Call of the Wilde: Montreal Canadiens double the New York Rangers

The Montreal Canadiens have two vital games in two nights this weekend. First, a rare Friday night game for the Habs as they play at Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers who, heading into their Habs tilt, had allowed ten goals in their last two games. Saturday night, perhaps the most important game of the season so far as the Habs host the Pittsburgh Penguins who they need to beat for a playoff spot this season. Carey Price is likely to play back-to-back nights because the games are so important.

READ MORE: Montreal Canadiens’ Carey Price embraces young boy who lost mother

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• Carey Price had to keep the Habs in the game early as the Rangers were far and away the better team. The quality of shot was high too, but Price was up to the challenge again. Price had a rough start to the year, but has he ever been outstanding as the Habs try to drive their way to the playoffs. He’s got a higher than 950 save percentage in 2019. Overall, Price is inching his way into the top ten in league save percentage. Price is now 918 on the season. Price is 11th in the league in goals-against average at 2.50. The only issue for Montreal is he is so superior to his second Antti Niemi that he may have to play the rest of the season to get the Habs into the playoffs. The Pens are next and considering it is a vital four-point game, don’t expect the Habs to rotate away from Price despite the fact it is back-to-back nights.

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• It’s one of the best nights of the season for the fourth line: Dale Weise, Artturi Lehkonen, and Nate Thompson had strong moments around the net and held their own around Carey Price to have a good night. Lehkonen is perfect for the fourth line because you are simply looking for intelligent two-way play from your fourth liners. When the Habs are upper echelon in the league, this is where you will find Lehkonen on the Habs because he just isn’t contributing enough offensively to be on the top three lines, unless that changes, but it sure doesn’t look like it will. Until Ryan Poehling gets comfortable in the offensive zone at the NHL level, it’s easy to see the Saint Cloud State star start his career next season on the fourth line with Lehkonen. The Habs are going to be an extremely good hockey team up front very soon. This season, they can’t get any offence from their fourth line, but right now, Claude Julien is just looking for steady. Thompson has been outstanding at face-offs as well and he adds a better control element in the middle of the ice than Michael Chaput ever could. Weise also seems to be in better shape with the increased ice time than he was when he first arrived in Montreal.

WATCH BELOW: Can the Habs keep their momentum going into their big weekend?

4:16 Call of the Wilde: Big weekend for the Habs

• Fresh off Max Domi‘s five-point night, and Jonathan Drouin‘s four-point night, the pair were flying in this one again starting in the second period. Domi is a handful on the rush, and Drouin is starting to feed off that letting the centreman take it into the zone, then dart for a spot to receive a high-quality pass. Domi also had an opportunity to play with Tomas Tatar during a crossover of lines, and Domi fed him beautifully for a breakaway that was not converted. Domi’s work-rate and care-rate are extremely high. He’s got a motor Domi. It’s much like Gallagher’s engine.

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• It’s easy to assume that when Brendan Gallagher counted his career best of 31 goals last season that most thought that would be his career high. Barring an injury, Gallagher is going to surpass that number easily. Gallagher helped a dead Habs team finally wake-up redirecting a deft pass from Tatar up high for the 1-1 goal. Gallagher now has 28 goals on the season. He is on pace for 35 goals this season. Not sure there were too many who saw this type of total even remotely possible for Gallagher even two years ago. Then again, he was drafted in the fifth round, when he was a teenager practically no one predicted even an NHL game for Gallagher in his life; never mind back-to-back 30 goal seasons.

WATCH BELOW: Call of the Wilde — Push for the Playoffs

4:38 Call of the Wilde: Push for the Playoffs

• It took a while for Joel Armia to get going with the Habs, but now that he has, he is becoming an important part of the team. Let’s see if he’s ready to be demoted to the fourth line one day because that is where he is destined when the young guns with high offensive talent arrive on the scene. Armia is another perfect fourth-line player. He doesn’t have a ton of finish around the net despite what you saw in this one, but he does play a strong 200-foot game. He wins a lot of puck battles, and he takes care of his own end. Armia had the 2-1 goal for the Habs late in the second period for his eighth of the season as he took advantage of a bad bounce off the boards that left everyone surprised but Armia. In the third period, Armia protected the puck perfectly on an odd-man rush, then pocketed it home for his second of the night and nine on the season for a 3-1 lead. He finished the hat trick with an empty netter. Armia was a first-round draft choice as an offensive star as a young player. He won’t ever get to that zenith, but he can be a very useful player. Armia, Lehkonen, and Poehling could very well be the fourth line of the Habs next season. That would be one heck of a responsible and strong fourth line. Perhaps the strongest fourth line in the NHL. When everyone is healthy, they will be the final three forwards with the thought that Nick Suzuki would get a top-nine role considering his style of game and finish around the net. Poehling would be fourth line as Phillip Danault drives the play so well he must stay higher. Jesperi Kotkaniemi will be a season better. Max Domi is nearing a point per game as a centre. As the years pass and Poehling gets more comfortable at the NHL level, one could see Domi pushing to the wing so all of the great centres are getting enough ice time. Amazing that the Habs went from so weak, to having potentially 12 quite talented forwards, though they would still lack a game breaker which, generally speaking, is needed to win a cup.

READ MORE: Montreal Canadiens acquire Jordan Weal from Arizona Coyotes for Michael Chaput

• Shea Weber had struggled for a couple of games, and it was getting to be a bit of concern for the Habs; he was looking either injured or fatigued. However, in this one he turned it around in a big way. The partnership of Weber and Victor Mete was rarely in trouble. Weber was letting Mete do more of the lugging of the puck which is exactly what you want. Weber kept his game simple concentrating more on the defensive side of the puck, while Mete head-manned it more, and did more of the charging up the ice. It worked well.

READ MORE: Call of the Wilde — Montreal Canadiens doubled by Toronto Maple Leafs

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• Absolutely everyone but Price in the first period, and absolutely no one after that. The Canadiens were horrible to a man in the first, but then they found their legs and turned the game around in the second. It was looking grim. It was looking like the horrible effort against the Devils in New Jersey earlier in the week, but they stayed close thanks to the goalie, then found their game for a vital 4-2 win.

WATCH BELOW: Montreal Canadiens’ Carey Price hugs young boy who lost his mother

1:33 Montreal Canadiens’ Carey Price hugs young boy who lost his mother

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• GM Marc Bergevin was in Russia prior to the trade deadline it’s been reported. It was also reported that he was given an offer for Alexander Romanov who he took in the second round of the last NHL entry draft. Romanov has been a revelation improving his game at an astronomical rate this season in the KHL. What has not been reported is that Bergevin is looking at Romanov as someone who can help his club next year. Romanov has a contract in the KHL, and breaking that is not easy, but when the Habs want something, they get something. The rules are complex in Russia as they do not have an agreement with the NHL like other nations. What must happen is that Romanov has to pay out his contract to get rid of his commitment. Naturally, he wouldn’t have the money to do that so it would be the Habs who have to front that money in order to get their player. It won’t be easy, and there are people who disagree with this assessment but expect Romanov to be in Montreal as soon as next year. Bergevin has said in watching Romanov that he was already of a high enough quality to be a third pair defender in the NHL any day of the week. The Romanov story could be an interesting one this summer.