Rocket:

Why lead an article with a photo of Lang hitting the post early in the first period? Well, I believe it was a turning point in the game.

Prior to that moment, the Canadiens hadn’t played that poorly. Sure, there was miscommunication between Dandenault and Komisarek that left Thornton all alone for the the Bruins first goal. But it was something from which the Habs could recover. Plekanec’s line look dangerous with 3 strong shifts. Andrei Kostitsyn was flying. Carey Price made a big save when Kessel went in alone. Latendresse was working hard. Sergei Kostitsyn had the puck on a string. Manny Fernandez was fighting the puck.

Then came the moment. Great passing from Sergei to Gui to Lang. With a gaping net, Lang rang his shot off the post. It was going to be one of those nights.

The game turned at that point. The Bruins picked up their game. Lucic ran over Kovalev. Koivu lost an edge…a bouncing puck…Yelle made it 2-0.

Latendresse took a bad penalty. Dandenault and Gorges both missed their opportunity to clear. Lapierre left his man, darting to the blue line looking for a short-handed goal scoring chance. Sturm made it 3-0.

In the 2nd period, the referees decided to get into the game starting with a soft call on a Bouillon holding penalty. It was soon followed by a cheap penalty call on Price trying to corral a bouncing puck on the no-go trapezoid line (what an unbelievably stupid rule!). During the Boston powerplay, the puck deflected off Gorges skate right to Sturm who scored again. Bouillon stood by and watched.

Bouillon took a delay of game penalty for clearing the puck over the boards. He complained and may have had a case.

13 minutes into the 2nd period and the Canadiens didn’t have a shot on goal. Captain Koivu didn’t quit and with determined effort got a shot and a goal. For the next six and a half minutes the Canadiens carried the play and had 7 shots. Fernandez continued his shaky play. But a period ending powerplay for the Habs didn’t connect, and the game was basically over.

Early in the third period, the faceoff coverage broke down (again) and Lucic went in alone while Hamrlik watched. Bruins led 5-1.

The third period was just ugly. Komisarek lost a fight to Lucic. Carey Price let in his only soft goal of the night to make it 6-1 for the Bruins. Georges Laraque finally decided to fight with 7 minutes left in the game. Shawn Thornton declined. Why bother? Bruins fans mock serenaded the Canadiens with Na Na Na Hey Hey and their own version of Ole-Ole with ‘revised’ lyrics.

There isn’t much tonight to compliment. Saku Koivu played well and played hard all game. Ryan O’Byrne led the team in hits with 5, had 3 blocked shots, and played a season-high 21 minutes. The Kostisyn brothers had several shifts together with Plekanec and looked good at times.

RDS guys said that this loss was more embarrassing than Toronto. Not even close. That dismisses the fact that Boston played very well (except their goaltender) and got the breaks. The Bruins are well-coached, hard-working team who won the battles for the puck. As Koivu said “We just weren’t ready for whatever reason. They came out hard. We made a couple of mistakes. They really deserved the win tonight.”

The Canadiens had too many defensive zone breakdowns. Josh Gorges continued to struggle in his own zone. Bouillon didn’t play well. Forwards missed their faceoff assignments. Dandenault had a rare bad game. Players took bad penalties. Lapierre should not be penalty killing. For the umpteenth game, Georges Laraques chose not come to the aid of his teammates. That was left to Mike Komisarek. Alex Kovalev may be playing hurt but is certainly not contributing.

More significantly, questions about the coaching staff are getting louder. Why is the team so unprepared? Where is the game plan? Why do the players seem so confused when they face an agressively forechecking opponent? Why do a handful of players seem so unmotivated? How can a team with so much talent play so poorly as a group? Why is this team outcoached on a nightly basis?

This was a message-sending game by the Bruins that the competitive rivalry has resumed. As Carey Price said “I think they just wanted it more. They had more of a fight and they put in the effort, and we didn’t.”

Next time, the Canadiens need to be better ready to play. They must win the battles for the puck, control the play with their speed and skill, and be much better in their own zone.

Pre-game:

Rene Rancourt with painful, make-your-ears-bleed versions of both anthems.

Begin, Brisebois and Kostopoulos (suspension) in the press box.

Rocket’s 3 stars:

1. Stephane Yelle
2. Marco Sturm
3. Shawn Thornton

(photo credit: AP Photo/Charles Krupa)