Ann 2Game 59 Review: Gonchar, Penguins Break Canadiens' Resolve With 5-4 Victory (Video Included)
February 23rd 2009 04:22
Gonchar being congratulated for his game-winning goal
Despite the Canadiens' disjunctive play, the game was pretty even. The Habs came back three times from behind, erasing 1-0, 2-1, and 4-2 deficits to tie the game. After a great performance in Washington, Tomas Plekanec played what is, arguably, his best game of the season with two goals and one assist. His line, completed by Andrei Kostitsyn and Max Pacioretty, gave fits to the Penguins defense all game long, accumulating seven points for the night. At the other end of the spectrum, Saku Koivu and his linemates probably had their worst game of the season as they were on the ice for three of the home side's five goals. They seemed to have a lot of trouble backchecking, and Koivu, who is probably the most dedicated skater on the team (I said dedicated not fastest) looked unusually slow to help out his defensemen.
Five goals were scored in the span of seven minutes in the third period. The onslaught started with Evgeni Malkin's 26th of the season with thirty seconds played (it was on that goal that Koivu's line looked particularly bad as the captain let the Russian sniper skate past him and release a shot). It became exciting when Andrei Kostitsyn scored the Canadiens' third goal just thirteen seconds after Talbot had put the Penguins lead at 4-2. And it concluded with Sergei Gonchar rifling a perfect shot from the point to make the score 5-4.
The Canadiens tried to come back once more but it was all in vain. The Penguins did their best to keep the visitors out of their zone, and Marc-Andre Fleury made the saves he had to after a less-than-stellar start. Then again, you're not going to achieve much when your third line gets more ice-time than your top-six forwards which was the case for the Canadiens on Thursday. With one minute left to go, Guy Carbonneau had Maxime Lapierre, Tom Kostopoulos, and Gregory Stewart running around the ice like mad men in a one-goal game. This stubborness to play his grinders in the most crucial situations is one of the numerous flaws of Carbonneau. The Canadiens were mostly unable to take out Price for a sixth skater, and when they finally did, you could tell they missed Kovalev to make something happen.
In those two games where Kovalev wasn't here, Carbonneau probably expected to show to Bob Gainey that the team didn't need the talented Russian. Well, he was proven wrong. Sure, in Washington they played a north-south game which hasn't been the case in what seems like forever, but when your first skater in the shootout is Tomas Plekanec, you're not going far (no offense to the center). Then, in Pittsburgh when they desperately needed that goal, only one line was working to its full potential – Plekanec's – and that wasn't enough. The worst thing is the Penguins scored their fifth goal less than ten minutes into the third period, which means that the Habs had a little over ten minutes, including two powerplays, to find that goal and they didn't. As much as Kovy tries to do too much by himself, the team needs him if they want a chance to make the playoffs. Yes, make the playoffs, because at the rate they're going, it's far from a done deal.
My 3 stars:
3. Andrei Kostitsyn (special mention to Sergei Gonchar)
2. Tomas Plekanec
1. Evgeni Malkin
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Comment by James Rickard
unlucky_ fishermen.com
Angling Fish
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Comment by Ann 2
Muzikal Mafia
Canadiens Watch
Football Slate
I think the problems with Pens is that they lost a lot of character when Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts left. Fedotenko and Satan aren't the meanest-looking dudes you'll ever see unlike the other two. And Fleury's been having a disappointing year pretty much like Price in Montreal.
Don't give up though. There are 20 games left. Plenty of time to make it by the back-door. Me, I'm worried about Montreal going downwards.