Wilde Horses

- Beaulieu missed six games and looked comfortable right away. He was mostly responsible for their best shift of the first period. He carried the puck well and won the zone well. He also took the shot that was deflected by Danault for the first goal. I continue to be one of this guy's biggest backers. I love the game he plays and I always feel like he is so close to putting all of this skill together night after night. He falls into bouts of sub-par play and I can't figure out why he can have two clear levels. He has the stuff to transition to the higher level. With Pateryn out, it is time.

- Sometimes Radulov is too good for the expectations of his mates. They aren't ready for passes that they can't believe have arrived. They should just plan for the impossible and when he pulls it off, they'll be ready to continue the play.

- The Habs lose two centres to injury and in the first game with both Galchenyuk and Desharnais out two other centres score: Mitchell and Danault. How about that? Mitchell scored twice, even. Danault with two points after being sick today. Maybe if it isn't too painful for Danault, he could stay sick. I jest.

- Lehkonen is close to figuring this out. He is not a liability on defence is the key here, while he does learn how to get goals at the NHL level. He got one in this game in tight but overall he needs to shoot more. He has a quick Pacioretty-like release – powerful when it's gone and it's gone early.

- Redmond looked very good for his first game in two and a half months. He surprised and won the cup out of camp. He showed why.

- I did so much protection of the signing of Andrew Shaw this summer. I don't know why so many were so disappointed in a guy who when I watched the Hawks win cups and he was one of the key reasons to that end. He was fierce. Always around the puck. Always a nuisance to opponents. The Hawks fans were disconsolate when he was traded due only to cap issues. Sure he has had two temper tantrums here but they didn't hurt his own players so I am sure they don't care one bit about a couple bouts of petulance and stupidity. The Habs love his compete though. They're also fond of 10 points in the last 13 games. Shaw is a winner. I don't know how he does it, to be honest. He's small really, like, really small. He doesn't have a ton of natural obvious skill either, but he's a winner so who cares. The guy finds ways to be important. Ask the Hawks.

- How about a bouquet for management? First the coaching staff: the preparation for the first game back is notoriously difficult. Teams are often so flat and put in a weak effort. The excuse was built in too with the loss of two centres but the Habs staff rebuilt their lines and rolled all four of them and put in a strong effort.

Now some praise too for the GM who was criticized for all those fourth-line players he kept acquiring. Well now they're first-line players like Byron for some of the season and second-line centres like Mitchell and third-line centres like Danault and fourth-line centres like Flynn so let's not let yesterday's news make your mind cloudy about what is really clear as day.

- The shots on goal were 49-21 on a night most thought the Habs would collapse trying to figure out how to survive without two centres. Just imagine every player is in this category. I really can't say enough about the club in this one. This was so bloody impressive top to bottom.

Wilde Goats

- Carr isn't the same player, then again his knee isn't the same either. He is going to need some time: for the fear to go away that he won't re-injure it and for the knee to actually respond well to the strain he puts on it. I have seen many players in all sports need time, sometimes even a full season, to recover completely.

- Someone tell 14 to just give it to 47. Seriously, you got one job offensively. Find 47 or 67. Find him too. They're really feeling it. Find them the puck when you get it. That's it – because, wow, they were on fire together.

Wilde Cards

- Price was crease crashed by Henrique and then two minutes later he was crashed by Palmieri and that was enough. His knee buckled slightly on the second crash and he went off. Blocker shot after blocker shot of frustration. It was the culmination of two collisions so close together that got to him. If the NHL is not ready to help Price to not lose another season, then he is going to call attention to the issue himself. I bet he gets better protection from the refs after this. Watch for it. He had to do it. He was smart to do it. Just accepting your knee is going to get stressed by the force against it in the butterfly position when someone hits your upper body isn't going to save him long term. I hope he does it again. I don't advocate for violence but I don't advocate for the initial violence that could end his season either. Stop the first violence that could so easily cause a major injury to his healed knee and we won't have to worry about the blocker smackdown. So go for it, Carey. You don't care about my blessing, but you have it and I am certain that the goaltender's brotherhood is behind you 1000 per cent too. Were the two Devils players just playing hockey? Sure they were. I am not even pointing a finger at those two NJ players. I am pointing a finger at the protection goalies get from the rule book. Everyone is always just playing hockey, doing what they need to do to score goals. We all know this. Both coaches will stress it to their players. They'll even say to the media plainly that they have to get to the dirty zones but it leads to hard contact where the goalie is defenceless. He can't brace for it. He doesn't see it coming. He's in a very vulnerable position usually in a crouch that stresses hard the knees. Price is too valuable. Something has to be done. This time, it was a blocker to the head.

- One of the largest contingents of scouts ever seen here for a game. There were about 20 so it is safe to assume that Bergevin is doing some talking. I don't believe he has to fill this hole at centre and if he does, it should be for the long-term future and not eight weeks. Plekanec has become a third-line centre and I don't believe Desharnais will get renewed. Bergevin needs a second-line centre; not for just eight weeks but for five years.

- The toughness of these men is amazing. Pateryn played the third period of the Blues game with a broken ankle. Stunning.

And Pacioretty, Eric Engels reported, played for a month with a broken foot so if you thought he had lost a step, he had. Pacioretty is all healed now and lo and behold his play is vastly improved too.