Any optimism from the previous week was crushed by the Habs who lost all three of their games with the last two in particularly bad fashion. Things weren’t much better in Laval; although they managed to get a win, they struggled considerably defensively, allowing 14 goals over their three contests.
Spotlight Players
Nicolas Deslauriers: Now that he has had his feel-good story of being a local player that gets to play for his hometown team, can he be sent back down now? The Habs can’t score and the solution to get more shouldn’t be to call someone up who had as many goals last year as I did. Yes, he can hit and fight and physicality is an element the team also lacks. But when you have three of the top-ten goal scorers in the minor leagues and an NHL team that can’t score, calling up a goon isn’t the right choice.
Jonathan Drouin: He has adapted reasonably well to playing centre but surprisingly, his lack of production has more or less gone under the radar. Three goals in 20 games isn’t good enough from a top line player, regardless of where they’re slotted on that line. He seems to be a bit too pass-happy right now even though his shot totals are right up there. The Habs brought him in to be a go-to player, not to defer on a frequent basis. Be more assertive and attack. If he can do that, good things should happen.
Max Pacioretty: The games of him being quiet are starting to become a little too frequent. As a streaky player, slumps will happen but over the last little while, it has been the good games being more of the exception which isn’t a good thing. He has played alright with Phillip Danault and Andrew Shaw but as the go-to player on that line, being a good complementary piece isn’t what he’s there to do. The Habs drastically need some scoring right about now and as their top scoring threat, it’s time for him to step it up.
StatPack
Skaters:
| # | Player | GP | G | A | +/- | PIMS | SOG | ATOI |
| 6 | Shea Weber | 3 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 10 | 10 | 24:19 |
| 8 | Jordie Benn | 3 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 4 | 2 | 19:18 |
| 11 | Brendan Gallagher | 3 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 6 | 8 | 14:47 |
| 14 | Tomas Plekanec | 3 | 0 | 2 | +1 | 5 | 3 | 17:08 |
| 20 | Nicolas Deslauriers | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 5 | 0 | 8:19 |
| 22 | Karl Alzner | 3 | 0 | 0 | -4 | 2 | 3 | 20:50 |
| 24 | Phillip Danault | 3 | 0 | 0 | -5 | 0 | 10 | 18:49 |
| 25 | Jacob de la Rose | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 2 | 2 | 9:21 |
| 26 | Jeff Petry | 3 | 0 | 0 | -5 | 0 | 3 | 24:32 |
| 27 | Alex Galchenyuk | 3 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 | 9 | 17:38 |
| 41 | Paul Byron | 3 | 2 | 0 | -1 | 5 | 5 | 17:34 |
| 42 | Byron Froese | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 0 | 3 | 9:16 |
| 45 | Joe Morrow | 3 | 1 | 0 | E | 0 | 6 | 14:41 |
| 53 | Victor Mete | 3 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 0 | 2 | 11:26 |
| 54 | Charles Hudon | 3 | 0 | 1 | E | 2 | 8 | 15:01 |
| 65 | Andrew Shaw | 3 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 2 | 4 | 15:46 |
| 67 | Max Pacioretty | 3 | 0 | 0 | -5 | 2 | 13 | 18:22 |
| 88 | Brandon Davidson | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 9:52 |
| 92 | Jonathan Drouin | 3 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 0 | 8 | 17:31 |
Goalies:
| # | Player | Record | GAA | SV% | SO |
| 37 | Antti Niemi | 0-0-0 | 5.45 | .750 | 0 |
| 39 | Charlie Lindgren | 0-2-1 | 4.27 | .857 | 0 |
Team Leaders:
Goals: Brendan Gallagher (8)
Assists: Jonathan Drouin (10)
Points: Drouin/Gallagher/Weber (13)
+/-: Tomas Plekanec (+2)
PIMS: Andrew Shaw (22)
Shots: Max Pacioretty (98)
Laval Report
The week got off to a good start with a mid-week victory over Utica but things went downhill from there as their inability to keep the puck out of their own net continues to be a problem.
News and Notes:
– Goaltender Etienne Marcoux was released from his PTO deal after Zach Fucale was sent back down from Montreal. He didn’t get into any games while with the Rocket.
– Simon Bourque has now been a healthy scratch for six straight games. For a team that claims to be about developing prospects first, this would appear to go against that philosophy.
– Lines from last game:
Forwards:
Carr – Holland – Terry
Boucher – Audette – Baun
Veilleux – McCarron – Gregoire
Broll – Petti – Waked
Defence:
Taormina – Jerabek
Parisi – Lernout
Gelinas – Leblanc
Results:
November 15: Laval 5, Utica 4
November 17: Lehigh Valley 5, Laval 2
November 19: Manitoba 5, Laval 2
StatPack
Skaters:
| # | Player | GP | G | A | +/- | SOG | PIMS |
| 2 | Eric Gelinas | 3 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 8 | 4 |
| 3 | Jakub Jerabek | 3 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 4 | 0 |
| 5 | Tom Parisi | 3 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 8 | 2 |
| 6 | Stefan Leblanc | 3 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 4 | 0 |
| 11 | Daniel Carr | 3 | 3 | 0 | -2 | 5 | 6 |
| 12 | Kyle Baun | 3 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 3 | 2 |
| 14 | Brett Lernout | 3 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 3 | 2 |
| 19 | Antoine Waked | 3 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 5 | 0 |
| 22 | Chris Terry | 3 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 5 | 9 |
| 23 | Niki Petti | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 4 | 0 |
| 24 | Daniel Audette | 3 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 3 | 0 |
| 25 | Michael McCarron | 3 | 0 | 3 | E | 7 | 11 |
| 27 | Peter Holland | 3 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 6 | 2 |
| 28 | Yannick Veilleux | 3 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 3 | 7 |
| 34 | David Broll | 2 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 3 | 12 |
| 37 | Jeremy Gregoire | 3 | 1 | 1 | +2 | 6 | 2 |
| 39 | Jordan Boucher | 3 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 2 | 2 |
| 40 | Matt Taormina | 3 | 0 | 3 | +2 | 4 | 0 |
| 44 | Nicolas Deslauriers | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 1 | 0 |
Goalies:
| # | Player | Record | GAA | SV% | SO |
| 30 | Zach Fucale | 0-1-0 | 3.82 | .872 | 0 |
| 33 | Michael McNiven | 1-1-0 | 5.41 | .862 | 0 |
Team Leaders:
Goals: Daniel Carr (11)
Assists: Matt Taormina (16)
Points: Matt Taormina (18)
+/-: Jakub Jerabek (+10)
PIMS: David Broll (35)
Shots: Daniel Carr (51)
Upcoming Schedule:
November 21: Laval vs Manitoba
November 24: Utica vs Laval
November 25: Utica vs Laval
Final Thought
There was plenty to be upset about from Saturday’s dreadful game against Toronto. However, the Bronx cheer for Antti Niemi may have bothered me the most. What a nice ‘Welcome to Montreal’ moment that was, to get a sarcastic cheer on your first opportunity to touch the puck. What wonders that will do for his already-low confidence. He did absolutely nothing to deserve that. He literally got booed for being there. Was it his fault the team was losing? Was it his fault that Carey Price is out of the lineup? Was it his fault he was acquired in the first place? No, no, and no. So why did he get the wrath of the fans in that moment? There were 18 other skaters that were worthy of derision and yet the first one to hear it was the backup goalie who had been in the game for all of what, two minutes? There were a lot of stupid moments in that game but this one was in a class of its own.