Rocket:
Palms and poutine. Habs fans tailgating in shirt sleeves outside the Staples Centre. I had just come in from trying to remove the ski hill from my driveway. But this is real hockey weather, I told myself. (I’m not buying it either)
Game comments:
1st period
Andrei Kostitsyn and Higgins: looking good
Unintentional goaltender interference: what is that?
Halak solid in the first. With 7 minutes remaining, he makes 4 terrific saves.
Streit seems to be moving the puck better.
O’Byrne is out with the flu…after being a scratch for 10 straight games, Brisebois is in.
2nd period
1-0 Brisebois goal with help from a deflection by Kopitar.
2-0 Koivu beautiful deflection on a nice shot-pass from Streit.
3-0 Gorges goes to the net attracts Kings ‘D’. Terrific pass by Sergei Kostitsyn. Goal by Latendresse coming late.
3-1 LA PP goal by Blake. 3 Habs defenders with their backs to the shooter.
Kings continue pressure after the power play goal. Habs not skating.
Shattered pane of glass a nice ‘break’ (sorry!) for the Canadiens.
3rd period
4-1 Nice rush by Andrei Kostitsyn with a shot that rings off the post. Plekanec with a nice feed to Kostitsyn for a well-deserved goal.
4-2 While Brisebois whines to the referee and ignores his man, Kopitar scores. Get well soon O’Byrne!
With 6 minutes left in the game, Dustin Brown easily goes around Komisarek. Why are we seeing this movie so much lately?
5-2 Empty net goal for Kostopoulos.
Summary:
A solid game for Halak.
LA goal probably should have counted which could have resulted in a different outcome.
Kopitar is a terrific skilled player with some toughness. Would I like to see himplaying for the Canadiens? Absolutely! Would I have chosen him over Price in the draft? Not a chance!!
The Canadiens are giving up far too many shots…outshot today 36-22.
PK wasn’t very good again. LA hadn’t scored a PP goal since the purple and gold uni’s. Habs are 26th in the league in penalty killing. Before the playoffs, cannot the four of the greatest defensive hockey minds (Gainey, Carbonneau, Jarvis and Muller) fix this major problem?
Rocket 3 stars:
1. Halak
2. Kopitar
3. Komisarek
Honorable mention to Higgins and A Kostitsyn.
