PRICE-LESS HABS WIN WITH TEAM APPROACH
Sunday’s game should silence critics who call Canadiens one-dimensional
It was shortly before 4 p.m. when the skies over the Bell Centre turned almost dark as night and opened to unleash thunder and lightning, hail, ferocious winds and biblical rain.
The apocalypse blew through quickly but clearly. It looked as though the hockey gods weren’t pleased that Canadiens goaltender Carey Price was sidelined with a lower-body injury — even if it took them five or so hours to react to the news.
Or, the weather was just November lousy.
Whatever, the legions of Habs fans who were out on their window ledges, panicked and in crisis mode over morning news that Price was on injured reserve, got plenty wet and mighty dented by the hail that sounded like machine-gun fire against the arena windows.
Rumours of the goalie being in traction — this is Montreal, don’t forget — proved unfounded when he stepped out to centre ice pregame Sunday in a business suit to accept the Molson Cup three-star trophy for October.
(If Price had pranked the building by coming out, say, on crutches or in a wheelchair, you’d be reading this amid the smoking rubble of a city.)
Looking on from the ice during the cheers for Price was starting goalie Mike Condon, who would win his fourth game this season against no losses with a solid, sometimes glittering performance in Montreal’s 5-1 victory over the visiting Winnipeg Jets; cheerleading on the bench was Dustin Tokarski, Price’s backup last season, called up from the St. John’s Ice -Caps earlier in the day.
For all those who knock the Canadiens as a one-dimensional team that would be a disaster movie without Price, this was a bit of a statement game. So punctuate it with an exclamation mark, starting with Condon in his first-ever home-ice start after road wins in Ottawa, Buffalo and Calgary.
With 18 saves, Condon came within 6:03 of his first NHL shutout before Winnipeg’s Chris Thorburn snuck through the Montreal defence to spoil his perfect night.
Then stir in li’l Davey. David Desharnais had a goal and two assists in his first 3:42 of ice time on the night.
Desharnais showed a nice burst of speed to set up linemate Tomas Fleischmann’s first of two goals in the game, outsprinting Jets centre Alexander Burmistrov late in the first period to drive goalie Michael Hutchinson, the trailing Fleischmann tapping in the rebound.
“It looked like I had a lot of speed there,” Desharnais said with a grin. “But it was a forward (defending) and I knew it. I just tried to get to the net there.”
Add Fleischmann, who scored his third and fourth goals of the season and assisted on the marker by Desharnais after having arrived at September’s training camp without a contract.
And there was waiver pickup Paul Byron, who scored his second goal in as many games, roaring off on a breakaway at warp speed, once more short-handed.
Lars Eller got in on the fun, too. On a night when the Montreal Impact was winning its playoff opener down the road at Saputo Stadium, Andrei Markov banked a power play shot in off Eller’s boot late in the second period.
The so-called third line of Desharnais between Fleischmann and Dale Weise continued its torrid pace, registering nine of the Canadiens’ 27 shots and earning three goals and four assists, going a combined plus-9.
This followed Friday’s 6-2 win in Calgary, Weise scoring his first NHL hat trick, Desharnais and Fleischmann each adding a couple of assists.
In his first 13 games last season, Desharnais had a goal and five assists. At the same point this year, he has four goals and eight assists.
“It’s something I was working on this summer,” he said. “I got a lot of heat (last season) for not starting the right way. I just wanted to make sure I started the right way this year. I have a great line, it’s just so much fun out there.
“Honestly, the biggest difference is we’re not playing (against) the top line and top defencemen and those (linemates) can play. It’s a pretty good third line and we’re fresh out there. We’re playing 13, 14 minutes. You go out there, give it your all and go back to the bench.”
It was fitting that Price-Condon was a bold headline against the Jets on a date that’s rich in goaltending history for the team.
It was on Nov. 1, 1952, up the road at the Montreal Forum, that Habs netminding legend Jacques Plante made his first NHL start. And on the same date in 1959, Plante revolutionized goaltending forever by wearing a mask into a game in New York for the first time in his trail-blazing career.
Price’s injury, Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien said in the hours before Sunday’s game, is “nothing major,” adding that a little pain felt Friday — he still backed up Condon in Calgary — brought about treatment and ultimately team medical advice “that he take a week off.”
Condon again proved to be up to the challenge Sunday against Winnipeg, and surely will get the call Tuesday at home against Ottawa.
And just maybe the climate gods liked what they saw. Montreal’s weather should be spectacular most of the week.