CFN – Montreal is 3-1 in this early 2013 NHL season; but les boys are showing some pluck & grit in the face of adversity. PK Subban is still pouting, Max Pacioretty is gone for a bit; but the team is pulling together. Is it perfect? Nope. Is it time to think about Cups or even the Play offs? Nope. But the omens are good and there are some interesting signs of hope.
The Habs came back and defeated the very impressive NJ Devils 4-3 in OT last night. Goal scorers were Ryan White, Brandon Prust, a very impressive Andrei Markov and rookie Brendan Gallagher’s first NHL goal.
Montreal needs to get over 30 shots on goal per night to be effective, especially at home and Sunday they out shot the Devils 32-25 with Captain Brian Gionta leading the way with 7. Erik Cole is having his normal early season slump,but is getting shots on net. Rene Bourque had 3 shots with over 22 minutes of play and notched an assist. He needs to up his game a bit to keep earning those minutes.
Again, the longer this team plays without PK Subban the less likely he is to return as this dressing room seems to be gelling without him. The Habs also need to up the ante on their face off work as they were out gunned Sunday by the Devils.
Winnipeg impressed beating the Islanders 5-4 in OT. All the guys with long names that are a pain to spell scored like Alexei Ponikarovsky, Dustin Byfuglien, Alexander Burmistrov. Bryan Little and Evander Kane notched goals for the Jets as well who are 3-1-1 for the season.
Ottawa lost to the Penguins 2-1, Alex Ovechkin finally got his first goal as the Caps capped Buffalo 3-2, Tampa killed Philadelphia 5-1, Chicago doubled Detroit 2-1; St. Louis overcame Minnesota 5-4; and San Jose smothered the Canucks 4-1. Scott Gomez notched no points in 15 minutes of play for the Sharks.
Looking at the standings this morning there are some interesting stories brewing in this shortened season.
In the East it’s Tampa Bay and New Jersey running at the top of the conference. Tampa is at the top thanks to their league leading (tied with the Blues) 24 goals. Things can change but the Flyers look to be in real trouble in the East with their 2-4 start with 13 goals scored and 18 given up.
In the West it’s Chicago as the Hawks are 22-13 in the goals for and against category and undefeated at 6-0. San Jose is now 5-0 with an even more impressive 23-8 ratio.
LA is suffering a Cup hangover while Calgary and Phoenix just might be preparing for a fire sale as 10% of the season has clicked by; in particular Mike Cammalleri has been a total disappointment for the Flames with only 3 shots and zero hits. Either he’s playing hurt or has lost his edge.
So Hockey fans, how is your fave team doing at the 10% point of the season? You can post your comments below.
