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Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

Welcome to the Neno's Place!

Neno's Place Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality


Neno

I can be reached by phone or text 8am-7pm cst 972-768-9772 or, once joining the board I can be reached by a (PM) Private Message.

Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

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Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

Many Topics Including The Oldest Dinar Community. Copyright © 2006-2020


    Montreal Canadiens

    jedi17
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    Posts : 10738
    Join date : 2013-02-20
    • Post n°1

    Montreal Canadiens Empty Montreal Canadiens

    Post by jedi17 Mon 13 Feb 2017, 5:43 pm

    A disappointing and winless weekend for the Habs
    February 13, 2017, 12:33 PM ET [183 Comments]
    Jennifer B Cutler
    Montreal Canadiens Mon Montreal Canadiens Blogger • RSS • Archive • CONTACT
    It was a disappointing weekend for the Montreal Canadiens as they continued to struggle, losing 4-2 to the St-Louis Blues on Saturday night followed by a 4-0 loss at the hands of the Boston Bruins on Sunday. The Canadiens have now entered their bye week in a precarious position, still first in the Atlantic division with 70 points but only six points ahead of the Ottawa Senators who hold five games in hand. For so long it seemed as though the Canadiens had firm grip on first place in their division. It seems as though teams behind them are smelling fear and opportunity to seize control of the division.  

    Up until February the Canadiens had been able to weather the storm. To face adversity heads on and be able to come up on top. Somewhat incredulously it seems as though the Canadiens faltered the healthier that they became. Against the Bruins the team was at full strength with an empty infirmary as Brendan Gallagher received the green light to play. Unfortunately, not even the return of Gallagher could spark the rest of the team to try that much harder to come out victorious.

    On Saturday, the Canadiens were unable to complete a second comeback in a row as they were always playing from behind. Twice they managed to tie the game but a victory was not meant to be. It has been five weeks since the Canadiens have been able to string two victories in a row as they have been bogged down by their inconsistent play, lack of secondary scoring and untimely poor performances in net. Those themes continued into Boston on Sunday night as the team could not even capitalize on a long five on three power play opportunity in the first period that likely would have changed the momentum of the game had they scored.

    Props for Saturday night:

    Alexander Radulov     - How is his nickname not ‘Beast”, or the ‘Raging Bull’? His tenacity when forechecking is second to none. His strength, dedication and passion continue to be a surprise for those that did not to follow Radulov’s career in the KHL. Despite not registering a point in the Canadiens loss to the Blues, neither of the team’s goals would have been possible without Radulov starting each play and creating the opportunities with his aggressiveness on the forecheck. Against the Blues he was by far and above the Canadiens best player on the ice.

    Max Pacioretty - The captain was questionable for the game as he missed the morning skate with the flu but he battled through it to play on Saturday night. While towards the end of the game it was clear that he was running out of gas, Pacioretty opened the Canadiens scoring with his 28th goal of the season to tie the game at one a piece. This is the quickest that he has scored 28 goals in a season throughout his NHL career. By contrast, Pacioretty did not score his 28th goal of the 2015-2016 season until the 82nd game of that season. He has longed been called a streaky scorer but since Pacioretty recovered from a fracture in his foot by the end of November, he has not gone more than two games without recording at least one point. Since January, he and his linemates have literally picked the team up and carried them on his back as the rest of the forwards struggle to produce offensively.

    Props for Sunday night:

    Brendan Gallagher     - His much anticipated return to the lineup did not exactly go as planned but nevertheless he still brought his energy to every shift, not taking long to find the rhythm of the game. Gallagher started the night on a line with Alex Galchenyuk and Andrew Shaw but by the third period found himself playing on the right side of Pacioretty and Phillip Danault. This is a line that has a strong potential to succeed post the bye week as the team looks to have more than one line going at a time.

    Weekend flops:

    Goaltending     - Al Montoya did not have a very good game against the Blues on Saturday, however he gets a little bit of a pass as he had won four games in a row before losing 1-0 in a shootout to the Edmonton Oilers a week ago. For the most part, he has played his role of backup goaltender to perfection. Unfortunately, he was not on his game on Saturday but he will be okay.

    On the other hand, Carey Price has been long considered to be the best goaltender in the NHL but his play throughout this difficult stretch has been so far off that he is now putting the Canadiens in a position to lose games rather than win them. In January Price looked dare we say normal at best. He was letting in goals that normally would not beat him but still making a good number of saves. In this current stretch where the team has lost six of their last seven games, Price has let goals that are completely uncharacteristic of him. He is not in position, not tracking the puck or the play and communication with his defensemen has been lacking as well. This is not Carey Price. The Canadiens were able to win games with his average play. However they will have a much harder time finding a way to come out on top if he continues to dig his own hole. Price is too good of a goaltender not to find a way out that hole. The rest this week should benefit him, but he also needs practices as well to work through the kinks and regain his confidence. 

    Secondary scoring - The Canadiens need goals and points from players not name Pacioretty, Radulov and Danault but no matter what combination of lines that Michel Therrien tries, nothing seems to be working. Paul Byron has two points in his last fourteen games. Tomas Plekanec has one goal in his last fifteen games. The rookie Artturi Lehkonen has zero points his last ten games. The list goes on. Torrey Mitchell without a goal since December 8th. Andrew Shaw has just one goal since his return from injury. Alex Galchenyuk has three goals in the twelve games played since his initial return to the lineup but he is far off his previous high level of pace and play. Someone, actually a few someones have to step up and help out. The Canadiens cannot be expected to succeed with just one line. These players need to look themselves in the mirror and dig deeper. They know that they have more to contribute. It is time to put words into action.

    The powerplay - Despite having a full arsenal of weapons on the powerplay, the Canadiens continue to struggle with the man advantage. The Bruins had an easy time keeping the Canadiens to the outside and not letting any scoring chances occur. The problem is also that the personnel on the powerplay is constantly changing. If the five players on the ice did not work once, they are not given a second opportunity to gel. By the end of the game, Nikita Nesterov was playing on the first unit alongside Shea Weber. The powerplay was working quite well when the Canadiens had Nathan Beaulieu on the first unit with Weber. He lost his spot when Andrei Markov returned to the lineup and the powerplay has not looked any better, just worse. Kirk Muller has to take a step back and take a look at what was working rather than constantly trying anything and everything.

    The defense - Weber’s play as of late has been average at best. He has not been intimidating or menacing in any which way or form. Opposing players are able to skate through him and partner Alexei Emelin with ease. This is not the Weber that P.K. Subban was traded for. Perhaps it is time to finally split the two up. Usually, a game against the Bruins is when Emelin is at his absolute best. A one man wrecking machine who hits everything in site. On Sunday he was nearly invisible for the entire game. Beaulieu had a particularly rough night against the Bruins taking two minor penalties to go with two giveaways and playing less than ten minutes at even strength. I am a big fan of Beaulieu. I believe that he has it in him to play alongside Weber. However, he is not going to get that opportunity if he continues to let mental mistakes get the best of him. If and when he plays well the coaching staff have demonstrated that they will give him additional minutes. Beaulieu’s fate is in his own hands and he needs to come back from the bye week ready to give 110% on every play.
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