore  NYR

• “[The second goal] was important for them. We turned it over in the neutral zone. They capitalized on it, and we did not cover well. … Tonight our transition game was not good and our checking game was not good.”
• “You have to look at the game as a whole and there’s no denying it: we were bad tonight. I felt like we lacked energy, and that’s normal. We’ll regroup this week, we’ll get some rest and we’ll look to next weekend. When we look at our last eight games in 12 nights, that’s what I’ll take away from it.”
• “They deserve a lot of credit. They played very well. They had a lot of energy compared to us.”

Max Pacioretty

• “It’s no secret we played a sloppy game. They were just a better team tonight. It would be easy to say that they were well-rested and we weren’t, but it wasn’t just physical, it was mental out there. They were dominating us in every aspect of the game, physically and mentally. Teams out west travel way more than we do so that’s definitely not an excuse at all. Everyone is tired in this league, it’s a demanding schedule, but at the end of the day, the teams that win are the ones who find a way to get through that.”

P.K. Subban

• “I don’t think we want to use [being tired] as an excuse. If there was anything that I wish we would have done better, it was manage the puck better early in the game. I think if we’d have done that, we would have given ourselves a better chance to win the game.”
• “When we’ve gone through tough times this year, we’ve always stayed pretty positive in the dressing room. I think we’ll forget about this quickly and move past it. We have a couple of days to rest and get ourselves prepared for some important hockey we have coming down the stretch. This will be our biggest rest until the Christmas break so it’s important for us to make sure we’re taking care of ourselves and taking care of our bodies, but guys won’t have a problem staying positive.”
• “A game like this leaves you scratching your head. We will be fine. We’re still a very positive group. We have to generate more. We just didn’t play our game.”

Rangers coach Alain Vigneault

• “We knew coming in that we were playing against — at this time — the top team as far as points. We needed another very strong team effort, and that’s what we got from our group.”
• “If we apply ourselves, if we prepare ourselves, we can play against any team in the league,” Vigneault said. “We certainly proved that tonight.”