by Chris G, Senior Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine
LAVAL, QC. — The Canadiens won two of three games last week. It started off with a humiliating 7 – 1 loss on Tuesday against the Wild in Minnesota before coming back home to beat the Hurricanes 6 – 4 on Thursday and a 5 – 2 win against the Senators. Isn’t it funny that Montreal beat Ottawa by a 5 – 2 score, three times in a 12-day period?
Montreal plays their final home game in 2018 on Monday as the Boston visits the Bell Centre. It is always an action packed game when these two long time rivals face each other. Then the Canadiens begin their six road trip with a visit to Colorado on Wednesday, followed by a trip to Arizona on Thursday to visit Alex Galchenyuk, and then on Saturday afternoon in Vegas to face their former captain Max Pacioretty.
Here are my top 5 takes of the week:
- Niemi relieved late – Antti Niemi was the starting goalie on Tuesday night in Minnesota, a game that the Wild dominated from opening face-off until the final buzzer. Carey Price had started seven straight games and the coaching staff wanted to give Niemi a start. Unless Price himself felt that he needed the rest, that decision on it’s own was questionable. Price had played well during the stretch, so you would think that you would keep him playing him, especially since the Minnesota game wasn’t part of a back-to-back. Niemi didn’t have a memorable game, but neither did his teammates in front of him. I don’t think Price would have helped win that game if the team played the same way in front of him. Niemi was pulled after allowing the seventh goal 6:10 into the third period. What was the point of pulling him at that time? If the intention was to give Price the night off regardless of outcome, they should have let Niemi finished the game. If Niemi was pulled to avoid embarrassment or to attempt to change the momentum of the game, the goalie change should have happened at the end of the second period.
- White jerseys at home – It was unusual to see the Habs wear their white jerseys at Bell Centre on Thursday night when the Hurricanes were in town. Since the 2003-04 season, white jerseys are worn on road games. The Canadiens tweeted that they had received a request from Hurricanes to wear white, and it was reported that the reason is that Carolina’s owner Thomas Dundon doesn’t like his team’s white jersey. Isn’t that ridiculous? With owners like Dundon and Eugene Melnyk (Ottawa), I think Canadiens fans should be happy that Geoff Molson is the team’s owner. You may not agree with all of his decisions, but, in my opinion, Molson is someone who communicates well and is respected around the league. Back to the topic of jerseys, I prefer the white jerseys to be reserved for road games. I think that most colour jerseys are nicer than the white jerseys. I would find it odd if the Bell Centre was full of fans in red jerseys, while the players are in their white jerseys.
- Power-play struggles – The Canadiens power-play has struggled since the start of the season. In terms of strategy and players used, there haven’t been any significant changes. I felt like the coaching staff was waiting for Shea Weber to return and that he would magically turn things around. Weber has had a major impact on the overall performance of the team, but the power-play results haven’t been any better. Zone entries have been difficult, which doesn’t help get set with the extra attacker. In the last two games, the coaching staff made some changes. It seems that the first unit is now top-heavy, but it hasn’t resulted in any success. The Habs have gone 0-for-10 on the power-play in the last two games. At some point, a member of coaching staff should be held accountable for the struggles.
- Petry at his best – A domino affect of Weber’s return is that the right defence has taken shape. Jeff Petry is now slotting in the second role and Noah Juulsen in the third slot. Petry has tremendously benefited from these changes. He has a good season overall, and in my opinion, he has been even better on both sides of the ice since Weber’s return. The coaching staff moved him up on the first power play unit to play the point with the captain. Offensively, Petry is on a five game point streak, and eight points in the last seven games. The Weber-Petry on right defence is a top quality duo. Now time to work on the left side.
- Embellishment penalty – There was a controversial embellishment call on Artturi Lehkonen that led to a disallowed go-ahead goal. The Canadiens rallied following the call and went on to beat the Senators. Embellishment penalties are necessary in the league, but the way they are called doesn’t make sense to me. On Saturday, if the referee thought that Lehkonen fell too easily, then Thomas Chabot shouldn’t have received a hooking penalty in my view. Since Chabot received a penalty, it made me wonder why there was embellishment? It made no sense for Lehkonen to fall down and give up an opportunity to go in alone on the goalie. While I acknowledge that the referee had a split second to assess the situation, the four officials met to discuss the call and upheld the decision.
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