Dickensian hockey

Im just happy were in. I hope we get home ice, if not i won't cry. I think were gonna have a great month of April, May and hopefully June.

Habs Spank Sens, Clinch Playoff Berth

http://wwwrealitycheckeyesontheprize.blogspot.com/2008/03/habs-spank-sen...

Motivation for upcoming game, post game Spezza: "We'll take some positives out of it, when we play our best we should be able to beat these guys. We just can't give up seven goals to anybody."

A side note about league parity, I live in the MB where the media often tries to fill the vacuum left by the Jets departure with Flames coverage. Now, a tale of two cities, after a season of discussion about every move Keenan has made, every point Inginla has tallied and every hit Dion has levelled, the Edmonton Oilers are only five points behind the Flames. If the Oilers make the post season, their rise from the dead will be the one Canadian story to rival coverage of the Hab's assent to the top.

Ottawa felt the full force of the Habs offence and could not deal with it. Everyone from Kostopolus to Kovalev looked like a scoring threat. Bob's free agents look like they were made for this time of year (which is what he probably knew last summer). The Hab's team speed made Ottawa's d look bad many times tonight. I think we could read Murray's mind as he watched the Russians fly around. My guess is that he was thinking, oh oh this is going to be bad for years to come. Kovalev made some of his shiftiest moves of the year and I even saw Koivu restrain himself from taking a couple sure hooking calls. As for blowing the big lead, how can any team play with urgency while holding a six goal lead?

AWSOME we made it.. what a great bunch of players.. BRAVO !

The team looked good at the begining of the season and they only got better throught the season.... but who would have thought that they would be the first team to clinch a playoff spot in the East ?
Even better is how they got there... they did it while playing superlative hochey based on speed, skills and creativity.... stuff that generate amazement,... this team has panache... highest scoring team in the NHL... best Power Play in the league... WOW!!

Quite easy to forget the third for me. I take refuge in the fact that we were able to score 7 (most are pretty pretty goals I might add) against Ottawa and that we simply held down the A-S-Hole line for 40 min without Komisarek. Also comforting to see that it was a team breakdown rather than a goalie breakdown. When Price was basically alone for most of the third, he held it down as much as he could and really couldn't be faulted.

7-1 lead coming into the last 20 min? In your mind you've beaten them, you've embarrassed them, you've shut them down, it's hard to keep a strong motivation to finish the game. We got the two points and a monkey off our back. There's no sense getting greedy.

Bottom line is that we've clinched a playoff spot, something alone that would have had the season considered a success before game one.

After their great start, Ottawa hasn't even played .500 hockey. There are still four teams that can catch them and knock them out of the playoffs. Heck, however unlikely it would be, even the Laffs have a chance to catch them if Ottawa goes 1-5 and Toronto runs the table. Washington, Buffalo and even Florida are better possibilities.

Fact is, right now the Sens have far more to sweat about than the Habs do. They may call their third period rally a "statement", but it's the two periods previous that could still be their ultimate undoing.

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"All bow down before the Komisaurus Rex!"

Pretty frustrated with that 3rd period, can't imagine enjoying a 7-5 win any less than this. But I guess it can be chalked up to a lack of experience --- lots of young players plus veterans who haven't had a lot of (team) success in their careers. Good veteran teams do not respond to adversity the way we did tonight in the 3rd. Not only did they not come out with intensity but they also took STUPID penalties. And the weird thing was --- and I wonder who else felt the same --- I was worried when it was 7-2. Don't kid yourself, take away some solid saves by Price and that game is 7-7. Scary.

Then again, Begin's early 3rd period shot is 1 inch lower and its 8-1. Weird game, whatever. It's probably a good lesson to learn as they go forward.

I just hope that the 3rd period wasn't what the Sens needed to get them going. After all, when they are on their game they are the only (other?) legit contender from the East. I think their season was on the line tonight, and we could have burried them.

Sorry about the pessism, but that last period really f'n irritated me.

When the 3rd period began, I was hoping we'd at least try to score a couple more to keep the game interesting...didn't really plan on THEM scoring some more! Sure, we blew the 3rd but DAMN it was exciting!

Besides, when a team has a large lead late in the game what usually happens? The losing team stops playing the game and starts going after the winning team's guys...especially with a rematch next week! While Ottawa was missing some toughness there would of been potential for Habs getting hurt...no need for that! It was a good leasson for us.

Like Koivu said: "Obviously when you're up 7-1 you think you can take two points. But that probably won't be the case in the playoffs. We might have one- or two-goal lead and the focus has to stay consistent."

Just got back from the game. As previously stated by Mike F. Boone, truly the best and the worst of times. Maybe the ghosts were just teaching us a lesson in not getting too cocky. Maybe we just came out in the third with a lot less intensity after playing amazing hockey for 40 min. In retrospect, not a bad night. A clinch of a playoff spot and a seemingly insurmountable lead in our division and first place in the conference increased by three points.
It was a great night for Hell's Bels with 3 goals and an assist. Now four days to rest up before the Buffalo/TO weekend with the a rematch of a pissed Sen's club on Tues. It doesn't get any better!

I can't complain too much... They totally dominated for two periods. They built up a six-goal lead. At that point their playoff spot was clinched, really.

Then they mailed it in in the third expecting that the Sens, who play tomorrow, would do so as well, and got surprised when they didn't. That may not have been the wisest course of action for them with a game in less than 24 hours but I guess they wanted to make a statement.

Yes, it was shameful, it was stupid, it was worrying... but the game was never *really* in doubt as they took a 3-goal lead in the final three minutes, and Ottawa only looked good in garbage time, when Montreal clearly let up. They, ultimately, figured out how to beat the Sens... and were reminded not to.

A big two points and an important lesson.

But I'll still miss the feeling in that all-too-brief moment when Montreal had a 7-1 lead against Ottawa.

14-5-1 in our last 20 games.

Does anyone have the phone numbers of all the critics of the team that placed them 14th? I'd love to call them one by one and give them a piece of my mind.

:)

GO HABS GO

Bottom line is they beat the Senaturds, it doesn't have to be pretty...can we not, at this point in the season just support them, instead of picking out every mistake, and that includes you Mike, you're still the biggest blowhard I never met. (But a paid one). I still remember your words of wisdom in early fall, Carbo will be lucky to still be coaching by Thanksgiving...and you had your little tribe believing it..