Montreal 1 Boston 3 (Bell Centre)
Rocket:
Early on, there was a playoff atmosphere in the Bell Centre. Both teams were cautious, physical and tight checking. The Canadiens got the first goal..for the first time in six games. It was a power-play goal from Robert Lang made possible by an Andrei Kostitsyn setting the perfect screen right in front of Tim Thomas. It was also a nice read by Andrei Markov to set up Lang.
Boston tied the game with only 0.6 seconds left in the period when a Komisarek clearing pass was intercepted by Dennis Wideman. Komo should have just turned with the puck , taken it behind the net and run out clock.
In a first intermission interview, Claude Julien noted that the Canadiens were playing very defensive employing a 1-4 system without any stretch passes to challenge his defense. In the second, Julien made adjustments, Carbonneau didn’t.
All season the Canadiens’ Achilles heel has been defensive zone coverage. Weak positional play by the Candiens was evident in the 2nd period. The Habs spent too much time running around in their own zone chasing Bruins.
Turnovers would hurt again with a Latendresse giveaway up the middle leading to the winning goal for the Bruins.
The Canadiens power-play was too tentative even when they had a 5 on 3 advantage. The Habs are not confident in their PP scheme and it showed.
Boston is 24-0-2 when leading after two periods. An uninspired second period meant that the Canadiens didn’t have much chance in the third. Julien set his team in lockdown mode and the game was over.
A good game today from: Plekanec, Andrei Kostitsyn, Koivu, Pacioretty, Sergei Kostitsyn, Kostopoulos, Price, Markov, O’Byrne, Bouillon and Komisarek. The problem is that the Canadiens did not play like a team. The ridiculous line combinations must go!
Just a few words on Ryan O’Byrne: He had his second solid game since being recalled from Hamilton. O’Byrne was a physical presence all game and was responsible defensively. O’Byrne contributes as much in a game as Brisebois does all season.
My disgust is for a segment of Canadiens fans who sat on the edge of their seats waiting to boo O’Byrne at his first stumble. (This extreme treatment is exactly the opposite of the tolerance shown to Patrice Brisebois when he is on the ice.) This type of behaviour towards O’Byrne is unwarranted, ignorant and perhaps even bigoted. It does nothing to support this team.
Guillaume Latendresse left late in the game with a shoulder injury. The news is much worse for Robert Lang who suffered a severed tendon.
The game within a game:
Guy Carbonneau made a decision to insert Sergei Kostitsyn, Ryan O’Byrne and Alex Henry into the line-up today. All good decisions.
Choosing to humiliate Alex Kovalev on national TV was not a good decision. Whatever message Carbonneau wanted to send could have been done elsewhere. In addition, the phrase ‘cutting off your nose to spite your face’ comes to mind. At the time, the Canadiens were only down one goal to the Boston Bruins. Sitting your most talented offensive player for the third period doesn’t make much sense. Replacing Kovalev with Kostopoulos in the final minute with the goalie pulled makes no sense at all.
As there are consequences for the players, so should there be for coaches. So far, Carbonneau has received a free pass from his friends in the media.
Carbonneau’s job is to find a way to motivate each player. Kovalev is a veteran and wants to win. He realizes that Carbo’s line combination gimmicks are at best a smokescreen. Kovalev knows that his coach is not putting the team in its best position to win.
Guy Carbonneau didn’t stop there. After the game, Carbo was asked whether Kovalev’s play has declined since the return of Saku Koivu. He could have diffused the situation. Instead, he inflamed it. Carbonneau said “I hope that’s not the truth or we’re in trouble because I’m not taking the C off Saku – that’s the bottom line. If anyone needs a letter to perform on the ice, I have trouble with that. That’s not professional at all.”
Carbonneau did two things with his statement. He divided the dressing room refusing to deny that there is a rift between Kovalev and Koivu. Carbo ensured that his attack dog buddies in the media will make the next few days very uncomfortable for Alex Kovalev.
A colleague commented to me that he is glad that Guy Carbonneau is not the coach of his favorite team. When I inquired why, he said that he has never seen Carbo defend one of his non-francophone players in the media.
Guy Carbonneau continues to throw his players under the bus: Ryder, Higgins, Koivu, Price, O’Byrne and Kovalev to mention a few. Carbo ensures that any negative attention remains focused on his players and not on himself.
As far as Alex Kovalev, if he was only playing at half speed for the past week, does anyone think the situation will improve after Carbonneau’s actions? I have a feeling that this is about to get worse before it gets better.
1912-13 CAC sweaters:
You are welcome to join All Habs on Twitter during every Canadiens game to share comments with other Habs fans.
Today, one follower commented that the barber pole jerseys were so ugly that they were awesome! Strangely, I understood exactly what he meant.
The striped socks were too much, but I have a feeling that the 1912-13 sweaters will be the biggest seller of the retro jerseys.
Pre-game:
Gorges, Tanguay, Dandenault, Laraque out with injuries. Ryan O’Byrne, Sergei Kostitsyn and Alex Henry will play. Patrice Brisebois and Steve Begin are scratched.
Rocket’s 3 stars:
1. Dennis Wideman
2. Tomas Plekanec
2. Andrei Kostitsyn
3. Zdeno Chara
(photo credit: AP photo)