» The Habs

No categories

Canadiens Miraculous Comeback

The Canadiens and the Panthers squared off at the Bell Centre tonight. For much of the game the Canadiens dominated, coming out strong with a 2-0 lead 5 minutes in. Then lazy play combined with dumb penalties let the Panthers back into the game in the 3rd. When the Habs went down 4-3 on a Stephen Weiss powerplay goal late in the 3rd, it looked all but done.

Steve Begin to the rescue. Is this becoming a regular thing?
Begin scored the tying 4th goal with 9 seconds remaining in the 3rd period giving the Canadiens a chance at overtime that they probably didn’t deserve. Another powerplay chance which saw Michael Ryder bury a shot into the gaping cage. You had to feel a little bad for Luongo as he lay in the net for several seconds after the goal. It’s not the first time he’s been burned in overtime in Montreal and he’s just hung out to dry so often by a weak Florida defence.

Theo’s play was again, not strong. Not #1 NHL goalie calibre. I hate to say it, but I can’t ignore it. There hasn’t been a game without a weak Theo goal. We’re in fantastic shape considering we haven’t had overall strong goaltending.

Unbelievable finish, from blowing the game in the 3rd to getting to overtime to finishing it off. Another ugly 2pts.
We’ll take em’.
Road Warrior Habs Notch 2 more points

The Canadiens stole another 2 road points tonight, saving their A-game until the 3rd period. The Canadiens were very lifeless for most of the game and couldn’t convert on the powerplay. Things broke in the 3rd period and the Canadiens finally managed a powerplay goal with Rivet sending a point shot that deflected off Saku Koivu.

Jose Theodore almost dug his own grave, with the Canadiens up 1-0 he took a Delay of Game penalty playing the puck outside the allowed zone. Of course, that lead to a Jagr powerplay goal. I think you could hear the curse words and “Trade Theo” screams rising into the air from every house in Quebec.

Not to worry, Steve Begin to the rescue. This guy is money. Streaking in 2 on 1 shorthanded, he rifled a wrist shot top corner that left Lundqvist shocked. Once again, a depth player rises to the occasion. Begin’s shot rivaled those of the top scorers in this league. Everyone says “he plays great for a guy with not much talent.” Wake up, Begin is a class guy and a very talented guy.

The Habs took advantage of their chances, Koivu intercepted a weak clearing attempt and centered it to Kovalev. Kovalev didn’t get much wood on it but made no mistake and sent it in. 3-1. Game over. Well wait, another role player added the extra extra insurance policy with the empty netter by Sundstrom.

Overall a weak start, but a strong 3rd effort and the Canadiens showed they could rebound after an embarassing loss.

On another note, what’s the deal with Madison Square Garden? A classic arena ok, but let’s get modern. The Big Apple? Broadway? I hate watching games there, it’s so ugly.
The place is so dark and poorly lit it looks like they’re skating around a funeral home.
The Penalty boxes? Wait , thats not a box. That’s a door in the boards leading to a cement floor with 2 plastic chairs. Classy New York!

ShoutBox

Last Message 2 hours, 49 minutes ago

1 guest is online. Google is crawling the site.

goalie : What's with the Margahauland link just below? It appears to be from a hacker. Any thoughts???
Margahayuland : hi all... sorry add this «link»
Senet1 : I want the Bruins to win anyway so that we pick ahead of them in the Draft.
Senet1 : Muller you got your wish NYR won game 4. So the Bruins will have to play another game at least.
Senet1 : He may just bring all three of the kids up.
muller93 : MB is forced to go out and get a big D-man. Missing Emelin for almost half the season is the last thing we needed to hear. Now going out and getting a big D-man is a MUST!!!
muller93 : Now for the Fu**en Bruins who have no business even being in the second round are going to get a nice rest. Yes the same goons who took out one of best D-man for 6 more months. There is NO Fu**en justice. Just venting--Ok i feel better now.
muller93 : So pissed to see the Rangers lay down and play like total crap. How did the Rangers beat the Caps? This team is playing with no heart--a must win and can only muster 23 shots...PATHETIC !!!
muller93 : Senet I did see Galchenyuks goal--Made a great move for the game winner. You can see the kid has so much confidence.
goalie : If Rangers get swept I wonder if Tortorella will get his walking papers? Or Glen Sather? They have tons of 'talent' but zero wins in this series.
goalie : It's really too bad we lost to the Sens as we would have played the Rangers and the way NYR are playing we would have beat them too. If only. If only!
Senet1 : Actually I agree it was a good move for them to play a shorter season and get the experience. He could not have played in the minors this year he would have had to play junior or the NHL. However, he now has a year under him and knows what to expect next year and hopefully take a bigger responsibility on the team. Did you see those two goals in the bronze game? Wow.
muller93 : Good move by the Habs not having Galchenyuk play in the minors. Now Galchenyuk has 1 year in the NHL and playoff experience this is going to pay off big time come next year.
Senet1 : Galchenyuk scores to back to back goals in shoot out to help USA win Bronze metal. I did not see the second goal but the first was a beauty.
Senet1 : So we could pick anywhere from 25th to 23rd depending on who wins these quarter final series.
Senet1 : First, is the 14 teams in the lottery. Then there are 12 teams that did not make the semi finals in the order of the seasonal finish, Then there are the four teams in the semi final the first two eliminated pick in the order of the regular season points total and the last two based on who wins and who loses the cup. So as it stand now if say Detroit beats Chicago then Detroit moves up to pick after us. Boston or NYR will move up and pick after us. LA or San Jose will move up and pick after us
Senet1 : Basically, I was wrong about the draft pick situation. There are three groups of drafting teams within the 30 teams.
Senet1 : seriously ready to challenge for the cup. He will us win games but he will not be the difference between winning the cup and not winning the cup. You pick up players like that once you have the team ready to challenge,.
Senet1 : I am looking at the players to draft and there are a lot of big 6'3-6'5 forwards available ion the draft this year. If we could draft 3-4 big young players in the 2nd and 3rd round why would you want to give that up for a roster player who may have 2-3 years at best. If we are going to build a winner to have to build it with bigger players and there are a lot of good big players available this year. So you sign Ott and he is with us for the short run, but probably not when we are seriously re
Senet1 : Boullion is a great mentor for the young D-men
muller93 : Boullion is one of MBs great additions--Boull ion is a definite Keeper.
muller93 : Getting rid of Kaberle frees up a lot of cash. Boullion is small but is reliable and doesn't back down from anyone.
muller93 : Exactly Goalie any thoughts on a punishing D-man?
goalie : They;re showing determination adn skill vs Ducks and Blackhawks.
goalie : REd Wings could turn out to be the surprise team of this year's playoffs!
goalie : WE need to rid our team of Kaberle and Webber. Step two would be to then move Diaz. If we get that big d-man I believe that would push Boullion to # 7 on the chart. We'd then go with Georges, PK,Markov (to continue mentoring Ememlin) Tinordi as our starting six . THEN I'd be excited about our chances. We could then work on getting bigger forwards.
goalie : I too would gladly give up a 3rd round pick for Ott- the type of player we sadly lack. AND if we could get one more rugged, expeienced defenceman it would help immensely.
muller93 : Senet what you are saying makes sense but if we can get Ott for a 3rd round I'll take that all day.
muller93 : MB should be looking at a big D-man first, even though I like our blue line with the addition of Tinordi. We need that insurance just in case one gets injured. Also I'm a firm believer in starting with the goalie first then-defense-for wards-and we already have good goalie. We have all noticed when we have the lead Price is tough to beat.
Senet1 : So sometimes you have to sacrifice for one year or two to build that team in the draft. then add the finishing touches through FA and trades.
Senet1 : Muller, Detroit is another good example. They have been in the hunt every year with good well balanced teams yet only one or two cups to show for it. However, they have built a team that has a chance every years for the last 10+ years. That is what I think we have a chance to do this year with a good draft. It reminds me of the habs teams of the mid 80 and 90's we built a team then with sold draft picks and won the cup twice during that time period. So sometimes you have to sacrifice a one
muller93 : Very true Senet, you do need luck and we haven't had any luck it seems since the habs moved to the Bell Center. We had an incredible run in 2010 with some crazy goal tending from Halak. With Galchenyuk-Tinor di-Gallagher all in 1 year--not too bad, even with an early exit in the playoffs.
Senet1 : Muller I guess we all have our own ideas, but there has never been too many times that were successful when they traded their draft picks away. We have a chance to build this team so we have a shot at winning the cup over the next 10 years. Even as good as Pittsburgh has been they have only won the cup once since Crosby and Malkin have been with the team. That is because you not only need great players but you need luck to win, but one thing about Pittsburgh they have a chance every year. The
muller93 : Good point on Torres, he might be a liability. Torres has to tone it down a bit, but that's his game-very aggressive.
goalie : Though I don't condone what Raffi Torres did - thos shows you how repeat offenders or near offenders are going to be treated. His hit was NOT illegal BUT what the rap sheet adn reputation Torres has he got severly punished. Lesson to be learned by OTHER players because Torres dopesn't learn fromk his mistakes.