Habs Silence Rangers; Habs 3 Rangers 0

The Canadiens roll on with a critical win over the Rangers. With the Bruins losing earlier today to the Flyers it was critical to come out and beat the Rangers, and that they did. Carey Price looked great in a 34 shot shutout and P.K. Subban had helpers on all three goals. Ryder got the opening goal bringing his season total to 13. Plekanec kept pace getting the 2nd goal and they both lead the Habs with 13 apiece. Nathan Beaulieu had a good debut logging a shot, a hit and a blocked shot in 17:17 of ice time. Brandon Prust had a decent first game back with a hit, a block, a shot and a takeaway in 14:52 of ice time. He did leave the ice for a bit but came back looking fine. Watching the Rangers tonight reminded me of last year’s Habs. Outworked in the corners and along the boards, taking the body instead of the puck, and taking a lot of perimeter shots. Overall a textbook performance by our boys in Bleu-Blanc et-Rouge.

The Good: P.K. Subban had 3 assists including a beautiful play leading to the second goal. Trevor Timmins must be proud watching 5th rounder (147th overall) Brendan Gallagher play. The youngster was a constant presence in front of Martin Biron and worked hard and dug out a goal. The Habs had 24 blocked shots as a team led by Josh Gorges with 6. Both Emelin and Markov had much improved games over the game against the Bruins. Emelin finished a +2 with 4 hits and three blocks, while Markov had an assist, was +1 and had 2 blocked shots. The Habs killed off their one penalty and capitalized on 1 of 2 powerplays. Carey Price got his 19th career shutout. Halpern was 11-17 on faceoffs and Eller was 6-8.

The Bad: What could possibly be bad about a 3-0 shutout? The only thing I disliked was Subban’s ice time. With his recent play, I’d like to see him have more then just 19:34 of ice time.

The Ugly: I’m not even gonna go there.

My Three Stars: 1st Price, 2nd Subban, 3rd Gallagher

Great game by the Habs. Now have a 3 point lead on the Bruins.

GO HABS GO!

DB