Montreal 2 Toronto 5 (Bell Centre)
Rocket:
Jump on Carey Price. Go ahead. Just pile on. You will have plenty of company. In fact if you hold an ‘I-hate-Carey-Price’ party, you are guaranteed that Craig Simpson, PJ Stock and Murray Wilson will show up.
But before you send out the invitations, consider a few things.
Luke Schenn scored the Leafs first goal (and his first in the NHL) with 5:23 left in the first. Up to that point in the game, Toronto was outshooting Montreal 16-2. Price was standing on his head to keep his team in the game including two point blank chances for Nik Antropov. The Leafs ended the period with 18 shots on goal and 27 directed at Price. Overall Carey Price faced 41 Leaf shots.
The Canadiens had 5 shots in the first period. A weak effort against Vesa Toskala who was playing with shattered confidence as a result of poor play and being criticized publicly by his coach and GM. The Leafs are last in the league in goals surrendered and save percentage.
Josh Gorges and Francis Bouillon were a combined -7. Both played awful. Gorges deflected a shot into his net for the second night in a row. Bouillon failed to bury a puck with an open net early in the first, hitting the crossbar instead. It could have been a turning point. The Canadiens are a much different team when playing with a lead.
The Canadiens power-play was 0 for 7 with a five on four advantage. The Maple Leafs are 30th in the league in penalty-killing. Guy Carbonneau experimented with George Laraque on the power-play with less than favorable results.
Alex Kovalev started the game with an energetic hit on Jeff Finger. After, their play went in opposite directions. Things went downhill for Kovy. Finger scored a goal and was +3.
Georges Laraque took two dumb penalties including a head shot to Grabovski just after Kostopoulos had scored and the Canadiens were gaining momentum. Laraque won a pre-arranged fight against 37 year old Brad May. It was simply a sideshow with zero effect on the game. He is a waste of a line-up spot.
So criticize Carey Price if you wish. He is an easy target. Craig Simpson knows that. Guy Carbonneau also knows that. Because to identify what is really wrong with the Montreal Canadiens is something that is beyond the capabilities of Carbonneau.
For his part, Carey Price knows that he carried the team alone in the first period when his teammates didn’t show up. Price knows which goals eluded him with the help of poor defensive play and which ones he should have stopped. And Price will be harder on himself than anyone else. As Carey said after the game “It’s just not going the way I planned. I have to find a way around it.” Mike Komisarek added “It’s just not one guy. Pricey has carried this team long enough.”
A few Canadiens did show up to play tonight. Matt D’Agostini and Max Pacioretty continue to impress. D’Agostini had a goal and 5 shots while Pacioretty created scoring chances. Tom Kostopoulos works hard every shift and scored tonight while diving to knock the puck past Toskala.
Roman Hamrlik’s play was on the decline for over a month until reunited with Ryan O’Byrne a few games ago. The defensive pair have been solid over the past 3 games and were placed in the starting line-up tonight. Hamrlik had 4 shots on goal. On a team that was a collective -20, Hamrlik and O’Byrne were the only plus players for the Canadiens, each finishing the game at +1.
The much-hyped bout between Sergei Kostitsyn and Mikhail Grabovski was a non-event with coaches Wilson and Carbonneau not facilitating an opportunity.
The Canadiens now embark on a 6 game road trip which will decide which direction the team is headed.
Pre-game:
Starting line-up: Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Kostitsyn, Alex Kovalev, Ryan O’Byrne, Roman Hamrlik, Carey Price
Vesa Toskala in goal for the Leafs.
Laraque will play, Dandenault scratched.
Brisebois, Latendresse, Tanguay, Lang out with injuries.
Rocket’s 3 stars:
1. Jason Blake
2. Niklas Hagman
3. Matt D’Agostini
(photo credit: AP)