Game #26So Close, But Another Loss; On To LA

Details

Date: 01/12/2011
Opponent: Sharks
Location: San Jose

Loss: 3-4 (SO)

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

Habs goalscorers: Cammalleri, Desharnais, Cole (Gionta, Desharnais - SO)
Opposition goalscorers: McGinn, Couture, Clowe (Havlat, Handzus, Pavelski - SO)

Play of the game

The Habs got off to another good start tonight with the first goal, again, going to them. It was Cammalleri who really got the ball rolling on that goal as he made a nice play to enter the zone. It was then a quick pass to Cole who almost tucked one in. The save that Niemi had to make, however, took him out of the play and Desharnais and Subban were quick to react. David got the puck quickly to the point, PK spared us all 3 seconds and got off a quick shot and Camms was there to finish the play he started by deflecting the puck past the out of position 'tender.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

David Desharnais - Game Puck
He was back a little late on the tying goal, but offensively he was fantastic tonight. He scored a goal, a shootout goal and had two very, hard-earned assists. It doesn't matter if some think he is good enough and others don't as the fact of the matter remains that he has been the Habs's second best centre all year; the best tonight.

Erik Cole
If Cole took shootouts like he plays the games we would have won. He was great throughout and is once again turning his linemates into the hottest players on the team. Tonight he collected his 8th goal and 8th assist in a good game for him; it was really what we needed from him in the absence of Patches.

Michael Cammalleri
He wasn't happy with the way that he played last night (nor was I just so he knows). Well, tonight he turned it around as he and his line were our best. What I liked tonight was that he took initiative and because of it things happened. Next up is a trip to his former home, let's hope that he keeps the good play up and shows them a thing or two.

Defencemen

Raphael Diaz
An honourable mention goes to Subban (who was miles ahead of where he was last night) and to Gorges who was his same solid self. I liked Diaz tonight, however, as he played 27:48 (99.5% of which which was at even-strength) and wasn't on for a goal agaisnt. He will be a difficult player to take out of the line-up and seems to clearly now have the upper hand on his countryman Weber.

Alexei Emelin
Alex continues to grow in confidence and looks to be the NHL-ready player we had expected. There were a few defensive mess-ups, but most players had a few tonight. He made up for it with hits (one particularly good, clean one) and strong positional play. He even got quite involved (more so than usual at least) offensively which is a very, very good sign of him being comfortable with his role and abilities.

Goaltender

Carey Price
Price was great throughout the game as he stopped 38 of 41 sots. He made a few saves that were simply spectacular. He did, however, show his weakness tonight in the shootout. His lack of movement seems to make it easy for all shooters. When Handzus can make you look like a fool you know you have some work to do.

Comments

I was really hoping for a win tonight and after the 3rd goal, Cole's, I did think we had it. The odds are never going to be in our favour in the shootout, though, but a rare goal from Gionta seemed to give us a serious chance. At the end of the day we lost to a pretty good team. This isn't a game that slipped away as we were never really in full control. It is just a loss, a loss that could have been a win, but not a heart-breaker. In fact, 1 point isn't a bad result, especially when we look at in in isolation. Other positives from tonight are the fact that we played quite a bit better than yesterday, which is a sign that the players care (we all know that they are capable), and that our PP (all 1:29 of it) looked good. With the extra man we had good movement, quick passing and multiple attempts on net. It is the best sign that I have seen from that unit in weeks. Now, let's get Markov in there to continue with what was started tonight.