Ryan Miller stopped 38 of the 39 shots the Habs sent his way, with the end result being a 2-1 Sabres win at the Bell Centre, and I suppose if the boys are going to lose, they might as well do it before they play the Penguins on Tuesday and Bruins on Wednesday.
I’m sure P.K. Subban would just as soon not see the Buffalo Sabres again this year, although he’ll have to once more, on April 11th. Again tonight he was in the box when the Sabres scored an important goal, this time after the puck had found its way over the glass for a delay of game penalty and which was the goal that broke the ice after a scoreless first frame.
P.K. was also sitting in the sin bin when the Sabres won it last Tuesday, and I think the best thing our guy can do now is offer to wash Michel Therrien’s car and maybe send Madam Therrien a nice flower arrangement.
But please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not blaming P.K. for anything. He’s The Man. He having a terrific season. I’m just saying that going for a few brownie points can often be a good thing.
P.K. reminds me of me. We both have a knack for getting into trouble without even trying. Oh, the stories I could tell about the times I’d sneak into the drive-in theater.
On Vanek’s goal, which came with just 38 seconds left in the second frame, Brendan Gallagher broke his stick outside the blueline which opened things up for the dangerous forward. Just one of those things. Buffalo took advantage of a couple of breaks, one literally, and Montreal – not so much.
All in all, the sky isn’t falling, and I know you might be getting sick of hearing this from me, but we really need our injured guys back. Imagine the difference with Brandon Prust shaking things up, the revitalized Rene Bourque being the power forward he’s proven he can be, and Raphael Diaz doing the job in a big way from the back end, especially in power play situations. But we’ve been an absolutely fine team through this adversity, and it’s positive vibrations all round, even with a low-scoring loss to dwell on.
Random Notes:
Montreal’s lone marker came from Michael Ryder when he converted an Andrei Markov shot, and if you’re interested in petty comparisons, Ryder has four goals and seven assists in 11 games with the Habs, while his trade counterpart Erik Cole in Dallas has managed just two goals and zero assists in ten games. Most everyone in hockey universe agreed at the time it went down that Montreal won this trade, and it’s appearing that everyone was right.
Canadiens outshot Buffalo 39-18.
Toronto beat the Bruins 3-2 tonight and are just a hair from being in a position to play Montreal in the opening round if the season ended now. I’m torn about this. I’d hate to see the Leafs make the playoffs, but I’d love to see the Habs kick their ass. It’s a real dilemma.
Yannick Weber and Ryan White are presently on the shelf too, and I feel bad for not including them with Bourque, Prust, and Diaz as guys we need back soon. Yes, we need everyone healthy. And I’m sure even Weber and White would freely admit that the above-mentioned trio are the most important in the scheme of things.
