Game 75: Sabres/Habs

Can the Habs string together 3 wins in a row?

The Sabres will be hungry as ever tonight. Anything less than 2 points for them will pretty much be the end of their slim playoff chances.

The Habs can move up into 7th with the Rangers and still hold a game in hand.

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6 Comments

#1 Donnie says:
March 29, 2009 at 10:01 am

Seems the worse thing we can do is get a lead…esp. a 1 goal lead. We played some of the best hockey we played in months in the 1st and 2nd, and then changed our game around and tried this defensive cr*p again?
Gainey watched from the pressbox as Carbonneau’s style of trying to defend a 1 goal lead for an entire period failed over and over again….but yet, learned no lesson from this and now, tried it again?
We don’t play this way, our guys are not good at it, nor do I think they like playing it…and it shows. One more solid period of great hockey would have solidified the 2 points and basically bounced Buff from the race. That was a huge points we let slip away last night, and was something that was totally avoidable…this is a prime example of what has been frustrating fans this entire season.
Let our guys play their game…lets get up by 3 goals before trying this style. We went from hard forechecking and crashing in the first 2 periods, to sitting back again. This is also a double edged sword…cuz not only do we concede the tying goal almost always, but this sit-back style of hockey caused bad habits to carry over to OT. This is a style where we don’t skate, then our guys get lazier, and when we need offense again in OT, it’s not there…even the shoot-out looked lazy on our behalf.
These desicions have been the bane of our exsistence this whole season, losing precious points at this point of the season becuase of failed to abandon a style that DOES NOT WORK is the same thing as cutting our own throats.
We can still make the playoffs, those 2 periods were fantastic….but coaches….let our guys play 3 periods from here on out…the rest should take care of itself. A very needless loss of points again last night…can’t help but get upset at the total stubborness of this teams decision-makers.

#2 Joseph says:
March 29, 2009 at 2:59 pm

Yep. And I’ve always loathed that style of play – get a slim lead and sit back on it. And you know that it’s coming every time the Habs do go up by one either late in the second or in the third. When they got the 3-2 lead last night, I began to futilely plead with them to keep pressing the attack and get at least another goal. I knew what was coming in the third, as we all did, as it has become all too predictable a pattern with this team.

A critical point lost indeed. And because of it, I am not so optimistic about the near future. Montreal has the Blackhawks, Islanders (spoilers), Maple Leafs, (big time spoilers), Senators (always dangerous as of late), Rangers, Bruins and Penguins to contend with in their 7 remaining games, only two of which they’ll face at the Bell Centre. Meanwhile, Florida, who can now smell 8th place as if it were cooking in their kitchen, has the Senators, Thrashers, Penguins, Flyers, Thrashers and Capitals to face in their remaining 6 games, 4 of which they will play at home.

We’ve still got a game at hand, sure, but with Florida now sitting only one point behind us, we can ill afford a single let down or we’ll be outside looking in.

#3 emadraouf says:
March 29, 2009 at 7:28 pm

Well they cam close, let’s hope they have better luck on Tuesday against Chicago. Go habs Go

#4 Mats Naslund says:
March 30, 2009 at 2:50 pm

Getting a solid effort from the second line will go a long way to making this team stronger. Plekanec has now fallen back into a scoring funk. Andrei’s troubles began long ago. Now that Sergei has returned, the line is precarious at best. The potential is there. If the guys can figure it out, we will be in a good position. The top line is already very dangerous. Being able to sustain that kind of pressure with the 2nd unit would make our attack formidable and would ease some of the pressure defensively. The 3rd and 4th lines are already doing their jobs, and even Carey seems to be back (somewhat). Plex, and the Kostitsyns may be the key to a successful end to this regular season. Montreal has been bad on the road this year. If they have any hope of hanging on and then performing in the post-season, they will need to be much better.

#5 Senet1 says:
March 30, 2009 at 10:59 pm

I am not entirely sure if is the coach, it almost seems like the players fall into this shell themselves and as you say they are not very good at it. Gainey felt that the team played nervous in the third. Anyway it sure is frustrating.

#6 Mats Naslund says:
March 31, 2009 at 11:44 am

Habs are 7 games from the playoffs and should probably look at the 7 game stretch as a playoff stretch in itself. The goal should absolutely be to go at least 4-3 over that stretch, not only to ensure a playoff birth, but to have confidence heading into the second round with a difficult and motivated opponent.

It was interesting this morning when I looked at the standings as I didn’t watch any games last night, I noticed that the ‘cream of the Eastern Conference’ those New Jersey Devils that everyone is fawning over are currently riding a 5 game losing streak. Anyone think they can’t be beat now? It just shows how easy it is even for the pundits to get caught up in emotional times like Brodeur’s record. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll take Brodeur as my goalie in the post season over pretty well every other goalkeeper in the league, but the East is wide open. I’m still going to stand by my prediction of Pittsburgh in the East because no matter what their position, they are going to have a hungry Malkin, Crosby, Gonchar and Fleury. They made it to the finals last season, and I think this year they are peaking (consistently) at just the right time. If the playoffs started today they would face the Devils, which I think would be a crazy series.

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goalie : Didn't get to see the game at all but it's great to see Pacs get a hat trick and fpor Cole to be + 3. When was the last time this team won three games in a row? Great victory -looks like they're giving 100% effort!
Senet1 : 4-2 win habs
Senet1 : Gomez scores, Yea!!!
goalie : As I said yesterday it will be interesting to see what our lame ass GM gets for players he ships out. Bourque is good and he'll help us but I still think we could have gotten more for him and for Halak when he was traded.
Avatar37 : round those picks occur (probably 3rd).
Avatar37 : An interesting article. If we slip to the 5th or 7th draft pick, a very interesting case could be made for drafting Galchenyuk. If we wind up with the second or third pick, I'm not sure who I'd draft, because clearly Yakupov is going to be drafted first overall. Our second round pick also becomes interesting, I know I'd take Vasilevski if he were still available. It will also be interesting to see if we can turn some of our veteran players (Moen, Gill, Campoli) into draft picks, and what
Avatar37 : «link»
Avatar37 : That is why PG should have waited on trading Cammalleri. Right now, there is a high demand for a top 6 forward, we could have gotten much more than Bourque in return. That isn't a knock against Bourque, but a knock against a knee-jerk reaction trade that didn't maximize our return on a top asset.
Avatar37 : «link»
Avatar37 : chips fall where they may. After all, the only difference between finishing 17th and 29th is how good a pick you get in the draft.
Avatar37 : We currently sit in 26th place in the league. We are 15 points ahead of Columbus, it's safe to bet at this point they will place last. We are, however, only 4 points ahead of Edmonton so it's still wide open as to who is going to finish second last. I still think that it's time to sit the veterans, play the youth, let them get experience, and regroup for next year. I'm not suggesting deliberately tanking like the Penguins, but give all our young players lots of playing time and let the c
Avatar37 : goalie - If it were not for the play of Cammalleri, we would never have made it out of round 1. Cammalleri played as big a part, if not bigger, than Halak did. Sure, Halak played well, but remember the team collapsed in front of him, making his job much easier. We had lots of blocked shots and the ones that got through were typically from the outside.
Senet1 : Goalie you are absolutely right, of course the one thing we had the two previous years that won the games that we are losing this year was our power play. If you look at say 10 games that we should have won had we had a similar power play, again we would not be having these conversations. When your PP goes from first to last in the league that is a lot of goals.How many games have we lost this year by one goal. Again poor management who did not prepare for Markov's possible absence.
goalie : I'll put it another way.... we need more players who are willing to get their noses dirty.
goalie : Two years ago when our goaltending stole series adn our players suddenly scored the coaches / GM believed that that was our true team . Well time has proven that was not. Though I was very glad to see the Habs knock off some very good teams we were very fortunate. And fortunate that spring was spelled HALAK!
goalie : The wrst mistake management could possibly make I believe is to say, we played well some games and we believe the team can play to that level more often in the future. This team CANNOT adnb DOES NOT play to a high enough level. Please do not kid yourself mamngement. hat is partially why we're in the lace we are.
goalie : Senet is correct when he says that if we had more games with a better efort this year we'd likely be in the playoffs. It has been very inconsistent effort but much more than that. We lack big, tough playing and finishing. Never mind fighting for a moment. We did not compete for the pucks nor along the boards nor in front of both nets enough this year. Thus we are in 29th. If the coaching staff doesn't see that then they shouldn't be there.
Senet1 : Surely Molson is not going to keep him as the GM?
Senet1 : when he knows he will be fired at the end of the season. Nothing really makes since in this whole process.
Senet1 : I am not sue why PG has not been fired by now. They could be waiting for another GM to come available at season end, but why would you not set up a committee to manage the team in the short run until a new GM can be named. There is no since in chaning coaches because whoever the GM is he will want to name his own coach. Gainey and a committe of other executives can manage the team through to the trading deadline and onward. What motivation does PG have to making any worthwhile trades when he is
Senet1 : I am too mch of a competitor to want my team to tank to. However, If these players played like they ae cabable of playing all year we would not be having this discussion right now, we woud be talking about the playoffs and who we would rather meet in the first round.
rocky : Exactly, and Senet nails it when he says we have not had an elite top 5 in the nhl player since lafleur.
goalie : I too want the Habs to get the best possible draft this June. We all need SOME hope!
rocky : He is persona non grata in habville, and a ghost in every sense of the term.
goalie : It remains a miracle how we have heard from our mighty GM twice since Christmas - the trades involving Spacek and Cammy and those comments were extremely brief. PG just does not cut it in my world. Part of a GMs job is to go public from time to time. PG never does that in fact he's a ghost GM!
rocky : Its true, there is no honor in that. These guys have only known the ethic of giving it all to win every night. I do not want them to "tank", and they will never do that anyway. I do want them to lose though, as awful as it sounds.
goalie : Roicky as a good point. We all want the Habs to get a really good draft pick. However, players, coaches etc. also have a keen desire to compete and win. That's why they're playing at the pro level. Thus we can only hope that the team plays some good games and let the chips fall where they may. After the disasterous season we've had let's not lower ourselves adn get involved in any dscussions about 'tanking' games.
rocky : So long.
Senet1 : Good discussion rocky, I have to step out for an hour, but may be back later.
Senet1 : The only way this team comes back to a team with long term potential is to draft a game breaker. Even all the other bad teams have a Stamkos or a player like him. He have some good player so what we need is a Malkin that we can count on 80% of the time to win a game for us.
rocky : I mean winning will only do them harm that is.
rocky : It really hurts because my reflexes make me want to cheer like mad, but it will only hurt the team now.
Senet1 : Yes I have mixed feeling when watching the game. Last night I say here we go again. with our record of shoot losses I did not expect to win that one. Yet I wanted to win real bad?????
rocky : God, so horrible to sit and hope for losses, but here we are.
Senet1 : Our problem is we play one out of every 4 games good and therefore, we play well enough to stay on the borderline of a top five pick. If we win three or four in a row we could take ourselves right out of the running.