MONTREAL -- A winter in Quebec without the Stanley Cup playoffs is like ... well, it's still pretty much just winter. Temps won't top the teens on this Thursday morning, and there will be more snow covering Rue Ste.-Catherine and the rest of North America's most cosmopolitan urban core.
Without meaningful hockey in Montreal, though, it always feels like something's missing from the sport as a whole.
When the Penguins face off with the Canadiens tonight at the Bell Centre, they'll be able look up to the ceiling and see unparalleled history in the form of 24 championship banners. But not one of those will be dated later than 1993. And the current edition of the Habs is on the verge of extending the once-unthinkable drought to a quarter-century, as they're certain to miss the playoffs for the second time in three years and third in seven.
Could it be curtains for old friend Marc Bergevin?
Yeah, one would think the change around here will be colossal.
Three keys for the Penguins tonight:
1. Do that Dallas thing.
It wasn't so long ago that everyone would complain about the schedule, particularly all the back-to-back games against rested opponents. But that 3-1 throttling of the Stars this past Sunday at PPG Paints Arena, against a fresh opponent while the Penguins had to fly back to Pittsburgh from Toronto the previous night, set what Mike Sullivan then called "a blueprint" for playing proper hockey regardless of circumstances.
In fact, he used the same term again when I brought it up yesterday in New York.
That's it. That's the blueprint or foundation or whatever anyone could call it. Cover all 200 feet, don't fret about fatigue, don't focus excessively on the opponent, and get the job done.
The Canadiens are 26-32-12, but they're 17-10-8 inside the NHL's biggest building before the 21,000-plus who invariably pack the place. But it doesn't matter either way. Get the job done.
2. Remember this name.
Nikita Scherbak's 22 years old, and he's got 16 NHL games and four goals to his resume. But three of those goals, according to observers, have been of the viral variety, including this gem Tuesday night in beating the Stars, 4-2:
Yowza.
He's 6-2, 198 pounds, he comes with first-round pedigree from 2014, and he's faster than he might first appear, as he's slick at varying his speed to beat defenders one-on-one. The Canadiens aren't exactly firewagon material up front, with nine total goals to show for the five losses that preceded Tuesday, and with Brendan Gallagher's 26 goals being nine more than any other forward, but this kid's capable of making anyone look bad at any time.
3. Can't forget this name.
For the second time in as many nights, the Penguins will visit an Original Six city and have the local franchise goaltender sit out. Tuesday, it was Henrik Lundqvist by coach's call, and this time it'll be Carey Price. Montreal's best player at any position -- by an enormous margin -- is out with a concussion. He's resumed light skating but not practicing, and he's been ruled out for tonight.
Which leaves ... Antti Niemi!
Niemi's actually been better than abysmal since the Penguins cut him loose after a month and he was surprisingly picked up by the Panthers. For the Canadiens, he's 5-2-4 with a 2.30 goals-against average and .933 save percentage. The latter is miles above his .872 figure with Florida and .797 with Pittsburgh. And he was manning the net with 34 saves to beat Dallas.
But really ... shoot.
To continue reading, log into your account:
