Wilde Horses

- Desharnais with seven goals now in about half the number of games to get there as last season. He is enjoying the easier match ups is the popular opinion, but let's just credit the player here for once. He's one of those guys who fans and media seem to dig in, in either camp. Well, if you have bad thoughts, come on over to the side of light. This player continually produces and he makes others great too.

- Tomas Fleischmann is someone benefiting from chemistry with Desharnais and also a guy who is earning all of this with tremendous savvy. Seven goals for Fleischmann and he is only $750,000 added to the cap. It seems like Bergevin is blessed.

- Galchenyuk was around the puck all night and created havoc for the Isles to handle. It was only a matter of time before all of those looks resulted in a goal. What a timely one on the power play late in the contest and what a celebration. That's what a giant weight lifting off of someone’s shoulders looks like. Good for him. He's worked hard and he's made no excuses. He's faced the music and he got his reward, finally.

- Pateryn starting to get very comfortable. Stepping up and laying out bodies before him is about the only time that he is really standing out. That's a good thing. Consistently kind of non-descript. That is a good night for Pateryn.

- Andrighetto drew a penalty in each of the first two periods and used his speed so effectively that he changed the dynamic of his line. When you get new players to step right in and be effective, you've got an organization firing.

- Jeff Petry was partly to blame on the first goal. I don't care. I have PetryVision. I watch him skate and I have PetryVision. What a player.

- Carey Price was Carey Price. That type of talent and a night as solid as his gets criticized for not stopping them all. Nonsense.

- Plekanec had an open look for an empty netter in the middle of the ice with the goalie pulled. He passed to Pacioretty so he could score. That's this team folks. The 23 Musketeers.

Wilde Goats

- It isn't just that Semin doesn't shoot, it is also that he can't keep up. He starts line rushes at his own blue line equal with his mates, and by the time they get to the attacking blue line he's the trailer. Pretty soon the only thing that I am going to like about Semin is his Corsi.

- Injuries are finally catching up to the Habs. Mitchell, Smith Pelly and now Gallagher are three forwards all going down in five days. Gallagher's hand injury looked like a dislocation or a break. Hope for the former but the ring finger of his left hand looked like a broken twig.

Wilde Cards

- The Habs are the highest scoring team in the NHL. One big reason is the input by defencemen. The Habs D has more points than any other in the league by a healthy margin. The D holds the blue line, pinches in, joins the rush and all around plays very aggressively. No D does that unless they have the coach's blessing. It might just be time to consider that Bergevin and Therrien are ahead of the curve on how to win and score in this new defensive NHL. Have two-way, mobile, offensively-gifted defencemen, and then give them the freedom to roam and create. I think it is time for the head coach to get a little praise for what he is doing here. He sure is not my favourite quote nor my favourite character, but look at the record book - the guy wins games. And this year, he's winning them in what around the league is thought of as one of the most exciting styles in the league.