Ann 22008 NHL Playoffs - Round 1: Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins Game 2 REVIEW
April 13th 2008 13:32
Canadiens pull a win out of thin air as magician Alex Kovalev scores in OT. Montreal wins 3-2.
These Russians. They're incredible. After Ovechkin in Washington two days ago, it was Kovalev who brought euphoria to the Bell Centre. But unlike Ovie, had he not scored, Kovy would have been the one to blame if the Canadiens had lost the game.
This time, the Bruins came out crashing right out of the gates. Carey Price had to be solid as the Bruins launched attack after attack while the other Habs put up only a token of effort. Oh sure, they helped out in defense, blocking shots and all, but the attack was abysmal. It's no surprise that the Habs' first goal came from a defenseman (Roman Hamrlik with his first) since they seemed more into the game than the attackers. What's even more surprising is that Hamrlik's goal was the first of the match putting the Canadiens ahead in a game that they had no business leading.
In the second period, babyface Sergei Kostitsyn added his second of the series, a carbon copy of his first as he scored on a shot rebound. And that's when the Habs crashed down. With a two goals lead, they started defending, not bothering to launch any attack. Bad idea. This type of playing had the shadow of the early season Canadiens who stopped playing after gaining a lead only to watch it evaporate. The Bruins came back and suddenly there was doubt.
The Bruins first goal came on a rare rebound given by Carey Price. The second goal was all Kovalev's fault. Down a man, Kovalev was sent on a breakaway by Price. Kovy missed his shot. A Boston defenseman pushed the Artist down and stayed on him. With no penalty called for that action, Alex saw red. After being hit over and over again for the past two games, he lost his nerves and almost whacked the defenseman with his stick. It was, as he calls it, “a selfish penalty,” and not befitting for someone wearing the captain's C on his heart. The Bruins then inherited a 5-on-3 and, well, you can't expect Carey Price to make a save on a perfect tic-tac-toe. But what bothers me the most is that the tic-tac-toe used to be a Canadiens trademark, and now the B's are using it against us while blanking our powerplay? That's adding insult to injury.
But always count on the “Wizard” to pull through. With the game tied at 2-2 in OT, Boston took a penalty right after surviving a four minutes disadvantage. Kovalev, who's usual spot is the right side of Tim Thomas' left faceoff circle, took a rocket of a shot from Tim Thomas' right. The goaltender was beaten.
After the game, the Bruins went to see the referees, demanding an explanation for the penalty that cost them the goal (it was a tripping penalty, by the way). Now look, the referees were atrocious for both teams. So, in some disturbing way, they did their job. But what I hate in this league are the refs making make-up calls. You want to know what are make-up calls? I'll explain it to you. Let's take Kovy's example (maybe it's a bad example, maybe the call was fair, but it's a good illustration of what I mean). The guy who stayed on stop of him while he was on the ice could've been given a two minute penalty for roughing. Instead, the refs did nothing. Kovalev reacted (and I do concede that Kovy was in the wrong here), he got a two minute penalty for slashing. The Bruins have a 5-on-3. They score. Four minutes after that, the Bruins will get penalized four times. Two of those penalties wouldn't have been called if the Habs led the game 3-1. So you have a tired Boston PK team with the mission to stop the top PP team in the league. How do you do that?
But more than the atrocious reffing, Claude Julien should look back at the game's final minutes and blame himself for poor coaching. With a little over two minutes left to go, you know that you're going in overtime, what the hell is goon/tough guy Shawn Thornton doing on the ice? He had no business there and he made the same mistake as Lapointe did in the Ottawa-Pittsburgh game. Four minutes penalty for high-sticking Habs grinder Tom Kostopolous. Indiscipline.
You don't need your enforcer/goon/tough guy when playing against Montreal because, then, they become liabilities. How? I'll explain. Montreal doesn't have an enforcer/goon/tough guy. Their enforcer is their powerplay. As for the rest, they have pests/grinders, guys who are constantly in your face, who finish their hits, who brush up against you or give a little poke when the play is stopped. It gets annoying. To see the same jersey number do those things over and over again and you can't reciprocate because they don't fight. Oh, they'll fight you if they have no choice but they're disciplined. They'll do their job and go back to their bench. And that gets under the Bruins' skin. Especially Shawn Thornton's skin. He was already penalized in game 1 after hitting grinder Steve Bégin on the head. In this game, he put his stick to other grinder's - Tom Kostopolous, Bégin's linemate - face. Kostopolous was bleeding. Four minutes. Claude Julien's fault. That's it, that's all.
I'll have more comments in my Game 3 preview which will be posted as soon as I know about roster changes. Guy Carbonneau always makes changes when there are two games in two nights. Expect Patrice Brisebois to be replaced by Ryan O'Byrne. Winger Michael Ryder who had a good game might be replaced by either Russian rocket Mikhail Grabovski or rookie tough guy Gregory Stewart. If not Michael Ryder, Mathieu Dandenault might be the one sitting out. But I doubt that since the balance between experience and inexperience would tip immensely on the inexperience side if that were to happen.
There was only one other game yesterday. In the Western Conference, the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Nashville Predators 4-2. The Wings lead the series 2-0.
EDIT:
The were actually two games last night in the Western Conference, the Dallas Stars defeated defending champion Anaheim Ducks with a 5-2 victory. The Stars lead the series 2-0.
These Russians. They're incredible. After Ovechkin in Washington two days ago, it was Kovalev who brought euphoria to the Bell Centre. But unlike Ovie, had he not scored, Kovy would have been the one to blame if the Canadiens had lost the game.
This time, the Bruins came out crashing right out of the gates. Carey Price had to be solid as the Bruins launched attack after attack while the other Habs put up only a token of effort. Oh sure, they helped out in defense, blocking shots and all, but the attack was abysmal. It's no surprise that the Habs' first goal came from a defenseman (Roman Hamrlik with his first) since they seemed more into the game than the attackers. What's even more surprising is that Hamrlik's goal was the first of the match putting the Canadiens ahead in a game that they had no business leading.
In the second period, babyface Sergei Kostitsyn added his second of the series, a carbon copy of his first as he scored on a shot rebound. And that's when the Habs crashed down. With a two goals lead, they started defending, not bothering to launch any attack. Bad idea. This type of playing had the shadow of the early season Canadiens who stopped playing after gaining a lead only to watch it evaporate. The Bruins came back and suddenly there was doubt.
The Bruins first goal came on a rare rebound given by Carey Price. The second goal was all Kovalev's fault. Down a man, Kovalev was sent on a breakaway by Price. Kovy missed his shot. A Boston defenseman pushed the Artist down and stayed on him. With no penalty called for that action, Alex saw red. After being hit over and over again for the past two games, he lost his nerves and almost whacked the defenseman with his stick. It was, as he calls it, “a selfish penalty,” and not befitting for someone wearing the captain's C on his heart. The Bruins then inherited a 5-on-3 and, well, you can't expect Carey Price to make a save on a perfect tic-tac-toe. But what bothers me the most is that the tic-tac-toe used to be a Canadiens trademark, and now the B's are using it against us while blanking our powerplay? That's adding insult to injury.
But always count on the “Wizard” to pull through. With the game tied at 2-2 in OT, Boston took a penalty right after surviving a four minutes disadvantage. Kovalev, who's usual spot is the right side of Tim Thomas' left faceoff circle, took a rocket of a shot from Tim Thomas' right. The goaltender was beaten.
After the game, the Bruins went to see the referees, demanding an explanation for the penalty that cost them the goal (it was a tripping penalty, by the way). Now look, the referees were atrocious for both teams. So, in some disturbing way, they did their job. But what I hate in this league are the refs making make-up calls. You want to know what are make-up calls? I'll explain it to you. Let's take Kovy's example (maybe it's a bad example, maybe the call was fair, but it's a good illustration of what I mean). The guy who stayed on stop of him while he was on the ice could've been given a two minute penalty for roughing. Instead, the refs did nothing. Kovalev reacted (and I do concede that Kovy was in the wrong here), he got a two minute penalty for slashing. The Bruins have a 5-on-3. They score. Four minutes after that, the Bruins will get penalized four times. Two of those penalties wouldn't have been called if the Habs led the game 3-1. So you have a tired Boston PK team with the mission to stop the top PP team in the league. How do you do that?
But more than the atrocious reffing, Claude Julien should look back at the game's final minutes and blame himself for poor coaching. With a little over two minutes left to go, you know that you're going in overtime, what the hell is goon/tough guy Shawn Thornton doing on the ice? He had no business there and he made the same mistake as Lapointe did in the Ottawa-Pittsburgh game. Four minutes penalty for high-sticking Habs grinder Tom Kostopolous. Indiscipline.
You don't need your enforcer/goon/tough guy when playing against Montreal because, then, they become liabilities. How? I'll explain. Montreal doesn't have an enforcer/goon/tough guy. Their enforcer is their powerplay. As for the rest, they have pests/grinders, guys who are constantly in your face, who finish their hits, who brush up against you or give a little poke when the play is stopped. It gets annoying. To see the same jersey number do those things over and over again and you can't reciprocate because they don't fight. Oh, they'll fight you if they have no choice but they're disciplined. They'll do their job and go back to their bench. And that gets under the Bruins' skin. Especially Shawn Thornton's skin. He was already penalized in game 1 after hitting grinder Steve Bégin on the head. In this game, he put his stick to other grinder's - Tom Kostopolous, Bégin's linemate - face. Kostopolous was bleeding. Four minutes. Claude Julien's fault. That's it, that's all.
I'll have more comments in my Game 3 preview which will be posted as soon as I know about roster changes. Guy Carbonneau always makes changes when there are two games in two nights. Expect Patrice Brisebois to be replaced by Ryan O'Byrne. Winger Michael Ryder who had a good game might be replaced by either Russian rocket Mikhail Grabovski or rookie tough guy Gregory Stewart. If not Michael Ryder, Mathieu Dandenault might be the one sitting out. But I doubt that since the balance between experience and inexperience would tip immensely on the inexperience side if that were to happen.
There was only one other game yesterday. In the Western Conference, the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Nashville Predators 4-2. The Wings lead the series 2-0.
EDIT:
The were actually two games last night in the Western Conference, the Dallas Stars defeated defending champion Anaheim Ducks with a 5-2 victory. The Stars lead the series 2-0.
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