Montreal 0 Philadelphia 3 (Bell Centre) Flyers lead the series 3-1.
posted by Rocket
All Habs
“Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald
Peter Laviolette is a smart coach. On the off day on Friday, Laviolette tasked his players to pass along organizational messages to the media. Philadelphia complained about being shortchanged by the officiating in Game 3, particularly Josh Gorges elbow to the mouth of Claude Giroux.
Whether or not the coach’s strategy was effective is open to conjecture , but the Canadiens did not receive a power-play opportunity until the third period.
Canadiens were also on the defensive for so-called poor sportsmanship as Mike Richards whined about the Habs’ first power-play unit being on the ice at the end of the game.
But in addition to the communication offensive, Laviolette broke down film identifying several areas for improvement.
Your Montreal Canadiens had a good start to this game and even had the upper hand on the Flyers, for about ten minutes this afternoon. Shots were 5-to-2 with the Habs attacking with speed. The Bell Centre crowd was loud but seemed on edge.
Marc-Andre Bergeron took a penalty for holding and the tide seemed to turn. It wasn’t because the Flyers scored, because they didn’t. It was just one of those penalties where the Habs looked outmatched.
Slowly Philadelphia started to take over the period like an angler reeling in his catch. Specifically, the Flyers began to choke off the neutral zone.
The first period ended with scoring chances at 2-2. In the intermission, Laviolette tweaked his game plan and his team tightened the noose further. By controlling the space between the blue lines, Laviolette knew it would eliminate Canadiens’ transition scoring chances.
Jacques Martin had no response. The Habs were unable to mount any attack and ended the second period with one shot, a weak one by Max Lapierre.
“We were pretty tight defensively,” Laviolette said. “We didn’t allow a lot of opportunities. The neutral zone was really tight, which eliminates rush opportunities.”
For their part the Flyers scored two opportunistic goals taking advantage of mistakes by the Canadiens, namely giveaways by Lapierre and P.K. Subban. Straps on the Kevlar skate guards were also partly to blame as a loose one impeded Gorges’ inability to make a play.
Scoring first in the playoffs has been crucial for Montreal throughout the playoffs, giving them a 8-2 record. When trailing first they have only managed one victory in eight games.
Following this pattern, the Canadiens managed only nine shots in the third period but none dangerous. While Michael Leighton was credited with the shutout, there was little for him to do. For most of the game he could have lounged in a hammock texting with his parents, who were on hand as part of the 21,273 Bell Centre crowd.
While the Habs had three power-plays in the final frame they could only manage one shot on goal for the first two opportunities. They are now 1-for-16 with the man advantage in the past four games.
For the most part, referees Stephen Walkom and Kelly Sutherland were inclined to let the teams play. It was a disadvantage for the Canadiens who were slowed by Flyers’ interference. More serious infractions also went uncalled such as James Van Riemsdyk with a stick to the face of Brian Gionta, Chris Pronger boarding Scott Gomez, and Mike Richard’s blind side head shot to Hal Gill.
Philadelphia played the left-wing lock to perfection. As a result, the Flyers were able to dictate play for the majority of the game.
As Gomez said, “You gotta give them credit. We couldn’t get the flow going.”
53 minutes into the game, the Canadiens had not reached 10 shots on goal. When Lapierre leads the team in shots, the Habs aren’t going to win many games. Mike Cammalleri was the worst of the top six forwards. Despite playing 24 minutes, he only managed one shot and had a minus-2 rating.
Canadiens’ centers were abysmal at the faceoff dot. Gomez, Plekanec and Moore ended the day at 27, 26, and 25 per cent, respectively.
Philadelphia blogs and discussion boards have already moved on to discuss a Stanley Cup final against Chicago. The Canadiens must focus on winning a single game.
The Habs have not scored in 9-of-12 periods in the series. On Monday, they must score first, preferably before the game is ten minutes old. They must use speed to beat the Flyers’ defense and dictate play. The Canadiens are 5-0 in elimination games this playoff season.
Game 5 will take place on Monday night at the Wachovia Center.
Rocket’s three stars
1. Claude Giroux
2. Chris Pronger
3. Ville Leino
Special mention:
Player quotes from wire services were used in this report.
(photo credit: Getty)
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Outwit, Outlasted, Outplayed
In my mind, when you're shut out in 3 of 4 games (by Michael Leighton!!!), you need only look at the people who are in the lineup to score goals: the top 6 forwards, and I'm not talking about Cammalleri and Gionta here.
The spotlight has to be shone on Gomez, Plekanec, Pouliot and Andrei Kostitsyn now. The 4 of them have gone a combined 62 games without a goal. Gomez has not scored since game 1 vs Washington, Kostitsyn hasn't scored since his hat trick vs Washington in game 3, Pouliot hasn't scored even once, and Plekanec hasn't scored since early in the Penguins series. It should not matter what else they may be doing well, their prime responsibility is to put the puck in the opposing team's net. But while we're on the topic of what else they're doing well, let's just go ahead and say they aren't even doing that anymore. Faceoffs have been abyssmal. They're all minus players. The penalty kill hasn't been good (they got plenty of kudos for their PK work vs WSH and PGH, so similarly, they must bear the brunt of criticism now). AK46 has laid a few nice hits…but what does that even mean? The Habs can get Ryan White to take his spot for a lot cheaper if all he's going to be asked to do is hit people.
When Lapierre, Pyatt and Moen are making more frequent offensive contributions to the lineup than the big guns, it's a pretty safe bet that you're not going to go much further.
I know that the playoffs are all about the 3rd and 4th line guys stepping up, and the Habs bottom 6 have, but the idea is that they contribute in addition to the top line guys.
Coach Martin also has a lot of explaining to do; namely why he is so completely incapable of making in-game adjustments? Does he even try? Or is he so determined to go down with the game plan he created? When they clog the neutral zone, use the dump & chase and get on your horses…is that such a tough call to make?
There's no point in giving up on this team, and I won't if and until they fall in to a big hole on Monday night. They've overcome a lot in these playoffs, and that's still Michael Leighton in goal. If certain guys get their rear in gear, they may be able to make this a series again.
You know what the worst part is? The Flyers didn't even play that good.
It was actually a pretty bad game for both teams: giveaways, sloppy passing, bad definition when in the offensive zone, inability to control the neutral zone, predictable plays… neither the Flyers nor the Habs brought their A-game to the ice yesterday. And still, the Flyers were the ones to know how to take advantage of the other team's mistakes.
I guess that's the difference between playing bad and playing awful.
Anyone know what happened to Pyatt? I don't think he came out in the 3rd…
Also slow clap to Martin for giving Rhino 4 minutes of ice time. His first shift, he came out with a great hit and…that was it. I never saw him again. And Rhino isn't an enforcer tough guy so no excuse there. Frankly, I think Martin is more suited to coach a team in one of the European leagues. Sometimes I can't stand the way he uses his assets. SOS Guy Boucher :( Save our prospects!
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