Montreal 2 New York Rangers 1 (Madison Square Garden)

by Rick Stephens, AllHabs.net

MONTREAL, QC.– I want to be excited about this Canadiens’ victory, I really do. A hard-fought road win by a one-goal margin against a conference rival is nothing to sneeze at. Two points to stay within a pair of the division leading Boston Bruins is also key.

But isn’t it a concern that, once again, the Habs are able to coast through the better part of two periods unable to exert any sustained offensive pressure, only to somehow (was it luck?) eke out a victory?

Tim Thomas, backstopping the Bruins has goals against and save percentage numbers at the top of the goaltending heap. Yet last Saturday, he allowed a softie dribble through from the stick of Scott Gomez to cue the Canadiens comeback. Thomas didn’t look like an All-Star on the overtime winning goal by Max Pacioretty either.

Ghosts of the Forum have finally completed their journey to the Bell Centre, some surmised.

But tonight’s game was at the league’s oldest building, Madison Square Garden. Had the construction workers doing renovations released MSG spirits? That’s silly talk.

Jaroslav Spacek was positioned on the left-side boards in the offensive zone similar to the spot where Gomez had beat Thomas.  Getting the Habs on the scoreboard, Spacek shot deflected off the goaltender’s skate and found the back of the net.

There’s nothing all that special about significant goals being scored with shots taken from the same place on the ice in back-to-back games.

However, the Spacek goal was scored with 1:11 left in the second period to make the score 1-1. Shots on goal in the period were 11-11. The date of this game: 1/11/11.

Wow, freaky! Perhaps Jacques Martin should double the tools in his coaching belt by picking up a Ouija board.

Let’s not confuse any of the above as an argument that the Canadiens are a team of destiny nor a commentary on the powerful effects of the supernatural. Rather, it is simply to show that while the Habs have done some very good things for 20 minutes in each of the past two games, their wins have as much to do with good fortune as inspired play.

Alex Auld played a solid game continuing his dominant career record against the Rangers. Auld also benefitted from his posts and defenseman who bailed him out of trouble.

“I had no idea where it was,” said Auld. “I turned around and Spacek got his stick on it and swept it away. Right then I kind of knew we were meant to win the game. The bounces seemed to be going our way.”

Yes, Alex, the universe is unfolding as it should. I wonder what his good luck charm is?

Besides an over-reliance on karma, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Canadiens continue their goal-scoring struggles. Scoring chances have come on the rare occasions when the Habs players go to the opposition net. Otherwise Montreal is content to take plenty of shots from the perimeter with little aggressive pursuit of rebounds.

You would be hard-pressed to argue that the Canadiens are even employing a one-man forecheck system. Fly-bys seem to be the norm as forwards scramble back on orders to support a weak defense corps.

So when the coach juggles the lines in the last 20-plus minutes of the game, can we be in awe of his keen sense of motivating players and developing line chemistry or is it simply that the Canadiens pressure the puck more when they find themselves trailing in a game?

Maybe we should flip a coin.

For the Habs that’s three straight wins in a critical five game stretch. The next two games take place at the friendly convines of the Bell Centre against Pittsburgh on Wednesday and the Rangers again on Saturday.

Plus/Minus

▲  Benoit Pouliot seems to have renewed jump in his stride, scoring the winning goal tonight. While the shot was nothing special, Pouliot’s timing and angle caught the Rangers goaltender unprepared and deep in his net.

▲  Jaroslav Spacek played one of his best games of the season. Paired with Yannick Weber the duo were solid in their own end. Spacek finished the game with a goal and a team-high plus-2 rating. Weber had an assist.

▲  James Wisniewski led the Habs with four blocked shots, had four shots on goal and an assist.

▲  Max Pacioretty led the team in hits again tonight and had four shots on goal. His linemate Scott Gomez won 10-of-13 faceoffs.

▼  David Desharnais, P.K. Subban and Hal Gill were the only minus-rated players. Gill struggled with the Rangers’ speed and Subban was unable to make correct reads at times. Desharnais looked ill-equipped to compete against bigger, faster players.

▲  Former Canadiens first-round draft choice, Ryan McDonagh was the only plus-rated player on the Rangers. McDonagh was very good defensively and when moving the puck out of his zone.

All Habs game stars

1. Benoit Pouliot
2. Alex Auld
3. Jaroslav Spacek

Roster notes

Mike Cammalleri and Alexandre Picard were healthy scratches. Andrei Markov and Josh Gorges are out for the season with a knee injuries.

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)