Wilde Horses

- Many scorers if they're not scoring make you feel like they're a liability. Alex Ovechkin leads the league in goals, but also in minus in plus-minus, as an example. I like to refer to this solitary skill a scorer has as The Michael Ryder Virus. You know, you say “Oh man that guy's not very good” and then he scores. Twice. This is not the case with Thomas Vanek. Vanek does everything well and he scores. He's a bull out there. A force to take off the puck. A great passer. Superb defensively. He's a complete player and only watching him periodically as a Sabre I had no idea how amazingly good this player is.

- If in doubt, take the puck hard to the net where you get a shot for a rebound, you win valuable space, or draw a penalty. This is exactly what Ryan White did on the first goal. That shot was never going to go in, but the space was won and Bournival followed up to break a four-month drought. Go to the net. Well done from the fourth line again.

- This puts Marc Bergevin in the horse column. The new GM has done an excellent job bringing depth to the lineup. All three of the fourth line are out. Their replacements are now performing well in their stead. Remember, as I bring up what must seem pretty insignificant, that two years ago Plekanec’s second-line winger was Louis Leblanc.

- Max Pacioretty, who exemplifies what a power forward is. If you bother to take a look at where Pacioretty takes his shots before you announce he is a perimetre player, you see he's always around the net. Number 39 was something special. Two strides and bye bye. Protecting the puck with his leg, angling off the defender with his big ass, cutting through to leave no one in his time zone then a lightning quick release, choosing the corner that the goalie has to cover laterally with the most difficulty. All in two and a half seconds. My God was that a thing of hockey beauty.

- Carey Price. There was a time a goalie on a bang bang play from one side of the net to the other would not get there in time. Price now gets there in time and covers the net completely, not standing but being big. Price has a dominance right now that I haven't seen since covering the team. When Theodore had his MVP year, he was always acrobatic. This Price standard is vastly different. Only the rapier-like glove looks acrobatic. The rest he makes look so easy that it has to be so discouraging for the opposition. If this were a seven-game series, they'd already be crease crashing. He let in three. He was the reason they won.

- Alexei Emelin really started to throw his weight around again. Eight body checks with five in the third.

- Brian Gionta. He does a lot. He's changed who he is. This is what Scott Gomez couldn't figure out. Gionta isn't ever going to be a big scorer again but he brings a defensive element that allows so many others to shine.

- I asked Mike Weaver an open-ended question after the game: "What do you like best about the Habs?" I love questions like this. You get a real idea of what is on the player's mind this way, when you don't dictate his thoughts but let his instincts take over. He answered: "There's no panic button on this team. We just got tied up and no one is panicky when the coach called the time out." So the horse is the head coach Michel Therrien. That is an area he has improved tremendously from the mustard-wearing, bench-hopping, eyes-bulging, series-losing coach of yesteryear. Calmed his troops with a time out. It worked. They regrouped. They won.

Wilde Goats

- The goat is actually the territorial play. For the second straight night, opportune shooting and amazing goaltending is masking some real defensive deficiencies. This caught up to the Leafs who almost used the formula to make the playoffs before logic set in. Just something to look for because Price won the game. The difference in this one is the Habs had a way better goalie, but you can't rely on this night after night. The law of averages is a law for a reason.

Wilde Cards

- Reports are that Mike McCarron is really starting to play some fine hockey in London. And Reway too is a point machine in the Q. The forward and defence prospects may all mature at the same time. Bright future.