Friday, January 22, 2010

Habs vs. Devils - What's the Point Edition

Notes on the third:

-The two-ref system puts too many guys on the boards in the way of the puck. Another thing to hate about it.

-D'Agostini can't do much on the ice these days, so he's kindly offered to fill the role of team punching bag in the absence of a goon.

-If Darche never plays another NHL game, he'll remember this one.

-The defence can't complete a pass to save their collective lives, but it didn't come back to haunt them tonight.

-Let this put to rest the argument that Halak can't win against top teams. He was great.

-Boy, did Gionta ever want that empty net at the end?!

-Good game. Now, Habs, either play thirty more of them, or go home.



Notes on the second:

-Anyone think Pouliot wants to stick it to Lemaire, just a bit?

-Halak handles the puck like Edward Scissorhands handles origami.

-Lapierre seems to have a better game every time they deep-six another French guy from the roster. The footsteps he's hearing are getting louder.

-The Gill/Mara pairing is in the grand Habs tradition of Souray/Rivet and Dandouillon. Scary crap on ice.

-Wow. Who knew Darche could tip better than Bill Gates? Oops, never mind. On replay that looks like Gionta's goal.

-The power play looked as organized as the space under a three-year-old's bed.

-It's a miracle to me that more open guys at the backdoor in the Habs crease don't score.

-If things go according to history, the Devils will tie this up pretty soon. I hope Jaro is ready for an onslaught.


Notes on the first:

-Martin looks like he buys his suits at mafia estate sales.

-Any Habs-based drinking game should have a "Mara falls on his ass" component.

-Okay, when the Devils have ONE major scoring threat, how hard is it to keep someone on him so he doesn't have a freaking BREAKAWAY every single time they meet?

-Why does it take the Devils PA guy ten minutes to announce a goal? Did they have to wake him?

-Watching Pleks look to his right for his linemate on the rush, see that it's Moen and then give up on the pass and take the shot himself is more painful than shaving with a brick.

-You know what the Habs do wrong? They start every rush standing still. The defencemen take the puck behind the net and wait until everyone has stopped skating, then they try to take it out while the opposing forecheckers set themselves up in the passing lanes.

-Gomez could put a puck through the eye of a needle, and Pouliot can shoot it before the goalie knows he's got it.

-There are signs of life here, but the Habs are so very fragile.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

If I played your Mara drinking game, I wouldn't be able to type ;-)

The habs played well against one of the top teams in the East. The playoffs are still in the cards if they keep playing like this; good goaltending, a dangerous top line and some solid D. Now if they can find some secondary scoring...

Shortening the bench seemed to work tonight. I always found the "rolling four lines" thing overrated. Let's hope they have something left in the tank for tomorrow night.

Anonymous said...

The point is the same for every team in every season: winning games to earn a playoff berth. The Habs played a great game, the coach made the good decisions and Jaro was fantastic. The result: a very good 60 minute effort and a win.

I find it rather surprising that after a game like this one you still found more things to criticize than to praise. I used to find you entertaining. Lately I just find that you sound bitter. So much negativity.

I won't be surprised if you decide not to post my comment.

dusty said...

-The Devils iced a team full of AHLer's and still looked dangerous. No Clarkson, Zubrus, Elias and most significant, no Paul Martin, NJ's version of Markov. I'm very glad they won but really not all that impressed. Now if they can beat the Rangers by a couple of goals tonight that would be far more impressive.

-Don't think you're negative just realistic. The effort in Jersey was much better than I expected but there are still alot of problems with this team.

-Loved your comment on Lapierre!