Wilde Horses
- Brendan Gallagher has eight goals on the year. That is tied for the team lead. He works his butt off every night and the way he plays, considering how small he is, cannot be too much fun and certainly is painful. Gallagher gets hacked down and plays in the dirty zones more than any player in the league and he just keeps coming back for more. Twenty Gallaghers and you probably win the cup.
- The Eller-Galchenyuk line was way better with Semin on it. The line had an outstanding Corsi. We can say for sure that the Habs don't like analytics if the line is broken up Monday. They had so much more zone pressure than when a fourth liner tried their luck. Semin took a dumb penalty so we will see how it shakes out next game. I hope the coach doesn't have ScoreVision so they get another look but someone may have to take the blame for the score line, as nonsensical as that is to me. That line had lots of zone time. That's what you want. That's the process.
- The first time for Beaulieu and Petry together and they were excellent. They really seemed to understand each other well. They pinched in with abandon and the other was always there to cover. They have great chemistry. Petry was a force. Short term, I hope Emelin stays injured so we get to see how good these two can be together. I suspect very.
Wilde Goats
- Mike Condon has been brilliant. A .936 save percentage and six wins this season. However he let all of his bad goals for the month in on the same night, it seems. I think that a little mental fatigue could be setting in. We shall see. The shots he let in he just didn't track well. The fourth goal through the five-hole especially was horrible as he did everything wrong technically. We get to see his mental strength now. He's been vital to the Habs success. With Price still not in pads, they'll need him to recover. One bad night. That's what he needs to tell himself. That it was just one bad night.
- Subban and Markov just didn't seem to read each other well. You take it. No I will take it. Oh we both left it. Oh I thought you were there not here. A suspect night all around for two of the best in the NHL this season. No matter how good you are, success is not a guarantee for anyone.
Wilde Cards
- This was one of those games I like to use the term ScoreVision for all the people that have an endless amount of criticism as if the score line was indicative of the play. One sees the score and therefore all of the assessment of the play is incorrect because the score is the baseline for the critique. ScoreVision is a real thing. I hope all can see that the Habs absolutely dominated in shots and Corsi and nearly every aspect of the play. Every mistake the Habs made went in the net with their goalie having a rough night. Nearly every chance the Habs had was met with Berra's hot streak of a save percentage nearing .950. The Habs were far and away the better team and if the head coach truly believes that it is about the process, then the process apart from the goalie was excellent. Remember Carey Price last season when he did it time and time again to the opposition ... Some nights you get goalied. Now you know what everyone felt playing the Habs last season.
- The St. John's Ice Caps lost 9-8 at home to Toronto as Fucale really struggled but take note of Michael McCarron. The first-year pro is on fire. He had a five-point night on two goals and three assists. He is a point-a-game player in a very difficult league to score goals, though obviously not on Saturday night.
