The struggles of Kovy and the KPK line
Tonight, Alex Kovalev made more turnovers than a bakery on a busy Sunday morning.
All kidding aside, Kovalev made at least 5-6 turnovers and lacked the extra effort we saw last season. The KPK line (with or without Andrei) has shown flashes of last year’s best Habs line (and one of the NHL’s top ten offensive lines) but there have been more nights when the line has been invisible.
Tomas Plekanec has been skating miles and has been great in the face-off circle but just isn’t clicking with his usual precision passing.
Andrei Kostitsyn has been playing a more multi-dimensional game before he was nailed with a head shot by Kurt “Tom” Sauer which makes up for his lack of scoring.
My main concern (though it is minor, I hope!!) is the play of Alex Kovalev who is displaying some of his bad habits from the disastrous 2006-07 season when he overhandled the puck, tried to deke everybody on the ice and was a turnover machine. Granted, creative offensive players like Kovalev will have nights when things don’t come easily and I’m sure the KPK line will eventually breakout, reverting back to their brillant 2007-08 campaign…….right??!!
Trade Halak?…..not a chance!!
Some hockey pundits (and I use the word lightly!!) thought the only area of concern which could prevent the Canadiens from making it to the Stanley Cup would be their young and relatively inexperienced goaltending.
What do they know??!! Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak have been very good in the early stages of the season and have quieted any whispers of concern….if there were any to begin with.
Halak was once again solid against the Panthers and had some brillant saves on point blank shots or defelections. He displayed great positioning and for the most part (except on the Keith Ballard goal), had great rebound control throughout the game.
Concerns………none here!!
And about those trade rumors concerning Halak being shipped out of Montreal, forget about them!! Gainey has signed the talented Slovak to a very affordable two year contract ($775,000 per season) and would be foolish to trade away a solid #1A goaltender in case Price gets injured during the season. I realize Marc Denis is playing really well in Hamilton but he’s playing in the AHL, folks where the game comes to you at a slower pace…..enough said, for now!!
Frankie, Chipper and Lappy
It sounds like a kid’s cartoon show but it’s the role players who don’t get enough credit for the little things to win games.
Francis Bouillon returned to the Habs lineup and didn’t show any rust in his limited ice time (9:17). Carbonneau was wise to give Bouillon more TOI on the blueline towards the end of the game but I was once again troubled to see Patrice Brisebois get more TOI than Ryan O’Byrne (17:03 vs 8:42). When will the coaching staff realize O’Byrne needs to get more ice time to further develop his game. Don’t get me wrong, I think Brisebois is playing decently (at least in the offensive zone) but if things are even, why not let the youngster grow into the #4 spot on defense otherwise Gainey needs to upgrade the second defensive pairing via trade. His concern should be to improve the blueline, not adding more scoring with a Marian Gaborik type player.
Do we have to wait until after Steve Begin and/or Tom Kostopoulos become UFAs next season before we can fully appreciate Kyle Chipchura’s hard nosed, all out effort on the ice. “Chipper” had a solid game and did a lot of the little things tonight which usually go unnoticed……tough along the boards, solid forechecking and a defensive awareness that goes beyond his age.
Like Chipchura, Maxim Lapierre had another solid game and was really hard on the puck all night, creating scoring chances with his outside speed. I don’t know what Carbo said to him but it seemed to hit a brain cell or two as it past through his ears.
Markov’s fireplace mantle needs a Norris trophy
Andrei Markov needs to clean off his mantle area and make room for a trophy by the name of Norris. He played a great game and made an amazing behind his back/blind pass on the Koivu goal. Like Hamrlik, Markov simply never panics when he has the puck on his stick, he just controls the pace of the game and has a knack of finding his teammates in the open spaces for pretty goals.