An impossible task?

Do the Habs have what it takes to get the job done? 

The Philadelphia Flyers are looking like the beasts of the east.

Fresh of of their 3-2 victory last night over the Penguins, the Flyers have now gained top spot in the Eastern Conference; and in the process, they ended the Pens 12-game winning streak.

The Flyers are now off to their best start since 1986. The have a goal differential of +30, the best in the league. They've been exceptional on the road, posting a 9-2-3 record, and are riding a 3-game win streak. Their biggest asset is probably their team confidence, which has undoubtedly held over from last year's great playoff run. Being one goal away from elimination and turning it around to being one goal away from winning it all has to lead them to believe that they can beat any team on any night.

The Habs, on the other hand, have lost their last two. They've been off since Saturday, which doesn't bode well; they have yet to win a game after having 3+ days off between games (0-1-2). Their bright spots are their penalty killing, which is at 1st in the league at an 89.3 efficiency, home record (11-2-3, second in the league) and the ability to bounce back after a loss, going 7-2-0 after a defeat. 

Good news for the Habs: they'll have the experience of Scott Gomez and Jaro Spacek in the lineup, both of them returning from injuries. Max Pacioretty gets his first call this season for the Habs, having been called up from Hamilton after the Bulldogs' win on this past Sunday.

2010-2011 Regular Season, Game 31: Philadelphia at Montreal

FIRST PERIOD:

• Subban disrespects the Flyers on his first shift by throwing his weight around. Call the NHL!
• How does a puck cleared over the glass not be a Flyer penalty? Does that mean that the Habs get a gimme for their next puck over the glass?
• Hey! Subban didn't wind up for a point shot!
• Price has had to be sharp so far, coming up big on a couple of in-close attempts
• Damn! Cammy takes a feed from AK46 and comes REALLY close. They need to cash one of these early attempts before they get used to not scoring
• Ten days out form Christmas, and I'm already tired of the commercials
• I've liked what I've seen from Pacioretty so far. A line with Pouliot and Eller might be something to watch for
• That all started from a WEAK clearing attempt by Subban, and Jeff Carter is able to blow by Picard to go in alone in the last minute of the period against Price. 1-0 Flyers

It was a pretty evenly-matched period, with the Habs leading the shot clock by 12-10, and in the faceoff circle 13-11. But P.K. Subban is the goat of the first 20 minutes when he turned a simple zone-clearance into a primo scoring attempt for Jeff Carter, who was able to bury it for the 1-goal lead.

SECOND PERIOD:

• Subban on to start the period. A vote of confidence, perhaps?
• If it wasn't for bad luck... a harmless looking pass into the slot deflects off of Hal Gill and over Price. 2-0 Flyers
• To their credit, Habs are coming on strong after the Flyer goal. Gionta rings one off the post to come close
• Gionta gets another chance in close, and his stick breaks. Is anything going to go right for them today?
• Habs are 0-7-0 when giving up the first goal. Well, that doesn't bode well...
• Price has to stop a 3-on-1
• More push-back from the Habs, but nothing to show for it
• Philly assessed a penalty? Must be a mistake
• There you go, PK! A one-timer on a 5-on-3 powerplay brings the Habs within one. 2-1 Flyers

Just what the Habs ordered: aside from a fluke Flyer goal, the Habs played a great bounce-back period to pull within a goal, outshooting the Flyers 15-8 (27-18) in the process. And Subban learned that getting his shot past the first wave of defenders pays dividends. Habs are also leading the battle in the faceoff circle 22-19.

THIRD PERIOD:

• Habs start the period with the same kind of energy that they used to end the second period
• Well, they didn't need that. Zherdev walks through all defenders, cricles behind the net, and banks it in off of Price. 3-1 Flyers
• How about Pleks! A great rush by Pouliot never gets cleared from the zone, leading to an in-close goal for #14. 3-2 Flyers
• THERE'S the lucky break that they needed! Gomez passes to Gionta in the slot, which manages to find it's way through Bobrovsky's 5-hole. Tied at 3! The place is going nuts
• Wow... the Capitals have now lost seven in a row. Is this 1977? 
• Spacek pulls a Subban, and gets caught with a turnover at centre ice. Pleks with the penalty to foil the scoring chance
• Damn... van Reimsdyk with a powerplay goal, off a rebound, to retake the lead 4-3 Flyers
• Aaand Subban with another turnover to put the game out of reach. Another turnover sends Giroux in all alone against Price. 5-3 Flyers

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Sorry, Hal. No credit for goals scored on your own net. Photo: John Kenney/Gazette



'Tis The season, eh? The Habs led the way against the Flyers in most categories, including mental mistakes. Credit to the Flyers, who were able to cash in on three of their gift-wrapped chances, plus the Zherdev goal that Price would like back.

For the first time this season, the Habs have lost three in-a-row, and gave up more than three regulation goals in a game, minus empty-netters. They were the last team in the NHL to do so, taking until their 31st game for both of those to happen. That's a credit to a sound defensive style that's being preached by Coach Martin.

P.K. Subban. What else is there to say? Moments of brilliance, followed by plays that would be frowned on in a Saturday night beer league game. And too often, those turnovers are turning into the kind of prime scoring chances for the opposition that are ending up in the back of the net. Why is this kid not learning from his mistakes? Take the last Flyer goal: without a passing option, he turned the puck over with a bad pass to the blue line. It then comes back to him, and he makes the EXACT same mistake, 4 seconds later. That time the Flyers make no mistake with the possession, and are able to spring Claude Giroux in all alone for their 5th goal. Get the kid some Ritalin. Geez.

That said, there was plenty of brain-mush to go around this evening; P.K. was only one of the guys that needed their head screwed on a little tighter. It's games like this where they REALLY miss the calming effect of Andrei Markov.

The plus: they're mistakes which are completely fixable. Play smart defensive hockey, and the Habs can beat any team in the league. You couldn't say that about Hab teams from as little as three or for years ago.

Final shots: Montreal 41, Flyers 30. They also led the way in the faceoff circle, 33-28.

At least the Habs will get a chance to bounce back tomorrow night against a strong rival, the Bruins, who also lost tonight.

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Puttin' on the foil



The Hab's 3rd line call-ups for tonight's game

It's time to do some disrespectin'.

Tonight's game in Philadelphia against the Flyers promises to be an interesting one. Already there are a number of sub-plots and questions to keep an eye on:

1. Will the Flyers still be upset that in their last meeting the Habs broke their 10-game points streak?
2. Will Philly Captain Mike Richards feel as though Hab rookie P.K. Subban is still disrespecting the veterans on his team?
3. If the answer to number 2 is 'yes', will the Philly goons try to do something about it?
4. Will Darroll Powe continue to recklessly thow his weight around?
5. If the answer to number 4 is 'yes', who will be his victim?
6. If the answer to number 5 is 'a Montreal Canadien', how will the Habs respond?
7. Did a member of the Canadiens' training staff go to the hardware store this afternoon to stock up on metallic hand-wrap?
8. Will the Philly fans continue to be boorish douchebags? (actually, we already know the question for that one)

Answers to these questions, and more, to be answered shortly after the 7:05 puck drop. 

2010-2011 Regular Season, Game 20: Montreal at Philadelphia

FIRST PERIOD:

• Well that didn't take long. Pronger off for a cross check in the first 30 seconds.
• Habs have started out looking as though they could use some passing lessons
• We need two guys to go in on the forecheck
• Ok, starting to get a little chippy now. Briere spears Eller before the faceoff, no call. Where's Knuckles Nilan when you need him?
• There's the Flyer goaltending that we know and love! Lapierre, a light low wrist shot as he comes across blue line fools Boucher. 1-0 Habs!
• First Philly sustained pressure (1+ minutes on Habs zone) happens because the Habs are light in their attempts on clearing the puck, looking for the prefect breakout instead of simply clearing the puck and releiving the pressure
• To this point, the Habs' speed has created 3 odd-man rushes against Philly
• How about Max! His second of the game; Pouliot digs the puck out of the corner, and a shot from the slot is deflected by a Flyer right between Boucher's pads. 2-0 Habs!

A well-played road period--with some suspect Philly goaltending--gives the Habs the 2-0 lead after the first period. The game was almost seven minutes old before the Flyers mustered their first shot on goal, and only controlled the play in the Canadien's zone for one stretch of about a minute. The Habs have the edge in faceoffs (12 to 7) and shots on goal (15-9)... Max Lapierre has 5 of them.

SECOND PERIOD:

• Flyer powerplay to start the period, and ouch... Price stops the puck just under his mask but has the presence to cover up the loose puck for the stoppage
• Flyers starting to assert themselves in the Habs' zone again. Smart, quick clears are what's needed.
• Lapierre almost had the hatty as he rings one off the post... and another Flyer powerplay
• Flyers are definitely carring the play to this point in the period, and have a 16-2 shot advantage to prove it
• How to make Brian Boucher a good goalie: 3 shot in 14 minutes, though he almost flubbed the third one
• Dang. Ville Leino converts a nice pass into the slot, going against the grain high in Price. 2-1 Habs.
• Hal Gill's Mo-vember 'stache looks like vintage Larry Robinson

The Habs may have played a great road period in the 1st, but the followed it up with a horrible one in the 2nd. Outplayed for long stretches, the can thank Price for the 2-1 lead going into the locker room. Shots that period: Montreal 5 (20) and Philly 21 (30). Part of the problem is that Montreal only won 4 faceoffs that period; the Flyers now lead in that department 25-16.

THIRD PERIOD:

• I expect the Flyers to come out charging this period. Maybe it'll cost them a penalty or two
• Habs start the period like they ended the 2nd: a lot of puck chasing, and it cost them. Gill misses his check, and Giroux pounces on a rebound to tie the game at 2.
• Every powerplay the Flyers immediately send two guys to the front of the net. Habs, take note
• 4-on-4, and the Habs again miss a check in the slot leaving a shooter alone in the slot. 3-2 Flyers
• Price spectacular on a 2-on-1. Good thing he decided to stick around after the 1st period
• Habs have a little over 4 minutes to find their first period form
• Lose another faceoff, and they can't get Price out for the extra attacker

The Habs need to play that period like they did the first... and they didn't. They managed to get 11 shots at the Philly goal, but few caused any trouble. Final shot totals: Philadelphia 45, Montreal 31. And after handily controlling the faceoff circle in the opening period, the game ends with Philly dominating 38-23.

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And this would have been one of his GOOD saves.  Photo courtesy Habs Inside/Out

A completely frustrating road game from the Habs: Lots of skating, and doing the little things right in the first period to give themselves a 2-0 lead, followed by two periods of "what the hell was that?" to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Apparently, not enough disrepctin' was done after the first intermission.

In the first period, the Habs won 12 faceoff while losing 7. The only won 11 over the final two periods. The net result? Spending long stretches of time chasing the puck while trying to regain possession. The Flyers turned their possession advantage into scoring chances, throwing 36 shots at Carey Price over the last 2 periods. And they make good on their opportunities: two glaring defensive breakdowns led to open Flyers and their final two goals.

Five Flyers ended the night with at least five shots: Carter (6), Hartnell (6), Pronger (6), and van Riemsdyk (5). Leading the way for the Habs: Lapeirre (6) and Plekanec (5). Good on Lapierre on having a great game, but when he's leading your offensive charge, chances are that you're not going to end the night with two points. Tonight marked the first game that the Habs didn't win this season when scoring the first goal or when leading after the second period.

Price was, again, fantastic. Through 20 starts, he's het to be scored on more than three times in regulation. He deserved the win tonight, even if most of the rest of the team didn't. And what needs to be done to get Scott Gomez out of his season-long funk? 

As for the Centre Hive Loss-Severity Indicator, it gets bumped all the way up to "Star Wars Kid" for mailing in the last two periods. The Mood Indicator after this loss? A definite "Facepalm". 

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Canadiens apologize to Flyers

Centre Hice has learned that the Montreal Canadiens have sent an official apology to the Philadelphia Flyers.

The statement is in response to post-game comments from the Flyers’ Mike Richards about rookie defenseman P.K. Subban.

“That punk needs to get with the program. The kid has been in the NHL for, what… not even a year? And he’s got the nerve to be out on the ice actually looking like he’s the real deal? I mean, c’mon. When I came up, if I tried to push the envelope and show some skill, the veterans would have taped my ass cheeks together, not that I would have minded. But the kid needs to earn respect before he can make us look like chumps. Look at me. I had to almost kill that Booth guy to get mad props from my team, but I’m a better guy for it. And it’s bad enough that he’s encouraged by their coaching staff by giving him a lot of ice time, including on the powerplay. They’re a mess from the top down.”

Richards’ comments followed a whitewashing by the Canadiens, in which the Habs disrespected the Flyers by a score of 3-0.

“Originally we were going to let P.K. make the apology” said Habs captain Brian Gionta. “But we got together after the game and decided that P.K. wasn’t the only one at fault. I mean, (Carey) Price didn’t even allow one of those 41 shots to get past him, not even one of the really tough ones. If that isn’t thumbing your nose at the opposition, I don’t know what is."

(continued below)

Subban totally disrespecting Zherdev during Tuesday night's action at the Bell Centre

The apology, issued as an open letter to the Flyers and their fans, reads in-part:

“We the Montreal Canadiens Hockey Club would like to offer our sincerest apologies for last-night’s debacle regarding our actions against the Philadelphia Flyers. We understand that it was wrong for us as a hockey team to make our opposition, who was 9-0-1 in their last 10 games, look like our bitches."

The apology went on to note that Jeff Halpern was “deeply upset that he didn’t bleed after hitting his head on the ice after the Powe hit” and that Maxim Lapierre “promises that next time he will take a fight more seriously, and not just use it as a way to get one of their douchebags to sit in the penalty box for five minutes.”

In post-game comments Gionta also addressed a discussion that he and teammate Scott Gomez had with Flyer defenseman Chris Pronger after the final siren. “With the shutout, we wanted to get the game puck for Carey. We might have been pushing it a little by making that request, but then for Pricey to toss it to a kid after the game, well… talking about rubbing salt into an open wound. The veterans will have a word with him about his selfless actions.”

As for Pronger, he noted that, “it’s not just the Subban thing. The Habs have been breeding this sort of thing for years… even back to the mid-70’s. I’m still hearing horror stories from Philly vets about how that Robinson guy totally disrespected Dave Schultz. I mean, making a guy cry on national television is just wrong.”

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Orange crush(ed)

Michael Leighton surrenders the Cup winning goal to Chicago, living down to a fine tradition of Philly goaltending

I liked them better when their goaltending sucked.

Which was, over the last 30 years, most of everything past Pelle Lindbergh and Ron Hextall.

Mark LaForest. Wendell Young. Marc D'Amour. Bruce Hoffort. Dominic Roussel. Tommy Soderstrom. Stephane Beauregard. Frederic Chabot. Garth Snow. Jean-Marc Pelletier. Brian Boucher.

Roman Chechmanek? He was pretty good for a few seasons.

Jeff Hackett. Sean Burke. Maxime Ouelette. Robert Esche. Antero Niityymaki. Martin Biron. Martin Houle. Neil Little. Ray Emery. Johan Backlund. And of course, last year's playoff hero/goat, Michael Leighton. The Philadelphia Flyers have had a deep, rich history of sub-par goaltending performances, by both promising rookies and veterans who went to the City of Brotherly Love in hopes of extending their careers. And over the years, none of it has worked.

Maybe, that is, until now.

The Flyers come into tonight's game against the Habs 9-0-1 in their last ten games, and have scored 44 goals (a +25 goal differential) over that span. But what's really helped the Flyers is the solid goaltending turned in by rookie Sergei Bobrovsky. In 14 starts, he's 11-2-1, with a .934 SV% and a GAA of 2.01. In only one of his last nine games has he surrendered more than 2 goals... and in that one game, the third goal was in an overtime loss to Washington on November 7th.

As for the Habs? They've been playing excellent hockey, and Carey Price was named the league's number one star this past week for rolling off scintillating wins against Vancouver, Boston, and Carolina... but they're still awaiting work on the severity of the injury to Andrei Markov. The powerplay was starting to round into form before Markov re-injured his surgically repaired knee, so it'll be interesting to see if they can continue the upward trend without their General.

Amexandre Picard is in to take the place of Markov. Let's hope that they didn't blow their goal-scoring load against Carolina, and saved enough for a win tonight against the hottest team in the NHL.

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The Stud makes one of his 41 saves vs. the Flyers. Photo courtesy Phil Carpenter/The Gazette



UPDATE: Habs win! Carey is a monster with a 41-save shutout of the (former) hottest team in the NHL. The rest of the team wasn't too shabby, either.

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That sound you heard was the Flyers coming back down to earth

This one might go four.

Last night the Penguins showed why they deserve to be in the Stanley Cup finals, and the Flyers do not. My obvious bias against the Broad Street Wannbes for disposing of the superior Canadiens has nothing to do with either.

Evgeni Malkin scored twice, including one on a short-handed breakaway slapshot to show why he's the most dangerous Penguin in the lineup, Sid the Bib included. He also had an assist. Moments later, Malkin clobbered Flyers defenceman Braydon Coburn with a clean but thunderous hit. Final score: 4-2. And it wasn't that close.

The Flyers lack of overall team speed was very apparent. They showed the Pens way too much respect, and they got burned. And Martin Biron looked human.

Not a great combination if you're a Flyer's fan.

Mike Richards scored both goals for the Flyers, who didn't look like they could cope with the loss of Kimmo Timonen. The Flyers' top defenceman is out for the series to a blood clot. Considering the way that his team played last night, he should consider himself lucky.

In the World Championships, Team Canada returns to the ice this afternoon against Germany. Canada has owned the Germans at past IIHF World Championships, winning 37 of 40 games and outscoring them 234-61. That's what we said about Norway, too.

Canadien content in the tournament yesterday:

Andrei Markov had 1 shot and 4 PIM in a 4-3 win vs. Belarus;
Saku Koivu had 3 shots and 2 PIM in a 2-1 win over Latvia;
D-Cup had 3 shots and 2 PIM, B-Cup had 1 shot, and Mikhail Grabovski had 2 assists and 1 shot in their 4-3 loss to the Russians.

TurtlePlek's Czech Republic didn't play.

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