Following the Montreal Canadiens is akin to being a groupie for a cover band that plays songs from the British Invasion period. Instead of the same three chords over and over again – the fans receive almost the same score night after night.
Last evening at the Bell Center was no different . The Buffalo Sabres overcame a 2 – 0 deficit to arrive on the victorious end of a 3 – 2 decision.
Habs Alive
The Habs started the game on a mission and carried their plan through two periods as they dominated the ‘ swashbuckling ‘ forwards from Buffalo allowing few quality scoring opportunities while testing the Sabres back – up netminder – Jhonas Enroth . Starting goalie Ryan Miller is having an absolute horrific February with a .880 save percentage and is coming off of a 7 – 6 defeat at the hands of the Islanders. Coach Lindy Ruff has been criticized for playing Miller too much this season so a combination of the two led to Miller ‘s sitting on the bench.
Les Habitants outshot the Sabres 18 – 7 in the first period and Mr. Pacioretty netted his tenth of the season at the 4 : 54 mark of the opening period. The tally was Max ‘ s 19th point in 29 games since being called up from Hamilton. Max is also a -1 in the plus \ minus category which is respectable given the fact that a player such as Scott Gomez , with all of his years experience and high salary is a team leading – 16. Max has been one , if not the most consistent Hab in the past fifteen games. Pacioretty ‘s wrist shot somehow eked past the Buffalo gatekeeper and managed to trickle just over the goal line. Tomas Plekanec notched his team leading 27th assist on the play while the other helper went to Roman Hamrlik. The Czech rearguard has been the Habs most consistent defenceman on both offence and defence as the veteran ‘s presence is needed in the absence of key players such as Gorges and Markov. The period ended with one of those ‘ oh boy – where are the Sabres ? ‘ gut feeling echoing through the crowd.
La Deuxieme
Even though they managed to throw more pucks towards Price than the Habs at Enroth ( 15 – 8 ), Buffalo acted like a kid sister in the middle of the night and slept walked their way through the middle period. Les Tri – Couleurs outskated the vistors shift after shift and the Buffalo back – up had to be alert to keep his squad in the game. At 6 : 28 – Benoit Pouliot capped a pretty two on one with rookie David Desharnais and wristed a nice goal past Enroth. Desharnais ( Smurf # 4 ) , used his speed to outskate Sabre defenceman Leopold on the play. David went outside on the rearguard before tossing a perfect pass onto the waiting stick of Pouliot. It was Benoit ‘s 13th of the season and Pouliot continues to prove that some players do listen to coach Martin. Benoit is a solid forward who is capable at both ends of the ice.
A Funny Thing Happened Away from the Forum
Did Buffalo suddenly realize they were in a hockey game or did Martin ‘s passive nature take hold of the Habs’ 2 – 0 lead ?
A combination of both and too much of the latter.
Time and time again , the Canadiens hold teams , squads that they should beat , against the ropes. Like a rejected boyfriend who keeps calling his ex , the Habs stupidly fall into a defensive shell that make the Teenage Ninja Turtles blush. Instead of running the score toward an eventual 7 – 3 victory , Martin and his dog and pony show attempt to prove that a string of one goal wins are what the Habs and their tradition are all about. Perhaps Martin should make friends with a non – mutated teenager and discover Youtube. He can then see that in the glory days of the Le Club du Hockey Canadien , the Habs routinely routed lower caliber teams like the California Golden Seals or Don Cherry ‘ s Colorado Rockies. Martin would learn that the Canadiens respected the teams that deserved respect while abandoning defence for the teams that were qualified only to carry their jockstraps. The Sabres of 2010 – 11 are somewhere in the middle . A 6 -2 or a 5 – 3 victory would allow Boom Boom Geoffrion peace of mind as he tucks in the Rocket for the night.
Buffalo scored a goal near the end of the second and again in the third. Stafford netted his 24th and continues his scoring tear while Jason Pominville tallied his 13th to tie the game up . Buffalo outshot the Habs 22- 13 in the final two periods and were all over Martin’s troups in the third. Thankfully the siren sounded to end regulation and the teams headed to overtime locked at two. The Habs were in position to salvage a win thus enabling them to leapfrog over the Bruins and achieve first place in the Northeast division.
P. K the Great
Is this kid going to be great or what ?
Star players present and past have a look in their eyes. A presence that allows them the insight and ability to be bigger than the game. P. K . Subban demonstrated those features last night in overtime. If only Martin and the Habs would allow P. K . to be P. K – the public would see these traits on a nightly basis. P. K ‘ s only enemy is his youthful exuberance and a bit of racism. Racism meaning the jealousy that overcomes teammates and opposing players. They are jealous of his talent and more jealous of his playfullness. Racism of the worse kind is also a factor in certain areas of Montreal yet it is not strong enough to heed attention.
Subban made three end to end rushes in overtime and almost potting the winner on two of them. His best chance came as he entered the Buffalo zone alone . Once he realized there was noone to send a pass to – P. K . took a weak wrist shot that Enroth handled easily. If Martin would allow Subban the freedom to play like this more often , P. K ‘s confidance and the strength of his shots would improve considerably. Buffalo, P. K. and Montreal handed the usual sell – out crowd at the Bell Center a very entertaining five minutes of hockey. An entertaining stretch that led to an entertaining ( if you enjoy cheerleading in hockey ) shoot – out .
Le Shoot – Out
Johan Hecht scored the winner on Carey Price only after the peanut venders , the caliche drivers , the homeless guy at the corner of Ste Catherine street and Kirk Muller all had an opportunity to do so.
The Sabres and Habs went through ten players before Hecht beat Price for the game winner. Price was uncharacteristically weak in the shoot – out . Normally , the modern day version of Showdown is his strong point. Price allowed three goals in a row to light up his rear end with a bright red glow and Buffalo skated away with a 3 – 2 victory.
Another one goal game.
In the words of McCartney and Lennon … ” Help ! I need somebody …. ! Heeeeeeelp …! ”
Notes
The Habs play Thursday in Edmonton and in Vancouver next Tuesday before heading home. In between , they will either be freezing their buns off or skating through slush in the Heritage Classic Sunday in Calgary. Cammalleri may be back to play before his old ‘ home ‘ crowd.
Did you know …Carey Price needs only seven points to surpass Lars Eller in the point standings ? Just sayin’ ….
Oil on Whyte ‘ s Jeffrey Chapman requires attention. Wouldn ‘ t you if you had to watch the Oliers…..?
Too Many Men on the Site . Go there be square ! At least discover hockey broadcasting !
All You Can Eat Wings for 14. 95 at La Kachette with purchase of a beverage ! Mention A Winning Habit and receive 10% off anything you want ! This Friday night come and see a great band ! This Is True are playing and you will have so much fun that you will call your Mom and Dad when you get home !