I can’t decide. I spent the whole night asking myself the question and I still can’t. And I decided it was an almost equal amount of both. There really was two ways to look at yesterday’s game.
The Habs played a very good first and second period having more scoring opportunities than I’m used to see against a defensive team like New Jersey but played an awful third period.
For the first time in more than a decade the New Jersey Devils visited Montreal without Martin Brodeur in the net. And then Scott Clemmensen decided to give his best Marty impression stoning Kovalev, Lang, Koivu, Higgins and many others.
Carey Price wasn’t playing his best game of the season. He was out of position and gave a couple of open net opportunities but the Devils missed as often. Then again, Carey gave a softie in second period and was totally out of his net in overtime.
Brisebois was awful to watch after he got hit in his own zone (was that the first time this year I saw Laraque talking to an opponent who hit our player?). Breezer created so many turnovers I didn’t need to read Rocket’s article to know what it would be about. But he did save a goal on an open net in third period that allowed the team to get at least one point.
Saku Koivu passed Mats Naslund for the 11th place in Habs history but knowing him, even just a little, he’d trade that assist for a victory in a heartbeat.
Gorges has been playing pretty well considering he was asked to fill the shoes of one of the best stay at home defensemen in the Eastern conference but Dandenault and Markov were injured in this game.
I could keep up that little game but you get the point. The Bleu-Blanc-Rouge played a good 35 to 40 minutes and had their chances but again couldn’t convert. The powerplay is brutal and I think it’s high time someone with a big shot is placed to the right of Andrei Markov. The two best suited would be Andrei Kostitsyn and Alex Kovalev who both have great one-timers.
Now, about things I couldn’t see two different ways. The referees were inconsistent. There is two rules I would really love the NHL to work on in the same way they did for hooking. One being about faceoffs after an icing. If a team is killing time like they did yesterday (or when Carolina changed one of their players forcing the referee to double check with the official scoresheet and killed close to a minute) there should be a delay of game. The other penalty that has been absolutely inconsistent for years is the interference penalty. This seems to be called randomly and the league has to be more precise in their ruling.
Matt D’Agostini was absolutely gorgeous to watch on his goal. After falling on the ice he gave a second effort to keep control of the puck, give it to Saku, get up, go to the net and take the rebound from Markov’s point shot.
As usual, I’ll try to stay positive. The Habs played overall pretty well in their past 4 games and came up with 7 points. They are sixth in the league in goals allowed despite missing a pillar of their defence and are 3rd in the Eastern Conference in points. Hopefully Markov and Dandenault injuries aren’t serious and Big Mike will be back in the lineup soon.
Now if only Kovalev could get his magic touch back.