Montreal 3 Pittsburgh 6 (Mellon Arena) — Penguins lead the series 1-0
“Security is a false God. Begin to make sacrifices to it and you are lost.” — Paul Bowles
When you are facing the defending Stanley Cup champions, it’s a good idea to be prepared. For the first 10-12 minutes of the game, the Canadiens did their best to appear that they were ready to play a conference semi-final game. But when the best player on the team was helped off the ice without, putting any weight on his right leg, the Wizard’s curtain dropped.
Some will debate the legality of Matt Cooke’s hit on Andrei Markov, partly due to Cooke’s resume. It wasn’t a dirty hit, in my opinion, but neither was it clean hockey contact. Cooke skated from the opposite corner with one intent, and arrived late.
With Markov out of the game (and possibly longer), the Canadiens had a noticeable letdown. Having been emotionally spent in the series win against Washington, Markov’s injury tested their resiliency. Energy seemed to drain out of legs of Habs’ players.
“That’s a huge loss for us,” said Hal Gill.
In addition, it seemed that the Habs were improvising without adequate preparation. By contrast, the Pittsburgh Penguins looked ready.
For the past two days in Montreal, the conversation has almost exclusively been a look back. Sports commentators and callers alike tried to formulate elaborate comparisons. Was Jaroslav Halak the second coming of Patrick Roy? Ken Dryden? Vladislav Tretiak?
Others tripped over themselves to complement the perfect game plan designed by Canadiens’ coach Jacques Martin to defeat the Capitals. It seems that the Habs coach was the only one in the league to figured out that it was best to score first and then sit back and let Fortress Habs protect the lead.
From my perspective, it’s not easy to understand how the coach supposedly made all the right moves.
Martin brought his team to Pittsburgh after barely surviving a shooting gallery in the first round, resulting from his brilliant plan. They were fatigued and appeared ill-prepared. That was before Markov exited the game.
For his part, Halak didn’t remind anyone of Glenn Hall or Johnny Bower. He didn’t look sharp.
I received crazy looks when I suggested to friends and colleagues that Carey Price should start against Pittsburgh. The only ones who were singing the same tune were Spencer Ross, who has written an excellent guest post for All Habs, and Darren Elliot, a colour analyst at Versus.
The rationale is that Halak’s technique has broken down after three or four consecutive starts all season, even when he wasn’t facing a boatload of shots. With two goalies being used all season, it would have been preferable to rest Halak and save his start until Game 2.
In addition, it would have put a monkey wrench into Pittsburgh’s plans. Information from the Penguins’ pro scouts had been used to break down Halak’s vulnerabilities. On the first two Pittsburgh goals, the plan worked to perfection with forwards providing a perfect screen.
“We talked about getting traffic, we talked about getting pucks through, and we executed — that’s the difference,” Sidney Crosby said.
It was also obvious that the Penguins had studied ways to exploit Montreal’s penalty-killing scheme. After killing off 32 of 33 Washington power-play chances, Montreal gave up four goals while Pittsburgh had the man advantage four times. Quick puck movement created shooting lanes with the Penguins having the patience to wait for a clear path.
“We watched some tapes and just tried to exploit their weaknesses,” Kris Letang said. “Special teams always comes up big in the playoffs.”
Habs’ skaters managed to block only 15 pucks. Halak faced 20 shots and gave up five goals. He was replaced in goal by Price, five minutes into the third period.
With Markov out of the game, Marc-Andre Bergeron was pressed into service on defense, playing 18:21. Bergeron was victimized on the fourth Pittsburgh goal, a back-breaker, as he was out of position leaving Craig Adams all alone.
The mistakes were unfortunate because Marc-Andre Fleury looked beatable tonight. Fleury hasn’t played well and entered this series with a save percentage of .890, lowest of any goaltender remaining in playoffs. Also, the Canadiens should have been able to take advantage of the Pittsburgh defense, particularly Jay McKee, with an aggressive forecheck.
This should bode well for the rest of the series, as coach Martin prepares his game plan. The Penguins don’t have the speed of the Capitals and looked unimpressive in 5-on-5 play. The two teams played a rather lethargic second period.
P.K. Subban will be more of a factor if Markov is out for an extended period. Subban scored his first playoff goal tonight and played very well in almost 20 minutes of ice-time.
Andrei Kostistyn endured the coach’s wrath tonight with only 7:25 of even-strength ice-time. Kostitsyn is clearly struggling but snipers are streaky. Smart coaches have more than the demote-to-fourth-line motivator in their toolbag to spark one of the team’s most dangerous scorers.
Jacques Martin could move Andrei Kostitsyn to the line with Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta. They are perfect role models for the effort required, and would be vocal enough to get a message through to Kostistyn. The coach’s personal grudge is getting in the way of communicating with with Kostitsyn brother right now.
While we are juggling lines, that would leave a spot for Sergei Kostitsyn alongside Tomas Plekanec and Mike Cammalleri.
But coach Martin is a stubborn man. And I no more expect the above suggestions to implemented than I did Price to start in goal for Game 1. At the very least, Martin has to turn the Washington game plan upside down. He only has to look back to the blueprint from February 6, a game where his team used speed and aggressive forechecking to beat the Penguins.
The Canadiens and Penguins meet on Sunday afternoon for Game 2 in Pittsburgh.
Rocket’s three stars
1. Sidney Crosby
2. Kris Letang
3. Scott Gomez
Special mention: Brian Gionta, P.K. Subban, Ryan O’Byrne
Player quotes from wire services were used in this report.
(photo credit: AP)
Roket, Rocket , Rocket….. you are by far not a crazy man, so tell your co-workers they are the crazy ones…. I myself, a female fan of Hockey, know that playing Carey Price last night would have been and should have been the best and only choice!!!
I mean DEAR JM, are you a COMPLEET and Untter MORON!….. Wait let me answer that myself….. YES YOU FREAKIN ARE! You have an unbelieveable AMAZING Goalie who just helped you BIG TIME make it to round 2 of the playoffs…. your up agaisnt a tesm who wont THE STANLY CUP! and what do you do…. hmmmm tire out your Halak again…. i understand JM has some sort of PRIDE and wanted to win game 1, but playing Halak last night was NOT the best choice! Almost alll TRUE HABS fans know that.
Now as far as Cooke's hit on Markov…. i still think it should have been a Penalty…. and now without Markov, what are we to do…. Rocket your suggestions to move Andrei and Sergei i would agree…. but yes then again, whether JM will do it or not, thats the burning question!
Whatever Happends, we continue to SUPPORT and Love our Team, and we Dont give up!
GO HABS GO!
In my 2nd round predictions, I abandoned my brain and went with my heart. After the incredible comeback against Washington, what choice did I have, despite what my stupid brain continued to say?
To be honest, I expected a beat down in game 1. 5-1 was my prediction for last night. Not for the Habs.
I was also concerned about Halak's energy levels. In concept, I was also thinking that starting Price would have been the smarter move, if only to give Halak a couple more days to recover from the bombardment he endured in Washington. Conceptual is one thing, practical is another. Martin would have never gotten away with it. Conventional "wisdom" says that in the playoffs, you ride the guy that got you there until he drops dead. I'm not sure if Halak dropped dead last night, but he was not very good. So now what does Martin do? Does he turn to Price for game 2? As mentioned in the game review, Martin is a stubborn man. I thought he earned a measure of redemption vs the Capitals for inserting O'Byrne, juggling Moen, getting Subban in the lineup, limiting MAB's ice time, etc…even though those moved seemed obvious to most.
It didn't take long for him to start doing a tapdance all over his newfound glory.
On the subject of the K bros, we've got a case of oil and vinegar on our hands. The bros don't *seem* to care all that much. Of course, snipers are streaky, but that's limited to finding the back of the net. When Cammalleri was in his funk, he was still looking dangerous. AK looks like he's stuck in neutral. He's not using his speed, size or shot like we know he can. With Cammalleri, we knew he was getting close, and he's shown up in the playoffs. I don't get the sense that AK is about to wake up any time soon, but I do know that he could practically take over a game at any time. As for SK, he's like the perpetually grounded teenager. In his case, it's almost as if he's flipping Martin the bird and refusing to conform. Martin, on the other hand, refuses to give him a real chance to reform. It's a bad situation, and if the 2 bros really do need each other in the lineup to be a presence, then the Habs have a larger problem to deal with.
Anyway, on to game 2. With such a quick turnaround, it will be tough to regroup or refocus, or reenergize, especially without Markov. I won't expect Halak to be any better tomorrow simply because of the short turnaround. Let's hope the team in front of him has their legs back, or else I may give the keys to the bus back to my stupid brain.
You don't need to be a genius to understand that scoring once, protecting a lead, blocking as many shots as your goalie and maybe scoring one or two more later is playing with fire. A bad bounce would have been a huge blow in those games they won. Won't work on a team that plays like a team, and the Pens don't have the arrogance of the Caps either. They know what they're doing.
Just to add, I find the quickness in which Jaro tires disturbing. Coach really needs to pay attention to those signs. And he's got some other fresh players he could use. Guys like Darche can stand up with the rugged Pens more than the quick Caps. Sergei has found more seams against the Pens than any other player on this team (but we'll see if Martin can get off his high horse and play the kid).
So long as Jacques Martin is coaching, neither Kostitsyn will effectively see the playing time necessary to generate Hab wins. Between Carbo's ineptitude and Martin's imbecility in handling the Kostitsyns, they will sadly leave Montreal before coach does. It will turn into a huge, preventable scene, the likes of which I hope I'm wrong.
Props to Soobs for some awesome ice time. Though it still stuns me though when we dress 7 defencemen and constantly appear as though we're on the powerplay — at even strength.
Also, of their many goals, I have to give props to Malkin for his brilliant handling of a stickless Pyatt to set up the Gonchar goal. Their aggressive "strategicness" concerns me.
Now as for Jaro, my initial thinking was that the Pens would be a much more formidable opponent on the Caps. Although the Habs' comeback of the Caps was nothing short of historic, it should have been inevitable that the Habs would not sweep the Pens, putting Price in would have been the smarter move.
For starters, after the series Jaro had and the onslaught of shots he faced, there was no way that he could have continued that streak into a game 1 against a new opponent (who had been studying his videotapes, rather than Price's).
Putting Price in would have benefitted not only the the videotape advantage the Pens had, but would have also been a logical strategy. As you mentioned my earlier blog post here, I said that there is no goaltending controversy because each goalie balances the other's strengths and weaknesses against different teams.
The Pens aren't the Caps — they definitely play as a more cohesive team than the Caps (and their special teams show). If Price was in for game 1, he would have either a) won the game in spectacular fashion (having a 1.00SV% in his 14 min) or b) lost the game, at which case he would have been made a whippingboy, but deflected pressure off Halak. In the case of situation B, the un-selfish player would have accepted this heat for the hot goaltender.
Therefore, given Jaro's hotness, it would have behooved Martin to put Price in for a game that could have counted for nothing in the end, while keeping Jaro's flame lit for game 2. Additionally, the one-day time lag between games 7 and 1 meant that Jaro wouldn't have adequately rested (regardless of his history of tiring easily).
It made more than enough sense when I proposed it Wednesday night and after the fact, has turned the whole game 1 into an exercise in futility. He would have been better positioned to play Price in game 1 (I don't think it would have sent a message to the team, and I think it would have sent a switcheroo to the Pens), rather than what now becomes an extremely awkward situation for game 2.
But again, what the heck do I know?
Comments are closed.