Habster:

Some Habs fans were anxiously awaiting the start of the Montreal Canadiens march towards a Stanley Cup run only a mere six days ago, thinking the Habs would easily stream roll over the vastly inferior Boston Bruins. Now there are some seeds of doubt being planted in some Canadiens fans minds after the Bruins have been the better team the last two games…..not by a large margin as the Gazette’s “columnist” Jack Todd seems to think but the Bruins have been the better team.

After all, the Canadiens had totally dominated the Bruins during the regular season going 8-0 and outscoring them by a 39-16 margin in the process. Many thought: how could a team so thoroughly dominated during the regular season be able to turnaround their game to beat a more talented team like the Canadiens?

The answer is simple, it’s called playoff hockey where everything is on the line on every shift, with every decision on or off the ice for every game. There are no games next week to make up for poor play or to improve your chances for post season play……..the playoffs are here and now!!

Needless to say, there are some Habs players who need to step up their games and make a full commitment to the higher intensity level of the playoffs. Players like Tomas Plekanec, Michael Ryder, Mark Streit, Guillaume Latendresse and even Josh Gorges or Alex Kovalev have to play better for this team to advance further into the playoffs, let alone beat the Bruins.

If only the other three forward lines played with as much intensity or work ethic as the Begin/Smolinski/Kostopoulos line then the Canadiens would be looking to eliminate the Bruins tomorrow night with the brooms in hand.

The Boston Bruins are for real and weren’t going to sit back to let the Canadiens dictate the style or pace of the game in this series. Maybe the Canadiens players were saying the right things in the locker room the past week but there had to be a bit of over confidence in the back of their collective minds regardless what they were saying out loud.

If anything, this defeat isn’t necessarily a bad thing for the Canadiens as it will force the players to refocus their attention on the task at hand. It will also make some players look in the mirror for some self evaluation of their game and what needs to be done to win this series.

While the players need to improve their play, Guy Carbonneau and the coaching staff have some player and game re-evaluations to do before game #4.

I don’t want to beat a dead horse but Carbonneau needs to add more muscle and physicality to the Habs lineup against a very physical Bruins team. Yes, the Canadiens have been hitting and playing as physical as the Bruins but they need to have someone to help neutralize a player like Milan Lucic other than Mike Komisarek or Roman Hamrlik.

The first thing Carbonneau needs to do is insert Ryan O’Byrne into the lineup in place of Patrice Brisebois. The Canadiens need to have a top four defense pairing which can play better against the boards, in front of the net and keep up with the pace of the game, elements of the game Brisebois has struggled with throughout the season.

Don’t get me wrong, Brisebois wasn’t the only defenseman to struggle in game #3 (hello, Mr. Gorges and Streit!!) but he is the only defenseman who can be replaced without sacrificing offense (Streit) or defense (Gorges).

Another possible lineup change Carbonneau should consider is to insert Greg Stewart into the lineup in place of Mathieu Dandenault or Guillaume Latendresse. He would add more energy to the fourth line and certainly more quickness than Latendresse who hasn’t played badly but like Brisebois is having trouble keep up with the pace of the game.

In the end, there is no need to panic or have a knee jerk reaction to the Canadiens’ first loss against the Bruins in their last 13 games. What needs to be done is some minor lineup adjustments and a full commitment from every player in the lineup……..anything less will not be good enough against a rejuvenated Bruins team.