All Posts by Gary Brideau

After losing a tight game against the Bruins, Montreal traveled to Chicago for a tilt against the Western Conference’s top team. Like the Boston game, the Habs held their own with the Blackhawks in the first period as neither team allowed a goal and they were equal in shots at seven a piece.

Pierre Gauthier set the hockey world afire Saturday morning with the announcement of Jacques Martin’s firing and that he would be replaced by Randy Cunneyworth. The Habs had very little time to digest the news as they were set to take on the New Jersey Devils later that night. The game almost seemed to be an afterthought as everybody was interested in debating if Gauthier made the right decisions or not.

The Habs welcomed a red hot Philadelphia Flyers team at the Bell Center Thursday night. Even with the losses of Chris Pronger and Claude Giroux, the Flyers have managed to win their last six games. Montreal looked to end that win streak while continuing their own.

Pierre Gauthier raised quite a few eyebrows when he traded Jaroslav Spacek for Tomas Kaberle last Friday. The trade was widely talked about in the hockey universe and the early reactions were not good by both the media and a large group of the fans. It was pointed out that even though Montreal needed help on the power play that this was a desperation trade by Gauthier, as Kaberle is an aging defenseman who is a big cap hit for next two seasons.

You would think that after receiving a vote of confidence from Geoff Molson, Jacques Martin would have his team ready to face the worst team in the NHL. You would also like to believe that the return of Max Pacioretty (the team’s leading scorer) would give the team a spark at least in the offensive zone. These are both factors that should of allowed Montreal to gain two points Tuesday night but as always seems to be the case with this team when they face a team they should beat, the team disappears and finds a way to let those point slip away.

After putting up a stinker in Anaheim, Montreal entered the Shark tank Thursday night looking to redeem themselves. Carey Price set the tone early when he made back to back saves on Joe Pavelski and Patrick Marleau. After the Price saves both slowed things down and proceeded to play cautiously creating a lot of neutral zone play.

A week ago, Montreal played a great game against the Carolina Hurricanes at the Bell Center. It was game in which they completely dominated and Carey Price earned his first shutout of the season. You knew that the Hurricanes would try to avenge that loss Wednesday night and they wasted no time in trying.

Saturday night’s match up was touted to be a real test for the Montreal Canadiens as they were set to face one of the NHL’s hottest teams in the New York Rangers. Almost everybody believed that this would be a tough game to win especially with the Habs being so thin on defense. Another factor was that the last time these two teams met, Montreal fell apart taking a ton of penalties which ultimately led to a loss for the Habs.

There was a lot of talk coming from the Habs’ players that they needed to play a full sixty minutes against the Carolina Hurricanes Wednesday night. This stemmed from the poor third period performance that allowed Buffalo to steal a game that Montreal completely dominated in the first forty minutes on Monday. Many thought that this would be a challenge considering that Montreal iced a very inexperienced group of defensemen including the NHL debut of Frederick St. Denis.

The third time was not the charm Monday night as Montreal failed to secure a victory after playing a nearly perfect 40 minutes in the first two periods. The Habs had just come off back to back over-time wins on the road and hoped to extend their winning streak to three but Jhonas Enroth had other plans.

With the Habs having lost their two previous games, they traveled to Arizona looking to get back in the win column versus a Phoenix Coyotes team that they plays a strong defensive game. Phoenix looked strong in the early going of the first period as they controlled most of the play cycling the puck in the Habs zone. This led to Phoenix scoring the first goal of the game when Michael Boedker hit the back of the net from the slot. The Habs defensive coverage looked disorganized on this goal as Boedker was left untouched in the slot hanging Carey Price out to dry on the play.

The Habs entered the big apple Saturday night looking to extend their win streak while working their way back up the standings. A win for the Habs on this night was not in the cards as the game was clearly dictated by an abundance of penalties. It all started early in the first when Max Paciorrety got called for boarding on 1:24 in. With the referee’s arm up and his team with possession of the puck, Henrik Lundqvist skated to his bench in exchange for an extra attacker. The Rangers worked the puck into the Habs zone but they lost control of it and it made its way back out.