Rocket:
A Saturday night game in the house of their classic rival was all it took to ignite the potent Canadiens offense. It didn’t hurt that the Leafs are in the midst of a major rebuilding phase right now. But give full marks to the Habs, especially the powerplay, for the way they moved the puck and buried their chances. Doug Jarvis revealed that the Canadiens were using a ‘chip and chase’ system and their speed and their ability to regain puck possession proved too much for the Leafs defense (young & old).
Sergei Kostitsyn deserved the first star on this night. He was outstanding for the second night in a row. SK is the best passer on the team but also showed off his quick release tonight. Brother Andrei was dominant on the ice albeit not on the scoresheet. Alex Tanguay had a 4 point night which should help with the nerves. Look forward to seeing what he can do when he is totally comfortable out there. Roman Hamrlik and Andrei Markov also had a strong games. Jaroslav Halak was solid when he had to be in a game that mostly tilted away from the Habs goal. Halak also had some help from his iron buddies on a few occasions. It was a good game for Guillaume Latendresse with 3 points and who was introduced to the opponent’s crease. Really hope to see that same effort in close, hard fought games.
In a lopsided game like this, often the scorers are the only ones that receive the accolades. Let’s acknowledge Mike Komisarek who led the team in hits and blocked shots and Tomas Plekanec who was terrific at the faceoff dot. Also credit to Tom Kostopoulos for dropping the gloves when called on.
The coaching staff should also being taking notice of problems that carried over from the Buffalo games: poor defensive zone coverage at times and taking bad penalties. It can be said no more simply than Patrice Brisebois is no longer an NHL-calibre defenseman and should not be on this roster period. He continued to struggle greatly even against a lesser opponent. Maxim Lapierre was tonight’s culprit of undisciplined play.
Guy Carbonneau took some criticism on the broadcast for using his #1 power-play late in the game when the result was not in question. Carbo receives my full support in this instance. With changes to personnel and design, the Canadiens power-play will benefit from additional game experience. In addition, successful teams learn the habit of playing hard regardless of the score. A perfect example of this attitude was Mathieu Dandenault who skated hard and beat a Leaf to the puck to negate an icing call with less than 5 minutes playing in the game and his team leading 6-1. Good hustle from Dande!
Pre-game:
Nice ceremony to honour Canadian Olympic champions. Puck drop by Carol Huynh!
Quick hits:
New theme song was much ado about nothing. Face it CBC: you screwed up!
Lipstick on a pig: effeminate hair streaks and new duds couldn’t mask the unintelligible blather of PJ Stock.
Rocket’s 3 stars:
1. Sergei Kostitsyn
2. Alex Tanguay
3. Saku Koivu
(photo credit: Dave Sandford/Getty Images)