Convincing win against Rangers an important statement for Habs
Pacioretty won’t face discipline from NHL for hit
OTTAWA — Max Pacioretty will be in the lineup when the Canadiens meet the Ottawa Senators on Monday night at Scotiabank Place ( 7:30 p.m., TSN-Habs, RDS, TSN-690 Radio).
According to nhl.com, Pacioretty was “interviewed at length” Sunday, but NHL vice-president Brendan Shanahan decided supplementary discipline wasn’t warranted for Pacioretty’s hit on Ryan McDonagh in the second period of the Canadiens’ 3-0 win over the New York Rangers on Saturday night at the Bell Centre.
Rangers head coach John Tortorella said he wouldn’t ask the NHL to review the play in which Pacioretty received a minor penalty for driving McDonagh into the end glass. But Tortorella suggested there was something sinister about the hit when he began his post-game scrum by asking the media: “How high did Pacioretty jump on that hit?”
Replays showed Pacioretty didn’t leave his feet on the blow that left McDonagh with a cut lip and a likely concussion.
The win over the Rangers came in a statement game for the Canadiens, who were embarrassed Thursday when they blew a 3-1 lead and lost 4-3 to the New York Islanders in overtime.
“That’s one difference from last year, I think we’re learning how to respond in a positive way after performing not as well as we want to,” said goaltender Carey Price, who needed only 17 saves to register the shutout. “I think guys are seeing that (the system) working and that makes it easier for everyone to buy into it.”
While the defence was holding the opposition to fewer than 20 shots for the fourth time in the past five games, the line of Alex Galchenyuk, Lars Eller and Erik Cole supplied the scoring with each member of the trio scoring a goal.
Eller has done some bouncing back of his own this season. He was a healthy scratch for two games earlier this season and he said that led to some soul-searching.
“Three weeks ago, I almost hit the bottom and things can change quickly,” Eller said. “I guess at some point in your career you have to define what kind of player you’re going to be and make some decisions. I feel that’s where I’m at in my career right now.”
And what kind of player does Eller want to be?
“I’ve always said that I look up to a player like Tomas Plekanec, who can play in every situation, can play on the power play, can play on the PK, can play when the game is on the line. That’s the kind of player I want to be and I’m working towards it.”
To that end, Eller started working last summer with Sylvain Guimond, a sports psychologist who works with the Canadiens.
“That’s a different aspect of the game that a lot of people maybe underestimate,” Eller said. “The psychological part of the game is huge, you know, so you have to improve in every aspect that you can physically, mentally — experience plays a big part, too, I think. So it’s a lot of things coming together.”
Eller and Galchenyuk are both natural centres who have been asked to play on the wing, but Therrien said he’s satisfied with the current alignment that has Eller in the middle. He said it allows Eller to use his natural skills, while the 19-year-old Galchenyuk is spared the heavier defensive load that goes with playing centre.
Price picked up his league-leading 10th win and his second shutout and said his solid start vindicated his decision not to play in Europe during the lockout.
“I believed in what I was doing,” Price said. “I believed in the conditioning I did with (strength coach) Pierre Allard. I felt I was getting plenty enough ice in Tri-City. Each player individually can monitor his work and I thought I did the right things.”
Price shared credit for the shutout with his teammates, who blocked 18 shots and kept the pressure on the Rangers.
“We’re forcing teams to make mistakes,” he said. “We’re using our speed better. We’re not sitting back and waiting for them to give us the puck. We’re going out to get it.”
Rene Bourque missed the game with the flu, but rookie Brendan Gallagher was back after missing three games with a concussion.
“I took a few shots to the head, which is good,” Gallagher said. “Even though I only missed a week, it felt like I was out for a while and I had some catching up to do. I felt more comfortable as the game went on.”