Montreal 2 Boston 4   (Bell Centre)
Canadiens lead the series 2-1

by Rick Stephens, AllHabs.net

MONTREAL, QC.– Two schools of thought emerged after the Game 3 win in Montreal by the Boston Bruins. Some said that it was a bad start by the home side but their strong finish was a good sign that the Canadiens can dominate the Bruins again on Thursday night which will give them a commanding 3-1 series lead. The second view is that the Habs have allowed the Bruins back into the series and have put themselves in a must-win situation for Game 4.

For me, I can’t help looking back to the improbability of the Habs winning two games in Boston. Prior to the start of the series many hoped that the Canadiens would escape TD Gardens without being embarrassed or getting too badly beat up. It can’t be overstated the enormity of accomplishment to leave Massachusetts with a 2-0 lead in the series.

One of the most action-packed opening sequences of a movie was the original Raiders of the Lost Ark. You will remember Indiana Jones overestimates the weight of the idol and when he swaps it with a bag of sand, all hell breaks loose. The stone Temple begins collapsing, and to escape Indy avoids a barrage of poison darts, leaps across a pit, barely slides under a closing steel door, and finally, (and most spectacularly) he outruns a giant rolling boulder.

That, my friends, is the Canadiens winning two games in Boston.

Continuing the analogy, last night’s game was Dr. Jones handing the idol to the evil Emile Belloq, who was waiting at the entrance to the temple, accompanied by Hovitos Warriors in warpaint and armed with blow guns.

After how hard they worked on the road, I was stunned last night at the lack of poise by the Canadiens in front of their home fans. They were ill-prepared to play. It was a jittery start for Montreal with poor decision-making, erratic passing, and rushed, disorganized play.

And then, Boston gift-wrapped an opportunity for the Canadiens to regain their composure. Andrew Ferrence and Zdeno Chara got their signals crossed a both ended up on the ice resulting in a too-many-men penalty. Unfortunately the Canadiens couldn’t capitalize with their feeble post-season power-play only managing one shot.

David Krejci scored just three seconds after the expiration of the Habs man-advantage and it was game over.

Let me guess the thoughts running through your mind: What? Game over? There was more than 56 minutes left.

The Canadiens made the game interesting and the final score close. However if it wasn’t for some simply awful goaltending by the so-called Vezina candidate Tim Thomas, the Habs wouldn’t have had a sniff. Thomas has given up two weak goals in each game of the series and last night was no exception.

Yes, Thomas made some good saves in the third, particularly on Andrei Kostitsyn. But by that time, the Bruins defenders would collapsed around him to beat the Montreal forwards to the juicy rebounds. For the third game in a row, Thomas was undeniably outplayed by Carey Price.

With the Canadiens in disarray in the first period, Price was forced to make several big saves to keep the game close. Price’s puck-handling gaffe that led to Rich Peverley’s goal was more misfortune than a bad decision. With the Habs trailing by two, Price was trying to initiate a quick break as he had successfully done many times in the series. His forwards didn’t provide many options and Price’s clearing pass deflected off Mark Recchi directly to Habs-killer Peverley.

Besides the result was already known at this point.

There he goes again. That’s the second time he wrote that a loss was inevitable. Is this guy crazy?

Jacques Martin cheerleaders will tell you that “the system” relies on the Montreal goaltender standing on his head. What they won’t tell you is that unless the Canadiens score the first goal, the game is all but over. The old coach has no answers, beyond the roulette wheel of varying line combinations, for playing catch-up.

Don’t believe me?

In the two playoff seasons coached by Martin, including Monday night’s game, the Habs have a record of 10-3 when scoring first. Interestingly, Mike Cammalleri has scored five of the first goals in the game. When the opposition scores first, you might as well cue the fat lady, as the Canadiens are 1-8.

Yikes. I guess that they better score first.

What’s the conclusion? A team coached by Jacques Martin, using a passive read and react system, does not play well from behind. Although some were buoyed by the exciting finish to the contest, perhaps it was little more than window dressing.

A strong start is crucial to the success of the Canadiens. Post-game coach Martin said, “We just didn’t compete for the first 30 minutes of the game.” Hearing those words, it’s reasonable for fans to wonder, why wasn’t the team prepared?

Carey Price added additional context to the words of his coach. “I think it started this morning, guys were horsing around during the morning skate and weren’t ready to play so I think we got what we deserved in the first period,” said Price. “After that I felt we came back and played like a focused hockey team, like we should.”

While certainly not intended, Price’s words were an indictment of the coaching staff and to a lesser extent the senior leadership group of the team. It is their responsibility to ensure that expectations are conveyed and that the club is adequately primed for the drop of the puck. Martin seemed content to play the ‘I told you so’ game afterwards rather than intervening when the situation was unraveling.

Getting off to a good start was mentioned as a key to winning in my game preview. But there were others.

The next most important to scoring first was controlling the middle of the ice — the Canadiens didn’t. Boston changed the way they moved through the neutral zone and the Montreal coaching staff didn’t respond. The Bruins not only gained the offensive zone easier, the Habs couldn’t play the transition game to take advantage of their speed and the slow Boston defense.

I suggested that Benoit Pouliot should have been watching the game from the press box. Pouliot occupied a line-up spot for five shifts and 3:21 of ice-time — Yannick Weber would have been the smarter choice. Another costly personnel decision was to pair Roman Hamrlik and Jaroslav Spacek at times — Spacek was minus-2 and guilty of several giveaways.

Discipline was identified as a key for the Canadiens. Pouliot disregarded that axiom taking a boneheaded penalty for charging at the end of the first period. While not penalized, P.K. Subban was guilty of selfish play who on occasion was caught out of position chasing a big hit.

The Canadiens power-play could have changed the complexion of the game (and the series) with an early goal. Instead Montreal was anemic with the man advantage going 0-for-5.

Montreal is off on Tuesday but will return to practise on Wednesday.  Undoubtedly it will be all business as the Canadiens prepare for a game they need to win — meaning the must score first.  Thursday’s game-time is 7:30pm from the Bell Centre.

All Habs game stars

1. Andrei Kostitsyn
2. Mike Cammalleri
3. Carey Price

Roster notes

Yannick Weber, Paul Mara, and Alexandre Picard were healthy scratches. Jeff Halpern and Max Pacioretty were out with injuries. Andrei Markov and Josh Gorges are out for the season with a knee injuries.