Call of the Wilde: Habs aren't aggressive enough of the penalty kill

Wilde Horses

- I liked when McCarron went to the front of the net and found a great chance. His shot stopped by Jones but McCarron went right to the net. He knows his role and I am convinced there is a spot for him in the NHL on a regular basis soon. In the third period, McCarron had a shift where he puck battled in a way more in line with his size. If he can learn how to puck protect better and come out of battles as clean as that shift, his ceiling is much higher than we believe it is now. If I am his coach, I am taking him to the video room, showing him that shift, and saying this is your career or lack of it right here. Learn this and succeed big. Don't learn it and have limited NHL success.

- They kept working and showed a good level of pride in the last ten minutes. That is something to note. It isn't on the scoreboard but there is an intangible positive to it that transcends through other moments.

 

Wilde Goats

- The penalty kill is the only aspect of the club that is struggling. They're not aggressive enough. This is odd because everyone knows that it is the only effective strategy. Attack, attack, attack, like you're not even shorthanded at all. Thornton had time for lunch on the second goal of the first period.

- Joe Thornton is behind the net with all the time in the world. At this point, you have to understand that the player is passer Joe Thornton. He's not dangerous there. He is, however, when Alexei Emelin loses Marleau by going at Thornton who calmly slides it past Emelin and it's easy. Thornton is not a shooter. Let him stay behind the net all night.

- The power play has struggled since the loss of Galchenyuk. They don't have a lot of creativity and puck carriers to bring it in with control since his absence. No Galchenyuk has meant keying on both Weber and Radulov, especially Weber who now gets no room to shoot. It’s up to Kirk Muller in the adjust -readjust game to find new solutions: if there is a man so tight to Weber, then that has to mean somewhere there's a chance to isolate beyond where that winger would be usually. We shall see. Muller is a smart hockey man but it has to also be said that talent makes coaches look awesome and a loss of talent makes coaches look bad. The loss of talent has the Habs in a 1-for-17 funk.

- Markov wanted little to do with this one. Was he on the bench when Price gave his death stare at the bench when he was pulled? Because I would have given Markov a death stare too for this game.

- It is not really fair to point out Markov because everyone was just not there for this one until the last 10 minutes. They all just didn't prepare to do a job. It happens. That stinks for the fans who pay big money. They don't want to be the unlucky ones to shell out a couple hundred for this but over 82 games there will be some games like this.

 

Wilde Cards

- The Habs didn't skate much this week. A light week it was and that might have been a mistake. They didn't find their legs until the last half of the third period.

- Andrew Shaw took the concussion test during the intermission Monday night and passed it. He did off-ice training Wednesday. He did the hospital visit too. He felt fine until Thursday afternoon when concussion symptoms began.  The Habs didn't do anything wrong here. The symptoms of a concussion can show up later. Shaw won't attend the game in Washington Saturday either as he needs to be kept off a plane that can cause complications because of cabin pressure changes. Shaw is extremely lucky that he didn't get hit in the head again in the second or third period on Monday. The worst possible scenario is to be hit again quickly after when your brain is already concussed.

Here's the rub for me though on this: No sport yet has a player say he is fine, pass the concussion test and not return out of precaution. I would like to see that day when a head shot means the player automatically has the rest of the night off. We are far, far away from that scenario – a decade, I would imagine. The NFL will be the first to say "you were dizzy, glassy eyed and can't keep your balance so you're finished for the night." The NFL is the leader now in this area because the spotlight has been on them most. Baseball's catcher rule where you cannot run into him at home is progressive too and they'll be second to adopt a zero-tolerance rule. Soccer and NHL will be the laggards, sadly. That comes from leadership. Gary Bettman is still denying there is even a relationship between concussions and CTE. So with his head in the sand, there's not much hope for the NHL to make progressive decisions until leadership changes. The NHL has been rotating back from holding the hitter responsible for his head shot actions to the hittee being responsible for putting himself in a vulnerable position. When Brendan Shanahan was in charge, we were heading in the right direction to protect these players, but the Neanderthals are back and it's a return to "it's the victim's fault, he had his head removed from his body because he leaned forward and he was low and it's a hockey play."

- Price left the game and gave a death stare to the bench on the way to the room. You make your speculative theories about who that was for and what he meant by it. I won't be participating. I am so completely without knowledge and so completely guessing that I won't speculate.