Habs 8, Wild 1: Perfect Sunday

Todd Richards to his team after sucking this weekend

Back on track after a good day's rest. The Wild had done to them what the Habs had Thursday/Friday and were the victim of a real shitty schedule. Only they didn't have to travel, so they basically slept at the rink. Hockey would be more consistent if not for the stupid back-to-back bullshit. Habs have 9 games left and one back-to-back.

I bet Winnipeg was REALLY empty today.
- Thunder Bay too.
- I expected big things from Pouliot today but mostly thought he'd just end up getting the shaft for goalie inteference again. Nope! Ends with 3 assists and the 3rd star.
- You have NO idea how much I love Auld's mask.
- Ryan White. That is all.
- And that was charging by Stoner on Palushaj. Don't know why the League needs to make the rule any clearer. How about getting the refs to call it for a change?
- But who needs refs when you got Ryan White.
- As good as Andrei Markov is, he would never pull the moves PK pulls. I've seen him circle the offensize zone and walk the line like that many times. This time his centering pass went off a skate and in. Couldn't have happened to a better dude.
- And don't you DARE shake you head at PK ever again, Perry Pearn. Talk about a total square. Egads! Spunky creativity! It must be stopped!
- The smile Moen gave Gomez was priceless when he scored.
- One more goal for twenty, Andrei! Suck it haterz.
- Jose Theodore left early and Tomas Jagr wasn't even playing.
- Cammy was. The one legged wait 'til a sprawling Brent Burns slides by you pass to Wiz. Top shelf with a rocket. They were just having fun.
- I still didn't see the hand on the puck thing but whatever. At least it was Koivu.
- Pyatt scores with stereo! The Thunder Bay section cheers!
- I love Cal Clutterbuck but don't you DARE touch Gionta again!
- Too many game pucks needed for today but at the buzzer, PK tossed the one on the ice to crowd. They tossed him hats, he tosses pucks!
- And Moen did a mini triple low-five with him. They cut his tie later. (Bet it was Price with the scissors).

Last time the Habs scored eight goals Alex Auld played for the Bruins and chased him out of the net pretty quick. Good to be on the winning side eh Alex? Speaking of the Hated Bear Tribe of the East. Who's 1 point behind them? Da Habs.

Go Bulldogs!

Double-Down!

With the Habs kicking the hapless Sabres down in Buffalo, the Bulldogs came to town to play on some real ice for a change. Of course it was the BingoSens again, this time backstopped by Gigantor the Goalie. And with the Bulldogs outshooting Bingo 16 to 1 in the first, if not for that large frame in their net, this game would have been over in 5 minutes.

I love how tenacious the Dogs play. It's what Jacques Martin wants the Habs to do, only seen with young legs on D. If Bingo ever crossed the blueline, they were kept way outside, they were always covered, shots were blocked or tipped wide, or players were forced off angle to shoot wide. And the Dogs would be constantly picking their pockets and quickly heading the other way to attack. I think I like the set up Randy&Randy have them doing more than Boucher, actually...

And Ryan White finally got a goal! It was glorious. A rush down the ice with Maxwell, and he buries the rebound over Lehner.

Carle's long knuckler from the blue line opened the scoring, and Weber pulled the Dogs ahead with an absolute rocket (did the Byfuglien victory one-leg up hands in the air for his adoring fans thing).

Engqvist, who was fantastic defensively in his role, got the first empty netter to seal it. Desharnais doubled that with a second empty netter, shorthanded. Pacioretty and Palushaj were just absolutely everywhere. If not for Gigantor...well, Patches had 6 shots on net and they were good ones. Palushaj had 2 assists and got first star honours for his hard work. And Conboy! He such a treat.

Here's Desharnais empty netter goal, which extends his point streak to I don't know what now.

---

Habs continued contributing to the Sabres aches and pains. Thanks to Price and the Third Line (coined the PhD Line) of Darche-Halpern-Pouliot taking care of the scoring. Seriously, this is how Pouliot needs to play. NOT floating around, but relentless, shooting the puck, forechecking/backchecking, making SMART plays not just passing to no one. Pleky's flu hit him real hard in warmup so he was out, which was a big loss but others picked up the slack, and Halpern was great shorthanded in his role. And the Habs won!

Two goals by Pouliot will now be known as a Double-Down.

So...now the big thing is what will happened in Buffalo, where they haven`t won a home game yet this whole season. Perhaps Lindy needs to find the heart of a champion like Ray Lewis in that hilarious old spice ad.

Pre-season: The kids are alright

I'm keeping track of your penalties, kids. Both teams totalled up to 120 minutes including 4 misconducts.

Considering how craptastic it is outside right now, nothing like a spirited game between the Hamilton Bulldogs and the Rochester Americans to cheer things up. Makes you warm and fuzzy, like seeing Ryan White's pink cheeks as the blood drips from his nose and that wide, pearly grin beams with pride.

The BarelyHabs also handed the BarelyPanthers their first preseason loss. Like I said, my brother thinks they should just ice their preseason lineup during the regular season. Couldn't hurt...

CJAD knows it's snooze-talk radio and brought Gomez in to wake us all up
- Seriously. If he ever sprains an ankle this season or tweaks a nostril and can't play, PUT HIM IN THE BOOTH. Told the world he's on Spacek for making preseason miserable lol.
- Disturbing that a little Team B infusion into Team A = win? It's all Ryan White baby. I wish I had a video of his goal 'cause that was sweet glorious effort. Same for the one off the post earlier. Roster spot please.
- Lunatics have left the building, and Price showed why this is preseason. Chill dudes, this is exactly what he was talking about. Looked calm and comfortable. Stickhandled around forecheckers (didn't mean too but his teammates get very absent minded when he has the puck) and made some solid saves despite not facing many shots. For a guy who likes to be busy this is also a good sign. The concentration was there.
- Jacob Markstrom came in the 3rd and didn't have to throw a fit. The Habs threw a fit on him though. Looked like they all got zapped with instant-energy for some reason.
- Passing play looked good. I mean it started off a total slop fest but then they thread the needle, found all the lanes, and passed the puck on that horrible ice like they actually knew what they were doing.
- Weber got stronger as the game went on. He terrified me patrolling the blueline early on the many powerplay opportunities (if you watch Bulldogs games you'll know he's responsible for nearly all the shorthanded goals against). Then I saw him on the penalty kill, which was weird. But he had a huge shift in the 3rd followed by a great shift on the penalty kill. Promising!
- Maxwell was solid. Took a BIG hit to make a pass that ended up as a goal for Tom Pyatt. I'm so proud of him this training camp! He was also 7-for-11 in the faceoff circle at 64%. The highest on the Habs centers who took the bulk of the faceoffs. (Desharnais was also good in the circle).
- That said defensive zone faceoffs could use some work but Pyatt, Desharnais, and Maxwell each went 2-for-3 so it wasn't so bad.
- The Subban/Henry pairing is something no one wants. And Subban had a strange game. Could have done without the penalties... Henry was doing what he does best which is protection.
- Lars Eller is adorable. Three assists tonight, tenacious player.
- Dumont might want to check his height against Price before dropping the gloves on his cousin Keaton Ellerby. That's a 6'4" manchild on D you're trying to punch, you 5'10" shitdisturber :p
- Meanwhile Gudbranson will think twice before picking another fight with Travis Moen. First round draft pick? KAPOW!
- BOW BEFORE PLEKANEC!
- Gomez making fun of Cammy for doing the "what the hey I have a puck I will score" goal with 8 seconds left. It was beautiful. You know and I know Gomez was just jealous.
- Gomez's 3 stars: Spacek for not having 5 turnovers tonight, White for being awesome, and his boy Pricey for a job well done and he's happy he got a win. Awwwww~!
- Gomez's other 3 stars: Scott. Carlos. Gomez.

What we learned tonight other than Ryan White is the bees knees? PENALTIES! STOP IT NOW!!!

15 seconds

In 15 seconds, a hard fought comeback by the Habs was given the old fuck you as a scramble in the front had an official call a jackass "highstick" penalty to give the Capitals every chance on a 6-on-4. One lost faceoff. One bad move on defence. One more instance of letting people walk up to Price. One more uncleared rebound.

When they sit in the room, they'll probably think about the empty net they couldn't hit. Or maybe the lackadaisy waltzes to the puck with the game on the line. When Price is the fastest skater in the backend to correct a small error where he shot the puck off the glass but instead hit a forechecking Capital who shot it on net as Price scrambled into perfect position to make an amazing save, you gotta look in the mirror and say could have, should have, would have.

The bottom line is you didn't.

Credit is given where credit is due. Yes, they were down 2-0 on 4 shots after the first period, but if you're looking at the numbers you're not watching the game. Picture yourself standing in a field, surrounded, and having bullets whiz by your ears. Put a mask on and paste a number 31 to your back and you'll know how Price was feeling during that opening frame. I don't know what Martin said to them in the room, or maybe Price punched another wall... but they came out in the second finally ready to play properly. Well, good enough anyway. Effort. The kids were amazing once again tonight. Pyatt and White, time to go shopping for more clothes. You're not going anywhere. Pacioretty has the jets on, nevermind his two penalties (they were weak calls). Sergei is proving daily that Jean Perron is a tool, and I don't think he was credited with an assist but his play set up the sequence for Pleky's goal.

Ryan White matched Price with the play of the game, by dropping down to block a shot on the PK with his body and the puck ended up stuck in his crotch.

Noted
- Moen has 6 goals now
- Rhino apparently can spin
- Price spent more time playing 3rd D than goal, including a trip to the blue line to get a lose puck no one else seemed to want.

OMG! GREY CUP! GREY CUP! GO ALS GO!!!!!!!!!!! Roll over those melonheads! WOOOOOO!