Game #69 Canadiens Play Penguins To Perfection

Details

Date: 12/3/2011
Opponent: Penguins
Location: Pittsburgh

Win: 3-0

Habs Goalie: Price (W)
Opposition Goalie: Fleury (L), Johnson

Habs goalscorers: Plekanec, Moen, Cammalleri
Opposition goalscorers: None

Play of the game

Some great saves and some very pretty goals to go with all the little things done right. The play that reflected the Canadiens resolve in this game more than any other was the patience that Carey Price showed on his save on the very first Pittsburgh PP. Carey dealt with the bad bounce, trusted his positioning and reactions and just waited out James Neal. A goal would have changed the game. The save ensured the Canadiens could just stick to details and run out the clock.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Mike Cammalleri – Game Puck
Cammalleri was on and focused. You could see that from the moment they showed him stepping on for warm up. This was the Cammalleri of the 2010 playoffs again. Quick to react to loose pucks and usually to them first. He really set the tone for the quick put down in this game. His pass on the Pleks goal was outstanding, his own goal was pretty too. Besides that, he was always backchecking and often slowing the play down in his own end before creating the outlets from the zone.

Tomas Plekanec
See Cammalleri above. Tomas played just as well as his partner in most aspects of the game today. His goal should bring hope that he's returning to his dynamic best, as it was a slick goalscorer vintage. He too was a defensive pest and key to ushering Pittsburgh into dead ends.

Scott Gomez
This game was won early and so early plays have big significance. Early on, Gomez was on the ball (puck actually, I guess) as he zipped around the Pittsburgh zone winning and keeping possession. His play on Goal #2, the tipping point goal was just classic Gomez – a puck battle won and a pass to space he knew his player would reach before anyone else. A good game for Scott, together with his linemates.

Defencemen

Roman Hamrlik
I thought the whole team played well. But Hamrlik and Wisniewski played the bulk of the minutes against Pittsburgh's remaining star, Jordan Staal. I thought the Staal line did stall tonight and that's largely because they took ill advised outside shots instead of showing patience. Credit to Hamrlik and Wisniewski for being tight on them all the time. Credit to Hammer for blocking 7 shots all himself.

PK Subban
Don't ask me why Pittsburgh's players and fans suddenly took interest in targeting Subban when they realised they had slept through 30 minutes of play. I may have missed the reason. Subban, though, didn't take the bait (unless you count rushing the length of the ice and being penalized for carrying too much momentum). Earlier in the season he would have been baited. Subban growing up has been a big story of the season and the mature PK gives the Habs a formidable defensive player at the back – another reason the Pens looked to have nothing going.

Goaltender

Carey Price
Never in question (except maybe for a split second before the post did its job). Carey played calmly and gelled seamlessly with his defence once again. There were a couple of big saves, but most of the difference came from the calm he created for his partners on the team. Pittsburgh had no answer for this.

Comments

This game wasn't a "classic", or so Ron MacLean signed off. But you know what, this game was the classic item on every Canadiens fan's wish list. Most times the team wins by taking an early lead, fans complain about sitting back and letting the other team come on. If the team wins with a comeback, the complaint is about a bad start. This game offers no room for complaints. The team started well, scored early, scored again, then again, didn't take penalties, defended well, let up few shots of consequence, shut out the opposition, never had a late scare, and so on.

The CBC crew insinuated that Montreal had perfected this art, but for me this might be the first evidence of them playing this solid a game against a team that's still trying to win (sorry Florida). I think the team has been building to a game like this, but it's nice to see it. I was also happy to see that Pittsburgh thought better of making this a Bostonian nightmare by playing hockey right to the end. There was a brief period where I thought Subban might be punched with gloved fists for the last 20 minutes.

On the CBC coverage of the Pacioretty hit: I am a little underwhelmed. I know they are saving their party line for Donald S (?!?) Cherry, but they could have shared an opinion. Bylsma's interview was interesting, as he's always worth listening to. Ron Wilson's interview was predictable and only reinforced the need for the NHL to turn away from dinosaurs in positions of consequence. I guess we'll see where they really stand after the Leafs go down to the Sabres in the first.

Lidstrom Opens The Door

Niklas Lidstrom, the first European captain to win a Stanley Cup (congratulations), opened a door last night...

... for Don Cherry to disappear into the sunset.

Don Cherry and his peers have been selling the notion for years that Europeans don't make good captains, that they don't care as much about the Cup. Clearly an affront to any competitor who leaves his own home to play the sport he loves, his inane ramblings on the subject now have no place – a day long overdue.


I don't think I'm alone on the call for time on Cherry here. I'd say this blogger is with me. Probably the best player on the planet too.

Most interesting the top newspaper in the country thinks Cherry and his toady sidekick are now actually costing the CBC the battle in the coverage of the finals.

Funny really that a dinosaur like Cherry should still be getting air time at all. In what was hopefully his last time on national television, Cherry yet again embarrassed himself by trying to say he was responsible for Mario Lemieux's maturation and that he is doing the same thing for Crosby (Crosby, when interviewed, said he watches HNIC when he can – occasionally – maybe his lessons actually come from somewhere else). Cherry then went on to explain that he keys on players like Roberts and Malone because he (and insinuated he was among a few here) knew what was going on. His evidence for his all knowing was some shouting on the bench and then a goalmouth scramble goal.

Wow Don, well done. We're very impressed.

Worse for me than the buffoon himself, is that Cherry's ideals get air time from others. Take this quote from the NHL website this morning:

"Clearly, times have changed. North American players are not the only ones who are leaders - evidenced by Lidstrom's historic moment Wednesday night."

No acknowledgment that the idea never held water in the first place. Times must have changed. 20, 30 or 40 years ago Europeans were, as we all know from watching hockey, lesser leaders. Even Mike Babcock, who must surely now be an expert in the merits of European hockey and leadership, does not go far enough:

"I don't know who thinks they're not … that's ridiculous," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said of European players. "You're living in the past if you believe that."

Living not in fairyland, but in the past?


Maybe we should hope to see Cherry back. If only to witness what he can come up with next. For example, as it became apparent more than a week before the inevitability of Cup victory was allowed to take place that Detroit would be victors, Don Cherry resorted recently to statistics to prove his stance:

"... (he) uses Nicklas Lidstrom's captaincy to question why Europeans have been in the NHL for 21 years, and there were 13 European captains this year, but Lidstrom was only the first European captain to lift the Cup."

Though starved for Cups in Eastern Canada, we have long known that Europeans make good captains. Koivu shines brightest of all Habs each and every time they make the playoffs. Sundin is the best Leaf by a few light years. And Daniel Alfredsson may have taken a couple of years to learn, but is the straw that stirs the drink for any Ottawa hopes. This article extols the virtues of Koivu and other Canadian captains. But what could the two reporters know about hockey today, they didn't coach in the NHL 30 years ago.


To the winners

Congratulations to The Red Wings on their Stanley Cup victory. In any case, Lidstrom and Zetterberg, Datsyuk and Franzen, Holmstrom and Kronwall laid this all to rest. They have proven that between the best scout in the league and the best defenceman you can win Cups other than by intimidation (Brian Burke style).

The Red Wings provide hope to people who prefer the passing and poise to the banging. And especially to Habs fans who choose to model on this intelligent franchise rather than their big bad Western rivals.