Game #1-7Great Season Comes To An End

Details

Date: 27/4/2011
Opponent: Bruins
Location: Boston

Loss: 3-4 (OT)

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

Habs goalscorers: Weber, Plekanec, Subban
Opposition goalscorers: Boychuk, Recchi, Kelly, Horton

Play of the game

We got the ultimate excitement tonight by coming back twice. In the end it looked like scoring first was what did it (ha!), but despite that we sure gave it our best. After Bergeron took a dumb (typical Bruin) penalty we got going on the PP. Cammalleri started the play when he gained the line, but almost gave it away with a weak pass at the blue-line. Gionta, however, took that pass and got it over to Pleks on his right with the subtlest of touches. Tom took the puck into the corner and then fed Subban with an incredible cross-ice pass. PK capped off an incredible season with a rocket of a shot, his second of these playoffs.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Brian Gionta
I liked what Brian did in the offensive zone tonight. Defensively wasn't horrendous, but -3 is never a good stat to carry around. He led the team in shots and came oh so close to scoring one or two. With a linemate to compliment him and Gomez this would have been a different series - I guess Chara's hit really worked out for the B's in the end...

Tomas Plekanec - Game Puck
I am happy that Pleks played so well tonight as he should be our best forward in most games. His tying goal was crucial and then his pass on PK's goal was world-class. His face-offs will need work over the summer, though as 20% is just bad. I can live with 40%, but when you lose 4 of 5 things can start to get ugly.

Michael Cammalleri
Mike had better games in this series, but tonight wasn't bad by any stretch. He picked up an assist and was instrument on our third goal. Like Gionta, however, he was -3 and that is something that will sting over the summer I am sure. All in all, though, this was another fantastic playoffs for Camms and I look forward to more of that next April, May and June.

Defencemen

PK Subban
Subban wasn't at his best in the defensive zone tonight, but all in all he was still our best defender. He also scored the most important goal of his life late in the third. He will only get better (hopefully no Phaneuf or Schenn for him) and I look forward to having him line-up with Markov and Gorges next year. Who else will be around is yet to be seen, but PK seems like he'll be an asset for years to come. I also like how he played through the boos, because we all know that players with bad attitudes and who are dirty get booed, oh wait, that is why they boo him, right?

Jaroslav Spacek
Spacek got bounced around last night and, less that 20 hours on, came out and played a solid game for the Habs tonight. Only he and Sopel ended up with a positive rating and it was Jaro that led the team in blocked-shots. He didn't have the season nor the playoffs that he did last year, but with time left on his contract I am sure that he will be back. He proved that he can be a 5/6 type guy and can play on both the PP and PK. He should enjoy the summer as I feel that this was a rough year for him physically and he'll do well to get some real rest.

Goaltender

Carey Price
He didn't have his best game of the playoffs, but certainly gave his team a serious chance to win. All in all it was a fantastic season for Price who has shown that he can play a lot of games, win in the regular season and playoffs and shake off bad goals and bad starts. Goaltending like this is what quality teams are built around and I am already looking forward to a healthy, more experienced, more competitive Habs team in 2011/12.

Comments

We started the game poorly and that may have been the difference. It may have been the difference because we could never get a lead, get to our comfort spot. We did well to come back twice, but we are a far harder team to play against when we are leading by a goal or two. It was more of the same for Boston throughout (2 head-shots on Halpern, a spear on the 3rd goal) and I feel that their team is a disgrace to the sport of hockey. They'll move on to face Philly who is as dirty and perhaps dirtier, at least in these playoffs. It is a shame that those teams got through as it will give the media 12 months of saying how teams like Montreal and Buffalo are too small and not tough enough to compete against these forces. The bottom line is that we out-played Boston in this series, not at all times, but over 7 games I do believe we were better. We had better chances, played cleaner, but just didn't get the luck that is so obviously needed to go anywhere in these playoffs (refs are no help whatsoever).

It was a great season when you consider all that happened to this team. Losing Halak last summer, Markov for the whole year and Gorges and Pacioretty for a good chunk of the year all seemed like insurmountable obstacles. The Habs, however, played a fantastic regular season and then got to within a goal of the second round. This team is only getting better and I think that we are getting more and more of the right pieces into the right spots. It will be a long summer with a lot to thing about, but at the end of the day we should be happy with our team as they once again proved that they will always be force to be reckoned with in the playoffs.