CANADIENS
Montreal

WILD
Minnesota

Game Notes:

“Pointu.”  The ceremony to retire Guy Lapointe‘s No. 5 jersey seemed to hit on all the right notes. Lapointe was genuine in his emotion as he watched his banner raised to the Bell Centre rafters with the other member of the Big Three, Larry Robinson and Serge Savard. The ever-classy Robinson was attentive to Lapointe throughout, even slipping him a tissue when the tears started to flow.

Details, details. The No. 5 was appropriately painted behind each goal.  Special game pucks were used that read Guy Lapointe | 8 Novembre 2014. In tribute to Remembrance Day, poppies adorned the player’s helmets. Sara Diamond handled the duties of signing the American anthem with a recording of Roger Doucet singing O Canada was played.

Here we go again.  The game didn’t start well for the home side. Despite the emotionally-charged atmosphere of the Bell Centre, it was the Wild who controlled play early on. The Canadiens were out-worked being second on the puck and failing to apply any puck pressure. Minnesota dominated the first period holding a 28-10 advantage in shot attempts. Carey Price had to be at the top of his game to hold the Wild scoreless.

Awakening. The Habs offence did not wake up until halfway through the second period when Brendan Gallagher surprised Wild goalie Darcy Kuemper with a blast from the circle. It was Gallagher’s first point in 10 games. The turning point of the game came with less than a minute left in the second period when the Lars Eller line controlled the puck in the offensive zone and took the puck to the net as they had been throughout the period. Eller’s goal was the game-winner, his second of the season which gives him the team lead.

3rd is best. On the third line Lars Eller centred Brandon Prust and Jiri Sekac. Early on, Prust looked slow and struggled to keep up with his linemates, consistent with his lack of effectiveness so far this season. Prust seemed to ramp up his effort several notches in the second while Eller and Sekac were at their puck possession best.  Eller’s line ended the night with six points and was the best on the ice. The trio had 10 of the Canadiens 31 shots on goal. When Eller was on the ice, the Habs out-attempted the Wild 22-11.

Playing with fire. The victory added two more points but came as the first line took a back seat and the top defense pairing didn’t contribute in a significant way.  The win also came without the aid of a power-play goal. The Canadiens are now 3-for-39 with the man advantage.

Plus / Minus

▲   Carey Price, Lars Eller, Jiri Sekac, Brandon Prust, Mike Weaver, Alexei Emelin, Guy Lapointe

▼   Game preparation, Power-play

1.  Jiri Sekac  MTL 
2.  Lars Eller  MTL
3.  Carey Price  MTL

• On Eller’s line: “They were very good. They spent a lot of time in the offensive zone. They went to the net with power and they were compensated for it. You definitely need depth. You can’t only rely on one or two lines if you want to have long-term success. I was very satisfied with their performance.”
• “[Sekac] is skating well and he’s making the right decisions with the puck. Sometimes, taking a step back isn’t a bad thing. It was a demanding training camp for him. Earlier this season, I saw him as a player with less energy. Now, he has his energy back. He’s quick and he’s having success right now.”

Lars Eller

• “I think [our line] put pucks at the net, we went hard to the net, and sometimes you have that instant chemistry and things just flow right away, and that’s what happened.”
• “I’d say the same thing about [Sekac] that I said before the season started. I think he’s going to surprise a lot of people. He’s got skill. He’s a smart player and he competes hard.  When you do those two things, good things are going to happen. I’m sure we’re going to see a lot more from him.”

Brandon Prust

• “In the first period, [our line] was just trying to get a feel for each other. But, heading into the second, we talked about how we just wanted to have fun and start skating again. We were able to do that. We went out and kind of stopped thinking so much. We just went out and played.”
• “We were all doing similar things. We were bringing some energy. We were skating well. With Larry and Jiri, if you get them the puck, they can make some plays. They’re pretty nifty and crafty out there.”

Wild coach Mike Yeo

• “I didn’t really get a chance to react to [Sekac’s controversial goal]. [The referees] didn’t really want to come and talk to me, and then the puck was dropped at centre ice. I’m obviously not very pleased. I thought we were going on the power play there.”