Game #30Philly Let Habs Get Away With A Brutal First

Details

Date: 7/12/09
Opponent: Flyers
Location: Montreal


Win: 3-1

Habs Goalie: Price (W)
Opposition Goalie: Boucher (L)

Habs goalscorers: A. Kostitsyn, Cammalleri, Bergeron
Opposition goalscorers: Briere

Play of the game

No doubt with this one; it has to be Cammy's goal. A scrum at centre-ice gave Laraque a good chance to touch the puck and with that touch came a pretty undeserved 2nd point on the year. Undeserved because the other two players involved are the reason for the game-winner, not him. Lapierre was the recipient of Georges' 'pass' and in he went on a quasi-2-on-1. He made a very impressive toe-drag around Coburn and that gave him space. Instead of shooting, which is what most would have done, he found a wide-open Cammalleri. Mike wasted no time and took a very quick shot on Boucher. The goalie had no chance as the shot (and the play) was perfect.

Dome hockey team

The 6 players we're playing in a no changes, do or die contest in the dome

Forwards

Mike Cammalleri
Not as good of a game as Friday night, but 1 goal, the winner, buys him his spot tonight. His line got better as the game went on and they actually did quite well on the PP, but at the end of the day it was an average performance against a sub-par team.

Tomas Plekanec
Pleks played well, but Gomez did not, at all. Maybe the two of them can't both be good on the same night? I hope not. Pleks bagged himself 2 assists tonight, the first of which was quite something. That was on Kostitsyn's goal and it was the nifty centre who found a wide-open Andrei for his 3rd of the year.

Maxim Lapierre
For some reason Max only played 8 minutes tonight, but I did like what I saw. Who am kidding though, it was all that pass. The move he made and subsequent feed to Cammalleri are worth the dome alone. Once again his spot on the team looks to be uncertain, but at least he seems to be making the most of his (limited) chances.

Defencemen

Roman Hamrlik - Game Puck
This was a very good game from Roman. Not only was he the biggest reason Price only faced 15 shots, but he was also our best offensive contributor from the back end. He picked up 2 assists, led the team in ice-time and posted a mind-boggling 10 blocked-shots.

Hal Gill
This was probably Hal's best game as a Hab. I don't want to get too excited, as I think he has some serious defensive issues, but I can't help but notice how we have won both games since his return. The best part of his game happens to be his penalty-killing which was on full display tonight. He was on for over 4 minutes of short-handed time where he actually, to use the word lightly, was dominant. His big reach, decent positioning and willingness to bend obstruction and holding rules made him a force tonight.

Goaltender

Carey Price
I thought that Briere scored quite the goal on Carey. It was definitely saveable, but I must give the Flyer credit for fighting off two defenders, drawing a penalty and still getting it up and over Price. Besides that one play this was a very quiet game for the Habs goalie. 14 saves, none too tough, as he played behind a team that played quite well in its own end and another team that really seems to be lacking creativity at the moment.

Comments

What could have cost the Habs tonight would have been a team that was on their game. The Habs were fresh off the emotional high that was Friday night's on-ice festivities, Saturday's gala and yesterday's rest(hungover)-day. Luckily our 1 shot in the first was countered by only 4 from Philly. They did get their one goal then, however, and so we had some work to do. This game shouldn't be remembered as a Habs win as much as a Flyers loss though. Here is a team with pretty bad goaltending, scattered defence and very little conviction in the offensive zone. Throw a coaching change and some injuries into the jar, mix it all up, and you get a pretty sub-par team. These are the types of games that you should win and when you do you shouldn't get too excited. A visit to the nation's capital tomorrow will be a good test and one that I hope we can pass. A win in Ottawa could set us up for a 5+ point week which is really what we need after last week's embarrassments. We have 16 points to get in the next 13 games (Tobalev's December goal) and I figure we may as well get two of those out of the way tomorrow.