AllHabs.blogspot.com
I’m torn on this game. I can see three ways too look at things. There is the positive view, the negative view and the “I just want to point out” view. Let’s start with the latter.
I just want to point out that Bob Gainey seems to think, as his head coach did, that Patrice Brisebois isn’t as bad as some people love to say. Again tonight he played a good game and deserved his icetime. I know he sometimes gives the puck away. But so did Price, Koivu, Kovalev, Hamerlik, Markov, Schneider, Lapierre… He also made some solid defensive plays, saved a goal and made some very good first passes.
I want to point out that Lapierre plays even more under Bob than he was under Guy. The main difference being that he doesn’t get powerplay time but he is overused on penalty killing. He and Chris Higgins played over 4 minutes each with a player in the penalty box. And with two shots, six hits and 63% on faceoffs, Lapierre answered the call and clearly proved he deserved every minute he got.
I’d like to point out that Guillaume Latendresse was playing on the first line after missing many months of action and looked like he belonged. He won many battles along the boards and played a smart game.
The first two points here was to show that Carbonneau wasn’t taking bad decisions. Or at least good hockey minds like Gainey, Muller, Jarvis and Lever agreed because they keep doing the same things. And the third point was to re-iterate something I said earlier this year: Latendresse is a solid hockey player and should play on the top two lines. Third offensive line if everybody was healthy.
But in the end, the result didn’t change much. Even with a new head coach, someone the players respect, the Habs still can’t win. The way I see it, they remind me of someone falling on a steep slope, trying hard to grab every little point they can, but still falling fast. Way too fast.
Saku Koivu needs to be better in the faceoff circle. His 39% tonight is unacceptable and cost the Canadiens in some occasions, especially on the powerplay where they lost precious seconds having to get back a puck that was easily fired from 200 feet away.
Kovalev has to stop hugging the puck so long. Everybody in the league knows he loves to keep the puck and stopped respecting his passing game. They simply put him under pressure and don’t really pay too much attention to the other players on the ice and he’s usually coughing up the puck.
And most important of all, there is something wrong in the defensive zone. The team is playing nervously and give up too many shots and too many scoring opportunities. Allowing an average of 40 shots on your goaltender is the best way to make sure some of them will get through. And tonight they did. Carey Price was sometime solid but also was weak on the second goal, an easy shot that should have been stopped. And let’s not even talk about the shootout. Wasn’t Price solid and confident in that area of the game, winning a goal medal for Canada because of his stellar play against the US team?
Then again, you know me; I don’t like to leave you with negative thoughts so let’s try to see the third side of the game tonight. Your Habs showed a lot of heart and determination coming back from a one goal deficit three times.
Plekanec is really a new player since coming back from his suspension.
The Markov-Kovalev cross-ice powerplay pass is back. When that option is available it makes the Habs PP much more effective.
They have a point. And God knows with 12 games to go and only three small points in front of the Florida Panthers in 9th place, the Habs need every single point they can get.