So the Canadiens pasted the Red Wings 7-3, even while taking their foot off the gas in the third period, enacting their own mercy rule on the hapless Detroiters. The latter didn't really get the memo, they clubbed Jeff Petry in the mouth and scored a goal in the resultant confusion. Tyler Bertuzzi decided to bodycheck a hobbled Jonathan Drouin, who had spent a long moment prone on the ice, and was barely mobile, trying to get to the bench after taking a shot on the ankle. Unlike the Canucks with the Elias Petterson debacle, Xavier Ouellet jumped at Mr. Bertuzzi to make him account for his actions.
"Hey Detroit, I hear you, with all your moaning about the lack of experience on your blue line, and the injuries, Lord, the injuries. But have I got the answer for you: David Schlemko. He's experienced, he's steady, he can move the puck. Heck, were you in a position where you'd lost the services of a near-Hall of Fame defenceman like, oh, Andrei Markov let's say, you wouldn't be the first to tout that a David Schlemko could fill a Markov-sized hole in your lineup. We'll take a second-rounder for him, and you leave here quick, you're robbing us blind on this deal...
"What? You're more worried about your goalie situation? Dude, I get it. Jimmy Howard, and Jonathan 'Bad Bounce' Bernier don't necessarily inspire confidence in their teammates. How about a trusty vet to shore up that situation, a calm Stanley Cup winner who'll batten down the hatches and help you weather the storm? Here's Antti Niemi, give us a second, and call the police, that's highway robbery, that's thievery..."
Marc Denis and Pierre Houde of RDS spoke during the game of how the Canadiens were doing what's needed, which is to make hay while the sun shines, to take advantage of a light schedule in October, with no onerous road trips and no back-to-back games scheduled, and earn as many points as possible. They trotted out the old motto that a point earned in October is just as good as one in April.
Which is true, but it kind of stands the pre-season narrative on its head, which was that while Shea Weber was out of action, that our pitiful defence and impotent offence might mean another disastrous start, same as last year, and that by the time Shea came back we might already be eliminated from the playoffs, practically. We'd mention how the season started with two games on the road in Toronto and Pittsburgh, then at home to the Kings and then the Pens again, and we wondered how long it would take to notch our first win.
Yet here we are, with seven points out of a possible ten, early on, in third place in the division. There's still lots of time to stumble, but for now, it's great watching entertaining hockey. If only for all the strange uniform numbers on the ice ("Who's #54 on defence? Oh, that's just Charles Hudon covering for a teammate on the attack. But wait, now who's #63? Did they call up one of the Czech kids from Laval?")
Noted: Prior to Tomas Tatar's goal, late in the first, I gasped as a Canadiens' defenceman failed to retreat and remain prudently between an onrushing opponent and his goalie, which is what we were taught when I played, back when the sticks were made of wood and men were men, even the snot-nosed ten-year olds like me. "He's going to get caught flat-footed!", I railed, aghast at his folly. But no, the culprit, namely Noah Juulsen, was doing that newfangled defence they do nowadays, the whole 'stand up at the blueline' thing. He, instead of turning tail and yielding ground, did the new move, the 'closing the gap' deal, and it was remarkably effective. The Detroit rush was countered by his spearing the puck, which bounced around for a second, and then Phillip Danault and TomasTatar were off to the races.
I was ready at the start of the season to sacrifice Noah and Victor Mete to the safety of the AHL, for more 'seasoning' and 'marinating', out of my fear that we'd lose bodies to the waiver wire, as the risk-averse scaredy-cat armchair-GM that I play in my mind and on this blog. But so far so good, we haven't been pinched yet, and injuries and circumstances have helped. And it gets harder and harder for me to advocate that Noah wouldn't suffer from more tutelage in the AHL with Joël Bouchard. The kid looks effective and comfortable at this level, and soon enough he'll be by necessity demoted to being the rightie on the third pair, with a returning Shea Weber and Jeff Petry to do the heavy lifting ahead of him. That role surely is well within his capabilities.
Another defenceman who I thought could safely be waived, and cherished in Laval as organizational depth and injury protection was Xavier Ouellet. Tonight, against the club that bought him out this summer, and which probably dearly wishes they had kept him now, in these dire straits they are in, he played an effective, inspired game. He was the player he was projected to be when he got drafted, a skilled skater and puck-mover who'd support the attack. He got off a few shots on net, including one that barely missed the post, and which in a world where poetic justice ruled would have gone in.
Saturday, we heralded the play of Tomas Tatar and Jonathan Drouin, and we get to do so again tonight. Monsieur Drouin is doing what we need him to do, which is produce offensively and play with a purpose, with his penalty shot goal and powerplay goal. Pan Tatar, with a goal and two assists and all-over-the-ice effort, is wrestling that Max Pacioretty trade to a standstill early on, all by his lonesome. All that remains is for Nick Suzuki to become the second coming of Pierre Mondou or Tomas Plekanec, and for Trevor Timmins to use George McPhee's second-rounder to draft another P.K. Subban, and we'll have won this trade.
Two more games for the boys this week, on Wednesday and Saturday, continuing with the light schedule motif. It'd be great if they kept at it like this, kept playing with effort and pride and putting on a show.
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