Habs vs. Isles: Clinch Clench Edition

Notes on the third and OT:

-Somehow I think "back up until you hit the boards" isn't the Robinson method of defence.

-Advice for free? Take Tavares in your pool next year, but not Moulson.

-Good Lord, if Hammer's going to hand out goals like Halloween candy, the playoffs are just a four-game extension of this bizarre season.

-O'Byrne's finally getting it together with the hits. He laid a couple of really crushing ones tonight.

-Well, if this is a loss, it's not Halak's fault. He robbed Tavares like Danny Ocean robbed the casino.

-Oh.My.God. When was the last time Max Lapierre looked like a real hockey player? Nice timing, if he was going to pull that out of his ass. Absolutely amazing. I thought Gomez would expire laughing on the bench while he was watching the replay.

-Bergeron can't do much on D generally, but he's got a helluva poke check. That should qualify him for the Norris, right?

-Pleks is having a brutal night on the giveaways. He's failed to clear his own zone at least three times tonight.

-Getting killed by Sean Bergenheim. Awesome.

-I hate Martin and his "let's sit on the one-goal lead" philosophy. I didn't like him when he was hired and I like him even less after enduring a season of him.

-Interesting that it's Muller doing all the talking during the Habs' TO.

-For the love of God. I know Lapierre scored a nice goal, but come on, you idiot! You don't send him out first in the shootout.

-Cammalleri's seriously jinxed right now.

-Oh well...a point on the Rags, nothing on the Flyers. Ugh. The leafs game looms larger.


Notes on the second:

-Did Halak slap his stick on the ice last period to let the Habs know the PK was ending? Because I don't think they know.

-I hate to say it, but I'm starting to get an uncomfortable image of what Pouliot must have looked like in Minny.

-People will be whining about how Biron has the Habs' number again, but it's not him. It's them. They'd be making Hardy Astrom look good tonight.

-Oh, and just as I write that, Pleks lasers one by him. Twenty-five is such a nice, round number. Tends to lead to a contract full of nice, round numbers.

-Gionta is the kind of player who, in the playoffs, does like the Grinch. His heart grows three sizes and he gives us all presents.

-Say what you like about AK's headspace, but the man has some very, very impressive skills.

-Holy follicles, Batman! Overhead view in the penalty box show's Markov's seriously balding.

-How does he do it? Martin has found a tie so spectacularly bad, it actually interferes with the picture on your television. I haven't seen that much snow since rabbit ears.

-Not a smart penalty by Gomez, but a much better period by the Habs. Now, if Cammalleri and Pouliot could remember how to score, they'd be golden.


Notes on the first:

-It's really disconcerting to hear the crowd cheer a New York penalty. You almost forget where they're playing.

-It'd be nice if they could EVER win the draw on the PP. They lose fifteen to twenty seconds every time, just chasing the puck back after blowing the faceoff.

-Shooting on the PP would also be a welcome diversion to the usual pass parade.

-I think I'd rather have Streit than MAB. Damn you, salary cap!

-It appears AK has woken from his long winter's nap. He's so strong in controlling the puck in traffic when he wants to.

-Watching the Habs' inability to clear their zone against the Isles doesn't give me a great deal of hope for what they'll look like against the Caps, Pens, Devils or even Sabres in two weeks.

-On a scale from one to ten, with one being an Edsel and ten being a Cadillac, Gill looked like a VW van on the Bailey chance.

-That one sequence of confusion at centre looked like a square dance in which everyone ended up with a different partner and the fiddler was drunk.

-Oh well, the shutout streak had to end sometime. Maybe it'll wake these bozos up.

-Yes, Cammy. YOU. You were offside. Now shut up and go score a goal.

-When Gill sucks, he's one tall honkin' tower of suck.

-First sign of who's in charge is always who's getting to the loose pucks first. Ninety percent of the time, the Isles have been in charge. Man, this team is frustrating!

-What a play by Pyatt to forecheck the puck right out of the zone on Streit during that PP!

-Wretched period. I'd hope whoever the "unofficial" leaders are in the room would stand up and rip them a new one, except all of them sucked too much to get away with it.

-Fifteen to five shots on goal. Not in favour of the Habs. Wretched.