By CoachK, AllHabs.net
SAINT-LAZARE, QC — 116 shots in three games. No, not for the Canadiens, but for their opposition. The Habs only had 77 shots on this road trip, but in taking advantage of their opportunities, they managed to survive what is normally an extermely difficult road swing down south. With their fourth win in a row, the Canadiens are slowly creeping their way up the Eastern Conference standings.
Some of the habits that Coach Jacques Martin has developed over this season, to his credit, have been pushed aside for the good of the team. He has stopped benching his younger players for inopportune penalties, as was the case tonight with both Benoit Pouliot and Lars Eller. He has allowed his players to come out with their guns blazing, bottling up their opponents with a two-man forecheck and capitalizing on their early mistakes. He has changed a bit, but still not enough to make me a happy camper.
The Canadiens are still pulling back once a multi-goal lead is established. Whether or not it has been addressed by Coach Martin or not remains unknown, but I will give him the benefit of the doubt. While the Habs came out with a lackluster effort in the second period against the Lightning, they regained their composure in the third, coming out with the same intensity as the first. However, once they established a three goal lead, they sat back again, and allowed the Bolts to attack without responding.
With another stellar performance by Carey Price, the Canadiens have given themselves a seven point cushion on the New York Rangers who sit in seventh in the Eastern Conference, with a single game in hand. Price has posted an amazing .974 save percentage on this three game hiatus from the Bell Centre, with a shutout to boot. Offensively, Hal Gill has been the catalyst in the last couple of tilts, scoring to open both games in Florida. Andrei Kostitsyn is on a seven game point streak, and Max Pacioretty has been reeking havoc on opposing goaltenders.
The adjustments have to continue and be more pronounced, especially against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night. If the Canadiens sit back and expect to counterattack when the Bruins make mistakes, there won’t be much success. The Bruins, with their physical superiority over the Canadiens, will abuse their forwards and defense if given the chance. The only way the Habs can beat the Bruins is if Tim Thomas has a meltdown, which sometime occurs at the Bell Centre, and the Canadiens attack with speed the entire night. Their forechecking must be relentless, as it was in the first period of tonight’s game, and they must drive the net, forcing the slow footed defenseman of the Bruins into taking penalties.
The week ahead will say a lot about how we can expect the Canadiens to play for the rest of the stretch run, and into the playoffs. However, with this week being so successful, hats off the players for giving a maximum effort.
In closing, if Carey Price isn’t given one of this week’s NHL three stars, somebody at the league should hand in their resignation.
Your comments about the upcoming game against the Bruins are spot on. Hopefully the addition of a little more size and experience on D since that last brawl of a game will help our Habs. Boston’s physicality however is probably just too much for us in a playoff matchup. Lucic especially continues to be a monster, and is perhaps the one player in the league I would most like to see in a Habs jersey.
In your article on March 4th, you were complaining that Martin doesn’t bench Pouliot enough compared to other young players who make errors… now you’re applauding him for no longer benching Pouliot. Really?
http://www.allhabs.net/game-review/martin-system-values-hypocrisy-favoritism/
As to Martin finally allowing our forwards to effectively employ a two-man forecheck, the only line I saw doing that was the Eller line. This line has been doing so since they were put together, with high praise from Martin from the beginning. Kostitsyn and Moen are both using their size well in the attacking zone. Patches is also stepping up his physical game. Gomez and Pouliot need to take notice.
While I applaud you for giving Martin “the benefit of the doubt”, after a four game win streak this mostly points to your obvious dislike of the man. As I see it, one of Montreal’s greatest weaknesses is the ratio of shots for/against. The key to addressing this isn’t a more freewheeling attack, but more consistent back-checking from all our forwards.
Martin has Montreal well ahead of last year’s pace, despite more injuries to more key players. While I prefer old-style attacking fire-wagon hockey (I grew up in the era of Cournoyer, Lafleur et al.), Montreal simply doesn’t have the D right now to allow this to happen (Our D doesn’t have the speed to keep ahead of a fast counter-attack). Martin is not my favorite, but he has done an excellent job of playing within this team’s capabilities. If only a key veteran (read Gomez) would buy in. Look to Pleks for someone who listens to the coach and is a boon to his team.
Finally, it has been one of the Canadiens’ strengths all season to capitalize on early errors by the opposition. This is nothing new.
I know what I wrote Stef, but yesterday’s situation was different. He had 2 players, Pouliot and Eller, who took a couple of penalties. Normally when players on the same trio make similar mistakes, he sits them.
I give him props because he needs to keep the youngsters in the fold. If he continuously benches them for errors they make, he’ll lose them, and that won’t help the team down the stretch.
I like firewagon hockey as well, but that’s not what I’m looking for. There has to be a balance. Although the team has seen success of late, let’s not forget they lost 5 of 6 before this streak began, playing the same style.
One can easily assume that, with some minor changes to their rosters at the deadline, all three teams in the Sunbelt were a bit vulnerable. If this had occured a week or so from now, the results may not have been the same.
I don’t dislike Martin at all. What I dislike is his continious reliance on playing a defensive style. And if the Canadiens were to back-check any more, they’d be standing behind Carey Price’s net. Mark my words, it will hurt us in the long run.
well said indeed
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