Game #72Montreal Gives It Their Best Shot, But Still Get Stuck With A Point

Details

Date: 16/03/2012
Opponent: Senators
Location: Ottawa

Loss: 1-2 (OT)

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

Habs goalscorers: Plekanec
Opposition goalscorers: Greening, Kuba

Play of the game

Sometimes choosing this is hard, sometimes it is easy, though, like tonight. When the Habs make one, and only one, good play it is pretty straightforward. That play, of course, was our goal. It was Ryan White's stick that started the play when it blocked a Senators PP pass. The puck then went to the speedy Plekanec who made a very nice move before unloading a bullet to the top right corner.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Erik Cole
It is possible that Erik now sees the value of playing for a pick as tonight wasn't vintage Cole. There were moments that excited, however, as he still showed some speed and strength on the puck. Let's just say that the others made this a pretty easy dome for him to bag.

Tomas Plekanec
He scored a goal, his 14th and played 27+ minutes. The Habs are certainly getting their money's worth from Plekanec of late as he continues to play well, and a lot, despite being saddled with the likes of Ryan White and Rene Bourque; players that should not be on an NHL 2nd line. They need to find Tom some wingers to play with this summer because I can't see anyone on the roster (assuming the Desharnais line remains intact) being the solution.

Max Pacioretty
I had to choose someone and, of the legitimate options, he was the only one without any penalty minutes. Playing well, to me, still means playing well even though those that took a lot of penalties increased Ottawa's chances (and our at 0 points). So, I guess the dome, at this point, isn't necessarily who I liked best on the night.

Defencemen

Josh Gorges
No Markov, Kaberle or Diaz meant that it was more big minutes and more special teams for Josh. He did OK tonight and was better than the bottom four. He still looks tired though and hasn't been playing as well. My guess is that he is going to rest a lot this summer; good thing he gets an extra month.

PK Subban
I wasn't sure about Subban as he didn't play his best, but at the end of the day it was still good enough. He got in a rare fight tonight and had to put up with his usual (and unfounded; does anyone know why he gets booed in every rink?) boos. It would be nice to see him get the call to play for Canada next month as he could use some big-game, meaningful-hockey development this year.

Goaltender

Carey Price - Game Puck
Carey was great tonight and was very close to a win and even a shutout despite how badly his teammates were outplayed. He was probably the biggest single reason why we got a point and why it even looked like a competitive game on the scoresheet. I'd play Budaj tomorrow, though as the Habs need to cool it and Price could use a Saturday night off.

Comments

Did Plekanec break the game-plan? Wait, what does the game-plan say about penalty-killing, are you allowed to take shots from the high slot? That goal, almost a fluke goal, gave us the lead and almost gave us a win. That is pretty crazy considering how badly we played and how much we were outpayed by Ottawa. Add to that the fact that the Sens had 8 PPs and it is shocking that we even got to OT. So, was the game-plan to not really try to score and to not worry about taking penalties and to see what happens? That is what it looked like to me. Sad then, isn't it that the team that is now leading our division barely beat us. We could and should have been a better team this year and no matter how much I now want to finish low and be ready to go for October I can't help but be disappointed about what should have been a decent season.

It is not all lost, however, as Edmonton won and we did lose. Tomorrow is the Islanders and if we thought it was hard to let Ottawa win we should see what New York will be like. They have been trying to win hockey games for 30 years and have done about as well as Toronto has done at making good trades. 10 games to go now for the Habs, think we can get a good start to that tomorrow, please.