One Line, Three Goals; Habs 3 Rangers 0

After a heartbreaking overtime loss to the New York Islanders just 48 hours ago just how would Montreal respond when facing a New York Rangers team who has been on a bit of a slide lately and were looking to bounce back? With no Rick Nash and no Michael Del Zotto for New York, the Rangers would miss two key players when they faced the Canadiens tonight at the Bell Centre where Montreal has been enjoying great success at 7-3-1. As for the Habs, Brendan Gallagher made his return to the lineup after concussion like symptoms have been plaguing him the last few days. Martin Biron received the nod for New York after Henrik Lundqvist struggled versus the Habs this past Tuesday while Carey Price was set to make his 14th start this season.

After these two teams last met coach John Tortorella and Lundqvist labelled Montreal’s style of play as “boring”. Granted the Canadiens did not play their best in that game however good coaches (and I believe Tortorella to be one) should be able to find a way to overcome that and worry more about what they can control as a team. Now as for tonight the Habs stuck to their guns and played their “boring” game and the result was the same from earlier in the week. There were also some similarities to that game as well with Montreal tallying just three shots in the first period as well as just 18 shots in total. Now boring to me is a pretty harsh way to categorize a team’s style of play. Perhaps a better word could be patient?

So let’s pick it up in the second frame where Montreal would strike on three occasions with two of them being in that bubble of vulnerability (first and final five minutes of the period). With the Canadiens working the puck well deep in the corner nobody picked up a creeping Erik Cole who jumped on a loose puck and quickly snapped home his third of the season and first in 10 games. This goal coming at the 1:20 mark set the tone for the second frame and almost immediately puts the Rangers back on their heels. Montreal would add to their lead on a play starting with Lars Eller showing his stick-handling skills and vision as he waited for Alex Galchenyuk to enter the zone passed it off and let the young Russian-American crash the net where he would beat Biron for his third goal of his young career. Erik Cole would also notch an assist on the play (3). Then with the period winding down and Marian Gaborik in the box for hooking, the young Dane Lars Eller squeaked the puck past Biron with a shot roughly 50 feet out that made its way through traffic. Assists on the play credited to Galchenyuk (9) and Subban (5). This goal came at the 19:34 mark, Montreal didn’t just steal momentum they also stole New York’s hope and confidence with just 26 seconds left until the final frame.

The third period lacked a bit from both sides as no team was in a rush to do just about anything. For Montreal they had a comfortable three goal cushion where all they had to do was play sound positional hockey; mission completed. As for New York the effort was just not there. When a superstar such as Gaborik is benched in the third period (11:03 TOI) you know there is a problem. In fact there was just seven shots in total in the third period alone. Now with the Canadiens clicking for three goals again (they have done so for the past four games) that was more than enough for Carey Price who stopped 17 shots for his 18th career shutout and second of the season. Price now leads the league in wins with 10, a save percentage of .923 and an impressive GAA of 1.97. Could some individual hardware be in the young tender’s future?

Overall, call it what you will but the better team came out with the two points tonight. The will to win was just too much for the Rangers to overcome as Montreal continues to roll with another win and pushes their point streak to seven games. Unfortunately New York lost two more players to inury with Ryan McDonagh leaving the game after being boarded by Max Pacioretty while Dan Girardi (shoutout to a fellow Welland boy) had to be helped off of the ice after blocking a shot from P.K Subban that hit him square on the ankle. As brave as the blocked shot was it may have hurt his team even more as the Rangers are now without Powl, Asham, Nash, Del Zotto and possibly McDonagh and Girardi moving forward. It will be interesting to see how the Rangers adjust in the next coming weeks. As for Montreal the decision to put Cole with Eller and Galchenyuk paid off in dividends with the line scoring all three goals and combined for six points in total. The Canadiens also improve their record against non-divisional teams to 10-0-1. Up next for the Canadiens are the Ottawa Senators who have been on a hot streak of their own rattling off four straight wins. This will be a great test for the Habs as they look to build on their slim divisional lead as well as stay atop of the Eastern Conference.

GO HABS GO