CANADIENS
Montreal

1-2

WILD
Minnesota

Game Notes:

Good fortune?  There were some interesting narratives following the game. Some wanted to blame the referees and others claimed that the Wild were just lucky. Indeed, Minnesota did get the bounces for both of their goals. Jason Zucker’s shot just 19 seconds in pinballed off the post and then Carey Price’s back before finding the net. The second Wild goal went off the vertically-raised stick of Jason Pominville who ducked to protect himself from the rising point shot.

But to say that the Wild owe their win to lady luck wouldn’t be accurate. Minnesota were in firm control for the first 40 minutes outshooting the Canadiens 30-10. Three of those shots came from Dale Weise.  The fact that the Wild were only able to score on two quirky goals despite the shot and territorial advantage is testament to the outstanding game by Carey Price despite the Habs being dominated.

Accountability. Due to the Canadiens winning record and position in the standings, most fans are willing to give the coach a passing grade. But when the Habs are unprepared and get off to a slow start game-after-game, it’s time to look to Michel Therrien for some accountability. In addition, even when it is painfully obvious that the team’s No. 1 centre has been dreadful for the first 27 games of the season, the coach cannot bear to acknowledge the truth about his favorite son. In this game, with the David Desharnais line unable to mount any offense threat, Therrien inexplicably decided to break up the one line who was playing well: Lars Eller – Juri Sekac – Brandon Prust. Moving Sekac to the top line changed nothing other than weakening the only weapon the Canadiens had during this game.

Punishment. After the game, Michel Therrien seemed fixated on the penalty taken by Eric Tangradi early in the third period.  Tangradi was given a boarding major and a game misconduct when he took Christian Folin into the boards. The Canadiens killed off the penalty.  The truth is that Tangradi’s penalty had nothing to do with the poor start and feeble effort for the first 40 minutes of the game.  It would be a mistake by Therrien to punish Tangradi by taking him out of the lineup for the game against the Blackhawks on Friday night.  Tangradi has been a welcome addition bringing speed, physicality and a net front presence to the fourth line.

Objects in mirror are closer than they appear. The final result might have you believe that it was a close game. It was not. The score flattered the Canadiens.  If the Habs play the same way against Chicago on Friday, it will get ugly real quick.

Plus / Minus

▲   Carey Price, Dale Weise, Lars Eller, Jiri Sekac

▼   P.A. Parenteau, Max Pacioretty, David Desharnais, Brendan Gallagher, Alexei Emelin, Bryan Allen, Michel Therrien

1.  Jason Zucker MIN
2.  Darcy Kuemper  MIN
3.  Marco Scandella MIN

• “[The major penalty by Eric Tangradi] took the momentum away. I thought we were engaged to start the third. Guys did a good job of killing the penalty, but it took our momentum away.”
• “There probably were a lot of distractions before the game, which could explain why we didn’t get the start we wanted. But as far as I’m concerned, that’s not an excuse. That should have been more of a source of motivation than a distraction.”

Max Pacioretty

• “The only good hockey we played was in the third period and there’s no excuse with everything that’s happened in the past day to not show up and give our best right from the puck drop. There’s no excuse for that. When we play like we did at the end of the third period, that’s when we have a chance to win the game. We gave away two periods and at the end of the day, we gave away the game.”
• “We weren’t making plays, we weren’t executing and we got away from our game plan. We’re an average team when we do that. When we have success, it’s for a reason: we’re all on the same page and we all play a certain way. When we get away from that, we’re just another team. When we play the way we’re capable of and we play the way we did in the third, that’s when we have success and that’s when we’re a great team.”

Wild forward Jason Pominville

• Fortunate bounce. It was coming head-high and I just decided to duck and hit my stick. I’m not even sure where it hit. Weird how it goes. I’ve had a bit of a tough time finding a way to put one in. Had some great looks and haven’t been able to score and then you get one of those and you kind of shake your head.”

Wild coach Mike Yeo

• “Fans are frustrated, but I’d be willing to bet they’re not as frustrated as we are. [The lack of power-play success] is the one thing keeping us from being an elite team right now.”