Washington Capitals' Troy Brouwer scores past Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price in the shoot-out to beat the Canadiens 5-4 in NHL hockey action Thursday, April 2, 2015 in Montreal.Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press
If there's an unspoken fear among Habs fans it's that their club's typical game plan of Carey's-got-this will falter in the playoffs.
Actually, this concern isn't unsaid so much as it's shouted at top volume on Montreal talk radio. Perhaps it's more accurate to say the Habs' frailties as a possession and defensive team are something most fans prefer not to think about.
Notwithstanding the result against the Washington Capitals on Thursday – a 5-4 shootout loss – there were hopeful signs.
A couple of practice days and the return of injury victim Tom Gilbert, who scored a beauty of a second-period goal after a heady decision to jump into the rush, appear to have done a world of good.
In the first period, the Habs yielded only two official shots on Carey Price's net, and four missed attempts.
It may have been their best opening frame of the season, defensively at least.
"I thought we did a good job, they weren't flying through the neutral zone and getting scoring chances every shift, it wasn't one of those types of games, we made them work for their opportunities," said P.K. Subban, one of three Montreal defenceman to score goals on the night (his third-period power-play marker tied the game at 4-4, it was his 15th of the season, a new career-best, and his third point of the night).
In the first period Montreal's zone coverage was immaculate, Caps super-star Alex Ovechkin was not only held off the scoresheet, he didn't register a shot (he was matched up against Subban, who put him in his hip pocket).
When the Habs are playing well, their defensive layers present an obstacle to the opposing cycle, and in particular they switch off assignments quickly and decisively to kick off their own transition game.
They did all that and more throughout this game, dominating at even-strength.
The defence was instrumental in moving the puck quickly – even the defensively suspect Alexei Emelin played a mistake-free period – and a zone breakout that looked amateurish in a bad loss to Tampa earlier this week was crisp.
"We had a little break here, in between games. Our focus was just moving forward and going in to the playoffs. This is playoffs now and we're going to take every game going into it as if this is our last. We tried to build a good team game and that's what we did out there," Gilbert said. "Puck over the glass, that happens, it's just part of the game. We've just got to be better on the penalty kill."
Ah yes, the penalty kill.
Washington's power-play is the NHL's deadliest – it was no secret to anyone that Montreal would have to avoid the penalty box at all costs.
So of course the game turned on a pair of penalties in less than a one minute span of the third period.
By then the Habs had already seen Ovechkin do his thing once on the man-advantage.
After defenceman Jeff Petry opened the scoring by flinging a wrist shot that caromed off Washington's Karl Alzner and past Braden Holtby in the opening minute of the second, Joel Ward equalized on an odd-man rush (Subban was held up by a Capitals player after turning the puck over along the boards).
Then the Caps' power-play went to work.
With Brandon Prust in the box for hooking, Ovechkin crushed a one-timer just wide – a range-finder.
The visitors were given a short five-on-three when Max Pacioretty hooked Evgeni Kuznetsov, which Montreal killed off, but Ovechkin can't be stopped forever.
After blowing past a static Prust at the Montreal blue line, the Russian laid on a nice move to cut inside Subban and ripped an unstoppable wrist shot into the top corner, glove side.
"I can't let him cut back there," Subban said afterward, "I wish I could take that one back."
Ovechkin would add a second power-play goal in the third (Torrey Mitchell was sent off for a high-stick that replays showed hit Tim Gleason in the chest – although in fairness, a spearing call may have been justified). Barely a minute later Price fired a puck over the glass and Ward would score what felt like the winning marker.
Subban would reply on a late Montreal power-play, but this one simply wasn't fated to be theirs.
It was an uncharacteristic display from Price, who wasn't exactly bad in this game (he stopped the first three shots he saw in the shootout, including Ovechkin's), it's that he wasn't miraculous.
"I didn't play my best game tonight, but I thought over-all we played very well," said Price, who came up short for the second straight game in his bid to tie Ken Dryden and Jacques Plante for the single-season franchise record for wins (42).
He allowed four goals on 19 shots, which will dent his league-leading stats, but afterward he hailed his club's relative dominance at even-strength, which has been an issue of late.
Montreal dominated the shooting and possession stats from beginning to end – this is not typical for them, particularly against playoff-bound opponents.
True, Ovechkin scored two goals (when it was put to Subban that he did a good job on Ovechkin he said "not good enough) but they were his 23rd and 24th power-play goals of the year, which accounts for nearly half his total.
It's not possible to legislate against all penalties, but discipline is something on which teams have at least a small measure of control. Not every team is as proficient as the Caps at five-on-four.
Shutting Ovechkin down more or less completely at even strength should be taken as an auspicious sign.
And when you consider the way the Habs' lynch pin forwards played – Alex Galchenyuk was a threat all night (he earned two assists), Tomas Plekanec played a brilliant two-way game, Max Pacioretty generated a couple of glorious chances (he picked up an assist) and Lars Eller scored a goal because the playoffs are 11 days away so of course he did – not every arrow is pointing downward.
"We did a lot of good things tonight," Petry said.
He's right, as it happens.
Now the trick is to continue doing them. Montreal has four regular season games remaining to continue the fine-tuning.
First place in the conference has likely slipped away (the New York Rangers' game in hand and two-point cushion will be hard to overcome), and even though home ice in the first round is essentially assured there is still something left to play for: first in the division.
Tampa lurks, just a point behind.
If the playoffs began right now, the Habs would face the Pittsburgh Penguins.
It's a reminder that tall obstacles loom in the near distance.