LNH : Top 50 : Subban 27e, Price exclu de peu

 Source : Tvasport

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De l’avis de 14 entraîneurs et directeurs généraux de la LNH, P.K. Subban est le septième meilleur défenseur du circuit.
C’est ce que révèle le top 50 des meilleurs joueurs de la LNH publié mercredi par le réseau TSN et réalisé grâce à leurs réponses.

Récipiendaire du trophée Norris la saison dernière, le défenseur du Canadien de Montréal vient au 27e rang de ce classement. Zdeno Chara, défenseur des Bruins de Boston, est le mieux coté chez les arrières avec sa sixième place.

Le podium du classement est composé dans l’ordre des attaquants des Penguins de Pittsburgh Sidney Crosby et Evgeni Malkin ainsi que du capitaine des Blackhawks de Chicago, Jonathan Toews.

Carey Price est exclu de justesse du top 50 : le gardien du Canadien vient au 51e rang après calcul des suffrages.

Deux Québécois ont percé ce classement. L’attaquant des Bruins de Boston Patrice Bergeron y fait figure en 16e place, tandis que l'attaquant du Lightning de Tampa Bay Martin St-Louis, meilleur pointeur de la LNH en 2012-2013, est juste devant Subban en 26e position.

Le top 50 :
                                                             
1. Sidney Crosby
2. Evgeni Malkin
3. Jonathan Toews                                                      
4. Steven Stamkos                                       
5. Pavel Datsyuk                                                           
6. Zdeno Chara                                              
7. Alex Ovechkin                                                          
8. Shea Weber                                              
9. Patrick Kane                                              
10. Claude Giroux                                                         
11. Erik Karlsson                                                             
12. Henrik Zetterberg                                  
13. John Tavares                                                            
14. Henrik Lundqvist                                    
15. Ryan Getzlaf                                                            
16. Patrice Bergeron                                    
17. Ryan Suter                                                
18. Anze Kopitar                                                            
19. Drew Doughty                                                         
20. Duncan Keith                                                           
21. Henrik Sedin                                                            
22. Jonathan Quick                                                       
23. Zach Parise                                               
24. Corey Perry                                                                              
25. Daniel Sedin                                                             
26. Martin St. Louis  
27. P.K. Subban
28. Eric Staal
29. Rick Nash
30. Alex Pietrangelo
31. Logan Couture
32. Marian Hossa
33. Kris Letang
34. James Neal
35. Joe Thornton
36. Matt Duchene
37. Jamie Benn
38. Jason Spezza
39. Taylor Hall
40. Nicklas Backstrom
41. Pekka Rinne
42. Milan Lucic
43. Phil Kessel
44. Oliver Ekman-Larsson
45. Sergei Bobrovsky
46. David Krejci
47. Patrick Sharp
48. Dustin Brown
49. Thomas Vanek
50. Mikko Koivu
51. Carey Price

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Senators pound Canadiens 6-1, take 2-1 series lead

Source : Yahoo.com

After getting his first NHL hat trick, Jean-Gabriel Pageau was left with a bloody smile after the Senators' Game 3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday night.

The 20-year-old rookie lost a tooth in a fight-filled, emotional 6-1 win.

The teams combined for 236 penalty minutes and nine players were given a game misconduct.

The Senators have a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series and Game 4 is Tuesday night in Ottawa.
Pageau, with his first career playoff goal, gave the Senators a 2-1 lead early in the second as he slipped between defensemen P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov to beat Carey Price over the shoulder.
Pageau is not likely to forget the goal as he was hit in the mouth by Subban on the goal and lost a tooth. Players could be seen looking for the tooth on the ensuing goal celebration.

''I might put it under my pillow and see what happens,'' Pageau kidded.
The crowd at Scotiabank Place chanted Pageau's name and the Ottawa native says he's hopeful to give them the opportunity to do it again.

''It was good motivation and forced me to push myself to keep going,'' Pageau said. ''They liked my game and I didn't want to disappoint them after that.''

The third period started with the Senators leading 2-1.

But after Pageau's second goal of the game and a Kyle Turris score made it 4-1, emotions overflowed and a line brawl broke out at center ice.

Turris' goal, his first of the series, at 7:00 put the game out of reach. On the ensuing faceoff, five different fights broke out.

''I thought we handled ourselves well under the circumstances and the duress we were put under and we defended ourselves,'' Ottawa coach Paul MacLean said.

The Senators ended up with the man advantage after the brawl and Jakob Silfverberg scored on the power play as he beat Price up high to make it 5-1 only 8 seconds after Turris' goal.

More penalties were taken, and at one point, Ottawa was left with just five players on the bench, while Montreal had six.

Ottawa's veteran forward Daniel Alfredsson finished the game playing defense.

After the game, Montreal coach Michel Therien took exception with MacLean calling a timeout with 17 seconds remaining.

In Therien's opinion MacLean was trying to embarrass and humiliate the Canadiens.

''As far as I'm concerned that was classless,'' Therien said.

With so few players on his bench and things already out of hand, MacLean felt he had no other option than to call a timeout to get his message to his players.

''I didn't want anyone to get hurt, it was already getting dumb enough as it was,'' MacLean said. ''I have two important players on my team and I still have games to play. We're not giving them a freebie. There's already enough of that.''

MacLean went on to say that he was protecting his players and he would do it again.

This is the second time Therien has taken issue with MacLean.

''I don't like when a coach is making comments,'' Therien said. ''I don't like a coach when trying to humiliate our team. I don't like that.''

MacLean wasn't impressed by the actions of the Canadiens and is hopeful the league will review certain aspects of the game, including Josh Gorges shooting the puck at Turris at the end of the game.
Pageau completed the hat trick, becoming just the second player in Senators history to get a hat trick in the playoffs with less than two minutes remaining. Alfredsson also did it in 1998.

Less than a month ago, Pageau was playing in the AHL. But his strong play has earned him the confidence of MacLean.

''It was a great night for the kid,'' MacLean said. ''He's come in and played very, very well for us. We're really pleased for him, he's been a good player.''

''He played a great game,'' Alfredsson said. ''He had some great shots, picked the corners and it was fun for him.''

Alfredsson scored Ottawa's opening goal and Craig Anderson stopped 33 shots.
Price faced 30 shots. Rene Bourque scored for the Canadiens at 14:34 of the first.
Captain Brian Gionta and Max Pacioretty, who both missed Game 2, were back in the lineup for the Canadiens.

The Canadiens had a couple of great chances to tie the game in the second, but came up short.

Alex Galchenyuk was stopped by Anderson as he came racing in alone. And then with Montreal on the power play, Tomas Plekanec rang a shot off the crossbar.

The Canadiens weren't pleased with their overall effort and know they need a better game plan looking ahead to Game 4 on Tuesday.

''Our problem was we tried to make plays that weren't there,'' Gorges said. ''We weren't in our structure, we weren't in our system and when we're not we're chaotic.

''We knew they were going to come hard, we just didn't play a good fundamental game.''
A physical first period ended with the teams tied 1-1.

The Senators made the most of a 28-second two-man advantage as Alfredsson picked up his rebound at his feet and quickly rifled it past the right of Price. It was the Senators' first power-play goal of the series.

Montreal tied the game with a power-play goal as Plekanec found Bourque to create a 2-on-1 break.
Bourque's shot changed speed and seemed to throw off Anderson and he was unable to get over in time and he could only watch as the puck trickle across the goal line.

Notes: The Senators are without C Jason Spezza (back, indefinitely). D Eric Gryba served the second and final game of his suspension for his hit on Lars Eller in Game 1. Guillaume Latendresse and Andre Benoit were healthy scratches for the Senators in favor of Cory Conacher and Patrick Wiercioch. With Pacioretty and Gionta back in the lineup, Jeff Halpern and Gabriel Dumont were scratched for the Canadiens.

Habs vs Sens : Canadiens top Senators 3-1; series tied

Source : Yahoo.com 

After watching Lars Eller taken off the ice on a stretcher the previous night, the Montreal Canadiens, especially goaltender Carey Price, found some extra motivation against the Ottawa Senators.

Price came through with a 29-save performance as the Canadiens pulled out a hard-hitting but mostly clean 3-1 victory Friday night. The win left their best-of-seven series tied at 1-1 heading into Game 3 on Sunday in Ottawa.

"It's the playoffs. You can't dwell on the last game," said Price, who took heat for two goals between his pads in a 4-2 loss to Ottawa in the series opener. "You've got to get refocused and get ready for the next one."

Fourth-liner Ryan White, rookie Brendan Gallagher and veteran Michael Ryder scored in the middle period and the Canadiens held on. The somewhat flat Senators were let down by a power play that went 0 for 4.

"We saw our teammate, our friend, get hurt," said Gallagher. "You have to understand how emotional that is for us."

Milan Michalek scored for Ottawa.

Missing not only Eller but captain Brian Gionta and big winger Max Pacioretty, both of whom emerged from Game 1 with upper-body injuries, the Canadiens stuck to basics. They outshot Ottawa 34-30 and outhit the Senators 37-26.

There was anticipation of rough play after Eric Gryba's hit that left Eller bleeding profusely on the ice and saw him spend a night in hospital with a concussion. Gryba was suspended for two games by the NHL on Friday.

Passions were further inflamed Friday morning as Montreal coach Michel Therrien criticized Ottawa counterpart Paul MacLean for what he felt were disrespectful comments. MacLean had suggested Eller should have kept his head up and that defenseman Raphael Diaz had left him open to a hit with a "suicide" pass.

But the teams stuck to hockey at night.

"When I read his comments this morning, I was pretty upset," said Therrien.
MacLean just stared into space without answering when asked about the two-game suspension. But he was clear on what caused his team to lose the game.

"They played harder than we did for most of the game," MacLean said. "We turned over pucks that ended up in our net.

"We need a lot of rest and on Sunday, we need to come out and play. We got a split here and now we have home-ice advantage. Now we have to respond to that."

The spotlight was on Price, who was porous down the stretch in the regular season and was thoroughly outplayed in Game 1 by Craig Anderson. He took more criticism for failing to speak to the media after the game.

But he was solid only 24 hours later, and got help from teammates who blocked 34 shots, including five each by Josh Gorges and P.K. Subban.

"The guys were letting me see the puck," said Price. "They did an excellent job of getting to the trash I left out. We're going to need the same type of effort in Game 3."

Subban was not surprised.

"When he wants to shut the door, he shuts it and he locks it," the defenseman said.

The win cost Price the bottom of his two front teeth thanks to a collision in the crease with teammate Jarred Tinordi. He calmly skated to the team bench to hand over the broken choppers.

Curiously, Anderson had lost a tooth from being hit in the mask by Rene Bourque's shot while winning Game 1.

Montreal broke through with two quick goals early in the second period.

White skated hard into the Ottawa zone and intercepted Erik Karlsson's weak backhand pass out of the air at 3:20.

Only 53 seconds later, Alex Galchenyuk took the rebound of Francis Bouillon's shot and slipped it across to Gallagher for the rookie's second goal of the series.

Ottawa had an extra man on for a delayed penalty call when Michalek tipped in Chris Phillips' shot.
A sliding pad save by Price during an Ottawa power play was big, as Montreal killed it off and then scored. Bourque slid the puck through a scramble to Ryder for a shot into an open side.

Notes: Gryba served the first of the two-game suspension and was replaced by Andre Benoit. Tough guy Matt Kassian replaced Cory Conacher and started the game on a rugged line with Chris Neil and Zack Smith. . . . With Eller as well as Pacioretty and Gionta out, Jeff Halpern, Colby Armstrong and Gabriel Dumont were suited up for Montreal.. . The Canadiens were 7-1-1 in the second game of back-to-back contests this season.

Ryan White started a three-goal second period and goalie Carey Price was back in top form with 29 saves and the Montreal Canadiens downed the Ottawa Senators 3-1 to even their playoff series on Friday.

The best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal is tied 1-1 heading into Game 3 on Sunday in Ottawa.

Brendan Gallagher and Michael Ryder also scored for Montreal. Milan Michalek scored for Ottawa, which was let down by a power play that went 0-for-4.

There was anticipation of rough play after Eric Gryba's hit that saw Montreal's Lars Eller carried off the Bell Centre ice on a stretcher with a concussion and some missing teeth in Ottawa's 4-2 win in the series opener on Thursday night. Eller spent the night in hospital and was released Friday morning.
Gryba served the first of a two-game suspension for his Game 1 hit on Eller and was replaced by Andre Benoit.

Price was criticized for two goals that went between his pads in the opener, but he was sharp throughout Game 2 as Montreal outshot the Senators 34-30 and found ways to get pucks past Craig Anderson, who was coming off a 48-save effort in the opener.

Montreal got two quick goals early in the second period.

White skated hard into the Ottawa zone and was there to bat Erik Karlsson's backhand pass out of the air and between Anderson's pads at 3:20.

Just 53 seconds later, Alex Galchenyuk took the rebound of a Francis Bouillon shot and slipped it across to Gallagher for the rookie's second goal of the series.

Ottawa had an extra man on for a delayed penalty call when Michalek scored at 8:16.

A sliding pad save by Price during an Ottawa power play proved to be big, as Montreal killed it off and then scored as Rene Bourque slid the puck through a scramble to Ryder for a shot into an open side at 18:57.

Price went to the bench after apparently losing a tooth in a collision in front of his net. In Game 1, Anderson lost a tooth when hit in the mask by a Bourque shot.

Notes: Matt Kassian replaced Cory Conacher and started the game on a rugged line with Chris Neil and Zach Smith for Ottawa. ... With Eller as well as Max Pacioretty and Brian Gionta (upper body injuries) out, Jeff Halpern, Colby Armstrong and Gabriel Dumont suited up for Montreal. ... The Canadiens were 7-1-1 in the second game of back-to-backs this season.