HABS’ HEART AND SOUL
Gallagher drives team: Cowan
It might have been the biggest goal of the season for the Canadiens and — not surprisingly — it was scored by Brendan Gallagher.
In the biggest game of the season so far, Gallagher opened the scoring at 18:21 of the first period in Philadelphia Tuesday night, and the Canadiens went on to beat the Flyers 3-1. The Canadiens have a 28-6-5 record this season when scoring the first goal, including 14-5-2 on the road.
While Shea Weber is team captain, Gallagher is the Canadiens’ driving force and their heart and soul. His team-leading 31st goal of the season helped the Canadiens move within one point of the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, with nine games remaining for both teams. The victory over the Flyers — coupled with the Blue Jackets’ 4-2 loss to the Flames Tuesday night in Calgary — improved the Canadiens’ chances of making the playoffs to 30.7 per cent from 18.8 per cent, according to sportsclubstats. com. It was a huge win.
This Canadiens team has been bouncing back from adversity all season. When people start to count them out, they have been able to bounce back with a big victory like the one in Philadelphia. Some fans must be exhausted from jumping on and off the bandwagon.
Following back-to-back losses to the New York Islanders and Chicago Blackhawks while scoring only one goal, for the first time this season I had given up on the Canadiens making the playoffs as they headed to Philadelphia. I started to believe the tinkering GM Marc Bergevin did to his lineup before the NHL trade deadline on Feb. 25 might have disrupted team chemistry and taken some of the fight out of the team.
That fight returned against the Flyers, and it was sparked by Gallagher. Now we’ll see if the Canadiens can keep it going, starting with Thursday’s game against the New York Islanders at the Bell Centre (7:30 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio).
“I don’t know if it’s just the goal,” coach Claude Julien said after Wednesday’s optional practice in Brossard when asked about Gallagher’s effect on Tuesday’s game. “His compete level is something that every team likes to see in a player. Every game he comes to play. Not all his games are perfect, but there’s not a single game I can point out that I thought his effort wasn’t acceptable.”
Never mind a single game … try to find a single shift where Gallagher doesn’t give everything he has.
“I don’t think it’s the fact that he scored, but I think it’s the fact that he works so hard every single (shift) like it’s the last time he’s going on the ice every time,” linemate Phillip Danault said about Gallagher. “He’s a big leader for us.”
All 5-foot-9 and 184 pounds of him.
Wednesday was one of the very few days this season Gallagher wasn’t available to speak with the media. He’s almost always there, whether it’s after a practice, a win or a loss. He was almost always there last season when the Canadiens finished 28th in the overall NHL standings. He has embraced everything that comes with playing in Montreal — the good and the bad.
When I asked Gallagher about dealing with the media last season, he said: “I think being a leader, there’s a lot of responsibility. I think part of it is how you relay our message to the fans, and our message to the fans is through you guys (the media) — and that’s really our outlet. So the message that we want to get across comes from us. For fans, this is their outlet to us, and they’re going to feel the emotions that we’re feeling as players — and we know how frustrating that can be at times. They want to hear that we’re working as hard as we can to get out of it, and if we want them to continue to support us, I think it’s important that they know that.”
Gallagher has already matched his career high for goals, set last season. His goal against the Flyers came from the high slot and wasn’t a typical “Gally goal” where he bangs one in from near the crease while getting hammered by a defenceman.
“I think that’s maybe coincidence more than anything else,” Julien said when asked about Gallagher scoring more long-distance goals this season. “I think he just shoots the puck. He shoots the puck well. Most of his goals are scored in front of the net because that’s where he goes. So every once in a while, he gets that opportunity from the slot or coming off the wing. He’s got a good release and he uses it well. Last night there was a good net-front presence as well, so that’s how he ended up scoring from the slot.”
It was a huge goal, no matter where it came from, and this Canadiens team looks again like it won’t go down without a fight.
You know Gallagher won’t. scowan@postmedia.com twitter.com/ StuCowan1