Darche shows his will to win

Only three regular-season games remain for the Canadiens, but the race to the playoffs is not yet over. It is, however, looking better for them after taking a stride forward with their 3-1 win in New Jersey on Saturday. How important was it? It's all about winning in the last gasps of a tight race. It's better when players refuse to lose.

The name is Mathieu Darche (BCom'00).

We're talking about someone who appeared destined to be a career minor leaguer following his four seasons with the McGill Redmen. Since then, there were 24 games with Columbus spread over three seasons. Two with Nashville. Two with San Jose. The only time he wore an NHL jersey for what amounted to a full season was in 2007-08, when he scored seven goals and 15 assists in 73 games with Tampa Bay. Still: he was signed as a free agent by Buffalo and shipped to Portland for the season. He wasn't recalled even though he scored 31 goals and 35 assists with the Pirates.

Darche was signed as a free agent in 2009 by the Canadiens, as he was by every other NHL team after leaving McGill. However, most of his time as a professional has been spent in the American Hockey League with teams in Syracuse, Milwaukee, Hershey, Worcester, Norfolk, Portland and Hamilton - except for the 52 games he played in Germany in 2005-06.

I mention him now, of course, because Darche's two goals on Saturday were the difference in a game the Canadiens had to win. They were his 11th and 12th goals in 56 games with the Canadiens to go along with his 12 assists. It's not an overstatement to suggest they're the two most important goals the Canadiens have scored this season.

Seven Canadiens have scored more goals this season. Only Max Pacioretty has scored more playing in fewer games than Darche's 56. Other than Michael Cammalleri, they've each played at least 10 more games than Darche.

The most impressive part of Darche's game is that you'll always find him in an area where he's prepared to pay a price . what players like to call the trenches. There he is, screening the goaltender, prepared to absorb punishment from defenders. That's where he was for both of his goals on Saturday on deflections of shots by Brian Gionta. Or, as Jacques Martin was to say after the game: "The goals from Darche were really good examples of the kinds of goals you need to score at this time of year."

Read full article: The Gazette, April 4, 2011