MONTREAL

Call of the Wilde: Even winners lose in long NHL season

CTV Montreal Published Monday, January 9, 2017 10:38PM EST

Washington Capitals right wing Justin Williams (14) is taken out from in front of Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price (31) by Montreal Canadiens defenceman Alexei Emelin (74) during second period NHL hockey action Monday, January 9, 2017 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

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Wilde Horses

It is remarkable how much strength Lehkonen has in puck battles. He is so difficult to take off the puck. I have often said I expect Radulov to be excellent in the playoffs as the postseason favours puck winners in on-on-one play. Add Lehkonen to the list of Habs who I believe will have strong playoffs, even with his inexperience. He goes into the dirty zones. He will get the ice time because he is so smart defensively. He will win pucks to set up his mates and create havoc with his own excellent shot. They sure trained this player well in Sweden. He has come so ready to be an NHLer. It's hard to find a question mark. It's just a matter of time for him to become more comfortable over the years. He's a 20-to-25 goal scorer in the NHL for sure.
Byron back in the lineup and contributing, making the Plekanec line with Lehkonen come alive. Byron with a sweet set up of Plekanec for what looked like a sure goal but it's not easy on the offensive side of things for him. Plekanec always draws the tough assignment and he deserves credit for that. Plekanec, Byron and Lehkonen were the best line on the night and Therrien saw that so gave them some power play time in the third. They finally broke through for a tying marker. Let's see if this line can build on it.

Wilde Goats

That was a tremendous road trip and the Habs had no legs for the one game back before heading out again. Credit to the hot Caps who win their sixth straight but you could just see that the energy was lacking. There’s a lot of games in the season and there are going to be low energy nights. This was one. Hard to be okay with that, I know, when you paid money to be at the Bell Centre but try because sometimes the legs aren't there for these players.
Petry has been the strongest or second strongest defender this season but my-oh-my was he schooled by Kuznetsov. It was a gorgeous move to beat Petry and Price. He then had a miscommunication with Price on the third goal and that was it for this band of tired brothers.

Wilde Cards

Marc Bergevin said “It is on me.” When the horrible last season was explained with that thought, we thought that he was simply just pointing his finger at himself and taking blame. He was doing more than that. He was also saying he would do something about it. Remarkable for me to see Bergevin recognize his team's weaknesses and do something about it. He saw a problem at right wing so he got Radulov. He saw a problem with the team's sandpaper so he got Shaw. He saw that the defence was one-dimensional so he added the stay-at-home D to add a dimension. He overall didn't like how easy his club was to play against - a soft touch - so he changed the makeup of the club overall. His staff made a list, it seems, and then they filled out the list. The beneficiary of this much more well-rounded roster is Michel Therrien who just got win number 400 and who is having an outstanding season as head coach. Not sure there is a Jack Adams nomination in there but it's close. Seven AHLers in the lineup during the road trip, with only one loss in regulation time. This included a win over the Leafs who had won six of seven. Impressive.