Rocket:

You may be familiar with the situation. You and your spouse turn up for the weekly tennis match (pick your favorite sport, hobby or game) and discover that you will be playing against a couple who has been squabbling for days. Wifey knows that hubby likes to win. Wifey will teach hubby a lesson by making bad decisions. Likewise, hubby will embarrass wifey by playing poorly. You and your spouse win in straight sets. Collecting the small weekly wager has never been easier.

Now is it so hard to imagine Guy Carbonneau playing the role of wifey, and players of your beloved Canadiens as hubby?

It is becoming more and more apparent that Carbonneau has lost this team. It was felt that Alex Kovalev had something to prove tonight playing against the new Russian star Alex Ovechkin. Kovalev apparently is still steaming about the national team snub. So if Kovalev isn’t inspired to give one of his best efforts of the season, something is wrong. It would seem that Kovalev has lost respect for his coach. And vice-versa. Carbonneau restricted Kovalev’s ice time to a meagre 14 minutes. It was Kovy’s 12th consecutive game without a goal.

But it’s not only Kovalev. Carbonneau’s lack of experience and coaching from the gut is clearly not getting the best out of his players. Many more public squabbles like the one we witnessed tonight and it will be very tempting to Bob Gainey to see what he can do behind the bench with the talented group of players he has assembled.

Bruce Boudreau and Jose Theodore must have been pleasantly surprised at their good fortune. With four replacement defensemen and a goaltender that has been struggling, the Capitals must have expected the Canadiens to use their speed to implement an aggressive forecheck. The Caps ‘D’ would be prone to turnovers and the goaltender had a tendency to give up early, soft goals.

Yet, Carbonneau’s game plan would begin with an 0-5 forecheck system. It left Boudreau and I scratching our heads. But you see, because Carbo’s strategy worked last game, he will now be reluctant to change it regardless of the opponent. He has a history of taking far too long to make strategic adjustments.

Emotional adjustments? Well, Carbonneau can make those on the fly. I’m not sure if anyone was really taught a lesson but the white-flag power play of Begin, Lapierre, Kostopoulos, Brisebois and Gorges, was probably viewed by the players as yet another hissy fit by their emotional coach.

The first period didn’t start badly. Halak made a good glove save after a bad turnover by Hamrlik. Kostopoulos and Latendresse were playing physical. Sergei Kostitsyn made a good defensive play on a Caps shorthanded chance. O’Byrne did a good job on Ovechkin and would lead the team in hits on the night.

But the tide turned. A brutal giveaway by Bouillon and Fleischmann had the game winning goal. Let’s hope that Bouillon isn’t subjected to the same abuse that O’Byrne received. Frankie doesn’t deserve it..but then, neither did Ryan.

After that, the Habs looked uninspired. The coach began punishing his team with goofy line combinations. The Canadiens domestic tiff was on!

In the second, Halak made a great save on Kozlov after being setup by Ovechkin. At the other end, Jose Theodore played all the low shots well but was giving up juicy rebounds. The Canadiens had stopped skating or beating the Capitals to the puck. There were very few difficult second chances.

In the third, the radio guys were hard on Lapierre for not taking the body on Ovechkin. In truth, it was simply a soft goal by Halak. It seemed to be the turning point of the game.

The Canadiens had been disciplined by found themselves in penalty trouble. The PK units, including the trio of Kovalev, O’Byrne and Bouillon, were effective in killing off a 5 on 3. Shortly afterwards, a Steckle deflection of a point shot made it 3-0 Capitals. Alex Kovalev failed on at least 3 attempts to clear the puck from the zone.

The stats sheet will show that Begin, Lapierre and Dandenault each had more ice time than Kovalev, Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn. The coach was clearly sending a message. But is it getting through to the players? Or is he simply alienating his team? Add this to continuing reports of practises that are not disciplined or focused and we may be witnessing the final few weeks of Carbonneau’s tenure behind the Canadiens bench.

Inconsistent efforts are usually indicative of players who are playing for themselves. It’s any one’s guess what will happen tomorrow night.

Pre-game:

Matt D’Agostini took the warm-up but will not play tonight.

Halak gets the start in goal. Tanguay (sore neck) will sit out. Latendresse will play. Laraque – out with groin injury Komisarek – out with shoulder injury

Theodore in net for the Capitals. 7-4-1 3.24 GAA .885 SV% Clark, Fedorov, Schultz, Gordon, Erskine, Green, Semin and Pothier all out with injuries.

Rocket’s 3 stars:

1. Alex Ovechkin
2. Tomas Fleischmann
3. Jose Theodore

(photo credit:AP Photo)