Loss ‘is on me,’ Plekanec says
Unsportsmanlike penalty for ice shower leads to Toronto’s game-winning goal
Tomas Plekanec is a standup guy, which is the reason why he said the Canadiens’ season-opening 2-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night “is on me.”
Plekanec was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct at 7:14 of the second period when he stopped short of Ben Scrivens and treated the Toronto goaltender to a snow shower
“I don’t think it even hit him,” said Plekanec, who was flanked by Toronto defenders as he went to the net in search of a rebound. “But it wasn’t a smart thing to do and I’ll know better next time.”
The penalty proved to be a decisive factor in the game because Tyler Bozak scored 58 seconds later to give the Leafs a 2-0 lead.
Penalties proved costly to the Habs with the Leafs’ two goals coming on the power play, while an apparent Montreal goal in the opening minute was wiped out when Ryan White was sent off for goaltender interference.
Canadiens coach Michel Therrien has adopted “No Excuses” as the team’s slogan, but he hinted how he felt about the White penalty when he noted: “We scored on our second shift, but it was wiped out because our guy touched the goalie.”
The Canadiens survived the White penalty, but Erik Cole took a hooking penalty at 3:02 and Nazem Kadri beat Carey Price with the Leafs’ first shot of the game at 4:51.
“That’s a tough way to start the game,” Price said.
“To get scored on with the first shot of the season isn’t what you want. It’s tough when you’re a man down for four minutes of the first (five).”
Price said he was concerned about getting beat on a backdoor play when Phil Kessel set up Kadri in the slot to his right.
“They had a net guy in front and they had a high guy posted there,” Price explained. “The pass came to the slot and I wasn’t sure where that second guy was. I went down expecting a shot. I couldn’t get back there in time, but he made a good shot.”
“We took too many penalties,” said captain Brian Gionta, whose power-play goal late in the third period accounted for the Montreal scoring.
The fact is each team had five power-play opportunities and the Leafs did more with their chances. The difference, according to Therrien, was that the Canadiens didn’t execute.
“I liked the reaction (in the third period),” Therrien said. “We never quit. But any time you lose the special-teams bat- tle it’s tough to win. Tonight we lost that battle. We have to keep working on that.”
The Canadiens had the second-best penalty-killing unit in the NHL last season, but ranked 28th on the power play.
“We were prepared for the game, but the execution wasn’t there,” Therrien said.
Added Gionta: “We weren’t flat, but the support wasn’t there.”
Said Price: “It wasn’t smooth. It was fast-paced, but it was choppy. There were a lot of mistakes. The body was there, but the mind may not have been sharp enough. We have to sort that out in a hurry so we don’t get into a hole.”
There was a focus before the game on Alex Galchenyuk, the rookie who was the No. 3 overall pick in last June’s draft. He received an ovation when he was introduced and received a passing grade from Therrien.
Galchenyuk started the game on the No. 2 line with Tomas Plekanec and Brian Gionta and was later moved to the third line with Lars Eller and Travis Moen. The rookie played a shade over 13 minutes and had two shots on goal, a blocked shot and a take-away.
“I thought he looked good,” Therrien said, “He didn’t put himself in trouble. He skated well, tried to make some plays. We saw that he’s got the speed to play.”
Said Gionta: “He has a good shot. He gave (Toronto goaltender Ben Scrivens) trouble with a shot early in the game, but we didn’t have anyone going to the net.”
Galchenyuk proved to be his own harshest critic.
“I was not 100-per-cent comfortable, but I felt better as the game went on,” the 18-yearold said. “I really didn’t know what to expect from myself. It was my first NHL game, but my next game will definitely be better.”