Rocket:
After the game, Guy Carbonneau said, “I thought we were dominating them and then they called the penalty. I didn’t think it should have been a major; in fact, I’ve looked at it and I don’t think it was a penalty.” Are you sitting down? I’m going to agree with Guy Carbonneau.
THE penalty changed the game. You know, the five minute major for boarding to Andrei Kostitsyn. Was it a penalty at all? To me, it looked like a rather solid hit by AK-46 on a very fragile Aaron Ward. After the hit, I doubt that either Chris Lee (not THIS guy again!) nor Wes McCauley had ‘major penalty’ in their minds. Seems that they changed their minds after Tim Thomas cross-checked Kostitsyn in the head. I suppose that the Lee/McCauley tandem figured that Thomas wouldn’t act like a crazy man unless Kostitsyn had done something seriously wrong so they decided to assess the 5 minute major. The more vicious blow to the head from Thomas was only assessed 2 minutes.
Shortly after, Roman Hamrlik was called for and the Bruins had a 5 on 3 advantage for a full two minutes. Chara scored his second power-play goal of the game and that was all the Bruins needed. Boston had a 21-0-2 record when leading after two periods and are due full marks for limiting the Canadiens chances in the third. Credit goes to Claude Julien and his in-game adjustments for that!
The Canadiens had a great start to the game dominating the first period and outshooting the Bruins 17-9.
Tim Thomas was giving up big rebounds, flopping around in his crease but somehow stopping the puck. A number of Canadien shots got by Thomas but ended up trickling through the crease. Thomas did make several key saves on good scoring chances by the Habs. The Bruins also came to the aid of Thomas blocking 13 shots.
Jaroslav Halak played well while he was in his crease. Outside his crease? Well, let’s just say it was an adventure! Halak had great difficulty handling the puck. He was a little slow reacting to the Krejci goal but otherwise he couldn’t be faulted. Halak also benefited from a less than accurate Bruins offense that had 12 missed shots.
Komisarek was very physical tonight totalling a whopping 11 hits in all. It was a thing of beauty watching Bruins step over the blue line only to be launched into the air by a solid Komo hip check.
Robert Lang with Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn were once again the best line for the Canadiens. Andrei had good body position and took a big hit in front of the net to score the Canadiens goal on the power-play, set up by Sergei’s shot to the net. I really enjoyed Sergei battling with Chara with and without the puck on several occasions to create chances. Andrei had a chance to tie the game with about 5 minutes left on a nice feed by Markov but Thomas made a great glove save.
Although Max Pacioretty seemed nervous early on, he drew two Bruin penalties by using his speed. Tomas Plekanec was superb. Alex Kovalev was disappointing tonight only occasionally being effective.
Let’s add Kyle Chipchura to the list of great team guys with Tom Kostopoulos and Francis Bouillon. Chipchura stepped in when Matt D’Agostini was hit from behind by Blake Wheeler. Chipchura ended up fighting Mark Stuart.
The Lapierre line is playing very well, doing its job. But enough with time on the power-play! That’s over-extending their role and one that they don’t excel at.
Patrice Brisebois could not skate with PJ Axelsson so hooked him and took a horrible neutral zone penalty. Chara scored on the ensuing Bruins power-play to tie the game. The Canadiens penalty killers gave up two goals tonight, although the second came on a two man advantage. In the first, Brise was very fortunate that a bad Bruin pass hit his stick as he sprawled out in a lame attempt to defend a 2 on 1. In the second, Wheeler couldn’t handle a Krejci pass for a short-handed goal. Brisebois was back but could only watch. In the third, Brisebois huge giveaway to Krejci, no less, could have meant game-over. The Brise-apologists may disagree but his play is a huge liability to the team.
Message to the NHL: We assumed that you were serious when you said you wanted to reduce hits to the head. Two vicious head shots tonight: Thomas on Andrei Kostitsyn and Krejci on Plekanec. Yet I doubt there will be any supplementary discipline.
Message #2 to the NHL: Boston vs Montreal. This was a huge 4 point divisional game. Next time you might want to send the ‘A’ officials. Chris Lee just doesn’t cut it.
This was a good game despite key injuries on both sides: Price, Koivu, Higgins, Tanguay for the Habs; Lucic, Bergeron, Kessel and Fernandez for the Bruins. The Bruins are now 3-0-1 versus the Canadiens this year. Montreal trails Boston by 12 points in the standings.
Pre-game:
Next time Claude and Guy will see each other is at the All-Star game. Carbonneau will be Julien’s assistant as head coach to the East All Stars. That’s got to be a blow to Guy’s massive ego.
Tuukka Rask and Marc Denis will be the backups.
Lucic out for Boston. St. Pierre will play in his place.
Price, Tanguay, Higgins, Dandenault, Koivu, Laraque out with injuries. Weber is a healthy scratch.
Rocket’s 3 stars:
1. Zdeno Chara
2. Andrei Kostitsyn
3. Tim Thomas
(photo credit: AP photo)
Hey Rocket. Good game. how about those cheap low hits on the blueline Komisarek? Let’s see him do it when #17 is on the ice.
Let’s go B’s
Oh, and I almost forgot. Happy 100th.
Bleeding Black & Gold
I really thought the Lapierre line played just as well as the KLK line, just in a different manner (cycling down low vs great transition game).
I agree with you about Kovy, he was pretty much invisible most of the night and gave the puck away too many times (stats state two but there were more!).
Rocky, I think Brisebois is way past his prime (and proving it on a game to game basis) but we’re banging our heads against a wall thinking Carbo will be objective about his former teammate and future assistant coach….not going to happen!!!
Until Gainey finally upgrades the blueline, Breezer will remain in the lineup and on the ice with 2-3 minutes left (vs Bruins) and the game on the line. Needless to say, very aggravating to watch and understand.
As far as Tim Thomas is concerned, he is another Dominic Hasek flopper, ugly to watch but he certainly gets the job done with a little luck……what’s that expression: “Good to be lucky, Lucky to be good”…..pretty much says everything!!
Overall, very good game review, Rocket!!
Hey Vince…
Thanks for the comment. I would have loved to see Lucic back in the line-up to renew the rivalry with Komisarek.
It’s gotta be hard for you to argue with 11 hits in the game though. Komo had a monster game! And I don’t mind that he is reintroducing your Bruins to the lost art of the hip check!
Thanks for the birthday congrats Vince. We’ll save you some cake.
Thanks for the comments Habster!
You are right..Kovy seems to get the benefit of the doubt from the off-ice officials. He wasn’t very good last night.
Tim Thomas is a curious goaltender. I think you are giving him too much credit comparing him to Hasek.
Thomas is liked a boated mackarel most of the time, flipping and flopping with pucks squirting though the crease. But then, out of nowhere, he will make a terrific glove save. One thing for sure, his confidence is at an all-time high. You have to credit Julien too. He has the Bruins playing good defense. Boston blocked more shots than the Canadiens last night (13-5)which doesn’t happen very often.
I did like the cycle game of Laps/Lats/Kosto. And Lapierre was better on faceoffs than recent games. In fact, he won two in a row in the Boston zone in the first period right back to Latendresse. I was disappointed that Lats didn’t get much on either shot.
I know what you are saying about Brisebois, Habster. Maybe it is like banging heads against the wall. And thats part of the reason that Brise gets a free pass despite his poor play. I think that expectations are so low now for Brisebois’ performance that if he manages to stay upright for a complete shift, people get ridiculous with their praise. I even heard Wilson mention that Brise was having an all-star season. (An ECHL all-star?)
You simply have to total the number of mistakes that Ryan O’Byrne has made this entire season, and you will have the answer to the number of errors Brise makes on a game by game basis. Yet, Brise’s mistakes are excused and O’Byrne’s are magnified.
Now the Canadiens have a promising young defenseman who has a confidence problem. And who’s fault is that, Guy?
I do not want Ryan O’Byrne to turn into the next Michael Ryder and have to admire his play from afar.
Good hits. Taking someone out at the knees is a good hit? Trying to end someone’s season and maybe ending their life in hockey is a good hit? And you think that hit that Thomas threw is a hit to the head? Not sure if we were watching the same game?
Stop signs on the backs of jerseys. Not a bad idea. Hab players will still ignore them and run players.
I do have to thank you for Ryder.
vince_m
Can the Canadiens ever lose without their fans blaming the refs? Quit your crying and just accept that the Bruins are owning you this season.
Your welcome for Ryder, Vince. He is a good hockey player who got a raw deal in Montreal. It was the fault of an arrogant coach who stripped Ryder of his confidence. Glad to see that Julien has got him going again.
Keep reading All Habs, Hub. I think that you will find that I don’t routinely jump all over the refs after a Canadiens loss.
And Hub, you should come to know the name Chris Lee. I predict that you will be complaining about him in the future after a badly ref’ed Bruins game.
Last night was an important divisional game between two good teams. For the NHL to send one of their most incompetent officials was irresponsible.
“Vicious head shots”. Now THAT is funny. You don’t think there was ANYTHING wrong with the Akost hit on Ward, but call what Thomas and krejci did “vicious”? WOW. Just…wow. I won’t even get into a debate about what you consider a good “hip check”. What Komi does is dangerous and cowardly. If anyone threw hits like that on a Habs player, you’d all be up in arms demanding suspensions and retribution.
Welcome to the dark side Kynch! Glad to see that you finally found your way here.
Look at the full clip of the hit on Ward, and Thomas’ hit on Kostitsyn posted above. Which one was a hockey play?…and which one was delivered with malice?
Vince: When your #17 will have the balls to fight our #17 we’ll have a real discussion. As for Komisarek hitting to the knees? Are you serious? The guy is 6’4″, even when he bends down, he doesn’t reach the knees of anybody exect Chara. He like to go for the hip check and basically any hit that will give momentum to his team but he isn’t vicious. Pronger is a lot more vicious. Stevens was a lot worse. I have honestly never ever seen Komisarek lift his elbow to try to hit a guy on the head the way those two love to do.
He is a pain in the ass to play against and I’ll admit that he is often borderline on roughing, holding and/or late hits but before calling him vicious you should check out some trully vicious players.
Oh and Hub, honestly try reading some articles here. We gave two game reviews and in both wrote that the Bruins played well enough to deserve the win. It’s rare enough that I agree with Rocket…
Tell me, how often have you seen an article on a Bruins fan site that said the Hab deserved to beat the B’s? Just asking…
“Welcome to the dark side Kynch!”
I was told there would be cookies?
For the record, I don’t disagree that the boarding call should have been a major (as I’ve stated). But it definitely was worthy of 2 minutes. And even though the nHL has removed him from the “repeat offender” list, he still is a guy that repeatedly hits from behind. There is no denying that. And if we’re all being honest here, you can’t sit there and tell me that if Price or Halak had done what Thomas did after a questionable hit, you all wouldn’t be applauding him for “standing up for his teammates”. Of course you would, and on the flip side, we’d all probably be calling him a puss for doing it. It’s just how it is. But I certainly wouldn’t call the Thomas thing (even if done by price) “vicious”. That kind of thing happens ALL the time, after every other whistle.
Now where are the damn cookies?
oh what tough guy cant handle the truth so you gotta remove my post? youre just as tough as chipchura you pussy go rot in hell
Way to make all Bruins fans look like idiots. Nice work.
Guess Habster must have removed that one. Didn’t see it. But I think it’s fair to say that gobruins is not cookie-worthy.
Now on the other hand, Kynch, your cookies are ready and waiting for you. It takes 3 good posts and you now qualify!
I’ll let you know a little secret. Make 10 good comments and you get ‘Beaver Tails’. Now they are tasty! I heard even Obama ordered about 1000 of them for his little party next week.
Hey Guys,
I love a good debate between two original six rivals, but when comments lack any sensible intelligence and are downright crude in nature, then it isn’t worth leaving as a posted comment.
Kynch, we appreciate your last posted comment and also look forward to your comments in the future.
There are hockey fanatics on both sides who will cross the line regardless what is being discussed or debated
Comments are closed.