CANADIENS
Montreal

FLYERS
Philadelphia

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings: 

[one_half]Galchenyuk – Plekanec – Gallagher
Pacioretty – Eller – Andrighetto
Byron – De la Rose – Weise
Lessio – Mitchell – Smith-Pelly[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Markov- Subban
Beaulieu – Gilbert
Emelin – Pateryn[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders:

Condon
Scrivens

Scratches:  Mark Barberio, Tomas Fleischmann
Injured reserve:  Carey Price, Daniel Carr, Brian Flynn, Jeff Petry, David Desharnais

Game Report

You have heard the hockey cliché that championship teams are built by having strength down the middle. The Montreal Canadiens are several players and a coach away from competing for the league’s top prize. But isn’t it amazing just how different this team looks with just one change in the lineup.

As the top three centres, Tomas Plekanec, Lars Eller and Jacob De la Rose give this team a very different look. Each of them are equally effective in all areas of the ice, are proficient on faceoffs and the latter two have the size to compete with opponents on the forecheck and in front of the net.  Now if Galchenyuk could be allowed to take over the first line spot from Plekanec, maybe the Canadiens would finally be in a position to compete with the big lineups of the Western conference.

Yes, that’s a leap. But, in the disappointment of the Habs collapse there are glimmers of hope. With the playoffs out of reach, wouldn’t a competent coaching staff be using the remainder of the season to develop the assets that the team will rely on next season in the positions that they will be playing?

For those more interested in the soap opera aspects of the organization, this game had something for you too. The captain who was criticized for skipping post-game interviews against the Avalanche, scored the third period game-tying goal.  It was Max Pacioretty’s 21st goal of the season. Pacioretty also scored to extend the shootout. He had five shots on goal and five hits.

The goalie who allowed a first period goal which could have been stopped by P.J. Stock’s son (at least that’s what P.J. claimed) made four of five saves in the shootout for the win.  Mike Condon allowed two goals on 37 shots on his way to being named the game’s third star.

The flamboyant defenceman was stripped of the puck on Wednesday while trying to make an “individualistic” play directly resulting in the winning goal by the Avalanche.  In this game, P.K. Subban played just under 31 minutes picking up two assists. For dramatic effect the folks at RDS awarded Subban the first star of the game.

For those looking ahead to the trade deadline, Dale Weise perhaps impressed a scout or two in the gallery with a goal and an assist to go along with six hits.  Unfortunately Tom Gilbert, rumoured to be another player possibly on the move, left the game with an injury.

Finally, for those interested in the youth of this organization, you can be encouraged by the promising play of De la Rose, Sven Andrighetto and Greg Pateryn.

The Habs host the Nashville Predators on Monday at the Bell Centre.

~~~

▲     P.K. Subban, Max Pacioretty, Lars Eller,  Dale Weise, Jacob De la Rose

▼     Torrey Mitchell, Devante Smith-Pelley, Nathan Beaulieu, Lucas Lessio

1. P.K. Subban  MTL
2. Shayne Gostisbehere  PHI
3. Mike Condon  MTL

• “[P.K. Subban] played well. He controlled the puck and he had lots of energy. We need him especially after we lost (Tom) Gilbert for the third period.”

Max Pacioretty

• “We haven’t written it off. There’s a lot to play for. There’s still a playoff hope. We’re professionals in this room. We come to the rink every day, and we’re not going to give up until the very end. So I really like the way we’ve played the last two games. It’s good to get rewarded with two points. I feel that we deserved it and tonight just feels good. We’ve got to run with it.“

P.K. Subban

• “I’ve always been told that people can criticize you as a person, criticize your character, the one thing that’s very difficult to do when you perform is criticize your play. For me, my numbers speak for themselves.”
• “So if somebody wants to criticize my play on the ice, I tell them to look at the numbers, look at the production over the past six years. Find me a handful of defensemen who have done what I’ve done in this League.”
• “I play for the crest on the front of the jersey. But if people want to be critical, I don’t have to say anything. Just look at the numbers; that’ll shut them up pretty quickly.”

Flyers defenceman Shayne Gostisbehere

• “I think we let the game slip through our hands a little bit. We were all over them all night. Their goalie played well.”

Flyers coach Dave Hakstol

• “Those are important points. We know that. If we could flip a switch and change it and turn it, we would. But obviously we weren’t able to do that tonight. I do believe a lot of it, as you go through a shootout, is feeling confident and going out there with a clear mind. For that to happen we’ve got to have some success a couple of shootouts in a row.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com