Ann 22008 NHL Playoffs - Round 2: Montreal Canadiens vs. Philadelphia Flyers Game 2 REVIEW
April 27th 2008 14:29
Flyers defeat Habs 4-2 for the first time this season.
Before I start, there was one change in Carbo's lineup last night. In my preview I confirmed that Brisebois would be playing, well, he injured his leg in the pregame warmup and was replaced by O'Byrne.
On to the game itself. Martin Biron was the real winner here. The Canadiens were by far the better team but they just couldn't bury their chances. Price was average (so average in fact that Carbo was tempted to put back-up goalie Jaroslav Halak on the ice), he took two goals on his glove-hand side; shots that he could've stopped. For the rest of the night, the Flyers kept shooting on his left side, hoping that he would give more goals. In my opinion, Philly's fourth goal was supposed to be a slashing penalty. The guy whacked Price's glove making him drop the puck, and scored in an empty net. I guess the refs wanted to balance things out after Kovy's 'controversial' goal in Game 1.
The Canadiens played a lot better than they did in the first game. They were intense, buzzing around Biron's net like a swarm of bees. Their main handicap was that, once again, they were down two goals and had to play catch-up for the majority of the night. Saku Koivu is one hell of a warrior, this guy is leading by example, fighting for the puck behind the net, crushing Briere in the boards. Kovalev tried to make some magic again but he was closely watched. Plekanec probably had his best game of the playoffs (most media outlets are saying the opposite because he was 0-7 on faceoffs in the first period), Biron was there to stop him every time. The older Kostitsyn came close to scoring, he shot wide. Markov finally scored but I still think he's playing injured despite his denial.
On the negative side, the Streit-Lapierre-Dandenault line is still bothering me. They don't have a clear-cut role. They're not offensive enough and they're not getting the job done defensively. Streit is playing himself right out of a juicy contract (more on that after the playoffs), Lapierre is simply skating, and so is Dandenault. This line needs a playmaker and a goalscorer, but that would entail breaking up the second line (Koivu's line) which is playing well. I would put Higgins alongside Lapierre and Streit, take out Dandenault, and insert Latendresse at Koivu's side. Latendresse plays well with Koivu but he doesn't understand Kovy. Furthermore, moving Higgins out of Koivu's line would create it's own set of problems since Higgins is the one who digs the puck out of corners and feeds it to either Saku or Kovalev so they can work. But then, what happens is that Higgins can't score. He wouldn't be able to put the puck in the back of the net even if his own life depended on it. So even if they move him, the Lapierre line won't be contributing offensively. That's a lot of changes for nothing. The only pure goalscorer on the team (apart from the Russians) is Michael Ryder. Problem is, this guy only scored 14 goals during the season and has taken the nasty habit of keeping the puck to himself instead of passing it; it's not something you would want if you have Kovalev, the designated puckhandler, on the same line. What Carbo could do is put Sergei K. and Higgins alongside Lapierre, put Kovy back with Plekanec and Andrei K., and put Ryder and Latendresse alongside Koivu. But now, Ryder becomes the question mark. Jesus, I wouldn't want to be in Carbo's shoes.
On defense, Markov and Komisarek are running hot and cold. They're a complementary pair so if one doesn't play well, it will have an effect on the other's play. Komisarek played better from last game but Markov is not Markov yet and everyone is wondering why. The other pairs are doing okay but it all starts with Markov and Komisarek.
Finally, Carey Price can play a lot better than this. He has to bounce back for the next game. Goalies are usually the ones who steal games on the road. It's funny though, when Carey Price steals a game, all is grand. All you hear is that we have the best goalie in the world, good teams always find a way to win, bla bla bla. When the opposition's goalie steals a game, Price sucks, the Habs are a bunch of incompetent fools, Carbo should get fired, etc. Man, what a city!
Once again, one other game last night. the Red Wings destroyed the Avs 5-1. Detroit leads the series 2-0.
Before I start, there was one change in Carbo's lineup last night. In my preview I confirmed that Brisebois would be playing, well, he injured his leg in the pregame warmup and was replaced by O'Byrne.
On to the game itself. Martin Biron was the real winner here. The Canadiens were by far the better team but they just couldn't bury their chances. Price was average (so average in fact that Carbo was tempted to put back-up goalie Jaroslav Halak on the ice), he took two goals on his glove-hand side; shots that he could've stopped. For the rest of the night, the Flyers kept shooting on his left side, hoping that he would give more goals. In my opinion, Philly's fourth goal was supposed to be a slashing penalty. The guy whacked Price's glove making him drop the puck, and scored in an empty net. I guess the refs wanted to balance things out after Kovy's 'controversial' goal in Game 1.
The Canadiens played a lot better than they did in the first game. They were intense, buzzing around Biron's net like a swarm of bees. Their main handicap was that, once again, they were down two goals and had to play catch-up for the majority of the night. Saku Koivu is one hell of a warrior, this guy is leading by example, fighting for the puck behind the net, crushing Briere in the boards. Kovalev tried to make some magic again but he was closely watched. Plekanec probably had his best game of the playoffs (most media outlets are saying the opposite because he was 0-7 on faceoffs in the first period), Biron was there to stop him every time. The older Kostitsyn came close to scoring, he shot wide. Markov finally scored but I still think he's playing injured despite his denial.
On the negative side, the Streit-Lapierre-Dandenault line is still bothering me. They don't have a clear-cut role. They're not offensive enough and they're not getting the job done defensively. Streit is playing himself right out of a juicy contract (more on that after the playoffs), Lapierre is simply skating, and so is Dandenault. This line needs a playmaker and a goalscorer, but that would entail breaking up the second line (Koivu's line) which is playing well. I would put Higgins alongside Lapierre and Streit, take out Dandenault, and insert Latendresse at Koivu's side. Latendresse plays well with Koivu but he doesn't understand Kovy. Furthermore, moving Higgins out of Koivu's line would create it's own set of problems since Higgins is the one who digs the puck out of corners and feeds it to either Saku or Kovalev so they can work. But then, what happens is that Higgins can't score. He wouldn't be able to put the puck in the back of the net even if his own life depended on it. So even if they move him, the Lapierre line won't be contributing offensively. That's a lot of changes for nothing. The only pure goalscorer on the team (apart from the Russians) is Michael Ryder. Problem is, this guy only scored 14 goals during the season and has taken the nasty habit of keeping the puck to himself instead of passing it; it's not something you would want if you have Kovalev, the designated puckhandler, on the same line. What Carbo could do is put Sergei K. and Higgins alongside Lapierre, put Kovy back with Plekanec and Andrei K., and put Ryder and Latendresse alongside Koivu. But now, Ryder becomes the question mark. Jesus, I wouldn't want to be in Carbo's shoes.
On defense, Markov and Komisarek are running hot and cold. They're a complementary pair so if one doesn't play well, it will have an effect on the other's play. Komisarek played better from last game but Markov is not Markov yet and everyone is wondering why. The other pairs are doing okay but it all starts with Markov and Komisarek.
Finally, Carey Price can play a lot better than this. He has to bounce back for the next game. Goalies are usually the ones who steal games on the road. It's funny though, when Carey Price steals a game, all is grand. All you hear is that we have the best goalie in the world, good teams always find a way to win, bla bla bla. When the opposition's goalie steals a game, Price sucks, the Habs are a bunch of incompetent fools, Carbo should get fired, etc. Man, what a city!
Once again, one other game last night. the Red Wings destroyed the Avs 5-1. Detroit leads the series 2-0.
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