by Chris G, Senior Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine
LAVAL, QC. — The Canadiens just completed the busiest week they have had up to this point of the season by losing all four games. Carey Price was the best player on the ice on Monday’s 5-4 overtime loss against the Capitals with several spectacular saves that earned him applause by Alexander Ovechkin in the final moments of the third period. The Habs went on to lose against the Devils on Wednesday night, before indiscipline costing them loses against the Sabres on Friday and the Bruins on Saturday.
The Canadiens will play all three games this week at the Bell Centre. The Hurricanes are in town on Tuesday night, which should mark the season debut of Shea Weber, and then Montreal will have three days off before the Rangers are in town on Saturday and the Sharks on Sunday. Paul Byron is tentatively scheduled to return in the lineup on Saturday night.
Here are my top 5 takes of the week:
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- Playoff bound – Teams across the league use American Thanksgiving for their first real assessment of their season. In the last five seasons, 78 percent of teams that were in a playoff spot on that date ended up in the playoffs at the end of the season. If we go back to 2005-06 season, it’s been 75 percent of teams that ended up in the post-season. At this year’s holiday, the Canadiens held the second wild card spot. Few expected Montreal to be in playoff position at this point of the season. If you’re a fan hoping that they make it to the playoffs, you should be happy of the team’s performance to this point and if you were hoping that they get a high draft pick, you’re probably happy of the way the team has been playing as of late. The Canadiens defensive struggles continue and we will know over the next week or so if Weber’s return will stabilize the back end. Offensively, Max Domi, Brendan Gallagher, Tomas Tatar, and Jonathan Drouin are all on pace in finishing the season with 30+ goals. Whether it will be due to injury or just a natural drop, we know that they won’t all achieve that mark. All signs points that Montreal is trending downwards and I think they will be one of the teams that drop out of the playoff picture.
- Shaw on a roll – Surprisingly, Andrew Shaw is currently looking like the player that Marc Bergevin was looking for when he traded for him and signed him to a contract extension. Shaw has scored six times and has added five assists in his last nine games. During this stretch, we have seen him spend a lot of time in front of opposing goalies, and he has helped create space for his linemates Domi and Drouin. Contrary to the beginning of the season, Shaw hasn’t been taking bad penalties to put his team in a bad spot. On the other hand, his linemates each took bad penalties this week, that led to the Sabres and Bruins scoring game-winning goals on the ensuing power-play.
- Mete ice time – Noah Juulsen left Monday night’s game at the 12:52 mark of the first period, after getting hit twice by the puck, and is out indefinitely with a facial fracture. His absence forced Claude Julien to rely heavily on the remaining defensemen, except for Victor Mete. Mete had 14:07 of ice time that night, which is less time than his 15:18 average this season. I’ve heard people wanting Mete to be paired with Weber on the first defensive pairing once the captain is back in the lineup, but when the coach doesn’t trust him during a game when they are a defenceman short, I don’t see how Mete can suddenly end up playing on the first pairing. Saturday night, the 20-year old played his best game of the season, where we saw him use his speed and pinched in offensively several times. This is what the team is looking from him and he will need to show that over the next games. We also need to keep in mind, that Mete doesn’t need to go through waivers to get sent to AHL, and it’s a possible option that can be used by the team when they need to cut their defensive roster.
- Starting goalie – Since the end of August, Michel Therrien has a daily segment at 4:05 pm ET. on 91.9 FM Sports in Montreal. As the former coach comments the latest news from across the league, he shares on how he has handled situations while he was coaching in the NHL. While experts and fans were debating on who should start back-to-back games in Buffalo on Friday and at home on Saturday against the Bruins, Therrien said during Thursday’s segment that in similar situations, Price would always get the start on home ice, regardless of the opponent. This decision was taken with the Bell Centre fans in mind, as they pay a lot of money to be in attendance, and they want to see their star player on the ice. Knowing this, it will help fans better understand some decisions that are made.
- Ceremony – Prior to Saturday night’s game, the Canadiens had a ceremony in memory of the 15-year anniversary of the Heritage Classic. Jose Theodore and Patrice Brisebois were invited for the ceremonial puck drop. It’s odd that there was a ceremony to remember a game played in Edmonton, when the Bruins were the opponents. Last week also marked the 10-year anniversary of Patrick Roy’s number retirement and there was no ceremony to remember that event. There might a ceremony in a couple of weeks in memory of the 18-year anniversary of the team trading P.J Stock to the Flyers. It wouldn’t surprise me.
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