So the habs take game 1 against the Caps in overtime. Last night's game showed that when it comes time for playoffs, all regular season stats are to be thrown out the window. According to all the experts (tsn, rds, sportsnet, radio) Montreal had no chance in hell against the caps and any win against the league's best team would require a God-like performance from one of the their goaltenders. Aside from the first period, Montreal didn't need to depend on Halak in order to win the game as the Canadiens were able to keep up with the Caps from the second period onwards, in fact, you could argue that Montreal was the better team after the first. Caps outshot Montreal 19-6 in the first period, but Montreal responded by outshooting the Caps 31-28 the rest of the way.
It was clear that the Habs were nervous/scared in the first period, they were trying to play it too safe, which ended up being disastrous, they were lucky the game out of the first 20 minutes with the game tied. Once they got comfortable, the Canadiens imposed their play on the Caps, in fact Jose Theodore deserves some credit for keeping the Caps in the game because Montreal had multiple scoring chances.
The Canadiens were able to contain Ovechkin all night, resulting in zero shots on net from the supersniper. Spacek played arguably his best game as a Hab; he did make a couple of mistakes, but his positives outweighed his negatives, especially his play on Alex the Great.
Halak was impressive as well, especially in the first, after that all he needed was just to play well positionally the rest of the way as the Canadiens were effective in containing the Caps' high octane offense, limiting their shots to the outside.
Scott Gomez continued his impressive playoff play, after last night's win he is now at 46 points in his last 43 playoff games. He made a beatiful move on Ovechkin and followed it by crashing the net and completing a great tic-tac-toe play. He topped off the rush by pushing Mike Green into the net after he scored his first off the 2010 playoffs.
Props must be given to Darche, Pyatt and Lapierre. Their non-stop play and energy gave Montreal a lot of momentum in the second, they also drew a couple of penalties and a few scoring chances. Props to Benoit Pouliot as well. He has been struggling lately, but he dished out a couple of nice hits and used his speed and stick to create turnovers. He made a bad mistake on the second goal, he should have cleared the puck, but overall he had a good game as he skated hard and used his size to his advantage.
Cammalleri played an impressive game. He didn't stop hustling all night, for a 5'9 185 pound forward, he gave the Caps D trouble down low all night, his linemates Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn had multiple scoring chances as well. Plekanec scored a beautiful goal in OT and it could not have been more fitting. After being misquoted by the media and made fun of by Theodore, Plekanec did his talking on the ice.
Finally, props to Jacques Martin for adjusting his game plan after the 1st intermission. For a guy who loves the passive trap system, he really sold the forecheck game to his team.
It's still important to remember that it is only one game and that the series is far from over, but so long as the Habs can use their speed against Washington's less then stellar defense and so long as the Canadiens forwards continue to backcheck and help out their d-men, the habs will give themselves a chance to win every night.
I fully expect Washington to come out flying next game, but that's not always a good thing. All the pressure is on them, especially Ovechkin. We'll see what happens, looking forward to the rest of the series. Hopefully, if the habs play another good game, they will get some respect from media and fans outside of Montreal.
Go habs Go.
It was clear that the Habs were nervous/scared in the first period, they were trying to play it too safe, which ended up being disastrous, they were lucky the game out of the first 20 minutes with the game tied. Once they got comfortable, the Canadiens imposed their play on the Caps, in fact Jose Theodore deserves some credit for keeping the Caps in the game because Montreal had multiple scoring chances.
The Canadiens were able to contain Ovechkin all night, resulting in zero shots on net from the supersniper. Spacek played arguably his best game as a Hab; he did make a couple of mistakes, but his positives outweighed his negatives, especially his play on Alex the Great.
Halak was impressive as well, especially in the first, after that all he needed was just to play well positionally the rest of the way as the Canadiens were effective in containing the Caps' high octane offense, limiting their shots to the outside.
Scott Gomez continued his impressive playoff play, after last night's win he is now at 46 points in his last 43 playoff games. He made a beatiful move on Ovechkin and followed it by crashing the net and completing a great tic-tac-toe play. He topped off the rush by pushing Mike Green into the net after he scored his first off the 2010 playoffs.
Props must be given to Darche, Pyatt and Lapierre. Their non-stop play and energy gave Montreal a lot of momentum in the second, they also drew a couple of penalties and a few scoring chances. Props to Benoit Pouliot as well. He has been struggling lately, but he dished out a couple of nice hits and used his speed and stick to create turnovers. He made a bad mistake on the second goal, he should have cleared the puck, but overall he had a good game as he skated hard and used his size to his advantage.
Cammalleri played an impressive game. He didn't stop hustling all night, for a 5'9 185 pound forward, he gave the Caps D trouble down low all night, his linemates Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn had multiple scoring chances as well. Plekanec scored a beautiful goal in OT and it could not have been more fitting. After being misquoted by the media and made fun of by Theodore, Plekanec did his talking on the ice.
Finally, props to Jacques Martin for adjusting his game plan after the 1st intermission. For a guy who loves the passive trap system, he really sold the forecheck game to his team.
It's still important to remember that it is only one game and that the series is far from over, but so long as the Habs can use their speed against Washington's less then stellar defense and so long as the Canadiens forwards continue to backcheck and help out their d-men, the habs will give themselves a chance to win every night.
I fully expect Washington to come out flying next game, but that's not always a good thing. All the pressure is on them, especially Ovechkin. We'll see what happens, looking forward to the rest of the series. Hopefully, if the habs play another good game, they will get some respect from media and fans outside of Montreal.
Go habs Go.
Dude, don't get your hopes high. lol. The caps are a force not to be reckon with. They're beatable for sure with good defense, but the Habs cannot keep them boxed in and produce 4 victories. This is not the Bruins they're playing against. Halak is something though. And the one guy you do not want to anger is Ovechkin.
ReplyDeleteDid you see the drunk guy in the stands who was on camera after the game? lol
We'll see man. Caps qon 19 of 24 games against their division and scored 100+ goals in those games. Their stats are definately skewed. Also when it comes time for playoffs, it doesn't really matter. I think the 2002 habs-bruins playoffs proves that. You guys had that monster line of Murray-Thornton-Guerin against the tiny habs and we won the series. The game is played in the stands, we'll find out who wins once a team wins 4 games.
ReplyDeleteThe habs played the caps like they did during the regular season. They manages to get two wins in 4 games against them despite never having a full lineup. Does that mean I expect Montreal to win? No I don't expect anything, I just want the habs to win.
As for the drunk guy, anyone with a Shultz jersey has to be a moron, but that was pure gold.
Yeah, anything can happen. That is true. As much as I believe the Caps will win the series, I doubt they'll get very far in the playoffs. Why? Because they are just terrible in their own zone and have question marks in goal. But everyone knows that, right? If the Caps play a very good defensive team with some offense like New Jersey, then they're in trouble. It's too bad that Boston don't have the offense, or else they could do some damage even without their best offensive player/weapon.
ReplyDeleteOne thing's for sure, the habs don't have any pressure. Much like the series against Boston when Jumbo Joe was still around. Speaking of Joe, damn is he a huge choker.
Hey Claudio, looks like Montreal was just as bad in their own zone as the Caps.
ReplyDeleteWell I'm pretty satisfied with the series so far Claudio. First it helped us identify what we need to work in order to get better and second we were in every game besides game 3 against the highest scoring team in the league.
Yesterday we lost 6-3, but they scored two empty-netters.
The difference between a team like Washington and us is that when we make mistakes, they'll immidiately capitalize on them(no pun intended).
I'm pretty satisfied though Claudio, it's like Boudreau said after game 3, "We've played one period in every game the entire series, our team shouldn't be taken the habs likely, we need to play better"
The Caps are just a high scoring team.
Like I said I'm pretty satisfied, we took game one. We lost game 2 by 1 goal, game 3 was just a terrible break down and game 4, well two-empty net goals.
Both in game 3 and 4 we controlled in game until Hamrlik made to erros that lead to shorthanded goals in each game.
But you know Montreal fans, oh the sky is falling!
Our smaller players weren't the problem because Gomez, Gionta, Plekanec, Andrei, Cammalleri and Pouliot all showed up this series. It was our bottom 6 and Hamrlik that were just terrible.
As for the caps, they'll probably go far so long as they play teams that can't contain their offense. If they play the Flyers, no doubt the Caps will take seeing as the Flyers D is average at best and Boucher is terrible.
Good for the Bruins, they're truly showing that anything can happen in the playoffs. They're missing their best player and are still taking it the Sabres who were highly favored. Good for them.
I haven't seen much of the Habs series due to the Bruins-Sabres series, which airs at the same time. Though I do check the habs-caps during breaks. I don't like the Caps; they are terrible in their own zone and besides their unbelievable offense they aren't that fun to watch. Then again, maybe it is because I love defensive games/battles - the smart, strategic way of hockey over just scoring goals. Yes, it may be boring hockey to many, but if you give it a chance it really is fun to watch.
ReplyDeleteThat's how the Caps will be beaten. Strong defensive play like the Bruins have been doing to the Sabres. But I am not saying that only the Bruins have a chance of beating the Caps. Oh no. Pens are up their, despite not being as good defensively. Detroit most certainly.
If you haven't watched or seen the highlights from yesterday's Bruins-Sabres double OT game, I strongly suggest you watch it. Not because I am a bruins fan, but that game contained multiple unbelievable saves by both goalies. Miller was incredible, and so was Rask. Miller made about 3 game saving saves in OT (one being an absolute rob on Satan, who later found redemption by winning it for Boston). As for Tuukka ..... holy shit. Insane. There is one, among many, save that stood out the most, and may very well be the save of the year. He dove (picture Bobby Orr's famous goal to win the stanley cup for Boston) from one side of the post to the other (in mid-air!) saving a sure-goal with his blocker in the third period. Has this been a goal, the Sabres would have led 3-2 in the third.
Back to the habs. lol. Like I said, I didn't watch much of the series, but I have noticed that Gomez has fought atleast once and even got a game misconduct. Wow. LOL. I have said it before, but the Habs NEED to get bigger upfront (top 6 center/wingers) and improve their D big time. Is P.K Suban ready for next season?