Saturday, November 28, 2009

Caps vs. Habs: The Let's Not Get Shut Out Edition

Notes on the third and OT:

-The thing about this team is it strips away your resignation. You might go into a game expecting the team to lose it, but they raise their play and make you want more. It's so much fun when they win and so painful when they lose. I thought the Houle years anesthesized me, but it appears not to be the case.

-I'd honestly carry 22 guys and Bergeron's shot.

-Caps without Ovechkin would be the Habs. I hate tanking for glory.

-White has stones the size of the Rock of Gibraltar, which is a good thing, since that's just where that Green slapper hit him.

-Seriously? A penalty with twenty seconds to go? You just knew the tying goal was coming then. This team is going to kill me.

-If the Habs won a faceoff all night, it must have been one of those "moral victories" because I didn't see it actually happen.

-Shootout luck is gone too. Although I guess it would help to actually have an offensive player other than Cammalleri and Pleks (who sucks on shootouts) left in the lineup.

-Again, lots of heart, but heart alone can't always get you the two. On to Toronto.

Notes on the second:

-Beautiful to see Price stone Ovy on the breakaway. If only every game could go to shoout...

-Metro has more heart than a box of Valentines.

-It's a sad, sad thing when the PP can't get set up because Kyle Chipchura can't win the puck off the boards.

-I've heard Spacek has a cannon, but he's not fired it much this year. What a shot! And nice butt-in-Varlamov's-face by Pacioretty.

-Speaking of whom, Pax seems like he gets physically stronger every game.

-I just had a scary thought. What if the ghosts of the Forum HAVE moved to the Bell Centre...but only the ghosts of the sucky players?

-Holy crap, that was an incredible save...possible game saver. Scratch what I said about Price's hot streak being over. But really? Bergeron out against Ovechkin?

-Yzerman watching from above like the Eye of God. Checking out Price for Vancouver?

-Pleky's like a rolling stone.

-Hamrlik looks like a former first-overall pick.

-If someone could hogtie Ovechkin under the stands, the Habs could take this one.

Notes on the first:

-Not a smart penalty, Max. I thought college guys were brainier than that.

-Sergei's forcing Pleks into riskier, longer passes than he's used to making on the breakouts. A little too much cherry-picking going on there, I think.

-OB has improved his puck-handling dramatically and doesn't panic nearly as much as he used to do. Now, if he can only come to the realization that he's a very large mammal who can squish others at will, we'd be getting somewhere.

-No excuse for the number of times the Habs have the puck in their own end with a chance to clear, and end up mishandling it. Unless the excuse is they suddenly have been blinded by the coach's red glare.

-The Price hot streak is ending. The Fehr goal was softer than a summer breeze. Say "deflection" all you want, but if his stick's in position, that puck doesn't go five-hole.

-Easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for the Canadiens to clear the puck out of their own end.

-Word of advice: don't try to pokecheck Ovechkin. He knew you were going to try it two minutes ago and will embarrass you accordingly.

-I know the Caps owned the puck most of that period, but two goals on four shots just isn't good enough.

-Not expecting much better in the second, but I'm watching anyway. You can't count out a team with heart, even when it appears to be in cardiac arrest.

1 comment:

DKerr said...

I thought the Habs handled the puck like it was a hot potato in the first period, especially in our own zone. Everybody recovered from that, except Chipchura - was it painful to watch. I have seen him before and in the minors and his hands are not that brick-like. Could it be the pressure of trying to perform (expecially PP time) has him gripping the stick so tight? Oh, add to that the idea that Pyatt and White just seem to know their roles and are aggressively pursuing them?