Ann 2Game 7 Review: Gigučre Shines While Halak & Price Falter (Ducks Defeat Canadiens 6-4)
October 27th 2008 02:53
...And the French-Canadian goalie curse continues. Despite allowing only 25 shots on goal while shelling Jean-Sébastien Gigučre with 51 shots, it was the Montreal Canadiens who found themselves on the losing side of their contest against the Anaheim Ducks.
So... Halak got the nod to start the game on Saturday after Carey Price had missed most of the week's practices due to the flu. But, unlike the games against Florida and Toronto where the Slovak goaltender performed brilliantly to keep his team in the mix in the first period, he was beaten twice on three shots by the Ducks who had played the night before. Both goals were the result of odd man rushes – the first, a 3-on-2, and the second, a 2-on-1 – as Montreal forwards were slow on the backchecking. Fortunately, two powerplays came to the Habs' rescue as Tanguay scored his fourth of the season after a nice pass from Kovalev. Five minutes later, Saku Koivu also added his fourth of the season right after the Canadiens' second powerplay ended. Both teams retreated to their respective locker-rooms tied at 2-2 after the first period. After a disastrous start, the momentum was slowing starting to shift in the Canadiens' favor.
That momentum carried over to the start of the second period where Tom Kostopoulos gave the lead to Montreal with his first goal of the season. However, the relief was short-lived because one minute after Kostopoulos' goal, Kovalev picked up a tripping penalty putting the Ducks on the powerplay. And that was when everything went to hell.
The Ducks quickly scored on the powerplay, tying the score at 3-3. Two minutes later, the Ducks regained the lead via Chris Kunitz, and that was the end of Halak as Price was sent to relieve him. The change didn't bring anything new to the home team as Travis Moen beat Price on a breakaway for a shorthanded goal. At the end of the second period, the Habs were once again down two goals, richt back where they started.
Although the Habs peppered Gigučre with shots throughout the third period, only one made it past the Montreal native. Although the Ducks goalie was furious with himself after surrendering that goal, the goal was only consolation for the Canadiens who had been down 6-3 after a goal from Teemu Selanne.
Although the loss is a terrible downer for Montreal fans, it might be the perfect lesson for a team that has been relying too much on their young netminders. Defensive coverage was a mess on Saturday. The forwards didn't put any effort on tracking back while the defensemen were slow to react on what was happening around them. The good thing is that the powerplay is slowly coming back as Markov and Kovalev are getting used to Tanguay. Except for a monumental mistake that led to the Ducks' second goal, Chris Higgins looked good on his first game of the season. Now, let's hope that Andrei Kostitsyn comes back quick enough for his younger brother to join Lang and Higgins in order to give the Habs three potent lines. My favorite player, Andrei Markov, is racking up assists game after game after game. He has now ten points in seven games. Offensively, he looked good, but defensively he made mistakes that were probably the result of a long lay-off between games (he also missed one day of practice during the week). Of course, there are those who will argue that the Canadiens are way too soft to compete against Western teams, hence why they lost, but I think it's just a matter of time. The Habs haven't played one good game so far this season (they thrashed the Leafs 6-1, but hey... it's the Leafs). Once they have their defensive game figured out and all lines fired up, we'll see how it goes.
My 3 Stars:
3.Corey Perry
2.Alex Tanguay
1.Jean-Sébastien Gigučre
So... Halak got the nod to start the game on Saturday after Carey Price had missed most of the week's practices due to the flu. But, unlike the games against Florida and Toronto where the Slovak goaltender performed brilliantly to keep his team in the mix in the first period, he was beaten twice on three shots by the Ducks who had played the night before. Both goals were the result of odd man rushes – the first, a 3-on-2, and the second, a 2-on-1 – as Montreal forwards were slow on the backchecking. Fortunately, two powerplays came to the Habs' rescue as Tanguay scored his fourth of the season after a nice pass from Kovalev. Five minutes later, Saku Koivu also added his fourth of the season right after the Canadiens' second powerplay ended. Both teams retreated to their respective locker-rooms tied at 2-2 after the first period. After a disastrous start, the momentum was slowing starting to shift in the Canadiens' favor.
That momentum carried over to the start of the second period where Tom Kostopoulos gave the lead to Montreal with his first goal of the season. However, the relief was short-lived because one minute after Kostopoulos' goal, Kovalev picked up a tripping penalty putting the Ducks on the powerplay. And that was when everything went to hell.
The Ducks quickly scored on the powerplay, tying the score at 3-3. Two minutes later, the Ducks regained the lead via Chris Kunitz, and that was the end of Halak as Price was sent to relieve him. The change didn't bring anything new to the home team as Travis Moen beat Price on a breakaway for a shorthanded goal. At the end of the second period, the Habs were once again down two goals, richt back where they started.
Although the Habs peppered Gigučre with shots throughout the third period, only one made it past the Montreal native. Although the Ducks goalie was furious with himself after surrendering that goal, the goal was only consolation for the Canadiens who had been down 6-3 after a goal from Teemu Selanne.
Although the loss is a terrible downer for Montreal fans, it might be the perfect lesson for a team that has been relying too much on their young netminders. Defensive coverage was a mess on Saturday. The forwards didn't put any effort on tracking back while the defensemen were slow to react on what was happening around them. The good thing is that the powerplay is slowly coming back as Markov and Kovalev are getting used to Tanguay. Except for a monumental mistake that led to the Ducks' second goal, Chris Higgins looked good on his first game of the season. Now, let's hope that Andrei Kostitsyn comes back quick enough for his younger brother to join Lang and Higgins in order to give the Habs three potent lines. My favorite player, Andrei Markov, is racking up assists game after game after game. He has now ten points in seven games. Offensively, he looked good, but defensively he made mistakes that were probably the result of a long lay-off between games (he also missed one day of practice during the week). Of course, there are those who will argue that the Canadiens are way too soft to compete against Western teams, hence why they lost, but I think it's just a matter of time. The Habs haven't played one good game so far this season (they thrashed the Leafs 6-1, but hey... it's the Leafs). Once they have their defensive game figured out and all lines fired up, we'll see how it goes.
My 3 Stars:
3.Corey Perry
2.Alex Tanguay
1.Jean-Sébastien Gigučre
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