Best of the worst

credit habs inside/out

Well, I said that the Montreal Canadiens stand a better chance of winning when Guillaume Latendresse is playing next to Tanguay and Koivu. And while the Habs won, it clearly showed that the problem/solution wasn’t Latendresse playing or not on that line. Guy Carbonneau said after the game he was happier with his team effort, especially on the defensive side. It’s true. They played better defensively. But I think the coach tried his best not to simply lash out on some players.

Koivu was a lot more honest about his team play. They need to do better than that. They need to play better as a unit and the solution/problem can’t be imputed on a single player. Or even a couple of players. Or the coach. EVERYBODY has to give more than they are giving right now. Well, to a couple of exceptions.

Carey Price is playing his ass off and the team owes him a couple of victories. He has been spectacular multiple times this year and yesterday wasn’t different. I can’t blame him on the first goal, a shot that deflected off Markov and ended up on Heatley’s stick. I was wondering why put Ruttu and Vermette before Heatley in shootout but then again, I don’t really care. You could blame Price on the second goal, I guess. But he can’t do everything alone and Bouillon didn’t help on that play, letting Foligno get to the puck without doing much.

Saku Koivu has been one of the most consistent Habs this season. Tanguay is getting results and shows how talented he is but he isn’t working as hard as the captain. Clearly, Saku wants to win. It’s a shame not enough players show the same intensity because we wouldn’t have to talk about a team nobody feel confident about despite a very respectable 24 points in 18 games. The team is getting the results their talent should get them, but they are lucky. It could easily be 8 points less by the way they played.

Now we know officially that Komisarek will be missed longer than we all hoped. Five weeks is a long time in this sport. Will Bob Gainey be able to move some of those extra veterans on offence to help his defensive corps? Let’s just hope because neither of the players we have right now are able to effectively replace Big Mike.

I really liked Begin reaction, when facing Cody Bass. As soon as he saw Laraque over his shoulder he dropped the gloves. F*** you Georges. I’m fighting for ice time here! Also, I swear I saw Carbo talk with his players on the bench before the shootout and say “five hole”. Saku tried a different move than usual (that was a big surprise) going between the legs and both goals were there. The only player who didn’t try it was Kovalev.

So there you have it. Out of two teams playing way under their talent level, we are the best. Yay! I guess… Now we’ll see if they can pull it off against Boston.

Urgh. This has the potential to be another ugly jersey retirement…

Sens hit a wall

I am barely coming back from the Bell Center where, for the first time this year, the Tricolore showed us why nearly everyone saw them as favourite in the East. It was a damn near flawless game. And as I mentioned in my article earlier today, the best defense is a good offense. And today, the best offense offered their goaltender a shutout, probably trying to redeem themselves for the lacklustre effort they showed in the past couple of games. And this shutout was well deserved by the entire team.

As soon as the first period started, you could see the message Carbo sent his players was well received. They skated harder, they hit harder and at midpoint were leading 11-2 in shots. The powerplay (0 for 4 if I am not mistaken) managed some solid opportunities but just couldn’t bury the puck. Then again, the penalty killing unit was superb all night long with the winning goal, stopped Heatley and his gang four time also and even managed to receive a standing ovation after being more threatening than Ottawa’s powerplay.

As I mentioned, it was a near flawless game. I spotted three things that bugged me. The first one was the younger Kostitsyn. He seemed slower than usual which may be caused by Carbo’s decision to have him play on the fourth line a couple of shifts early in the game. Dandenault, who replaced him on the third line early and took back his spot later, played one of his best game this year.

Consequently, the fourth line bugged me. While I’ll admit Laraque is playing his best hockey has a Habs, he still is a huge downgrade from Kostopoulos, Begin or Dandenault. It’s a shame to see him eat ice time that could go to faster, more reliable players. If at least he was the guy protecting his players instead of Bouillon. I’ll give him that, I didn’t see Chris Neil too often trying to play with Carey Price. MAYBE he is a good deterrent.

Last but not least, Komisarek. I love the guy, but his penalty late in the third was pointless and stupid. He was getting away roughing Dany Heatley but tried to see how much further he could go. It reminded me of a kid in class, trying to see how much it took to piss of his teacher. He does it too often for my tastes.

Beside those three minor complaints it was a great game. Solid from start to finish, the Habs showed they can control the pace and flow, create their chances and limit the opposition. Yes, they allowed 28 shots but very few presented any kind of danger to Carey Price.

I couldn’t ask for tickets to a better game. Now bring on Boston…

Random notes:

• My tickets were 38$. While I didn’t expect great seats, I didn’t expect a ladder and a map to a lamppost.

• I swear too much for the family section.

• How many hot babes wearing bleu-blanc-rouge can you fit in a building? Apparently: a lot. I just replaced Angelina Jolie as my no 1 fantasy.

• The worst thing in the family section wasn’t the kids, but the “entertainers” the Montreal Canadiens put in every section. No. I don’t want to dance. I want to watch hockey.

Until next game…