Details
Date: 22/3/2011
Opponent: Sabres
Location: Montreal
Loss: 0-2
Habs Goalie: Price (L)
Opposition Goalie: Miller (W)
Habs goalscorers: None
Opposition goalscorers: Gerbe (2; 1 EN)
Play of the game
I was hoping to have this determined for me in the dying minutes of the third with something a little more decisive. Without that, I'll go with Cammalleri's steal with a little under 9 minutes left in the third. A man with the power to change the momentum of a game stole a lame Buffalo pass and charged down the ice to get a solid chance on Miller. Sadly, it didn't work out in our favour, but it represents the kind of thing we'll need to see from Cammalleri and others down the final stretch.
Dome hockey team
The 6 players we're playing in a no changes, do or die contest in the dome
Forwards
Scott Gomez - Game Puck
Tonight Gomez was without a doubt our best two-way forward, and in my opinion our best forward, period. He was extremely effective on the PK, especially during our second penalty, and had good forechecking all night. He broke up some transition zone plays and spearheaded some of our best offense. In other words, it's almost as if he was playing like Plekanec out there.
Andrei Kostitsyn
Our most lively offensive player tonight, Andrei even had the RDS boys talking positively about him despite not scoring. His line often looked dangerous tonight and he did a lot of the hard work in creating those chances.
Travis Moen
Though Desharnais also had a good game, I felt that Moen was all over the ice tonight, and he was playing hard for the puck. I saw him making hits, taking shots, digging in the corners, and breaking up plays in our end. He made a big impact in this game and seemed to be really gearing up for playoff-style hockey.
Defencemen
James Wisniewski
Predictable, but he's so consistently good! Again, great hockey sense, really knows when to join the rush and when to hang back. Had some great shots tonight and was part of a rush with Gomez that nearly tied it with about 2 minutes left.
Roman Hamrlik
Again with the tried, tested and true. Although a little boring, I think it's a good sign when we put our two best defenders in here as often as we do. Hamrlik once again logged nearly 25 minutes of ice time but still seemed to be in the right places at the right times up to the end, creating a great chance about halfway through the 3rd.
Goaltender
Carey Price
Price played this one very well, and could have easily been given the game puck for this one. Buffalo's first goal was excellent, and certainly beyond anyone's abilities. It looked like he got a piece of a cross-crease pass that would likely have made it 2-0 a whole lot earlier. Overall though, I didn't think he was challenged much by this Buffalo squad and as a result, didn't get a chance to really shine.
Comments
A pretty tight game overall, there were good rushes and some end-to-end action, but overall play felt stifled as both teams played solid defence. I thought we looked pretty good and played the game we like to play in our own end, no one really jumped out at me as playing terribly (except maybe Mara). It also seemed to me that we had less trouble gaining the offensive zone than I've seen us have in too many games this season, but Buffalo did an excellent job of dismantling our offence. Ruff must have done something right during the intermission after we ended the first with some hard pressure, as we never really got many extended chances after that. Liked seeing Gill doing a lot on second efforts, even if I'd rather he got it right the first time. I could have done without Subban and Mara getting penalized after they've tied up their men. Overall a solid effort, this one could have gone either way. Unfortunately, it didn't fall in our favour, and it hurts to lose this one against a division rival only 6 points back with a game in hand.
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