Poor neutral/defensive zone play sinks Habs

Habster:

Where do you start a game review when your team outshoots their opposition by a 51-25 margin yet still manage to lose the game?

The Anaheim Duck may have been outplayed for the most part but they took advantage of some poor neutral and defensive zone play. The Canadiens were handling the puck like it was a grenade at times, giving up odd man rushes and leaving Jaroslav Halak/Carey Price in harms way.

While Halak and Price were not at their best (you could excuse the flu riddled Price) and left out to dry by teammates, J.S. Giguere was solid throughout most of the game. Granted, most of the Canadiens players helped Giguere by not taking advantage of his poor rebound control and driving to the net with a purpose.

In the end, not enough players showed up for the game after a mini four day hiatus. The Ducks were primed for the picking after playing three games in four nights and having played last night in Ottawa.

Here are some game points to consider:

• Can Guy Carbonneau wake up and finally smell the coffee concerning his ex-teammates poor play??!! I’ll give Rocket a break on his Patrice Brisebois bashing for one nightand take the ball to run with it……Brisebois once again displayed his poor decision making, defensive zone coverage and shockingly got to play along side Roman Hamrlik instead of Josh Gorges or even Francis Bouillon. Guy will you please sit his ass in the press box and give O’Byrne a decent chance to show what he’s got along side Hamrlik!!
• While I’m bashing Brisebois, it’s only fair that I also mention Andrei Markov who had an usually poor game with three giveaways and a -2 rating while Komisarek has had better games. When your top defensive pairing are struggling, it’s only normal the results won’t be pretty.
• Franky played his heart out: Francis Bouillon played a strong game along side his partner, Josh Gorges. Bouillon was dishing out the hits (8) tonight and even got into a fight with Corey Perry. Both he and Gorges make a solid third pairing.
• Players Missing In Action (PMIA): Sergei Kostitsyn was invisible most of the night while Robert Lang may have had two assists and a +2 rating but was non-existent/non factor as well.
• Home Sweet Home: I think home cooking is agreeing with Alex Tanguay these days!!! Mr. Tanguay is becoming the trigger man on the 108 line (I added the jersey numbers, folks…..sorry, I couldn’t think of a better nickname!!) along with Saku Koivu. Both have accounted for 10 (Tanger has 6 and Koivu has 4)of the Habs’ 26 goals or an amazing 38% thus far in the early going. Who would have thought that the two playmakers would be leading the Habs in goal scoring. An alleged trigger man by the name of Latendresse has played well but needs to start firing bullets at the net instead of a piece paper from a straw!!!
• Back on track: It only took a few games but the Kunitz/Getzlaf/ Perry line has finally come alive for the low scoring Ducks. This is a team which struggled to put the biscuit in the net last season so Randy Carlyle must be doing cart wheels when he sees George Parros being dethroned as the team’s leading goal scorer.
• J.S. Giguere gave up more rebounds than Paris Hilton did the entire year!!
• Higgy is back with no worries: Christopher Higgins played really well considering it was his regular season debut and that he missed most of training camp. Yes, he did make a turnover in the Ducks zone which led to the Getzlaf goal in the first period but overall he played a solid game. With Gainey setting the Gaborik rumors straight, hopefully Higgins can start concentrating on having a solid, healthy season along side Koivu and Tanguay!!
• Making a killing in the circle: The Habs were dominate in the face-off circle tonight, winning 59% of the draws. Robert Lang won an impressive 82% of his draws (14-3) while Lapierre won 69% (9-4) of his face-offs.

• Cherry picking:I don’t normally give Don “don’t bash my beloved Leafs” Cherry the time of day on All Habs but with that said, I have to admit to listening to his segment and seeing him use every Ducks highlight from the first period. Did I miss something? or should I say: did Cherry miss something? There were four goals scored in the period……two by the Habs!! I truly believe Cherry ignores anything related to the Canadiens as pay back for all those years his Bruins were beaten at the hands of the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge!!!……..petty and sad!!!