Lars Eller

Habs This Week: Flip Flop

March 26, 2012

Mother Nature had her way with just about everyone this past week, amping up the temperatures to trick everyone into thinking they were in mid-playoff form. Unfortunately, this was the week that the Canadiens discovered (for real) that there is no chance of that for them this year.

Shut Out: Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

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Cody Hodgson scored his first goal as a Buffalo Sabre and added another in the third period to procure the Sabres a win, Tuesday, against the Canadiens.

The Sabres once were where the Canadiens are, and are now where they usually tend to be at this time of year, fighting for a playo...

The Habs' Biggest Need Is At Their Deepest Position

March 20, 2012

George Prax

1 Comment

If you've noticed that the Montreal Canadiens coverage here at The Checking Line has been sort of lacking these last few weeks, first of all, we apologize. But it really shouldn't be that surprising. It's kind of hard to write for a team when they're down on their luck, a team that finds themselves at the bottom of the standings with no hope of seeing higher ground. But it's even worse when it happens to a team that really shouldn't be as bad as their record indicates. And despite what you might see on the ice, in the box scores after the game and what you hear the pundits spewing, the Montreal Canadiens are not as bad as their record shows, even at 28-...

Habs This Week: Positivity Reigns Despite...Y'Know

March 13, 2012

czechtacular

1 Comment

Despite being dead last in the Eastern Conference and going 3-6-1 in their last 10, the Montreal Canadiens just completed a roadtrip that saw them earn 5 out of a possible 8 points. One could even say they've opened up and started to (dare I say it?) have fun with one month left to go in the regular season, now that less pressure is weighed on their shoulders.

Near-Comeback: Tuesday, March 6th, 2012

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The Calgary Flames outscored the Canadiens 4-2 through the first two periods, and Curtis Glencross added an unassisted marker to start the third, but the momentum switched over quickly as Lars Eller and Max Pacioretty each...

Will the changes be worth waiting for?

February 29, 2012

yves_on_habs

1 Comment

So it's been quite a year right?

Trades, injuries, frustration.... it's had it all. This season has been up and down on several levels.

Whether you are completely disappointed with the season and/or missing the playoffs or if you count yourself among those who are happy to be in rebuilding mode (once again), the reality is here. It's time to change and the debate is over.

At trade deadline day and for the couple of weeks leading up to it, the Canadiens were in "seller" mode. The first moves towards a busy off season.

One of the "big" topics of discussion about the Habs for the last couple of years has been their size. And histo...

Much Ado About Scott Gomez

February 10, 2012

George Prax

0 Comments

We probably don't need to tell you that it took Montreal Canadiens forward Scott Gomez a year and three days -- or 56 games -- to score the goal he did on Thursday night against the New York Islanders. It has been the subject of many jokes, including bars offering free shots for when he scores, countdown (or up) sites, and even Facebook events celebrating last weekend's no-goal-a-Gomez-iversary.

Here's the magical moment from Thursday's game:

It may seem a little anti-climatic that Gomez would finally get the monkey off his back and score a goal three days after the anniversary while the game was already 2-0 in favor of the Canadiens, ...

Canadiens Win In Shootout

February 7, 2012

David Collins

0 Comments

Montreal Canadiens 3 - 2 Pittsburgh Penguins (SO)

The Pittsburgh Penguins were visiting Montreal on Tuesday night for a match-up with the Montreal Canadiens. While it took a while for the scoring to begin, the game was a tight battle all the way through. With the two teams battling right past overtime into a shootout, it really could have gone either way. However, on this night is was the lowly Canadiens who got the extra point after Tomas Plekanec netted the winner in the shootout.

The scoring opened midway through ...

Montreal's Great Dane

January 8, 2012

David Collins

3 Comments

Expectations have been sky high for Lars Eller ever since he came to Montreal along with Ian Schultz in return for netminder Jaroslav Halak. It's hard to say that those expectations are unreasonable, given the remarkable playoff performance of Halak during the 2010 NHL Playoffs, which saw the Canadiens go on an incredible run to the Eastern Conference Finals after knocking off the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins. That being said, up until this point, Lars Eller has shown great strides in his development, and is quickly making people forget about the doubts they had when the trade was first announced.

Canadiens Hold Off Islanders, Win 5-3

December 13, 2011

David Collins

0 Comments

The New York Islanders were in town on Tuesday night, looking to steal two points from the Habs on home-ice. It didn't work out that way, however, and the Canadiens were able to win their second game in a row with help from a few unexpected scorers.

The first period featured a lot of scoring, for a Canadiens game anyway. Things didn't start off all that well as Lars Eller took an interference penalty just 40 seconds in, which put the Habs stellar penalty kill to work right off the bat. They managed to kill the penalty fairly easily, without the Islanders providing much of a threat. The first five minutes di...

Habs Look to String Wins Together, Get One in Carolina

November 23, 2011

czechtacular

2 Comments

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Coming into tonight’s head-to-head with the Hurricanes, the Montreal Canadiens hadn’t put two of anything together since the Western road trip that saw them beat the Coyotes and Predators two weeks ago. And it stopped there.

In the first period of this game, a significant portion of Habs’ fans had their eyes on the Bruins/Sabres rematch, and it was difficult to blame them. Jiri Tlusty opened the scoring within the first minute of the game and Anthony Stewart made it 2-0 for the Hurricanes at the 6-minute mark. For the remainder of the opening frame, the Can...

Islanders End Slide, Defeat Canadiens

November 18, 2011

Brian Bock

3 Comments

The Islanders scored four goals in the second period and held off some late game pressure and defeated the Montreal Canadiens by a score of 4-3. Rick DiPietro got the win in relief of Evgeni Nabokov, who left the ice just 7:55 into the first period due to an apparent lower body injury. Nabokov is said to have a hamstring issue, and will be evaluated today.

The first shot against DiPietro came on a power play, and as has been the Islanders luck so far this season, the shot beat him. However, in a new turn of events for the Islanders and their luck, this time the post was there to back DiPietro up, and the Islanders killed off the power play unscathed.

PA...