Montreal 2 New Jersey 4 (Bell Centre)
‘Let’s hope the Habs don’t face the Devils in the playoffs’ seemed to be the popular refrain from fans after the game. The Canadiens have been doing their best to comply with a 1-2-2 record in their last five game. Instead, they must again be concerned about making the playoffs at all.
With the loss to New Jersey, the Habs find themselves in sixth place, two points ahead of Philadelphia and Boston, with both teams having games in hand. The surprising Atlanta Thrashers are also still in the playoff hunt.
So what makes fans so fearful of the Devils? Would they rather that the Canadiens face Washington or Pittsburgh in the playoffs?
Handing the Devils fewer rebounds and winning the special teams’ battle could have provided a recipe for success in tonight’s game. Montreal gave up two goals on three New Jersey power-play opportunities while going 0-for-4 with the man advantage.
The Habs power-play is 2-for-23 at the Bell Centre since the Olympic break. The return of Mike Cammalleri and Marc-Andre Bergeron from injury hasn’t provided the instant cure that many had predicted.
“On the power play you have to be opportunistic,” said Brian Gionta. “You don’t have to be perfect.”
Hockey analyst Pierre McGuire regularly says that the three keys to power-play success are, in order, “tactics, coaching and skill.” It’s interesting that only one of the characteristics is dependent on the players.
Some spoke of the loss of Glen Metropolit as a reason for the faltering power-play tonight. Metropolit left the game with a suspected separated shoulder. With all due respect to Metropolit and his success on the power-play this season, his participation was a stop-gap measure necessitated by injuries to key offensive players.
Strategy also seemed to be a problem for the Canadiens. If the Habs had been rewarded with a goal after outshooting the Devils 6-to-1 in the first few minutes of the game, it could have been a different result. New Jersey isn’t the team you want to play catch-up against.
“Right after that first goal it deflated us a little bit, it kind of got us back in a shell,” said Gionta. “For about 10 or 12 minutes at least we sat back too much and gave them too much respect.”
Even at this point in the season, coach Jacques Martin has not learned that ‘playing not to lose’ results in only one thing: a loss. It was obvious that the Canadiens had been schooled to fear Ilya Kovalchuk. On several occasions the neutral zone cleared for him as the Habs scampered back into their zone with haste.
During the winning streak, we talked about the Canadiens employing an aggressive forecheck and beating opposition defense with speed. Now the discussion revolves around forwards being too small to compete. Instead, perhaps we should be focusing on how to best use the talents of the players.
And that would fall to the coach. Commenting on Martin’s system, my colleague Kyle Roussel likes to use the analogy ‘square-peg, round-hole’.
Contributions from the third and fourth line were also keys to success during the six game winning streak. As Martin has rotated personnel in and out of the lineup, stability and chemistry has been disturbed, and secondary scoring has dried up.
The line of Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Kostitsyn and Mike Cammalleri accounted for five of six points tonight. Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez were a threat at times, but Benoit Pouliot’s ineffectiveness is hampering the line. Sergei Kostitsyn replaced Pouliot midway through the game.
Canadiens’ penalty-killing has hit a rut in recent games. Not to lay the blame on a single player but I think it’s time to return Ryan O’Byrne to play a significant portion of short-handed situations. He has been very effective in a penalty-killing role throughout the season. Josh Gorges just isn’t getting the job done.
The Canadiens have a few days of practise to repair the flaws before facing the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night.
Rocket’s three stars
1. Patrik Elias
2. Andrei Kostitsyn
3. Ilya Kovalchuk
Player quotes from wire services were used in this report.
(photo credit: Reuters)
Actually Metro on the powerplay falls under the "opportunistic" that Gio mentioned, hence his success on it.
However I'm sick of hearing how the team was deflated after one goal. You get scored on, big deal. Roll up your socks, grab that puck, and shove it down their throats. At the very least you might draw a penalty. I don't know who's preaching the "aw shucks" mentality here but I can't see Kirk Muller doing that.
I would much rather see the Habs in a series against Buffalo or Washington. It would be entertaining, at least… (Pens are just annoying).
While a Montreal native was in New Jersey last night showing the heart of a champ, New Jersey's hockey team was in Montreal applying a submission hold of their own. The results for each contest were predictable.
The only reason why I would like to see the Penguins or Capitals (or even Sabres) as a 1st round opponent is that *if* the Canadiens are going to lose in the 1st round, I'd like to be at least entertained. Nothing would be worse than watching our team get bounced and be bored at the same time.
We've been banging the same all year: Jacques Martin's strategies and tactics are just not working for this team. Aside from a successful stretch a couple weeks back and around the holidays, this team has been thoroughly mediocre. We chalked up that mediocrity to injuries and assumed (or hoped) that once the team was healthy things would change. Well, the team is healthy (minus Metropolit), and although it's only been a couple games, it's clear that Martin will not change his philosophy. Last night was just another example of how he is not right for this team, even if they do have a tenuous hold on 6th place.
There was one play last night that really irked me, and at least one other blogger has mentioned it in his game review. With less than a minute to go, and a chance to establish possession in the zone, Sergei Kostitsyn completely bailed on the puck with the Devils' defenseman bearing down on him. While I appreciate Kostitsyn's fine play of late, that kind of heartless play is what separates men from boys; winning from losing. It was something I'd expect from Lapierre, not Sergei, which made it all the more disappointing and embarrassing. I don't blame him for the loss – far from it, but when you play the Devils, the little things take on an even greater meaning. If Sergei is on thin ice with Martin at the best of times, he'd better hope that the coach was not paying much attention.
And as we've remarked all year, that may precisely be the case.
Thanks for the comments number31 and kyleroussel. I don't disagree with you that Caps could provide an exciting series. But I do think that the Habs have a decent chance to knock off either Buffalo or New Jersey.
The Sabres are a good matchup as they are the least physical team in the conference. I do worry about Lindy Ruff outcoaching Jacques Martin throughout a series and Ryan Miller's impact.
New Jersey has trouble scoring and Martin Brodeur has not looked the same this season (he was pulled tonight against the Flyers). But allowing the Devils to score first is deadly.
I know the play that you are referring to kyleroussel that involved Sergei Kostitsyn near the end of the game. To be honest, I'm on the fence about it.
Sergei is one of the Canadiens that receives more criticism than he deserves. Certain bloggers and media outlets are only too happy to jump on SK74 no matter the reason.
Sergei is not the kind of player who is shy about physical contact (neither is Andrei). In previous games we have seen Sergei hold up when racing for the puck at the last second to allow the defenseman to go into the boards while he Sergei steals the pucks to make a play.
In Saturday night's game, it was either a botched attempt at a similar play or indeed he was trying to avoid contact. In my opinion, there is an equal chance of either explanation, and I haven't yet heard a compelling argument for either side.
How can the team be that deflated after allowing one goal? Seriously… If it was the 3rd or 3th maybe, but ONE goal? That' not good. (I really like how Number31 put it. Shove it down their throats! XD). There's way too much sitting around with this team. Let in a goal, sit around. Get a goal, sit around…. It's very frustrating……
And while we're talking about the playoffs… I really do not want to play the Caps. The Caps fan in me wouldn't like that at all. I'd rather the Sabres or maybe the Devils (at least with the Devils you can always hope that they have their yearly meltdown in the playoffs).
How do we break down potential 1st round opponents? I don't think we want any part of Pittsburgh. Washington would be a monumental upset, but Theo is weak in goal, and their defense is suspect as well (and let's not forget the Habs reputation of being 1st round giant killers…i.e. the Bruins). The Habs have played the Capitals pretty well this year, so there's *some* hope there. Buffalo, while not very physical, seems to have the Canadiens number. I have no doubt that Miller would win the series by himself. And of course, Ruff would do a tap dance all over Martin. The Canadiens are also 1-3-1 against the Sabres this year, and if not for Price in game #2, that record would be 0-4-1. They've beaten the Habs by scoring goals, by winning goaltending duels and by winning in shootouts. Pending the result of their last matchup next week, I don't really want to see them. The Devils would be an interesting opponent. While they are masters of putting the sleeper hold on the Canadiens (among other teams) you get the sense that if the Canadiens can just score first, things would be different. The problem is we've been hoping for exactly this for years now when it comes to playing the Devils. Brodeur is not quite the guy he used to be…except when playing the Canadiens. He has melted down from over use in the past couple playoff years, but the cynic in me thinks that he would hold up just long enough to defeat the Canadiens. My order of preference for 1st round opponent is:
1- Washington (entertainment & hope)
2- New Jersey (pray Brodeur falters)
3- Buffalo (they own us right now)
4- Pittsburgh (you'd have to be dumb to WANT to play the reigning champs)
I don't think Jose has been as awful as people think he has been. He's had some really solid games where he has been a major difference in games. If he can find that zone again….it's not going to be pretty for whoever they play… Their D is definitely not their strong point, but I think their motto must be "who needs defense when offense like we do". I really think the only way the Habs can beat the Caps is if the Caps sit half their offense and put Neuvirth in nets…
I think my preferred order would be:
1. Devils (I'm convinced that a while Brodeur does seem to elevate his play when he comes to Montreal, the Habs roll over and go to sleep anyway. Maybe if they learned to stay awake, there'd be hope)
2. Sabres (Honestly, I don't care about the Sabres so losing to them would maybe at least make me remember that they're in our division)
3. Penguins (I hate them and I don't want to play them, but I'd rather lose to the Penguins and have everyone hate them than play the Caps and have everyone hate them :D )
4. Caps (see above)
Well…. One way to look at it with the Sabres is a) Price has their number as well b) There are no shootouts in the playoffs.
Price's stats are amazing vs Buffalo this season:
Save %: 0,952
GAA: 1,85
Halak stats are absolutely horrible so far:
Save %: 0,844
GAA: 5,04
Here are the stats vs the other teams we night meet in the playoffs:
Price vs New Jersey:
Save%: 0,926
GAA: 2,00
Halak vs New Jersey:
Save%: 0,929
GAA: 1,99
Price vs Pittsburgh:
Save%: 0,915
GAA: 3,00
Halak vs Pittsburgh:
Save%: 0,841
GAA: 4,20
Price vs Washington:
save%: 0,900
GAA: 3,36
Halak wasn't in nets for any games vs the Caps this season.
Although goaltending will be important in the playoffs, it depends witch Habs team shows up. Let's hope it's the one that isn't afraid to control the puck or forecheck, and there might be a little bit of hope that we make it past teh first round.
nice breakdown, anonymous.
Isn't it interesting that the team that we've had the most success against (Washington) is the top scoring team in the conference, and as such, has made our goaltending to look fairly mediocre.
In fact, we've taken 5 of a possible 8 points from the Capitals this year, as opposed to 2 points vs the Penguins (of a possible 8 points), 3 vs the Devils (of a possible 8 points), and 3 vs the Sabres (of a possible 10 points with 2 left up for grabs).
What does this all mean? On the surface, it appears as though my order of preference of 1st round opponents is logical. And it also shows that goaltending is likely not to be the deciding factor; Price has been brilliant against Buffalo, with little to show for it. Both have been fantastic vs New Jersey, but success is still sparse. Price has been decent vs Pittsburgh while Halak has been downright frightening…yet Halak has the win.
Go figure.
Anyway, I shuffled your stats off to the team 990 in hopes that they make some constructive and rational debate with it. I think these numbers clearly display that the Canadiens can't go wrong with whoever they go with.
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