Game #43Habs Lose Game, Top Playoff Performer

Details

Date: 12/01/2012
Opponent: Bruins
Location: Boston

Loss: 1-2

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

Habs goalscorers: Weber
Opposition goalscorers: Caron, Lucic

Play of the game

It has to be our goal, the one by the player that has said he is better than other defencemen on this team. The goal was a screen shot on a PP, not much to it, but a goal against Thomas is always welcomed. He is right, though, he is better than a few of our D. What Yannick fails to mention, however, is that he isn't that great himself. We would hope that goals like this would come more often - will they?

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Tomas Plekanec
I think Tom cares and I think that he likes the Habs. Didn't see too much of that tonight, but didn't see anything much better from the rest. He won 1/3 of the games face-offs, 76% of his. Can a change of linemates get him going? Something has to.

Erik Cole
Our best player, even not at his best, is still our best player. He tried hard to score at times and wants to win, you can see that much on his face. With Pacioretty firing blanks and a new player coming (and the fact that we lose most of the time) one may look elsewhere for linemates for the big winger - could he and Gomez work?

Mike Blunden
Nothing against Blunden as I like him, but isn't a bit sad that he is in here? Against the league's best you would hope that someone other than your worst player could crack the dome. He was in it tonight, though and for that I am giving him credit. His five hits stood out the most for me.

Defencemen

Hal Gill
This wasn't a great game for Emelin, Gorges nor Subban, so, the door is opened. Gill got more minutes tonight and took a step back in the right direction with his defensive play, particularly the play on the PK. I am not sure if he has a place on this team anymore, but, to tell you the truth, I am having a hard time figuring out who really does these days anyway.

Yannick Weber
It says something when your 8th defenceman can step in and make the dome and score the team's only goal. It tells us that what Cammalleri and Weber himself were saying is pretty bang on. I think that Weber has a long way to go to earn a regular spot, but with Campoli, Gill and Kaberle ahead of him let's just say that the door is open and that the chance is his to take.

Goaltender

Carey Price - Game Puck
Price didn't look too sharp tonight, but was still far and away our best player. I question whether he had to wander on the first goal. I have never been huge on playing the puck at every opportunity, but if I was to be my most hesitant it would be when the game was tight and we were on the road in an arena with unfamiliar bounces. The second goal was a bad play from Plekanec and Gorges. Thomas would have been lucky and made the save, Price got unlucky and it went in.

Comments

There were two parts to this game, the game itself and the trade. As for the game we went down, on the road, to a very good team. It was unlucky, yes, but we didn't do much throughout to change that luck. The most upsetting thing, however, is that Boston didn't play that well. Beyond that bad bounce we tied them and that is despite very, very pathetic refereeing (making up for the Marchand suspension?)

The second part of the game started when it was noticed, early in the third, that Camms wasn't on the ice nor the bench. Unless you are Gionta or Gomez this generally means that you aren't hurt again, but that you have been traded. In the end we picked up a worse version of what Cammalleri was and should be. Bourque, however, can't be too much worse than Mike had been this year. We also got an upgrade in the prospect department and the draft pick department. All this and salary was shed. But, will Bourque become a problem and will that salary tie our hands? I can't say no, although many people thought that our hands were tied with Camms and now, miraculously, they aren't. I can't help but be upset, however, about the fact that we just lost our best playoff performer (non-Halak) of the past three years. He was money in the post-season and, for me, it is worth the regular season that he is having to hold on to that. When our team changed directions in 2009 I was most happy with the Cammalleri signing. To me, this was the biggest name player that we had brought in since Kovalev. The biggest out-of-town star that we made a move for since the lock-out. There was promise and after four playoff series and an electrifying Centennial game I knew that we had a big-game player. I am sad to see him go as I don't care if a player is selfish, has an ego or is soft in his own end when he can score. He hadn't been scoring lately, but I always believed that he would again. After all, you can't teach what we just lost.

Game #41Payback; Canadiens Comeback To Beat Lightning

Details

Date: 07/01/2012
Opponent: Lightning
Location: Montreal

Win: 3-1

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

Habs goalscorers: Blunden, Pacioretty, Cole
Opposition goalscorers: Lecavalier

Play of the game

Getting back in the game once down was critical, but I did expect it would happen. What I didn't expect was that we would get contribution from our 4th line. It was Blunden, in fact, that scored the goal, his first as a Hab. I would have maybe kept Nokelainen in over Blunden, but Cunneyworth obviously knows better than me. The move paid off with a timely goal and it was a nice goal to boot. I don't expect too many more from Mike, but his goal is a reminder of just how skilled all NHLers are when they have space and time to do what they want.

Dome hockey team

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

Forwards

Max Pacioretty - Game Puck
Max had a great goal and picked up an assist on Cole's goal at the end. Beyond that, however, there was so much offence; he led the team in shots (7), attampts (11) and take-aways (2). He also drew the penalty at the end of the game which meant the Habs avoided a potentially frantic final 30 seconds. We needed a better effort from him and we got it tonight. His line was one of the big reasons that Tampa got little going all night as they were, more often than not, in the Lightning's end. I like that lines have formed and that people know their roles, I think that that is helping us right now.

Erik Cole
It was between him and Desharnais. Both players played well, but I thought that Cole had the slight edge tonight. Stealing David's goal at the end of the game, of course, plays in his favour! Not his most dominant game, but he showed that good players can have quieter nights, yet still be better than most of their opposition.

Andrei Kostitsyn
Despite Cole's line being in the dome almost entirely I felt that Eller's line was the most dangerous all night. They didn't score, but came oh so close on so many different occasions. The best element on that line was Kostitsyn as he continued his very strong play. When your top line is your third best on most nights and they aren't playing that badly you know that things must be going well.

Defencemen

Josh Gorges
Gorges came back hard after Subban lost the puck in the offensive zone and took the puck away from Downie beautifully. That was his best play all game, a game in which he was solid throughout. As Gill fades away as a regular it is Gorges who is becoming the shot-blocking machine; tonight he added five to his tally.

Alexei Emelin
Three of our seven guys are being used sparingly and I think that it is brilliant. So, it is like we have four regular D and Emelin is now firmly in that group. It was more of the same tonight as there were more hits and more rushes. I believe that it is only a matter of time till his rushes and shots turn into assists and goals. The more I watch this player, the more I like what we have here. He could very well end up being a fixture on our back end for many years to come.

Goaltender

Carey Price
Price played a very good game and could have easily had a shutout. The goal was a bit unlucky (or very skilled from Lecavalier), but wouldn't go in 9 times out of 10. When the team plays well for a full 60 minutes it makes Carey's life a whole lot easier. Tonight they only allowed 24 shots and that makes it much more realistic to expect him to let in 2 or less than when we let up 35 or more.

Comments

The knock on the Habs earlier this season (like in December) was that if we went down we were out of it. Well, for a second straight game we showed that there is fight in us and that, given time, we can find a way back in. Tampa managed to get the lead, but weren't necessarily playing that much better than us. In fact here was a team just like us in their fragility. For some reason they are another team that lost to Boston in 7 and is having a hard time this year. So, the Habs did well to come back, but I can't say that it was too hard. We just kept plugging away and the chances came and within them a couple of goals. And, once we were back in it we kept playing that same way. It seemed that we had a plan and our goal was to execute that plan for a full 60 minutes. When that happens and the players are on we show our depth, speed and tenacity. This 'small' team is winning a lot of battles right now as players like Cole, Emelin and Kostitsyn are providing the muscle that most people don't think we even have.

I wanted to see us play seven defencemen for a long time. Not seven D like Carbo, Martin or Julien did, though, but to use them all as D. For the past two games we have done just that and it is working rather well. The cost to the forwards is that we have a player from a top-3 line play on the 4th rather than a D-man . That means we get a better player on the ice more and our 4th line is better than if we used a 4th-liner or a D in that spot. The benefit can also be seen at the back end. Gorges, Subban, Emelin and Diaz (and eventually Markov) are all-around guys, guys that can log 20+ minutes and play in all situations. But, I think that it is clear that, ideally, Gill, Kaberle and Campoli (and Weber) aren't. So, what we do is we take that 34-38 minutes of ice-time and divide it by three instead of two. It doesn't hurt the team as those guys are only still on for about 17-19 minutes as a pair (about 12 minutes on average each) and it also keeps them fresher. It also keeps each individual off the ice (which isn't a bad thing) more. You can then use those three when the timing suits them - Kaberle and Campoli when more offence is needed and Gill when we need a bit more of a stay-at-home presence. I really like the concept and hope that we keep it up, especially when Andrei gets back.