Game #70 Habs Fans Unsure Whether to Celebrate Last-Second Point

Details

Date: 3/12/2012
Opponent: Sabers
Location: Buffalo

Loss 2-3 (OT)

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

Habs goalscorers: Cole, Desharnais
Opposition goalscorers: Ennis (2), Myers

Play of the game

Another play of the game brought to you by the Pacioretty/Desharnais/Cole line. In this version, total chaos breaks out in the Buffalo end with Montreal finally finding some offense in the dying seconds of the 3rd. After a couple of shots on Miller and a couple of battles for pucks finally being won, a cross-crease pass found itself heading straight for Desharnais' tape and he made no mistake in putting this one into the wide-open net to tie the game with 5 seconds left on the clock.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Max Pacioretty
I'm sure we all had a bit of a gasp when we saw him go off in the second after taking a puck to the ankle, but Pacioretty not only came back, he also led the team in shots with 5 in only 15:39 of ice time. Didn't really deserve the penalty he took during the power play in the 3rd in my opinion.

Erik Cole
Scored the opening goal to give some vital breathing room. Again filled his role as the offensive—well, maybe not juggernaut, but about the closest thing we have to one.

David Desharnais
Set up Cole's early goal and scored a beauty himself in the dying seconds. Currently on a 0.8 point/game pace. These 3 players accounted for 11 of our 28 shots tonight, and our defencemen another 10. Is it any wonder these are the only 3 forwards we ever see in the dome these days?

Defencemen

PK Subban
Another great game for Subban. I really want to see him continue developing at the pace he has over the past 2-3 seasons, and having a mentor like Markov on the ice will help in that respect. Just having another reliable defenceman might have done the trick, and Markov brings far more than that to the table.

Andrei Markov
Head and shoulders above any of our other defencemen. Markov has great hockey sense and a fantastic sense of timing. Even with a -2 finish, he reminded me tonight of what a great player he really is and how happy we should be to have him back. Here's hoping we actually see him for more than a handful of games next season.

Goaltender

Peter Budaj - Game Puck
Honestly sorry to not see Budaj play more given the game he had. He made some truly amazing stops and showed smart positioning and a fair amount of agility throughout the contest. I don't think Price would have necessarily stopped anything Budaj didn't tonight – the first Ennis goal in particular was spectacular.

Comments

It's feeling a little like a broken record around here these days. But with only one line producing any offense at all and good goaltending, basically 4 of 6 dome spots are already taken in a given game. And with Gomez forgetting what the second half of "give and go" offense means, we're unlikely to see much from him, Eller or anyone on that wing. Plekanec seems to only be interested in special teams goals, and Bourque seems to be still finding his feet.

Buffalo had strong forechecking and we had a very difficult time getting established in their zone. The unbalanced shot total here really does reflect the zone domination of the Sabers. Once again, Ruff showed why he's such a respected coach and came out with a solid game plan that was very effective in shutting us down.

Much as I hate seeing us lose, I don't know how I feel about pulling a point from the fire with 5 seconds left in the game. Makes for an exciting finish, sure. But I wouldn't be quite so unhappy to lose a position or two in the draft if it means finishing ahead of the Leafs, who are only 3 points ahead in the standings...