Habs Take It Easily, 2016 Winter Classic Review

Well, if you were watching the broadcast of the Winter Classic, you would have heard more than enough times that the conditions for the game were perfect.  That's what you want to see, a great game at a regular NHL pace and that would make for a more competitive game.

Sure enough, the team that welcomed a spark plug to their lineup was far more competitive than the team that had their main spark plug suspended from the game before.  This was somewhat of the theme throughout the game, as the Montreal Canadiens were the better side, right from the drop of the puck, all the way through to the final horn.

The Canadiens carried the play in the 1st, outshooting the hosts by a sizeable margin, but only converting once.  The 2nd was a little bit more even, in terms of zone play, but the Habs still pounded two more goals past Tuukka Rask, who was held out to try in the warm New England air.  The 3rd period saw a bit of a push back from the Bruins, scoring early in the frame, but the Canadiens responded back with one of their own and then another kick at the can to seal it, as the visitors take the game 5-1 in the end.

How did this game stack up in the pool?

Montreal		P	PIM		Boston		P	PIM
Mike Condon	John R.	2	0		Tuukka Rask	Dale C.	0	0
Carey Price	John S.	0	0		Jonas Gustavsson	Stacey C.	0	0
---					---
Max Pacioretty	Dale C.	2	0		Patrice Bergeron	Neil	0	0
Tomas Plekanec	Jeremy	2	2		David Krejci	Dale B.	0	0
Alex Galchenyuk	Dale C.	0	0		Loui Eriksson	Cindy	0	0
Dale Weise	Stacey M.	1	0		Brad Marchand	Brian	0	0
Brendan Gallagher	Derek & Dan	2	0		Ryan Spooner	John S.	1	0
David Desharnais	Benson	1	4		Matt Beleskey	Brenda & Seward	1	0
Tomas Fleischmann	Kristy & Don	0	0		Jimmy Hayes	Jeremy	0	4
Lars Eller	Stacey M.	0	6		Brett Connolly	Mike	0	0
Torrey Mitchell	Derek W.	0	0
---					---
P.K. Subban	Dale B.	1	0		Zdeno Chara	Brenda & Seward	0	0
Andrei Markov	Neil	0	0		Torey Krug	Tony	0	4
Jeff Petry	Stacey M.	1	0		Colin Miller	Eric	0	0
Nathan Beaulieu	Cindy	0	2		Dennis Seidenberg	John S.	0	0

The teams of the day were coming away with 2 points a piece, as no pool team really stood out more than the other in this one.  There was plenty of scoring to go around, scoring above the weekly average in points, which is a nice change from most other outdoor games, which are usually weather-related stalemates.

The returning Brendan Gallagher helped guide the way for the Canadiens on Friday afternoon, being one of four Montreal players with 2 points a piece.  Mike Condon, Max Pacioretty and Tomas Plekanec all had noticeable games and helped flood the table with points.

An unlikely character ended up being the goon of the game, as Lars Eller finished with 6 minutes in penalties, thanks in large part to being Jimmy Hayes' punching bag with only a couple minutes to go in the game, each player receiving double-minors for roughing, which was compounded with a hooking call earlier in the game.

All in all, it wasn't a terrible game to watch, although it was very one-sided for the better part of the game and the Bruins didn't have much passion in this one.  It could have used either a closer result or some more fisticuffs, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles.

In the 2nd period, Montreal forward Dale Weise left the game with an upper-body injury, believed to be a wrist problem, not to return for the 3rd period. As you could see in the table above, he had already made his mark in the game, picking up an assist, but that was it for him.

Weise was one of Stacey M.'s three entries in this game and he has been a pretty good addition to her team since the Waiver Draft, picking up 5 points and 2 PIM since his activation in her lineup.
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