Habster
It took every ounce of my energy to watch tonight’s game against the Florida Panthers, it was one of the worst efforts of the season especially when you consider the opponents. Yes, the Florida Panthers always play the Canadiens hard and play Jacques Martin’s boring defensive system but it’s still the Florida Panthers for Christ sake!!! The Panthers have been badly outshot the two games prior to tonight’s game (they gave up 45 and 46 shots against Chicago and Detroit respectively) and have given up an average of 33 SOG per game so when the Canadiens can only manage 12 shots on Tomas Vokoun in the first 40 minutes then the players have to do some soul searching…….it’s unacceptable!!!
There was no flow to the Canadiens transition game, it was almost non-existent. The Panthers forwards were forcing the Canadiens to the outside/against the boards all night which caused numerous turnovers or very few transition passes from the defense to the forwards with any attacking speed. The Panthers simply outworked the Canadiens and dominated the puck possession game for most of the game (the Habs were playing “chase the Panthers” most of the night). It also doesn’t help when your goaltender isn’t at his best with two soft or avoidable goals though he wasn’t alone as far as performances go!!!
Let’s hope the “Road Warriors” can get their act together and give Canadiens fans some holiday cheer during their upcoming six game road trip……..a 6-0 road trip would be a nice way to celebrate the new year. don’t you think?
- The Canadiens had a meager 3 shots on net in the first period…….3 @#$&*!# shots on net, folks!!!!!! The Panthers are a good defensive team but you have fight through their trap and make smart outlet passes.
- Carey Price has to pick his spots when he handles the puck. He has to make good decisions and concentrate on his work in front of the net before he starts handling the puck. Price had a great game handling the puck against Toronto and even made some nice passes to set up some odd man rushes. You can see him gaining confidence with his puck handling which he usually excels at but his over confidence got the better of him on Florida’s second goal. Price was also weak on the Weiss goal which he should have stopped . Cristobal Huet is a team player but I’m sure he was internally grinning from ear to ear with Carey Price’s below average performance. What goaltending controversy? We need two strong goaltenders, simply put!!
- Can you explain to me why Guy Carbonneau had the Kostopoulos/Chipchura/Ryder line on the ice with 6:20 left in the third period down 3-1? It’s not like Ryder could put a puck into the ocean these days, even with the tide coming onto the beach?!?!
- One of the few bright spots tonight was the play of the Bouillon/Gorges defensive tandem. I thought they looked very comfortable together and played a solid all-round game. If Carbonneau is reading this article (highly unlikely!!!)….Guy, leave Gorges on the ice while Brisebois asks for more ice in his drink from the press box!!! Carbonneau has to put his personal friendship with Breezeby aside and give Gorges some much needed ice time to build his confidence which has taken a beaten of late, thanks to his constant relegation to the press box (even after good performances!!).
- Christopher Higgins has had better games but we could say the same for the majority of the players.
- The Flying Kostitsyns had a combined 2 shots on net and were anything but “flying”. Sergei had a TOI total of 15:44 while Andrei had a TOI total of 18:09, enough ice time to get more than 2 shots on net.
- I’m starting to like Mark Streit more and more as a forward where he can use his speed more effectively than he would be able to do on defense. He needs to shot more often when he has a chance.