Game #31Habs Drop 3rd In A Row For First Time This Season

Details

Date: 15/12/2010
Opponent: Flyers
Location: Montreal

Loss: 3-5

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

Habs goalscorers: Subban, Plekanec, Gionta
Opposition goalscorers: Carter, van Riemsdyk (2), Zherdev, Giroux

Play of the game

Our goals were good and were all timely, but I thought that a play much earlier on was the play of the game, the play that started us out on the right foot. All it was was a big hit by Subban on Philly's tough-guy Daniel Carcillo. The hit was a nice one and it electrified the crowd. It was the right thing to do after losing two in a row.

Dome hockey team

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

Brian Gionta - Game Puck
Gionta looked good tonight on the all-American line and his chemistry with Gomez seemed to be back. What I liked most about that line was that there was a third option. Pacioretty may end up not being that great, but I think that we can all agree that he is better than Moen. Luckily, Philly's defence agreed and, so, G+G had more space, thus more chances.

Scott Gomez
We missed Scott more than anyone realized. His numbers may be low, but he brings stability and responsible play to the team. He made two great passes tonight and was as fast as ever. It would seem that he isn't injured anymore? At least I hope so; we can't really afford to have him out of the line-up. (No offence to Dustin Boyd...well, a little)

Andrei Kostitsyn
Brunet spent the time that he wasn't complementing a Quebecer on Philly's roster tonight bashing Kostitsyn. 'How can he look like a 50-goal scorer some games and a bum the rest of the time?'. I guess that career 5-goal man BB forgets how many games there are in a season. A 25-goalscorer will, at the very least, not score in 57 games. Andrei may not have scored tonight, but with 5 shots, the ability to play well on the 4th line and the knack to always get into a good position he deserved recognition.

Defencemen

Roman Hamrlik
Subban got a star? Do people even watch? Well, we know they don't, we always knew that, so, goals and assists are key. What the stats may not tell us is that PK's play led to another two goals tonight as the mistakes and minus ratings keep coming. Picard also looked bad and Spacek wasn't exactly smart to join the rush on the PK. That leaves old-trusty Hamrlik. Roman led the team in ice-time, +/- and blocked-shots tonight.

Josh Gorges
Gill wasn't that good tonight, so default spot number two goes to Josh. It was a quiet game from Gorges, but a good one. His ice-time was lower than Subban's which was a mistake as, unless he is injured, he needs to play 20+ minutes per game.

Goaltender

Alex Auld
This day was going to come sooner or later, the day that the back-up got in the dome. I for one am very thankful that it has taken this long to happen. We have been doing the Dome for over 300 games now and I have never seen a streak like the one we just had. Price was off tonight and that is OK. Price at his best and at his usual wins this game, but tonight it wasn't enough as the team didn't fill Philly's net. For the first time this year though (3 losses) it seems like JM is getting his starters wrong. Should Price play tomorrow? Probably. But, will it be Auld instead? Like we saw last week?

Comments

The Flyers never really dominated this game, but seemed to make the most of our mistakes. It also seemed as though they weren't making too many mistakes of their own. So, tonight we made our own good and bad luck. As a a team we actually played alright, especially in the second and early in the third. We out-shot and out-chanced them and at times had them on the ropes. We can't, however, be so careless in our own end as PK is quickly finding out. He certainly isn't the only one and I am of course focusing on the goals. But, giveaways by Picard, Hamrlik, Gill and Spacek all happened tonight too. Just because Philly gave up the puck more than us doesn't mean we should feel good about our count.

Tomorrow is now, for the first time in a long time, a must-win. We can't lose to a division-rival at home after losing 3 in a row. I would go with Price and Weber and put AK back with Pleks. We really have to go for it tomorrow because we have to avoid the trap that we always fall into after our hot starts.