Bye week rest couldn’t come soon enough for tired Canadiens
The Canadiens have two major tests before they enjoy four days away from the rink and they can breathe a sigh of relief after snapping a four-game losing streak with a 5-4 overtime win in Arizona Thursday.
The game provided several reasons for the Canadiens to feel good about themselves. They had a good start. They scored five goals. They showed character in coming back from a 3-2 deficit. And they won in overtime to boost their 3-on-3 record to 5-5.
But they shouldn’t feel good about the way they had to scramble for a win in a game that never should have gone to overtime. A string of penalties in the second period opened the door for the Coyotes, who have the secondworst record in the NHL.
And Carey Price, the linchpin for the Canadiens’ success in recent seasons, has not been playing like the Price who won the Hart and Vézina trophies two years ago or the Price who backstopped Team Canada to gold at the Sochi Olympics and World Cup.
A rest might be what Price and some of his teammates need, but first they have something to prove this weekend. St. Louis is in town Saturday night (7 p.m., CITY, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio) and the challenge will be for the Canadiens’ offence to exploit some of the worst goaltending in the NHL.
Sunday’s game in Boston is more important because it’s a division rivalry and the Bruins are trying to get back into the playoff picture. Montreal, which has a 2-0-1 record against Boston this season, is 10 points up on the fourth-place Bruins and a win Sunday would make it difficult for the Bruins to overtake the Canadiens down the stretch.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR JULIEN?
The Bruins’ decision to put Claude Julien out of his misery ignited a firestorm from the twits who tweet. There’s a faction of disgruntled fans who would like to see Julien return to Montreal to replace Michel Therrien, but that’s not going to happen.
On the day before the Canadiens’ win in Arizona, general manager Marc Bergevin and Therrien looked relaxed and comfortable as they hung out in the foxhole — a poolside cabana at the team’s Glendale hotel.
Julien will return to coaching at some point, but he can afford to be choosy because the Bruins are on the hook for the final two years of his contract, which is worth about $3 million a season.
With Julien off the board, the oddsmakers at Bovada in Las Vegas have Lindy Ruff of the Dallas Stars as the next favourite to be fired at 7-4 odds. Winnipeg’s Paul Maurice and Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper are next at 7-2, followed by Therrien at 9-2.
We’re three weeks away from one of the most anticipated games of the season — the return of defenceman P.K. Subban to the Bell Centre — and it’s a good time to check in on the NHL’s best dressed man.
An injury kept Subban out of the Canadiens’ first game against the Predators last month in Nashville. He missed 16 games with a back ailment and he told The Tennessean’s Adam Vingan he’s still not 100 per cent.
“It’s frustrating at times because there’s times where, maybe mentally, I want to do certain things, but I’m not able to execute them,” Subban said. “It’s not easy when you miss 16 games, especially the way I play. I’m not the type of guy that just sits back. A lot of times, I like to attack the game and create and generate offence from the back end. Just trying to get back into the groove of that. Individually, I still think that there’s a couple more levels to my game that I can step up to.”
Subban has averaged nearly 25 minutes of ice time. He has seven goals and 13 assists in 38 games, but has a minus-9 rating.
Fellow top-four defenders Ryan Ellis and Roman Josi have also missed time to injuries and the Predators’ top four — Mattias Ekholm completes the group — have been together for only 23 of the team’s 54 games. They are all healthy now and the Predators are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games as they cling to one of the wild-card spots in the Western Conference.
COMMITTED TO ARIZONA
Hours before the Coyotes played Montreal before a betterthan-average crowd of 14,098 at Gila River Arena, team president Anthony LeBlanc denied a local newspaper report that said the team was looking at relocating to Portland, Ore., or Seattle.
“The Coyotes are focused on creating the most taxpayer-friendly facility in the country here in the valley,” LeBlanc said.
“This new arena will pay for itself, create jobs and generate millions of dollars in revenue for the state, county and municipality where it’s built. We are fully committed to Arizona.”
The new arena, at a yetundetermined location, won’t be friendly to the taxpayers of Glendale, who still owe $150 million on Gila River Arena.