MONTREAL - You could measure how much beating the Montreal Canadiens meant to Jaroslav Spacek Monday night.
It was a matter of inches and dollars.
Inches as in how high the 38-year-old, 210-pound Carolina Hurricanes blueliner jumped when he launched himself into the glass after scoring against his old club in the ’Canes 5-3 win at the Bell Centre.
The goal also helped make former Habs captain and assistant coach Kirk Muller, behind the Carolina bench as a head coach at the Bell Centre for the first time, a winner, too.
“I had so much speed, you know,” joked Spacek, who potted his second goal of the year to give the ’Canes a 2-0 lead in the second. They would blow that lead, then rally to win when trailing after two periods for the first time this season (1-14-2).
“I'm not like Mike Cammalleri who scores often. I don't. I have to celebrate a little bit. Especially here. I'm so happy about that.”
Dollars as in it's a tradition for NHL players -- sometimes even coaches -- to put some “money on the board” when playing a former team.
The money goes to the guy who scores the winning goal.
Jamie McBain of the Carolina Hurricanes: Ka-ching!
McBain scored the winner as the ’Canes, last in the East, snapped the Canadiens' four-game winning streak.
Montreal's Erik Cole, signed in the summer as a free agent after a second stint with the ’Canes, and Tomas Kaberle, who came over in a deal for Spacek, likely had some Mackenzie Kings of their own on the Habs board.
How much did Spacek put up?
“I've got to feed my kids,” said Spacek. “I think I've still got something left.”
Carolina captain Eric Staal had two goals and an assist in the third period to rally the Hurricanes.
“I didn't say anything to (the players) and they didn't say anything to me. I'm not even sure they knew about what was going on,” said Muller with a laugh. “I love to compete. In 82 games, some mean more, some not … I was excited to play,” he said before catching himself and adding, “ah, to be a part of it, to coach.”
In the minds of some fans here, the energetic Muller was the glue that held the Habs together under the stodgy and aloof former head coach Jacques Martin when they went on an unexpected run to the conference finals two years ago. Muller then helped the Habs push the Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins to seven games in the conference quarterfinals last spring.
That is not quite reality. Muller was a valuable member of the Habs' staff, but anybody who thinks he was the real brains behind the operation is mistaken.
Muller sensed his time with the Habs had run its course and left after last season. Though he was touted by some in the media as the hottest candidate to be a head coach, he was passed over by the half-dozen clubs looking for new men and new ideas behind their benches.
He landed in Milwaukee as the head coach of the Nashville Predators' American Hockey League farm team, but after just 16 games he was tapped to take over the ’Canes Nov. 28 when they said good-bye to Paul Maurice (again).
Muller, who turned 46 last week, was 10-6 in Milwaukee and those 16 games represented the sum total of his head coaching experience in the pros. He's 13-12-7 in the 32 games he's been behind the bench of the ’Canes.
The loss was a crusher for the Habs, who remained seven points out of the last playoff spot in the East.
“We should have had this one, we had to win this one,” said Montreal centre Lars Eller. “We could have been five points out of a playoff spot right now. That’s why it’s so disappointing right now. It’s just not good enough. I won’t say we’re out of it because technically we can still make it, but we’re making it hard on ourselves by losing a game that has to be won.”
chris.stevenson@sunmedia.ca
Twitter: @CJ_Stevenson
