Ca-rey! Ca-rey! Ca-rey! The Canadiens faithful chant the name of their franchise phenom after posting a shutout.
And that’s all it takes for Saturday to be forgotten. Not quite. Tonight the Canadiens had a large supporting cast. As Price said “Everyone gave an honest effort tonight.”
Let’s look at the stars first. Carey Price was solid, focused, and several times, spectacular. It is games like this one that display his dominance. He continues to be the Canadiens best player this season.
In only his third game with linemates Koivu and Tanguay, both great passers, Chris Higgins showed that he can be a sniper. He had 8 shots (5 in the first period alone) and scored 3 times with his quick release. His chemistry with Saku Koivu is clearly evident.
Koivu really showed his terrific leadership tonight. He was the hardest worker at both ends of the ice. He also had 5 shots. Alex Tanguay was having a quiet game until he set up Higgins for the Canadiens 4th goal, continuing his point per game pace.
The Canadiens had a great start to the first period. By the 10 minute mark they were outshooting Ottawa 8-2. And they were spending very little time in their own end…something identified as a key to limiting shots in my earlier article. The Habs’ transition game was much sharper.
Alex Kovalev was better this game. He and his linemates were a threat all night with 9 shots. Kovy was also good defensively and dangerous on the PK. I really like that Andrei Kostitsyn has resumed his aggressive play. He made a solid hit on Fisher to separate him from the puck.
Lang was the Canadiens best faceoff man tonight. Sergei Kostitsyn got plenty of powerplay time on the right point, and made a superb pass to set up Higgins second goal. Gui Latendresse broke out of his 11 game slump with a goal right off a Lang faceoff win.
The 4th line played a regular shift but didn’t offer much tonight. You have to love the spirit of Max Lapierre. He had 8 hits tonight. Unfortunately, not one hit led to a Ottawa turnover. For example, Max hit Jason Smith and bounced off. Smith simply took the hit and continued with the puck, then cleared the zone.
Again tonight, Georges Laraque added little. A 3 on 1 led by Lapierre was spoiled by Laraque’s slow footspeed. When Lapierre received a vicious elbow headshot by Ruutu, it was Francis Bouillon who stepped in a fought while Georges looked on. I will give credit to Laraque for not fighting in the third when the fans were encouraging him to go after Chris Neil and Ruutu. At that point, it was 3-0 and there was nothing to be gained by fighting.
Mike Komisarek was especially feisty tonight and led the defensive corp. He clearly heard Carbonneau’s message to protect Price, the team’s “meal ticket” (as described by Pierre McGuire). Any player near the Price crease received attention from the defense (as it should be!)
Ryan O’Byrne had his best game of the season with 6 hits. He was tough on the Ottawa forwards separating them from the puck and making quick outs. O’Byrne had an assist on the Canadiens second goal after Alex Auld made a good save on Ryan’s blast from the point. The coaching staff must have approved as O’Byrne was on the ice for the final shift of the game.
In addition to standing up for his teammate, Francis Bouillon was good defensively especially in penalty killing situations. His partner, Josh Gorges had an inconsistent game. He got 2 assists but struggled defensively. Spezza, Fisher and Alfredsson all had turns going around Gorges with ease.
Alex Auld was the Ottawa player that caught my attention. He looked sharp making 28 saves. He is playing very well right now but can he be the #1 goalie for this team?
Begin, Brisebois and Kostopoulos (suspension) in the press box.
Remembrance Day tribute to the fallen soldiers of all conflicts by the Canadian legion colour guard.
Rocket’s 3 stars:
1. Carey Price
2. Chris Higgins
3. Saku Koivu
(photo credit: AP photo)
Sergei Kostitsyn deserves Andrei’s spot on the line with Plekanec. Gui Latendresse or Matt D’Agostini probably deserve Kovalev’s spot, but that won’t happen, unfortunately. I feel bad for Pleks, he is stuck with two of the doziest wingers in the league.
But there is a bit of a controversy looming regards the Kostitsyn brothers, I could see that coming a long time ago. Sergei is better, but it is going to be so awkward if he takes Andrei’s place. Maybe someone will get injured and take the pressure off.
At least we’ll be rid of Kovalev next season. Along with Bouillon and Dandeneault. God, it’s been such a long time.
Hey rocket. I don’t know if it’s my addition to the site, but that was a great game review. Solid!
It’s a shame we couldn’t argue on our first game review. I’m sure we can work something out against Boston.
And Rob… Sergei derserve Begin’s spot right now, if you ask me. Andrei is playing solid hockey, don’t touch that. Kovalev had 1 PPG before the sens game. Yes, he does some plays that make him look bad and create turnovers but it’s to be expected from a creative player like him. He was responsible for changing the team’s mindset last year. I hope we’ll resign him.
You can forget Bouillon and Dandenault. We have too many players in Hamilton who will be ready to replace them by next season.
Kovalev plays 20 minutes per game, and nearly all of the power play time. He shouldn’t be fourth or fifth in team scoring. He sure doesn’t contribute in any other areas.
Thanks for the compliment BB. I haven’t changed a thing…maybe my writing just looks different from ‘the inside’. :)
I enjoyed your article too BB. The only thing I will take exception with is when you wrote “they allowed 28 shots but very few presented any kind of danger”. I excuse your judgement cause the shots may not have looked dangerous from high atop your $38 perch in the rafters of the Bell Centre (a ladder too, eh?)
Perhaps your opinion will change when you see the game again on RDS express. Carey Price was superb last night and made several spectacular saves. He does have a knack of making tough saves look easy (especially from the top of a lamp post).
One more minor point: Sergei Kostitsyn played most of the game in his usual spot on the third line. He also got significant time on the point on the powerplay. There was one or two shifts that SK-74 played with Lapierre after his regular shift on the 3rd line followed a powerplay.
BB, I look forward to your next feature article and photo essay on the bleu-blanc-rouge babes of the Bell Centre.
rob, rob, rob. Gui is barely holding on to a roster spot at all. A promotion to the top line shouldnt happen. When Kosto returns, he seems to be the best fit for the 3rd line with Lang and Sergie. They played well as a trio. Gui, Lapierre and Dande are best bets for the 4th. Ideally, I would like to see Pacioretty added in Kosto’s place with TK bumping Dande to the press box.
I saw the game on RDS and I still “kinda” stand by my comments. They didn’t allowed many good scoring opportunities. He did have more job than it looked like from the lamp post but it was a far better game than what they used to play when allowing 28 shots.
And as for SK, he played on the fourth line on his first two shifts and then it was shuffled because of the panlties. He got some PP time but he started the game on 4th, probably as a message.
And gui played a better game than Kostopoulos could play. He deserved his spot on the third line tonight.
Well I knew if I tried hard enough, I could start a debate with you BB!
Unfortunately, I think that the facts are against you regarding Sergei Kostitsyn.
The Koivu line started the game. Just 44 seconds in, Fisher took a penalty. Sergei was sent out with the first powerplay unit that included Markov and the KPK line. If there was a message to be sent, do you think that would happen?
Sergei had a 1 minute PP shift. At the end of the penalty, the Lang unit went on the ice with Dandenault playing in Sergei’s spot. That’s not unusual given that Sergei had a long shift. SK then played with Lapierre and Laraque for the one and only time all game. His next shift, Sergei was back with his regular linemates.
I have said before that I believe that some bloggers would ask better after-game questions than many in the mainstream media. But, I’m very confident that even if we had the chance to ask Carbo, he would confirm that the brief 4th line appearance for Sergei was not to send a message but simply because special teams assignments interfered with regular line combinations.
On your other point BB, the Canadiens did a good job for the first 10 minutes of the game limiting Ottawa shots. I think you mentioned that too in your review. But after that, the chances were fairly even, and Price shone.
In the second period Price made a save on Vermette. Price then made a spectacular save on Heatley with a point blank shot off the rebound.
Thats just one of many examples. Price had solid positioning and focus all night even as it was clear that the Senators were trying to bump him in the crease.
Ok. Last comment on this game. After that, I’ll fight you on the Boston game (I haven’t seen it yet, waiting for CH express… don’t spoil it)
I forgot about the early penalty. I apologize (mark your calendar).
And about my second comment, I stand by it. In Columbus we allowed the same shots (28) but they still allowed a lot more good scoring chances. I’m talking odd man rushes, breakaways, guy left totally alone in the crease… Real quality chances. Tuesday, they didn’t give that many chances compared to a usual “28 shots allowed by the Habs”.
I still think this shutout was a complete team effort, not a Carey Price steal. Although, considering how him and Halak were left alone in the past couple of games, they TOTALLY deserve the SO.
Apology accepted BB. (I’m sure that Sergei will accept your apology too). Calendar is marked!
I will agree that Price did not steal the game or the shutout. He certainly had help, particularly in the first 10 minutes of the game where the team in front of him really limited Senator scoring chances. After that, the teams were about even, so a good effort was required by Price for the win and the shutout.
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