Montreal Canadiens vs. New Jersey Devils

Musings and In-Game Scribbles

My English is as good as yours, I just write these in a stream-of-consciousness mode that I insist excuses me from small things like rules of grammar or general etiquette. Let’s call it conversational English, hopped up on beans. You know what kind of beans (no, Carl Mellesmoen, not the magic ones).

Montreal Canadiens (11-11-7) visit New Jersey Devils (14-12-1)

Saturday, December 10th, 2011

Game Thirty (score posted following scribbles)

Missed it? Musings capture the game in writing. A written transcript typed during the game, posted and edited about thirty minutes afterward.  Based on the RDS French telecast of the Montreal Canadiens game, Musings take about 23 minutes to read. More detailed than an article, fresher than a looping highlight and good with morning coffee. Or late-night chocolate.  A unique way to re-experience the game.

click here to expand post (it looks prettier)

Tomas Kaberle, the former Leaf, Bruin and Hurricane has joined the team via trade for defenceman Jaroslav Spacek.  Kaberle, also a defenceman, will play his first game as a Canadien today.

Carey Price and the declining Martin Brodeur are the goalies.

Dean Morton and Don Van Massenhoven are the refs.

First Period

Eller reaches and with a pause and dig, wins the faceoff.  He follows the puck, left side, covered, and the Devils’ left defenceman picks it up behind the net to Brodeur’s left.

Subban with a long pass from his zone.  Misses.  Devils run a change of their own and the puck is exchanged in the mid-ice area.  Camera distance is poor to begin the game.  The first minute elapsed, it improves.  Peter Sykora is shown.  He and Cole exchange hand pats.  Price stops a long shot just before this to stop play.  Quick shot of Patrik Elias sporting the A on the Devil bench.

Kaberle is on for the first time. He wears number 22 and his long pass is complete.  From the left hash.  Good follow-through and the characteristic head up and calm demeanour.  Now he challenges a man on the left point to harangue an exit pass.  Works.

Nokelainen line.

Bryce Salvador passes to the high hash to Palmieri.  Brief entry by the Devils.  Kept in on the right point by Adam Larsson.  Around the boards at a slow pace where three Habs and two Devils collect.

Sudden appearance.  Four out.  Two back.  Kostitsyn and Eller.  The flow is slowed and the Devils are out.  Two on two.  Gorges comes up and challenges and the pass can’t be attempted.

Puck goes a bit low.  And a slot shot by some new Devil.  Urbbon.

He’s not listed on the Devil site.

Adam Henrique is shown.  He’s Portuguese and prefers his name to be pronounced in the English format.  Houde says, as Henrique wants, so shall it be.  Henrique is from Ontario and among the top rookie scorers in the NHL this season.

Four minutes gone.

Price is porte ferme as he slides from left and then back right.  Now he stands erect as the Canadiens gain the puck.  Kaberle on the right side.  One pass.  Munged up at the hash.  On the boards Kaberle finds it again.  Moves it along.  He’s been good in his first two shifts.  I don’t think this will be a bad fit.  This is the best team culture the Czech defenceman will have seen in his career.  And we can expect a late reblooming.  Spacek’s loss is a sad one for all; media, teammates and fans.  Spacek though he has struggled with turnovers and having lost a step is perhaps the most likeable Hab.  Great sense of humour and a decent man.  Gentleman, it used to be said.  Still applies.

Pace rises.  Eller.  Down the right column.  Slot receiver is covered.

Kaberle keeps it in on the left after the failed shot.  High wrister after a look.  Off the blocker.

Brodeur was pulled in a recent game after allowing three goals.  He’s not he player he used to be but gets the start because of his good record against the Canadiens.

Kaberle is shown after a mild incursion and stoppage by the Devils.  He’s a bit chubbier than usual.  I think this was one of Rutherford’s complaints.  The Carolina GM blasted Kaberle in public two weeks ago saying that the defenceman hadn’t come in ready to compete and that he like the rest of the Bruins have come in fat.  Bruins won the Stanley Cup this spring with Kaberle in the lineup.  Kaberle was traded in the offseason.

Bruins did start slow.  Kaberle does look fat.  But let’s see how he fares in this stop.  He’s playmaker, smooth and patient and he makes few mistakes in his own end.  After Sundin left, Kaberle was the Leafs best player.  Also a calm, clean player who plays well under pressure.  All these qualities will make him a good fit in Montreal.

Pacioretty launches a long shot.  Brodeur has it.  Pacioretty leaves the ice in some pain.

Wincing on the bench.  He took a Gorges shot prior to launching his own shot, a weak wrister, high on Brodeur from the high slot.

Kaberle finds a man on the opposite hash from the left point.  Houde praises the pass.

Devils entry.  Emelin and Kaberle were out of position, Kaberle made up for it by going to the cage while Emelin stood like a mannequin, unsure of where to go.  Price stanched the sulphur.

Eleven and thirty.

Diaz low.  Plekanec, Kostitsyn and Cammalleri.

Plekanec with a hot pass, too hot, says Houde and off-target, I would say and the turnover allows Devils to pressure.

Canadiens respond and Cammalleri, yes Cammalleri, finds it and launches it down.  Good support from Our Man from Richmond Hill.

Another stoppage.  The Devils have been outstanding on he penalty kill after an average start to the season.  Last week they were ranked number one at 94.5.

Nine oh five.

Cole line.

Brodeur mummifies a puck as it bounced in front of his crease.

When will cars be illegal?  I’m waiting.

Peter DeBoer was hired by Jacques Martin when the latter was GM in Florida.  Gave DeBoer his first chance as an NHL head coach.  DeBoer runs the Devil bench nowadays.

Faceoff deep left.

Desharnais wins it.  To the left point.  Launched down by Gorges.

Devils come up with it after a Hab forward loses his stick, possibly Pacioretty.

Devils trundle in.  Mid-range shot.  Price squeezes into a tight star shape, standing and the puck bounces away.
Cole attacks four Devils in a square.  Forced to his left and then the puck is off his stick.

This slow pace is what the Devils enjoy.  They hang back in formation and pounce on turnovers.

But here’s a Montreal two-on-one led by Cammalleri.  He rarely passes on his incursions and this is no exception.  Rings one off the outside the net.  Brodeur’s left.

Sykora and Elias combine around the Montreal net.

Larsson advances to get a shot from the circle at Price’s left.

More pressure.  Finally, Price absorbs a medium range effort and the faceoff will be to his left.

Eller loses it.

Delayed call as the Habs chase a puck into the Devil zone.
Mattias Tedenby called for hooking.

Hooked Gill as Gill started the rush with a left side fifteen-foot pass.

Montreal attack.

Kaberle is on the power-play’s first wave.  Looking alert and focused.

The only man on the blue.  Finds one man.  Now he has it again and finds Subban for a one-timer.

Pacioretty has it at the net’s side.

Parise is out.  Kaberle is right with him.  Paris manages a shot despite good coverage.

Devils keep it going.  And Subban is beaten and trips Zubrus.  The former Hab, so many years ago.

Four on four.  Subban checks the replay and takes three sips of water from a Gatorade container, spitting out the first two.

Under five.

Kaberle’s knowledge is reassuring.  He hasn’t been caught out of position once and he’s improvised to get into position to cover for teammates’ errors at least three times.

Darche falls forward to push a puck out of danger on the brief Devil power-play and I am reminded that I’ve seen very few standout plays from number 52 this season.  Not sure why this is so.

I like the Kaberle addition for another reason; he’s an older player, older than our cowboys (Gomez, Cammalleri, Gionta, Gill and Moen) who were brought in as culture-change.  The cowboys have gotten comfortable and we’ve seen some let-up in their work ethic.  Some spots.  Some smudges.  Gionta is getting older and may not have the same constitution he once had.  Cammalleri doesn’t do the non-goalscorer tasks to the right level.  Even Moen has taken half-shifts off.  Only Gill is full value.

The addition of Cole who works, and now produces, has had a desired effect on the leadership group.  Cole also an older player doesn’t have to answer to nor feel any the less in the room and his performance eclipses each (except Gill).  Should Kaberle perform at a high level, it imposes a second such presence.  And the crew will either respond.

Or perish.

Or have to leave, is what I mean.

Montreal man advantage.

Kaberle on the blue.

Devils are like magic table hockey players, quick moves and quick angles.  Each of the four react to the puck rather than having one chaser up top, depending on the corner of attack.

Montreal trailed on shots 9 to 13.  Or the Devils led.  13-9.

Fuck GMC.  Fuck Ford.  Fuck Dodge.  And fuck the banks.

First Intermission
Montreal 0, New Jersey 0

There’s some Hockey Top Quebecoise magazine out now.  Ad showed up in the intermission.  It features the top 100 Quebecois players in hockey history.  Who comes up with this stuff?  Xenophobes?  Of course, The Hockey News, with its unstated pro Ontario thrust does need a response.  On the other hand why listen to either position?  Culture wars are for the unwashed elites.  Drink some more petrol.

Fuck homerism.

I don’t care if it’s an afternoon game.  The word fuck only refers to procreation, anyway.  Life.  Life you.

Alain asks if the Kaberle trade is a sign of panic on Gauthier’s part.  Tremblay says he thinks no.  Markov is not here and they need an answer.  Brunet says that we don’t have all the information; what’s happening with Markov?  Will he be back?  If so, when?  Brunet adds that Tremblay is right, the team must make the playoffs and if Markov isn’t around, then something needed to be done.

Does the Kaberle deal affect signing Price, Gorges and Subban?  Tremblay says the team has the money to sign Price.  But with Gorges, it’s uncertain.  Subban will get a one-year deal and with a minor increase, suggests Brunet.

Rutherford said a few weeks back that he hadn’t done his research and that he had offered too long a contract to Kaberle.

Cheerleaders don’t belong in sports.

Second Period
New Jersey 0, Montreal 0

Desharnais was seven of seven on faceoffs in the first.

Kaberle starts low.  Brodeur has his game face on.  Smile.

Plekanec loses the draw to Henrique.

Puck is chased down into the Montreal zone. Behind the Montreal net.  Sent in.  About fifteen in the penalty.  Brodeur nearly loses it off the end boards.  Cammalleri took it off his stick and backhanded it to the crease.  Devils are called.

Cammalleri gathers a Plekanec rebound and hits the crossbar.  Nicely thought.  Brodeur was beaten.

Cammalleri leaves, disappointed.  Denis feels for him.

Re-entry.  Kaberle crossed, passed to Cole, to Pacioretty.  The shot.  And the goal.

First power-play goal of the year for Pacioretty.

Montreal 1, New Jersey 0

Kovalchuk charges into Louis Leblanc in the corner to Price’s right and is called for boarding.  Legit call and the chance for a team to grow.

Kaberle with one long shot.  Nothing.  Cleared.

Reset.

Cammalleri from the low circle, his standard one-timer.
Off the mark.  And not the usual velocity.  Denis talks about declining confidence and its impact on shooting.

Units change.

Another shot of Cammalleri, struggling but with an opportunity to use hard work to climb out of this hole.  He’ll get more of a chance to work it out than say, Michael Ryder.  Ryder dipped from 30 to 14 goals and was traded.  Others come to mind.  Jan Bulis.  Higgins.  You can’t languish as a goal-scorer in the Montreal system for long.  Cammalleri will get a longer look as his potential is higher.

I’d like to see him go now, though.  He doesn’t do the defensive work, doesn’t pass and doesn’t forecheck.  All he’s good for is scoring and if he’s not even doing that, why keep him around?  Pierre Larouche comes to mind.  But Larouche always scored.

Fifteen.

Eller wins the draw with some help from Subban.

Subban watches a man skate around him and then takes him down.  We hear a man-dropped-in-the-bathtub sound and the check is convincing.  And legal.  Tedenby.

The Devils system is different under DeBoer.  More aggressive.  Not to the point that they’re dropping three guys deep into the zone but much more action on the perimeter puck battles.

Two under the end line.  Darche keeps it away from both for four seconds.

Devils co0rrect the forward and push it out.

Long puck around the boards is ignored by two Habs and the Devils wind up and fire a long shot.

And another four seconds later.  Now a penalty.  All from a missed puck along the boards.

Delay on the call lasts about five seconds.

Devils go to the power-play.

Every second matters.

Canadiens PK has also been very good.  Not at the Devils’ level but good enough for top five.  One of the few things Montreal is great at.

Diaz.  Hooking in the crease.  He’s gotten break from the officials on a similar play earlier, remarks Houde but not this time. Fair enough.

Moen and Plekanec up top.  Gill and Gorges down low.

Guys like Gorges can’t afford to take penalties.  As the top defenders in the PK, they have to mind their sticks and tongues.  The day of the NHL technical foul is coming, mokes.

How many penalties can a team kill in a season?  How exhausting.

Devils control and the Habs follow.  And follow.  Finally it ends with minimal danger.

David Clarkson is inviting Gill to fight.  Gill is shaking his head and saying something.  They skate away from one another.  Gill should fight someone sometime.  Just to put a scare into the rest of the hooligans in the conference.  I’d like to see him obliterate Pronger.

Yeah, I know.  I don’t care.

Brodeur is across the crease on his side.  And somehow two pucks stay out.  Desharnais with a swooping second effort.  I shake my head.

I can’t abide Martin Brodeur’s supporters.  He’s on my nerves, as well.

Great saves by the goalie are shown. Desperate monkey gloves as the puck finds the wrong spots.

Coach them on shooting for the sake of strain.  Can’t this team finish shots?  How can you hit the goalie’s arms in a situation like that?

By aiming for an area.  By shooting without aim.  Yes, time is a factor.  But practice makes perfect.  Practice shooting.  Montreal lacks finish.  And for the few chances this team generates, finish becomes even more important.

And bring back Kovalev.  Enough.  You can have him for just over the league minimum by now, I’m sure.  This team’s offensive game is an embarrassment.

Devils lead on bodychecks six to three.  Who defines these?  There have been many more than nine this game.

Kovalchuk is allowed to float around the zone.

Challenge!  Take these guys out of the play.

Zubrus, point blank.

Martin puts his arm around Leblanc and coaches him a bit.  Puts his hands on his hips and adds a few more words besides.

Leblanc nods.

I wonder if Martin spoke in English. Dollars to doughnuts, he did.

Ever heard that saying?  Dollars to doughnuts?  Yah.  I picked it up on the prairies.

Like the kid who goes to Alabama for vacation and says he must have picked up an accent.  Whatever.  Two weeks and you have an accent?

Dollars to doughnuts, you have an image-obsession issue.  Of some warped kind.

Gills’ shot after some good carrying by Plekanec is blocked.

Why couldn’t we keep Hammer?  And what about Halpern.  What was the big problem in hanging on to those guys.

Five and twenty.

Sykora puts a hand on Gill’s helmet.  Gill should just wipe him out.

Weber is in the lineup after St. Denis got sent down yesterday.  Don’t expect any more from St. Denis for a while.

Most of the food in commercials is fake.  Plastic.  Exotic lighting.  How lovely.  St. Hubert demonstrates the technique for us.

Lou Lamoriello is shown.  The master raptor.  Houde chuckles, comments and then finishes with the fact that Lamoriello is very loyal.  A shot of Robinson behind the bench.  Long-time Devils assistant.  And one-time Stanley Cup-winning head coach.  Larry Robinson.

Under four.

Pacioretty’s long pass is off the mark and allows Kovalchuk to escape and lead a slow three-on-two.  Pacioretty shows the zeal we want on every shift and gets back, joining the defensive.

Kaberle.  Across for Emelin.  Good pairing.  Experience and youth.  One learns from the other.

Plekanec.  Extends the puck, retracts it and then round his man.  Finds a teammate on the blue line with a long snake-handler’s arm pass.  It’s off the mark and a turnover follows.

Stoppage in the neutral zone.  Nokelainen.  Darche.  Clarkson.  Caused it.

Houde says that when Clarkson is around these things go on.  So useless.  Can you imagine wasting a roster spot for some drunk Mediterranean knucklehead on your twelve-man NBA team?  Some thug just punching people and yelling?

The NHL.  Warehousing knuckleheads.  And morons.

Australian.  American. Singaporean.  Whatever.

One oh four.

Pacioretty nearly gets it.  But his reach isn’t enough and he needs to burst to the man rather than use his stick to correct forechecking deficits.

Larsson tries an entry on the right.  Long shot on Price.  Handled.

Fifteen seconds.  Cammalleri on the right hash.  Kostitsyn joins him.  Three Devils.  Three seconds.  Stumbling.  Digging.  And the puck stays on the perimeters.

Siren goes.

Devils led on shots 9-6.  And 22-15, overall.

Second Intermission
Montreal 1, New Jersey 0

Reseau des Sports should affiliate itself with more savoury sponsors.  Savoury sponsors also have money.  The repetition of beer and car commercials is pathetic.  Enter the new century.  Quebeckers demand better.

Kovalchuk is critiqued by Brunet and Tremblay and the video evidence bears out the lack of effort underlined.  He’s paid about ten million a year.  He should honour his forebears; Kharlamov, Makarov, Krutov and so on.

It’s tougher to maintain a high level as a visitor, though.  And that’s what Russian players, are.  Visitors.  And with few in the media and fan culture placing them on pedestals.  Lauding them.  Encouraging.  And forgiving foibles.  It has its effect.

Third Period
Montreal 1, New Jersey 0

Desharnais loses the draw and the Devs send it down the right.

Cole is very dangerous on the forecheck and nearly takes it from Larsson.  Lines change.  Plekanec on the left.  His honesty shows in his play.  Straight ahead and plugging, finally he looks up for a receiver.  Plekanec deserves better.  Pair him with a hard worker.  Eller comes to mind but he’s also a centre.  So it’s not ideal.

The Ole Ole chant is echoing from the higher seats.

Brodeur is beaten again.  He’s not as much of a technician as the modern goalies and is given to the flouncier movements employed by some of the older goalies. Like Tim Thomas.

Do what you have to, sure.  But how about a technical foundation?  Some goalies have better.

Cole from Desharnais crossing the slot.  Cole uses the most of the room and space and shoots it off the post.  May have been slashed.

Tedenby, indeed.  Slashing.  Got the stick.

That is what I would say is a good penalty.  Stopped a goal-scoring threat.  A direct one.  Because, as usual, Brodeur was compromised.

Montreal man-advantage.

Second wave struggles to set it up.  Penalty ends.  Montreal pressures after the penalty, not uncommon.  And they score.

Kaberle advanced to keep one going.  Found a man in the slot.  Darche slapped it.  Cole finished.

Desharnais gets a bouquet from Denis.

Montreal 2, New Jersey 0

The penalty-killing team sometimes relaxes in the moments after a man returns but the attacking team often retains momentum and pressure.  I wonder how many goals are scored in the first minute following a killed penalty.

Under fourteen.

Brodeur launched himself out like a sack of grain.  The puck bounced over him and dribbled to the crease where Cole broomed it in.

What an overrated goalie Martin Brodeur is.  Such decisions.

Deep left.  Pacioretty.  Dig-Cycles.  TO the slot.  Now to the boards and bumps a defenceman.  More good work in chasing a puck through a defenceman.

Stoppage.

He’s playing in some pain.  Left arm perhaps based on what Denis is saying.

Where are the Devils?  No extra effort despite being down two goals.  Habs are only happy to relax themselves.  Those who care.  Those who don’t.  I’m referring to the latter.

Gorges cares.  Subban.  Gill.  There are others.  Maybe it’s time for a list.

Gionta is not playing tonight, by the way.  Too bad.  This is his old team.

Kostitsyn and Price share a smile.  Devils people get on the ice with a ladder and their stupid white coveralls.

Some problem with the glass.

Viewer question.  Will the performance of Kaberle on the power-play prevent the young defencemen from developing?  Who cares.  Another Franco frantic question.  That’s what the AHL is for.  The Canadiens aren’t a vehicle for Quebec supremacy.  They’re the local hockey team.  And their bottom line is winning.  Who cares if Frederic St. Denis develops.  We care if the right player develops.  Regardless of name.

Luc Tousignant question.

Go home.  Manage your Francophone aquarium.  You don’t belong in the public domain.  Name your fish.  Put em in French water.

All of this Franco insecurity can be blamed on Anglo boors.

Oh, England and France.  Led by your friend Harper.  Friend to all corporations and silky tweeds.

Fix the glass.

Lots of Habs fans in the crowd.  Many are shown.

Oh.  He’s Alexander Urbom.  From Stockholm.  Twenty years old.  Number 33.  Defenceman.  Six four and 215.  Called up from Albany.  He’s played eight games in the pros.

Under ten.

The glass is fixed.  Or whatever it was.  Randy Ladouceur was intently studying the coverall staff.  As they did the job.

Ever done drywall?

Neither.

Nine.

A Hab is dumped at the blue.

Ryan White should be ready, soon, too.

Montreal’s hockey decisions are not made with language in mind.  Except with the coach.  They should just hire a translator for the French media.

I can’t imagine putting up with that nonsense.

And as a fan, imagine whether your team is suffering from Ontario regional bias, as well.  Cheese shouldn’t stink.

Holiday for the ties exudes Houde to Denis.  Referring to the upcoming Mechant Mardi.  Tieless Tuesday.  Mechant means tough or mean.  Or whatever.  They don’t wear ties on Tuesdays on this show.

Except Martin.  And his staff.  Denis may have smiled.

He needs to laugh a bit more.  He doesn’t seem like much of a giggler.

Seven seventeen.  Close-out time.  Hard work time.  And a message to yourselves.  And to the others.  Are you champions?

Go!

We’re shown Leblanc’s time on ice over the past few games.  Let’s discuss his points total over the past few games.

Zero goals.

One assist.

Five games played.

Just sayin’.

Devils score.

What else.

A Montreal lead?  Oy.

Palmieri fired it over the right blocker.  Low slot.  Kaberle was right there.  Did he take the body well enough?

Coverage was sound on the play.

Six minutes.

Montreal 2, New Jersey 1

Leblanc has no penalties.  That’s a plus.

Five minutes.

More huff and more puff. The teams work harder.

Some guys assume they’ll be back.  In the Finals.  In the pros.  Whatever have you.  Some guys don’t.  They worry.  And wonder.  And expect the worst.

Cole.  Right side.  Pacioretty.  And Brodeur is snowed and savvy.  Has this one.  Guides it in as Pacioretty missed the slap-in.

Three and a half.

Too many guys not scoring.

Guys that are hogging cap space.

Faceoff to Price’s left.

Gill moves from the outside hash to the low slot for the faceoff.  Gets it and backhands it to Subban who curled under the circle to receive.  Around the boards.  Lost.  Across.  Shot.  Stoppage.  Elias is jawing with a ref.

Adam Oates is shown on the bench.  I like the demeanour.  Denis reminds us that Oates is one of the great passers in the history of the game.

Very much so.

Oates.

Three on one.  Plekanec.  To Cole.  Back to Plekanec.  Hopped.  Can’t be had.

Cole.  A team player.

Cole’s pass for Desharnais is off a stick.

Cole.  Again.  Team player.

Urbom tries to bother Leblanc.  Leblanc simply ignores him.  Clarkson is on a knee and in pain.  Diaz is called.

What happened.

Diaz’ slash on Henrique was unrelated to the Clarkson grimace.

Devils power-play.

One interruption.  Moen.  Took it away on the boards.  Slapped it down.  Bien.

Expect our best.

Gill and Moen combine.  Plekanec can’t finish.

Fails again on the next sequence.

Odd.

Kept in.

Elias to Sykora in the slot.  Price a save.  Another save.  They all fall.  Stick goes up.

They signal a goal.  Gorges is furious.  Moen, too.

How did they call it a goal.

Gorges looked as if he was going to go after the ref.

A Devil got in the way.

How is that a goal.  Replay is inconclusive.

It’s marked as no goal on the scoreboard, though.

Ok.  What.

Parise is the captain.  Really.

Penalty shot.

Hand closed in the crease, I’d guess.

Price stopped Parise.  Pad down on the left.

Fake and a deke.  Nice try.  Not quick enough.

Finally.  A stop on a one-on-one.  Price is very happy.

Yelled to the bench.  His bench.

Forty-nine point four.

And 54 in the penalty.

Gorges is still on the ice.  Moen.  Gill and Plekanec.  Long break.

Faceoff to Price’s left.

Gorges is still fired up.

Clarkson.

Clarkson.  Talking and jawing with the ref.  Shut up oaf.

More pressure.

Price drops on it.  Gill holds up a man, the captain, Parise.  No animosity follows.

Gill has it off the draw.  Sent down.  Devils have the empty net.

Ten seconds.  Over the blue.  Price stops a Clarkson shot.

Puck slithers out.

Siren.

Habs win.

Read it again.

This one they have both on the ice.  And the scoreboard.

Final Score
Montreal 2
New Jersey 1

HDS Stars: Hal Gill, Carey Price, Josh Gorges and Erik Cole!
RDS Stars: Carey Price, Erik Cole, Tomas Kaberle

Related posts:

1. Montreal Canadiens vs. New Jersey Devils
2. Montreal Canadiens vs. New Jersey Devils
3. Montreal Canadiens vs. Winnipeg Jets
4. Montreal Canadiens vs. New Jersey Devils
5. Montreal Canadiens vs. Philadelphia Flyers
6. Montreal Canadiens vs. New York Islanders