A look at Nov. 13-19

Recap

The Canadiens had a shaky start to the week in a nailbiter at the Bell Centre Tuesday night vs. the Panthers. After going up 3-0 with goals from Richard Zednik and Steve Bégin in the first and Saku Koivu in the second, the Habs relented in the third and gave up what should have been an indestructible lead. But, with 4 seconds left in overtime, Saku Koivu, on a long pass from Sheldon Souray, scored a goal that would have brought a 1964 Pinto back to the life and the Cardiac Canadiens prevailed again.

On Friday, the Habs weren't much better and ended up on the losing side of a 4-3 decision against the Devils in New Jersey. Montreal allowed the Devils to go up 2-0 in the first period, then came back hard in the second and scored 3 goals, only to have their lead taken away late in the period. Then, New Jersey scored in the middle of the third period, and there was no turning back from there.

Saturday, the Canadiens played the awful Washington Capitals at the Bell Centre and were quite awful themselves. It took the Capitals only 23 seconds to score against their hosts, and after 9:20 of play, Washington, second-last in the East, was leading first-place Montreal, 3-0. Yann Danis, who started the game, let in a weak fourth goal in the second period and was replaced by José Theodore shortly thereafter. Michael Ryder managed to put one past Olaf Kolzig in the second with his ninth score of the season, but Kolzig, peppered with 44 Canadiens shots, didn't let anything else get past him and the Caps won 5-1. Washington didn't even need any help from rookie star Alexander Ovechkin, who was held pointless in the game.

Montreal really has to start finding a way to play a consistent and productive 60 minutes, rather than relying on bursts of good play. They're not going to win late-season games the way they are right now, and they're certainly not going to win playoff games like this. One-goal games might be exciting, but they're not a sign of a dominating team, no matter how many of those games go in your favour. In addition, the Habs can't rely on the talent - however immense it may be - of Alex Kovalev for their success. The Habs' top right winger is out until December recovering from knee surgery, and his absence has correlated with sub-par play from his team. While it is important to have a player of Kovalev's caliber, the Canadiens won't do themselves any good in the playoffs in depending on him for a win in the event he gets injured.

Tidbits:

• The Canadiens might want to have a look at ousted Blue Jackets centre Todd Marchant (3 G, 6 A, -1, 20 PIM), who became the odd man out in Columbus when Sergei Fedorov was brought in. Marchant is 32 and making $2.47 million this season, but if the Jackets, who need to shed some salary, would be interested in acquiring Pierre Dagenais (27 years old, $550,000, 1 G, 2 A, -5, 16 PIM), Bob Gainey should seriously take a look at the deal. Marchant would add some depth to the centre position for the Habs, and would give the club the opportunity to finally rid themselves of Dagenais, who has been unproductive and a flat-out waste of a roster spot. He seemed sluggish and unable to capitalize on the many scoring chances he had in the Washington game. The only knock against Marchant asides from his age is that his contract runs for three years.
  
• The Minnesota Wild held a tribute this week for late former player Sergei Zholtok in a game against the Nashville Predators. Zholtok, a former Canadien, died tragically during the lockout of heart failure while playing hockey in Latvia. The Wild brought in members of Zholtok's family, including his son, and presented them with a framed jersey of his. Zholtok had a fair bit of success in the NHL, having scored 26 goals one season with the Habs, and was dedicated to his native Latvia's national hockey team. The Wild's tribute video can be seen here.
  
• Kerry Fraser strikes again: Fraser, who called the Canadiens' 3-2 shootout loss to the Penguins back on November 10, was back torturing the Canadiens in their 4-3 loss to New Jersey. Someone get this guy out of the NHL!
  
• Popularity contest: The Canadiens, as per usual, are the top team in attendance this season. They have sold out every home game so far this year in the NHL's biggest building (capacity 21,273). What's probably more impressive, though, is that the Canadiens are a draw away from home as well. As of Sunday, the Habs were 5th in the NHL in road attendance, behind only Philadelphia, Vancouver, Detroit, and Ottawa, and had been hovering around #3 until they played the Devils, who don't get many people to come to any of their games. I wonder how long this trend will continue if the Habs keep letting in soft goals and giving teams easy wins.

Two Apples and a Rotten Pear:

Apple 1: Saku Koivu, for his continued dedication to the team. The Habs' leading scorer with 25 points, he has been the heart and soul of the Canadiens for most of the 10 years he's been with the club.
Apple 2: Tomas Plekanec. Playing with Koivu and Richard Zednik mostly on the power play, rookie Plekanec scored a goal and two assists this week.

Rotten Pear: José Theodore and Yann Danis. The Habs' goaltending tandem has to take their game to a higher level, one in which they don't let in soft goals that make it too close for their team's comfort.

Coming Up:

It's another 3-game week for the Canadiens. Tuesday, the Habs play Atlanta at home (7:30 PM); Friday, they're in Buffalo to play the Sabres (8 PM); Saturday, the team travels to Toronto to take on the Leafs at the ACC (7 PM).