A Winning Habit
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Morning Habit: Pacioretty Lone Goal As Canadiens Top Rangers

By Kosta Papoulias

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For the better part of the first two periods, the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers traded very few quality scoring opportunities. It seemed that last night’s contest at Madison Square Garden was destined to go to overtime, until Habs’ sniper Max Pacioretty scored on a seemingly harmless shot from beyond the faceoff circle that went between the legs of Rangers’ defenseman Ryan McDonagh and beat Henrik Lundqvist on the short side. The goal came with 4:18 left in the third period, leaving the Blue Shirts very little time to regain their bearing and mount any type of comeback.

Canadiens’ netminder Carey Price, who was spectacular at times, stopped all 24 shots he faced, while Lundqvist allowed just the one goal on 26 shots. The shutout was Price’s third of the season, and his sixth career clean sheet against New York.

The game marked another above-average performance by rookie defenseman Nathan Beaulieu, who has made his mark on the Habs’ second defensive pairing alongside veteran Sergei Gonchar. Beaulieu’s skating ability allows him to jump into the offensive zone, which generated multiple scoring chances, while giving him the ability to get back in plenty of time on the defensive side of the puck.

Weise is a first line winger? Why Not?

Dale Weise continues to surprise Canadiens’ fans with his play on the first line with Pacioretty and Tomas Plekanec. He has the skill and determination to create scoring chances out of nothing, as was witnessed last night when he almost beat Lundqvist in tight on a 1-on-2 rush. He may not be your prototypical first liner, but he seems to fit in well between the Habs’ veteran wingers, earning another assist on Pacioretty’s marker.

Desharnais seems lost…again.

Diminutive centre David Desharnais looks like he has lost his ability to play hockey altogether. He continues to make horrible decisions with the puck, especially with the man advantage, and is making a habit of giving the puck away on seemingly dangerous rushes into the offensive zone.

Powerless Play

Speaking of the power play, it went 0-for-Life against the Rangers, and generated very few chances. In fact, the best scoring chance went to the Rangers; penalty kill unit, when Rick Nash was sprung on a short-handed breakaway, only to be thwarted by a well-timed poke check by Carey Price.

While the Canadiens are still doing a seemingly good job creating time and space when they setup in the offensive zone, those actual opportunities to control the puck are few and far between. Maybe it’s time for Habs’ coach Michel Therrien to look at other options on zone entry instead of the dump and chase, or hard rim into the offensive zone. Too often, the Canadiens don’t have enough support on the strong side of the puck to regain possession and setup their power play after they send the puck into the offensive zone.

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    Looking Ahead

    The Canadiens face a tough test on Saturday afternoon (1 P.M. puck drop), when they face the high-powered offense of Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. With solid goaltending by Brayden Holtby and a better defensive structure thanks to head coach Barry Trotz, the Capitals will give the Habs all they can handle at the Bell Centre.

    With back-to-back games this weekend, look for Carey Price to get the nod versus the Caps, while Dustin Tokarski should get the green light to mind the net on Super Bowl Sunday against the Arizona Coyotes.

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