Ann 2Game 62 Review: Canadiens' Special Teams Shine In 4-3 OT Win Over Flyers (Video Included)
March 5th 2009 05:58
Schneider celebrating his OT winner
Try putting yourself in the shoes of the Canadiens' newest acquisition, Glen Metropolit, who had one of the most surreal days on Friday. He woke up as a Philadephia Flyer ready to face one of their Eastern Conference rival, the Montreal Canadiens who were sitting four points behind the Flyers that morning. He had practice with his teammates in the morning and all that jazz. Then later in the afternoon, the center found out he had been claimed by the Montreal Canadiens. A couple of hours later, he was stepping inside the visitors' locker-room to meet his new teammates. Finally, at 7:10 p.m. his line completed by Alex Kovalev (for the opening faceoff only) and Gregory Stewart were the first on the ice against his old teammates.
After all of that, it's no surprise that Metropolit looked lost in his first few shifts. On the very first one, the Flyers took advantage of a slow and confused Montreal defense to score their first goal of the game in a wide open net (Halak was lying on the ice and couldn't get up with at least four bodies crowding his goal). The goal was a perfect example of how low the defensemen's confidence has dropped. As the Flyers took their first shot, everyone on Montreal's side collapsed to the net instead of finding a way to clear the puck. The Flyers took three shots before the fourth finally went in as the visitors were batting their sticks around blindly only to hit thin air. On Metropolit's next shift, the center found himself penalized for high-sticking an opponent. All in all, it wasn't a great start for the newest Canadien.
Metropolit wasn't the only who sucked in the opening minutes. A sloppy pass by Roman Hamrlik to Tomas Plekanec in the Canadiens' slot was easily intercepted by Mike Richards who seized the opportunity to make it 2-0 for the home side.
The Canadiens finally woke up at the end of the period. A powerplay goal by Tomas Plekanec started the comeback. Two minutes later, Montreal led 3-2 thanks to goals by Tom Kostopoulos and Alex Kovalev.
The visitors didn't score again until the overtime period. In the two other periods, they defended their lead without building any convincing attack. Although there were a couple of stressful moments in their end, the Canadiens performed admirably well considering they blanked Philadephia's league-leading powerplay (at home), going 8-for-8 on the penalty-kill including a 5-on-3 at the start of the second period. The Flyers finally got their equalizer halfway through the second period when Simon Gagne pounced on Brisebois' pass attempt which resulted in a Flyers' breakaway. Once again, Jaroslav Halak had to stand tall against the shooting barrage executed by the Flyers who had 18 shots in that period alone to the Canadiens' five.
A goalless third period set things up for overtime. From the second minute of extra-time, the Flyers were penalized for making a run at Halak. The powerplay got the Canadiens into the game, and it once again came to the rescue in this situation. Despite the fact that Saku Koivu broke his stick after winning five consecutive faceoffs in Philly's zone, the powerplay went on uninterrupted, and playing 3-on-3, a piece of magic by Kovalev opened the way for Schneider who beat Niitymaki with a wrist shot at the glove side.
Once again, the Canadiens' netminder shined in his team's victory. It was an important win for the Habs, but the Flyers are still in front of them thanks to the extra-point awarded to an overtime loser. Next up is THE powerhouse in the NHL right now, the San Jose Sharks.
My 3 Stars:
3. Mathieu Schneider
2. Jaroslav Halak
1. Alex Kovalev
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