Ann 2Games 15 & 16 Review: Canadiens Lose Against Flyers But Edge Out Blues In Shootout
November 18th 2008 18:19
Montreal Canadiens – Philadelphia Flyers: 1-2
I finally ended up going to the movies to watch Quantum Of Solace instead of Saturday's hockey game between the Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers. After the Boston debacle, I really wasn't in the mood to watch the Habs throw another game away. I only managed to watch the first period of the Philly game, and it looked like they had made some effort defensively. In fact, the Canadiens could've won that game if it wasn't for their anemic powerplay that has run completely dry in these past couple of games. So after winning only one of their last five games, the Canadiens desperately needed a win to avoid provoking a citywide panic.
St. Louis Blues – Montreal Canadiens: 2-3
They got that win 24 hours later against the worst team of the NHL, the St. Louis Blues. Although the Blues have the league's worst record, the Canadiens still couldn't get going. The Blues took the lead early in the first after the Canadiens were once again caught napping on a defensive zone faceoff. The equalizer came two minutes before the end of the second period when Andrei Kostitsyn went coast-to-coast with the puck, starting with the puck at Carey Price's red line all the way to Manny Legace who let in a soft backhand. It was an ugly goal but the Habs desperately needed it after a couple of their shots hit Legace's posts. Unfortunately, the Blues took the lead again at the beginning of the third with a powerplay goal. Finally, Robert Lang tied the score with five minutes left to go by swatting at his own rebound. I was actually surprised that he scored given his recent record of missing open nets. Maybe that one will give him a boost. Both teams got a powerplay in overtime but neither managed to score. The shootout was a simple affair. All three Blues shooters were stopped by Price while Kovalev was the only one to score for the Canadiens – a top-shelf backhand. His reaction after that was priceless - just a blank face as if that was the easiest thing to do in the world.
Something has to be said about the refereeing in this game though. Canadiens fans have come to hate Chris Lee because you know that when he is on the ice, there will a lot of useless penalties called while the obvious ones will be ignored. The same thing happened last night as there was 19 penalties called during the game – 9 against the Canadiens, 10 against the Blues. At least three or four of these 19 penalties were make-up calls, and there were at least seven instances where the powerplays were cancelled by penalties that provoked 4-on-4s. As a result, Guy Carbonneau didn't really get his chance to test out his new lines. Kovalev was put alongside Saku Koivu and Alex Tanguay, the Kostitsyn brothers flanked Robert Lang, Tomas Plekanec centered Christopher Higgins and Tom Kostopoulos, and the fourth line was all francophone with Guillaume Latendresse, Steve Begin, and Mathieu Dandenault. The best line was probably Lang's. Anytime you put the brothers together, you get a spark so the veteran didn't really have a lot to do. Plekanec's line showed a lot of hustle while Koivu's line had the same problem they've seem to have since the return of Higgins – three playmakers, no goalscorer. Kovalev would be the sniper on that line but he's the kind of guy who likes to have the puck, and had to show a lot of restraint on Sunday when the puck was along the boards while he stayed in front of the net. Several times he couldn't help himself but drift towards the puck instead of waiting for a pass, so there's still some work to do on that line.
The powerplay is the most worrisome issue for the team who led the league in PP goals these past two years. They hit two or three posts against the Blues so there's still some hope despite the 0-for-20 record of the last four games. Personally I think they should get Tanguay off the first wave, put Markov back on the left point as the playmaker and give Sergei Kostitsyn the shooting role; that way the cross-ice pas from Markov to Kovalev can come back. Tanguay is capable of those passes but he Kovy just don't have that connection that the two Russians have. Tanguay's passes are either behind, in front, or too strong for Kovalev to strike a one-timer. With Markov back at his rightful place, things might get going again.
My 3 Stars:
3.Steve Regier
2.Andrei Kostitsyn
1.Carey Price
I finally ended up going to the movies to watch Quantum Of Solace instead of Saturday's hockey game between the Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers. After the Boston debacle, I really wasn't in the mood to watch the Habs throw another game away. I only managed to watch the first period of the Philly game, and it looked like they had made some effort defensively. In fact, the Canadiens could've won that game if it wasn't for their anemic powerplay that has run completely dry in these past couple of games. So after winning only one of their last five games, the Canadiens desperately needed a win to avoid provoking a citywide panic.
St. Louis Blues – Montreal Canadiens: 2-3
They got that win 24 hours later against the worst team of the NHL, the St. Louis Blues. Although the Blues have the league's worst record, the Canadiens still couldn't get going. The Blues took the lead early in the first after the Canadiens were once again caught napping on a defensive zone faceoff. The equalizer came two minutes before the end of the second period when Andrei Kostitsyn went coast-to-coast with the puck, starting with the puck at Carey Price's red line all the way to Manny Legace who let in a soft backhand. It was an ugly goal but the Habs desperately needed it after a couple of their shots hit Legace's posts. Unfortunately, the Blues took the lead again at the beginning of the third with a powerplay goal. Finally, Robert Lang tied the score with five minutes left to go by swatting at his own rebound. I was actually surprised that he scored given his recent record of missing open nets. Maybe that one will give him a boost. Both teams got a powerplay in overtime but neither managed to score. The shootout was a simple affair. All three Blues shooters were stopped by Price while Kovalev was the only one to score for the Canadiens – a top-shelf backhand. His reaction after that was priceless - just a blank face as if that was the easiest thing to do in the world.
Something has to be said about the refereeing in this game though. Canadiens fans have come to hate Chris Lee because you know that when he is on the ice, there will a lot of useless penalties called while the obvious ones will be ignored. The same thing happened last night as there was 19 penalties called during the game – 9 against the Canadiens, 10 against the Blues. At least three or four of these 19 penalties were make-up calls, and there were at least seven instances where the powerplays were cancelled by penalties that provoked 4-on-4s. As a result, Guy Carbonneau didn't really get his chance to test out his new lines. Kovalev was put alongside Saku Koivu and Alex Tanguay, the Kostitsyn brothers flanked Robert Lang, Tomas Plekanec centered Christopher Higgins and Tom Kostopoulos, and the fourth line was all francophone with Guillaume Latendresse, Steve Begin, and Mathieu Dandenault. The best line was probably Lang's. Anytime you put the brothers together, you get a spark so the veteran didn't really have a lot to do. Plekanec's line showed a lot of hustle while Koivu's line had the same problem they've seem to have since the return of Higgins – three playmakers, no goalscorer. Kovalev would be the sniper on that line but he's the kind of guy who likes to have the puck, and had to show a lot of restraint on Sunday when the puck was along the boards while he stayed in front of the net. Several times he couldn't help himself but drift towards the puck instead of waiting for a pass, so there's still some work to do on that line.
The powerplay is the most worrisome issue for the team who led the league in PP goals these past two years. They hit two or three posts against the Blues so there's still some hope despite the 0-for-20 record of the last four games. Personally I think they should get Tanguay off the first wave, put Markov back on the left point as the playmaker and give Sergei Kostitsyn the shooting role; that way the cross-ice pas from Markov to Kovalev can come back. Tanguay is capable of those passes but he Kovy just don't have that connection that the two Russians have. Tanguay's passes are either behind, in front, or too strong for Kovalev to strike a one-timer. With Markov back at his rightful place, things might get going again.
My 3 Stars:
3.Steve Regier
2.Andrei Kostitsyn
1.Carey Price
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