Montreal Canadiens Drive for 25: The 10 Keys To Winning Round 2

Apr 17, 2015; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens defenseman

(76) brings the puck in the Ottawa Senators zone during the second period in game two of the first round of the the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

Key #3 to Winning Round 2

Habs need to take advantage of better D.

P.K. Subban, enough said. If the Habs are going to win this series, they need to make the best of the edge they hold at the blue line due to their Norris Trophy nominee. Subban is they key not only because he plays well defensively, but because if the Habs are going to score enough to win this series, he – and Andrei Markov – need to contribute often.

Mar 12, 2015; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens defenseman

(26) during the warmup period before the game against the Ottawa Senators at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

The best deal Marc Bergevin made at the deadline was acquiring Jeff Petry because it made the Habs D so much deeper that it made it better overall than most other teams. He and pairing mate Alexei Emelin showed they can rock players as they cross the blue line, and he has the ability to join the rush when he can, something that was lacking previous to that on the Emelin pairing. That added offensive edge on the second pairing makes the Habs much better overall.

Finally, the Tom Gilbert and Greg Pateryn pairing is the most contentious one on the Habs. It’s true that they seemed to be on the ice for more scoring opportunities for the Senators than the other pairings, but they played fairly well overall. Gilbert took the blame when a clearing attempt on his backhand went awry, but it was an awkward play on his offside (caused by the pairing with Pateryn) that caused the issue. Truthfully, with their good efforts and tenacious play, I’m not too worried about this pair at all. They just have to be at their best and to continue blocking shots – something Gilbert excels at.

Key #4 to Winning Round 2

Discipline, discipline, discipline.

Apr 26, 2015; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Montreal Canadiens left wing Jacob De La Rose (25) and Ottawa Senators defenseman

(5) battle for the puck in game six of the first round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports

The first round could have been easier on the Habs and its fans if the Habs didn’t take as many penalties as they did. More specifically, they need to stop taking dumb penalties, the ones that occur in the opposition’s zone or even in the neutral zone.

For example, when the Habs lost 5-1 to the Sens, they took 6 penalties as follows:

1. Dale Weise, high-sticking
2. Carey Price, Delay-of-game, puck over glass
3. David Desharnais, Interference
4. Brandon Prust, Interference (running the goalie)
5. Brandon Prust, Cross-checking the goalie
6. P.K. Subban, Misconduct (3 seconds left in game)

The Ottawa Senators scored on 2 of their 5 power plays, and the first one hurt the most as it put a ton of pressure on the Habs who were already down 2-0 at the time.

The last win vs the Sens had the Habs with 4 penalties to only 1 by the Sens. None was worse than the offensive zone penalty by Jacob De La Rose with 3:14 left in the game. Thankfully for him and everyone Habs-centric, they killed it off and moved on. But that penalty brought a face-off into the Habs zone and gave Ottawa the absolute best chance of tying the game which was 1-0 at the time. You can only be that lucky so many times before it bites you, so let’s hope the Habs can minimize those mistakes.

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