I was real happy that my last dire thoughts on the bruin game did not happen,but tonite is a different story with the Sens.They are Hab killers,no doubt about and thier secret weaponry’s,Cris f Neil is back…also with Murray back behind the bench expect the rule book being rewritten”hate that guy!”It would be very good to beat this team up,lets hope!!!go habs go…

I’m thinking the Habs will come out strong tonight, maybe even take the game by multiple goals. That’s not the first time this season I’ve made a winning prediction for the Habs over the Sens though, and I’m usually wrong

Habs 5 Sens 2 Clinch tonight!!!! GO HABS GO

I meant metal!

And I agree wiht you Jeff I can see 5-2 win. I would be very surprised if they lose this one, the habs are fed up!!!

Unrelated rant:

I’d like to see the Habs finish at least 20 games above .500 too. (And I think they’ll need to if they want to win the conference.) I haven’t been a fan of the overtime loss point since they began awarding it, so it would be nice to know that the Habs would be at least 10 games above .500 under the older, more logical point rules.

Unrelated rant over.

haflifer and I sent carbo our game plan it seems to be working so far, but you cannot play a run an gun game against Ottawa, you have to check, check and check some more take the man skate fast and force turnovers. Ottawa looks confused in the first.

I think that if we win tonight it would be better to let Kommi rest rather than risk reinjury. Get him health as Habman says healthy is a winner.

Anyone taking note that the Islanders are up 3-1 against the Penguins after 2? Just more proof that lesser teams do beat the elite teams, and particularly at this time of year. It’s nothing new.

That being said, a three point cushion would be grand. Go Habs, Go Isles!

Yes NYI 4 Pitts 1 in third.

Joseph, good point the weaker teams play loose and even the lower point teams are not that bad, the leafs are a good example. Here is a team that with better leadership and management add a couple of decent players and they can be there fighting for a division lead next year. You cannot get down on your team because they loose a game to this type of team. It happens to the best teams in the League every year.

Ranger game all over, we stopped skating and checking and a couple of penalties a soft goal and we are in trouble. Get you act together guys.

Final NYI 4 Pitts 1

We are the best … thats all there is to say .

I don’t think that third period was in the game plan. We always seems to have a bad period, good thing we got 7 to start with.

Well hablifer, I tend to agree with most of what you say but I cannot agree with you about the playoffs. This is an emotional game and the team lost their emotion after the second because they felt they had the game won. Playoffs are a different thing and you are seldom going to have a game like this in the playoffs.

Bad move Carbo…..you put the goalie in the shower after 7 to 1(with 20 to go!)…it doesn’t constitute good coaching,,thats why the guys let up…with Halak in net we would have see a better position to to keep the tempo up!…you noticed on Price at the end of the game e wasn’t happy..SEE it?…tell em why?….because he let in 5 ..or should have gotten the curtain all after 5 …i would say …Carbo..I seen you make good decisions all year..but price was the
sacrificial lamb tonight..and Boullion?..hes ok…so we got away without any injuries..it is just the begining!
I think Halak could of used some ice time tonight…who says NO?>>>
If you cant have confidence to pull your best investment with 20 to go at 7 to 1
It says a a ot about what you say about the team…

How can a team just stop skating????
And why didn’t Carbo take a timeout when it was 7-3? I blame the coach! He should have taken a timeout to stop the bleeding! When the sens are on their game, WE WON’T BEAT THEM! and I still believe the sens will beat us in the playoffs, if we play them! If you need a 6 goal lead to win a game, you’re in trouble!

My advice to everyone upset by that third period: relax. The Habs will go further than Ottawa in the playoffs. That’s for certain.

Scary 3rd! The boys will learn from their mistake of letting down their guard…

Do you think another team will score 4 goals in the 3rd period on the Habs between now and the end their playoff run? No.

Will the Rangers lose another game after being up by 5 goals? No, not for a long time.

Take this game for what it is: a win, a dam ugly one, but still a win which clinchs a playoff berth, and put some doubt in Sens’ minds…

Thank you Habs, I’m grateful that you made the playoffs this year. Kick some playoff *** this year!!!

A bad coaching job by Carbo.

And putting Halak in wouldn’t have been a slap in the Sens’ faces?

hablifer, I was thinking the same when the third goal was scored, that we should have had a time out, then when the scored the fourth I thought now was the time but the ref called a time out to vary the goald and carbo had time to settle the team down. It is a coaches decision when to call a time out and I believe that Carbo had to decide when to do it. You also don’t want to get your players thinking that you are panicing just be cause the other team gets a couple of goals.

As far a beating Ottawa I believe we can beat them as long as we skate, check and hit like we did in the first two periods. We are not going to score 7 goals but neither are they going to score 4 in the third very often. There were a lot of listens learned here again tonight for this young team.

Yes Joseph, and what kind of flac would carbo had taken if he pulled Price put in Halak and we lost.

The only legitimate mistake I can see that Carbo made was failing to motivate his players to keep the pedal to the metal in the third.

Joseph….thers 31 other teams ..its not that position…I dont care who we slap in the face!..Im talking Habs hockey…and when you got two goalies that share a room together on the road ..they talk…Price is going to say..”why didnt Carbo put you in the third after 7 to 1…show th team they need to play for everyone on th eteam…Price is not happy..this is going to have serious repercussions fo r the next 2 games..now we will lose to the leafs i PROMISE!

Habman, I don’t think you can continue to second guess the coach on every move he makes or does not make, Halak did not look good in his last outing and it was important for Price to get this win for the playoffs. I do not think he could be faulted on most of the goals, the one on the short side was weak but again he learned something tonight too. Intensity is important, the team lost it but I still say they got it back when they killed the 2 man advantage and that is what won the game.

I understand your argument, habman, and as I said, there’s logic in it, but I wouldn’t guarantee a loss to the Leafs (not that that would mean anything anyway) based on tonight’s less than desirable ending. I don’t see what tonight’s third period has to do with a game against a non-playoff team two games from now. They’ll either beat the Leafs or they won’t, but it won’t likely be decided by a four-goal third period.

That being said, 210 goals against isn’t exactly reassuring. Especially considering the manner in which a good portion of those goals against came. So I’d still like to see some tightening up defensively, and the aforementioned 60-minute effort.

Ouch,playing the Leafs,yikes!They have nothing to loose and are really giving her,but I prey we beat them and cause their golf game to improve, R E V N G E !!!!!!

I think you guys are over reacting to how Price felt or did not feel about the third period. If was important for Price and the team to know that when they have a team start to steam roll them that they have the ability to slow it down and stop that from happening. I believe the coaching staff wtill explain that to him. He should be proud of the game he played and the saves he did make in the third. I am afraid that the group of us are split on this one. I would not have pulled him, some of you would have. To say that Scotty would have pulled him is rather silly, Scotty very seld ever pulled his goalie in an important game, it was important for Price to be on the ice at the end of the game and be part of the win. I watched Scotty coach for a number of years and I do not every remember him pulling his goalie down the stretch unless he felt hs had been over worked because he played 20 or 30 games in a row.

i would say if i was Price..thanks guys for playing 2/3 a game while i was the shooting gallery for 20 minutes in the third..thanks i needed that..i play 60 minutes..how many do you play?

“i would say if i was Price..thanks guys for playing 2/3 a game while i was the shooting gallery for 20 minutes in the third..thanks i needed that..i play 60 minutes..how many do you play?”

So would I.

Isn’t the ‘new NHL’ the old NHL, minus the 150+ point getters?

Team Canada was incapable of a 60-minute game and they won Gold, again. That doesn’t make it acceptable though.

Habman you are a ******.

Ice man..you are a very slow, in your mind ,a very DELAYED individual..and you are very shallow, low , and obviously have issues that require “clinical’ conditioning, you don’t have a clue..and i feel sorry for you..I love you!

Amen!

Now, on a lighter note, wouldn’t it be funny if Edmonton edged out Colorado for eighth spot? I think so.

Oh, and as to the topic of this entry, the Canadiens clinched!

habman , ditto to ICEMAN, I thought he was going to be nice after we talked last week but I guess he decided that was not any fun. I too hope everyone had a good Easter, and I too have been around for a long time, been a habs fan since the 1950’s and saw many a Stanley Cup raised by the Habs. None of us want to see any of our good players injuried but I just heard a hockey man on TSN say if you put your back up goalie in it says that you do not think this is important. So what message would it have sent to Ottawa had we put Halak in for the third. Basically to me it says to Ottawa we have this game won and so we are going to rest our best because we do not need him to beat you. It also says to our players we have this game won and lets prepare for next game. Now we did not handle the big lead very well, but we recovered and that is the positive thing to take from this game. Ottawa did not send any message to us that we did not already know. Basically, if anything they got embarassed tonight and I expect them to come out next game and play a lot harder. What we have to do is overcome that first 20 minutes on their ice. Then take control of the game. There is another thing that by the next game we may not have to win it and we can play all our second stringers and rest our top players including Price.

Xtrahabsfan, I believe that you compared Carbo to Scotty, although I do not agree with the move you suggested, you also must remember that Scotty coach many a year in St. Louis honing his skills before he came to Montreal. This is Carbo’s 2nd year is he perfect, no likely but he is learning and getting better as the year goes on, and remember he also has to assistants that are also very knowledgeable hockey people, and there is an onus on them to make suggestions as well. This is a yound coaching staff that is doing an excellent job and they are growing as this yound team grows. All the coaches were very good hockey players and excellent teaching coaches, and that is why the team is playing so well.

As for the inconsistency and not playing a full 60 minutes, this is the mark of a young team as well and as they gain experience they will be less cocky and over confident.

Pactum Serva, I am sure if was a senior moment, sometimes we make mistakes, but really there are too many teams to keep track of all of them anyway and who cares if there is 30 or 35 teams there is only one important team anyway.

Agreed Don

Post78″I seriously some people here only look for the bad in everything”Hey primaDONa Carnage,isn’t that what your doing right now?

Well.I guess Ottawa threw In their “BESY GUY”..EMEREY!..hes the talk of the town..the “oh so holy art thou” Goalie Tender that no one gonna want for not showing up for games..missing and being late for practice…the “future expendable by product”..of a child gone mad!..yeah thats a good trade off..might as well put a “chimpanzee in net to be his counter part”…
WHAT KIND OF MESSAGE IS THAT SENDING TO MONTREAL!?

THIS ….FOR THE” 1,000,000 TIME IS ABOUT THE HABS!!!!,.not Ottawa!

See you against the “silent killers”(buffalo)..yes gentlemen.go back a few blogs and reiterate my “QUOTE”

Oh boy..

PEACE

Halak is going to start against the sabres with Price in against the maple Leafs. That’s my guess.