Montreal Canadiens Three Stars vs Philadelphia Flyers
The Montreal Canadiens won their fourth straight by beating the Philadelphia Flyers 3-1 last night. We take a moment to acknowledge their three top performers from the victory.
The Montreal Canadiens extended their winning streak to four games with a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. It was the sixth game of the year, and the team is yet to lose in regulation. A 5-0-1 record has them on top of the standings in the early going.
A hot start wasn’t enough to keep them from a terrible second half last season. After winning nine straight to start the year, and being at the top of the standings in late November, Montreal crashed to 22nd by the end of the season.
Still, a hot start is a great sign for this team, though we know from a year ago it guarantees nothing. The Habs took down the Flyers on goals from Shea Weber, Brendan Gallagher and Alex Radulov. Carey Price earned his third straight win to start the year.
After missing three games with the flu, Price has looked like his old self. By his old self, I of course mean the greatest player on the face of the earth. Price won almost every award in the league in the 2014-15 season, but missed most of last season with injury.
With him in the lineup, the Canadiens are one of the best teams in the league. With him out of the lineup, they were the worst team in the league. It is pretty much that simple.
It’s not hard to find three players who played well when the team comes away with a 3-1 victory. The hardest part is narrowing it down to just three, but let’s give it a shot anyway.
Montreal Canadiens Star Number Three: Carey Price
Price has won countless games on his own for the Montreal Canadiens in his career. Last night was not one of them. However, the Habs goaltender was still great in the 3-1 victory.
The 2015 Hart Trophy winner was solid, making 30 saves on 31 shots last night. The one blemish was a masterful tip by Jakub Voracek on a Claude Giroux point shot. The puck appeared to be heading chest high towards the goal, but was quickly deflected by the former Halifax Moosehead and dipped into the net by Price’s skates.
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Though Price did not have to be outstanding, he made the saves he needed to make to keep the Canadiens in a low scoring affair. The game remained scoreless into the second period, and was tied at one until the last seven minutes of the third period.
Again, though Price was not bombarded with shots, there was no margin for error in such a close game.
Price made one save that really stood out to me in the second period. A quick pass came to Flyers center Nic Cousins in the slot from the corner. He quickly fired a shot on goal. It was the type of bang-bang play that makes a fan nervous, because it takes an excellent read and cat-like reflexes to get in position to make the save.
Not only did Price get into position, he was there waiting for the shot before Cousins was able to get it away. It made a difficult save look so ordinary, that it wouldn’t even make a highlight reel. However, most other goaltenders would be scrambling to get across in time to try and get a piece of the save.
It was just one subtle example of Price’s brilliance. He also made an excellent toe save on Voracek, after the winger danced through Andrei Markov in the second period. It kept the Canadiens ahead by one at the time, but the Flyers would ultimately tie it shortly after.
With the game on the line in the last two minutes, Price made one last great save on a Shane Gostisbehere point shot. He appeared to be out of position but reacted quickly on a shot he could not get a good read on. Price kicked the puck aside seconds before Radulov iced the contest.
Montreal Canadiens Star Number Two: Shea Weber
Weber stepped into an impossible role as the “guy we got for Subban.” He has stepped in seamlessly and has been everything and more than the Canadiens could have hoped for when he arrived in Montreal.
Weber led the Canadiens in ice time with 26:07, led in PP ice time with 4:17 and led in SH ice time with 1:22. He is the unquestioned leader of the defence corps, playing a shut down role while also putting up an impressive number of points as well.
Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports
The hulking defender played that role excellently last night. He paired up with Alexei Emelin and faced the Flyers top line of Giroux, Voracek and Brayden Schenn. The physical Habs duo was able to shut down the Flyers top line, with Voracek connecting for their lone goal while Weber was not on the ice.
Weber opened the scoring in the second period when he literally put a puck through Schenn’s stick and into the back of the net. He added an assist on the game’s winning goal when he set up a Radulov blast on the power play. Gallagher tipped in the goal to give the Habs a lead with less than seven minutes to play.
It was an excellent performance in what is becoming an ordinary occurrence for the Habs top blue liner. Weber led the way in all situations, kept the opponents from scoring while putting up a pair of points himself.
Montreal Canadiens Star Number One: Alex Radulov
Radulov has come almost nothing like advertised and the Canadiens are benefiting. The Russian winger was dubbed a one dimensional offensive player who lacked effort and hustle and was a questionable teammate.
Thus far, he has shown a solid ability to play defensively, has not been outworked on any shift whether on the back check or in the offensive zone. Oh yeah, and he can pass like anyone we have seen on the Habs in years.
Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
He was compared by some to Alex Semin and those who did so clearly had no idea what they were talking about. Radulov is more like Alex Kovalev at his best than any other recent Montreal Canadiens player.
He set up Weber for his blast of a goal. He then teed up a shot from the point where he is playing on the power play now. His shot was tipped in by Gallagher, giving Radulov his second assist on the night. He was then out there with a minute left defending a one goal lead (we were told he couldn’t do this) and scored an empty net goal to seal the win for Montreal.
Radulov has been playing exceptionally well each night for Montreal. He was finally rewarded for that effort tonight with a three point game. Radulov now has five points in six games with the Canadiens, and looks like perhaps their most dangerous offensive weapon.
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