Rocket:
The Canadiens are struggling. That’s not news. The fact is that they have been underachieving all season. There is no shortage of opinion on the remedies. ‘Kovalchuk is the answer. We need a sniper’ say some. Others think that a puck-moving defenseman like Bouwmeester will change the Habs fortunes. Some are yet still enamoured with the Sundin soap opera.
Often those proposing the remedies do not consider the cost of acquiring these assets. And there should be no confusion that the price will be substantial. But let’s leave that part of the discussion for another day.
The expectation is that the Canadiens would add Kovalchuk, Bouwmeester, Marleau, Koistinen, Kaberle or any of the other names mentioned and they would immediately begin playing at a top level. But who on the current roster is playing their best hockey for the Habs right now?
It is the responsibility of the head coach to extract the very best from his players. In this regard, does it seem like Guy Carbonneau is having any success?
After the game, Carbonneau spoke with envy about the offensive talent of the Washington Capitals: “They got Ovechkin on the other side and they got Semin, and they got Green and Nylander. They got guys that can put the puck in the net.” What about the rather impressive list of offensive talent on the roster of the guys in red: Kovalev, Koivu, Tanguay, Higgins, Lang, Andrei Kostitsyn, Plekanec, Markov?
Carbonneau conveniently forgot that the Capitals were scoring and winning when they had an injury-depleted line-up. I suppose that’s what happens when the team is coached by a Jack Adams award winner, Bruce Boudreau. That’s different than a Jack Adams nominee who was only given consideration due to en masse voting by the french media.
It is clear (and has been for some time) that Guy Carbonneau has lost the players on this team. He is not getting the best from his players. A Guy Carbonneau team is one that isn’t prepared for each game, does not have a strategic game plan, has poor bench management, and lacks effective special teams schemes.
The Canadiens power-play is now 6 for 77 in its last 17 games. Tonight the power-play was 0 for 7. After the game, Guy Carbonneau said “Right now, our power-play is non-existent because we get out-worked by the opposition.” Lapierre, Begin and Kostopoulos had a substantial amount of power-play time. I didn’t notice an occasion when the 4th line was outworked on the PP. They banged and crashed and buzzed around. They didn’t score, not because they were outworked, but because they aren’t the team’s best skilled players. Those three players do not give the Canadiens the best chance to score.
This is not a criticism of the 4th line. They played well but they should be left to excel within their role on the team. Carbonneau wasn’t using ice time as a reward for their good play but as a bludgeon to punish the rest of his players. And putting the Lapierre line in situations beyond their capabilities isn’t good for them either. They didn’t score on the power-play and came very close to giving up a shorthanded goal when Begin tried a back pass. The 4th line was also on the ice for Washington’s game-winning goal. Should a coach be sending out his 4th line in the last 3 minutes of a tied game?
Alex Kovalev is clearly a frustrated player. He shows flashes of exceptional skill followed by dumb, selfish or undisciplined play. Alex Tanguay created some chances but too often is soft on the puck.
Ben Maxwell started the game very tentative. It seemed that he didn’t want to make a mistake. He just didn’t match the energy of D’Agostini and Andrei Kostitsyn in the first period. After his nervousness faded, Maxwell played better as the game went on. In retrospect, it probably would have been a better decision for Plekanec to center D’Agostini and Kostitsyn. Once again, Pleks, D’Ags and AK-46 had a good game. At times, the Canadiens used their speed and took advantage of a weak Caps defense.
In the second period there was a glimpse of the player that Latendresse could be. Gui protected the puck by using his size to fend off the Caps defenseman and then fed the puck to Plekanec for a chance.
Jaroslav Halak played better tonight but still had issues with positioning and his glove. On Washington’s first goal while on the power-play, Bouillon left Backstrom all alone in front of Halak. On the second, Halak probably should have grabbed it with his glove before it got to Nylander. Credit to Nylander who never gave up and put it in after being knocked down by Hamrlik. Carbonneau’s comments were curious. “It’s frustrating for [Halak] because I’m sure that he would like to get that first goal back and til the end it’s just a bad bounce.” Carbonneau was asked if anything was said on the bench when Semin ran over Halak. “No, not really” was the response.
Here’s another one of those meaningless ‘statistics’: When Brisebois scores, the Canadiens lose.
No matter who Bob Gainey adds to this team, it won’t make as big an impact in the win column as a deletion would: coach Guy Carbonneau.
Pre-game:
Carbonneau on Kovalev: “I can’t say that he has been playing well. We expect him to score goals.”
Kovalev will wear the ‘C’. Markov and Brisebois will wear an ‘A’.
Higgins, Komisarek, Dandenault, Price, Koivu all out with injuries. Ben Maxwell gets his 1st NHL star. Marc Denis will back-up Halak.
Simeon Varlamov gets his first NHL start in goal for Washington.
Rocket’s 3 stars:
1. Simeon Varlamov
2. Michael Nylander
3. Andrei Markov
(photo credit: AP)