“How would you like a job where, every time you make a mistake, a big red light goes on and 18,000 people boo?” ~ Jacques Plante
MONTREAL, QC.- – Carey Price is not the first Montreal Canadiens goaltender to have suffered boos from his own crowd, but last night, even though the Habs left the Bell Center with a 4-3 overtime loss, the fans were all cheers for Carey Price.
Carey Price was the only reason the Canadiens were ever in this game, outshot 48-27 by the Tampa Bay Lightning. He was spectacular at times, looked calm and comfortable in his net, was making saves at the top of his crease, challenging the shooters, and his confidence looked unshakeable.
Read Lightning vs Canadiens: I’m Jacques Martin, I’m a Passive Coach for Rick Stephens’ take on last night’s game, and here are some quick thoughts that I have myself on some topics from last night’s game:
Referees:
- The Montreal crowd really let them have it after the non-call when Ryan Malone tripped Dustin Boyd in front of the Montreal Canadiens net, which quickly lead to the Steven Stamkos’ tying goal with a little over a minute left in the third period. Upon review, we can see that Malone, with his stick, hooked Dustin Boyd’s stick and Dustin Boyd then tripped over himself falling to the ice. To me, it’s clear this was the appropriate non-call in this situation.
Penalties:
- The Canadiens are taking too many of them. Discipline has been an issue the past few years and we are not seeing any signs that this is about to change. There are penalties that can be considered “good penalties”, but we are taking too many stupid penalties right now. What’s up with Mike Cammalleri? In this early portion of season, he looks like he might need some anger management courses, but maybe I’m rushing to conclusions here.
P.K. Subban:
- In my opinion, a combination of over excitement over his first home opener in Montreal, combined with facing a coach which knows him all too well in Guy Boucher, lead to his uninspired performance last night. I saw someone write on twitter, “What do the Habs do now with P.K., send him down to the AHL?” I’m not sure if that was supposed to be sarcastic or serious, but P.K. is not going anywhere; expect a much better performance in his next game. If we want to really worry about one of our d-men, Jaroslav Spacek fits the script.
Max Lapierre’s hit on Steve Downie:
- I didn’t expect any suspension following Lapierre’s five minute major where the referees chose to not give him a match penalty for hitting Steve Downie from behind. It appears there won’t be any either, as the league has not made any comment about the incident today. To me, it appeared as a light push in the back of a player who was off balance, and then fell into the boards. Yes it was dangerous, no I don’t encourage it, but I believe the call on the ice was correct, and that a player should not be suspended for every little incident simply because they have a track record with the league.
Jacques Martin:
- After the two-goal lead, like we often saw last season, the Habs fell into a dump and sit back formation, which lead to their demise. The problem with playing sit back hockey is that you end up constantly chasing the other team, which often leads to penalties, and Guy Boucher showed us last night that his power play is not one to joke around with. With the issues this caused last season and how it was often a subject of conversation, you would think that adjustments would have been brought during the off/pre-season, and I’m worried that it appears none have.
I made a comment last night on twitter that we will have a much better idea of where each team stands after they will have played about 10 games, and for this reason, I don’t want to be too critical, at least not yet.
I am however a little worried by what I’ve seen out of the Canadiens so far. It gives me the feeling that Carey Price could be in for a very busy season. It also gives me the feeling that Carey Price might be faced with other situations like yesterday, where he will play in a way deserving to win, but will lose at the hands of his teammates and/or coach.
This leads me to the true point of this whole piece. Carey Price vs Carey Price. Why the title you might ask? I chose this title because I truly believe that this season, Carey Price can be his own worst enemy, and he will have to beat himself to battle through what could be a difficult season.
I’m not bashing on Carey, hardly at all, I continue to believe he will have a strong season and I’m more then happy with how he’s played so far, but what I didn’t like to hear was how seething he appeared to be in the Montreal Canadiens dressing room following last night’s game. Some journalists said he was almost inaudible answering their questions.
Before the season started, Carey Price had mentioned that last season, he felt like bad luck was following him everywhere he went. The last thing I want is for bad luck thoughts to start swarming in Carey Price’s head because nothing could be worst for his confidence. For goalies, it’s all about confidence.
If Carey Price can battle his own demons, then Carey Price will have a great season in Montreal, no matter what happens with factors out of his control.
“We have to learn to be our own best friends because we fall too easily into the trap of being our own worst enemies.“ ~ Roderick Thorp