1P Break:
Sturm line comes close. Awfully fast
Precedent?:
The last sudden-death sports event played on a Monday in Montreal: Oct. 19, 1981. We won't go there. I'm sorry I mentioned it.
3P 2:37:
Kovalev has been horrible. And that one should end it.
3P 3:27:
4-4 31 shots each. What a game.
3P 4:04:
I DON'T BELIEVE THIS!!
3P 4:15:
Kessel beats Koivu's check.
Wow!
I'm sick.
3P 5:30:
Savard line against Max line: big mismatch
3P Break:
If this one slips away ...
3P 6:25:
Smoke line never quits.
3P 7:09:
Pedneault points out that Boston forechecks two and keeps getting the puck, unlike Canadiens who send one.
3P 7:47:
Man, you have to drive a stake through their hearts. This is killing me.
3P Break:
Price is so alert. Smart to get a freeze there. Ouf, this will be a long eight minutes.
3P 9:40:
Carbo comes right back with Smoke line.
3P 9:56:
FRANCIS BOUILLON!!
A freakin' miracle
3P 10:10:
Gorges is back. Hope a good goal wins this, and not some fluke.
3P 11:10:
Krejci makes a great backcheck on Koivu and Sturm screws up the rush. Gorges hasn't been back.
3P 11:30:
Man, I don't want a seventh game.
3P 13:20:
Alex Kovalev is destroying what little remains of my sanity.
3P Break:
Kovalev is having problems. The Bruins block everything on the PP.
3P 16:00:
Sergei makes a good play and Ference has to take a penalty on Higgins
3P 16:25:
Uh-oh, Gorges hurt.
3P 16:47:
Man, give up the blueline, Gorges makes the first move and it's 2-2
3P 17:38:
Price on Schafer. Kid is something else.
3P 18:30:
Hamrlik great on Savard.
3P 19:59:
Here we go. Sounds noisy down there.
3P 20:00:
20 minutes to the next round. Canadiens have to play one of those textbook third periods we saw down the stretch: get pucks deep, make the Bruins skate 200 feet, work it around their end and wear out the D.
Between periods:
Koivu and Plekanec have been superb ... Canadiens using four D, Breeze and Bouillon being spotted ... The third period could be the best of this series ....Plekanec has six shots ... Markov has played more than 18 minutes
2P 00:20:
Plekanec is GRAT tonight.
2P :
That's two diving calls tonight. I'm afraid of Kessel 4-on-4
2P 1:28:
Is Kovalev playing tonight?
2P 1:50:
My man JG is playing well tonight. Bruins have hit two posts.
2P 3:20:
Bruins are just taking over the Canadiens zone.
2P 5:10:
Even Smoke, the old goat, is skating on that line.
2P Break:
What a game! Good chances at both ends. Gotta watch those penalties, because these refs are capricious (a fancy word for horsecrap)..
2P 6:15:
Horrible sequence. Canadiens couldn't get out.
2P Break:
Price makes a miraculous save ... again. The game is end-to-end. Another playofffclassic.
2P 9:34:
What a set-up by Koivu!
2P 10:40:
How did Chara miss that? Wow! And then Tom the Bomb hustles Savard into an idiotic penalty.
2P Break:
Mark Streit is playing his way right out of town. Absolutely useless in this series.
2P 11:55:
Breeze! He's gonna kill me!
2P Break:
Thomas has mask problems. He's supposed to come out. What a pass by Bégin.
2P 12:17:
Kostopoulos great on the PK. Kessel is just on fire. Higgins also great: playing his best game of the series.
TOMAS PLEKANEC!!!!!
2P 14:25:
Lucic dives. Plekanec goes.
2P 14:52:
Koivu makes a great play. So does Sergei. But they can't score.
2P 16:00:
Markov still in a bit of a daze
2P 18:00:
Gut check time. This is the series
2P 18:06:
Game 5 revisited?
Kessel is taking over the series.
1-12
2P 19:00:
Same situation as Game 5.
2P 19:55:
Pleks wins another one
2P 20:00:
Two words: No mistakes. And no dumb penalties. Next goal tells the tale.
Cherry:
I forgot to watch. Anything remotely worthwhile?
Between periods:
Carey Price has been outstanding ... Canadiens are an astounding 16-3 on faceoffs. Koivu is 5-0, Max 4-0, Smoke 3-1 and Pleks 4-2 .... Hurt he may be, but Markov played 9:16 ... Kessel has been very dangerous ... Quiet period for Kovalev ... The PP is still struggling ... Talk about enhancing UFA status: José Theodore
1P 00:00:
Bégin is getting in Chara's head. This is good. I love Price casually picking up the puck while the scrumming goes on.
1P 1:40:
God, I love that Smoke line.
1P :
Some good shots on the PP. But the Bruins PK was effective.
1P 4:25:
Another PP. Sergei K did a good job of selling it.
1P Break:
Canadiens hanging on. The goal did not change momentum. Bruin forecheck is pounding the Canadiens' D. Forwards have to help.
1P 5:30:
There's a switch: Breeze saves Harlik
1P 6:20:
We won't see much of the Max line, eh?
1P 6:57:
The Koivu line is hot! And Markov can still skate.
1P 8:20:
Good hustle by Andrei K. Bouillon's been good.
1P 9:24:
Markov is messed up.
1P Break:
HUGE goal, because the momentum was all Boston. Nice to have the captain back, eh?
1P 10:16:
WE MISSED THE GOAL!
What a play by Higgins!
1P 10:25:
Cheap shot by Kessel. I hate that guy.
1P:
The PP is hurting. And Axelsson gets a breakway. The PP guys are being pressured into fast, bad decisions.
1P 12:50:
First PP. Koivu on first wave
1P Break:
Bruins have the best of the physical play. The skill guys have to get some rubber on Thomas, or the Canadiens will be ground down.
1P 13:50:
Bruins forecheck pressures Breeze
1P 15:00:
Gorges skips away from Lucic and then Chara kills Andrei K.
1P 16:00:
Markov is off to a very rough start.
1P 16:45:
Hamrlik: so good.
1P 17:40:
Nokolainen dumps off and drives the net. Good play.
1P 18:00:
Pleks has come to play. And Bouiloon fires a bullet at Thomas
1P 18:50:
Price huge save already
1P 19:59:
Koivu to start against Krejci
Drop the puck!!:
I'm dyin' here.
René Rancourt:
Roger Doucet on acid.
The PP :
Gotta be better with Koivu and with Streit back in ... if Streit has his head on straight.
1P 20:00:
I have no idea how Canadiens are going to play. I can imagine Claude Julien telling his guys: "Look, they're dressing two injured players. We've go them on the run." Bruins will be confident. First goal wasn't key in Game 5, but I think it will be tonight.
Jean Perron says ...:
Oh, who cares what the hoser says.
Bob Hartley says ...:
Francis Bouillon is "built to play the style of the Boston Bruins." Thinks he'll help Gorges.
Jocelyn Thibault:
Looks like he's on the way to his grad dance.
Still sunny out:
Too nice to be having my 19th nervous breakdown in a clammy baseent. I think I'll blow off the first period. As if ...
Gaston Therrien says ...:
Canadiens need faster and more efficient transition. Bouillon will help. And the other forwards have to do what the Smoke line does: get after the puck and create pressure in the Bruins' end.
Koivu and Bouillon hilights:
To open RDS pre-game. Carbo says it isn't a paic move (like he'd happily admit it if it were) .... Nice hair on the captain and a good beard coming in for Frankie
Lineup:
O'Byrne, Ryder and Latendresse out. Koivu, Bouillon and Streit in.
Agony:
This is a stern test of the pre-work abstinence regimen that has served me well through a long and semi-distinguished career. I need a drink. I need a Valium. I need a spliff. If this mo-fo goes to a seventh game, I'll need electro-shock therapy. And this is only the quarter-finals!!!
Passover gag:
So Moses comes down from Mount Sinai and says he's got good news and bad news. "The good news is I got Him down to 10. The bad news is adultery's still in there."
Bada-boom. I'll burn in hell, where I won't be able to get RDS.
Share the agony and ecstasy of Habs fandom and read live blogs from every game with Gazette columnist Mike Boone.
Habs Inside/Out main RSS feed
On a lighter note, how much of a 60's child was Boone? I mean I read about acid valium and spliffs, but did the habs in those years really go hand in hand with acid? And if so, feel free to get down to some 1960's Hunter S. Thompson style GONZO journalism for this next game.
I hear Julien has a weak spot for LSD...
...Although on second thought, maybe it's Carbo that needs it...
Game 7 victory is the only way the Habs have a chance of doing anything these playoffs. The team that's been dressed in these series is entirely different than the one I watched during the regular season, and the only thing that can change this team is some real fear of losing.
I won't grieve for a Montreal Canadiens team that loses tomorrow, I'll grieve for the team that played an outstanding regular season that somehow died between the regular and post season.
If this nightmare comes to an end tomorrow I'm gonna take the rest of the week off to grieve.
Claude Julien is starting to look like a genius.
Why did we let this guy go? I keep asking this question the past few seasons. He knows how to motivate his players.
What is being said to the players during the second intermission before the start of the third period?
Why the third period meltdown?
Should be a great game 7.
Give full credit to Boston for coming back in this series and proving to everyone that you have to play hard and hustle every shift to succeed.
Lesson to be learned by everyone. Anything can happen in the playoffs on any given night.
I had a sense this may go to a game 7 although I predicted a Montreal series victory in 6 games.
Let's hope the game goes to the better team Monday night. To the victor goes a gruelling second round series.
GO HABS GO!
"We will win the Cup only with Carey Price in the nets"
Julien told his players during the second intermission, that if they wanted to keep playing hockey this year, they'd better start acting like it.
Apparently, they do.
why are people in denial of the truth?
we need to open our eyes, since game #2 we have been outhit, out muscled and thats a fact. Julien admited that FINALLY the bruins are playing their game, not a finesse game, a hardworking pressure hitting game.
Carb is 110% to blame, he has weaklings in the lineup against a physical team.
he has iced a team that we never saw in the regular season..EVER.
this years playoffs have been a total disaster by his coaching.
last night he removed Latron, Ryder and Obryne,,thats 3 of our top 5 hitters and strength players....the bruins must have been LAUGHING their asses off when they heard that.
Insert Ryder, Latron, Obryne,
Remove Breezer, Dandy, Kostyjr,
and Stewart or CHip in for Gorges - STriet back to D.
Man I couldn't agree with you more.
Play a whole season.
Rise above expectations.
Win the conference.
Start the playoffs.
Change the entire team because of some nebulous concept that "experience wins playoff games". . .
Lose series.
WTF?
The true measure of a coach is what they do in the face of adversity. It's not when things are going well, it's when they're not. Last year we were the exact same team as this year's team until December in terms of performance. People forget that. We were flying with Buffalo and looked amazing. A dry spell hit. . . then we skidded into March when everyone says it was the flu that killed us. It was the lack of overcoming the slump in December/Jan that killed us.
Flash forward to this year. Only team in the league to not lose three in a row. Never a real contentious moment. Never a chance to handle adversity.
Now it shows up in spades in the playoffs. Tomorrow will answer the question: is Carbo a good coach or the beneficiary of a much underrated squad? I believe that the team is far more talented than widely held. If we can't win tomorrow it's coaching, pure and simple. It's the panic that Carbo showed last year. It's the decisive indecisiveness. The pressure is almost off I expect so little from them now - if they win I'll be shocked. Surprise me, Carbonneau.
You both bring up a very interesting point. I never looked at it from the coaching point of view, and now that I have I feel as though I have a better understanding of what's going on.
good post Doug, thirdS,
damn its about time most start seeing it the way it is.
what threw a curve was Breeze scoring that goal, yeah we got the win but it reinforced (proved) falsely Carbs "go with the Veterans" strategy.
All time classic or all-time choke on Monday night? History says we win, but that's history.
This series has been an exercise in futility. First, the Bruins stank. Now, the Habs stink. What a roller coaster. Whatever happens Monday, this has been an eye-opener of a season for the kids wearing the bleu, blanc,et rouge. Carbo and co. have done well to bring the team along this far, despite the 5 million coaches in the greater Montreal area and throughout the world on the web. I wonder when the calls for his head on a platter will start. Oh, yeah, by reading a few of the posts I see his arrest warrant has already been issued.
If winning the Cup was easy, why do 29 teams fail every year? This organization is close and is on its way up. The goal is in sight, don't act like rats and abandon the team when our support on Monday is needed. Be a fan, not a cynic.
Gilbert
Remember '71? Remember '86?
Now is the time to believe. The Drive for 25 is on! Go Habs Go!
Kovalev's muffed clearing attempt reminded me of the way things were at the start of the season and much of last season. There would be a simple opportunity to clear the puck, and it wouldn't happen, resulting in extended pressure and often a goal. That's the type of mistake that simply cannot happen in the playoffs.
I'm a little frazzled at the status of things right now, but I still have a lot of confidence in this team to get the job done on Monday night. That it's in Montreal helps out, as we know the Bell Centre faithful will be extra raucous to spur the team on, much as Boston was spurred on by a very loud building last night.
There were a lot of positives to take out of that loss: the Koivu line played fantastic, and Higgins finally busted out and notched a pair of big goals; Plekanec line looked good in the Bruins zone, though not so much in their own; Price demonstrated that he had overcome the Game 5 debacle and played very well despite what the score sheet says.
It's going to be an epic confrontation Monday night, and it's high time the Habs rose to the challenge and get ready to move on to Round Two.
-----
Go Habs Go!
Julien's motivation to stick to Gainey is being transferred to his players. Carbo also gave them plenty of arrogant motivation in some of his post game comments through out the series. Kovalev is giving us the other side of the coin. The Beezer nostalgia has worn out as well. Ryder's played better at the end of the year and his effort over the last few years was part of the Hab's feel good story and motivation. To not have him out there with Koivu tonight was bad judgement in my opinion. Price can not be blamed but we should all realize that goaltending is hot and cold everwhere. Brodeur got schooled by Sean Avery?? while Theodore the Hab reject is once again the top flight goalie the Habs hope to have in Price. I thought Higgins showed that he is the real deal tonight and the type of player you need to win cups. I'm not so sure about some of the others - if country of origin doesn't matter, I think we can say size most definately does. Is there any chance we could get Saku's little brother, who was great in a losing cause.
The morning after, and I think my head is FINALLY clear. Nice to read a post that makes sense. I know some of what I wrote last night was probably over-exaggeration but, the glaring holes in the Habs game, all season long, finally came home to roost and the B's capitalized without even blinking. A lot of faceoffs being lost, team toughness and grit, and a real lack of scoring support from others not named Kovalev, Plekanec and Kostitsyn. We all witnessed the Habs being manhandled by teams like the Rangers, Sharks, Ducks, Stars etc., during the season because these teams played an incredibly tight checking game centered by the neutral zone trap. The fact that the powerplay, which accounted for, what, 30 odd percent of the Habs goals went by the wayside because, every time Kovalev touched the puck, he was smothered by two players. The Bruins are moving well on the PK and are clearing the rebounds when they're not blocking the shots. The Habs are in tough on Monday and I'll be watching, as I always do.
We have a very nice hockey team.
Nice guys play golf...
Bad news for all of you. If Boston wins -- as seems likely -- in game 7, Don Cherry will be 100% vindicated in calling the Canadiens too soft to win in the playoffs.
I will be sick if the Habs lose -- just sick -- but we will have to face reality if they do: Cherry will have been right and his detractors wrong.
And if Montreal wins -- as seems equally likely -- in game 7, Don Cherry will be 100% a boob, as he always is.
He also said that Ottawa had a better chance in the playoffs than Montreal.
He seldom bats 1.000 or even close.
/\\ike
GO HABS GO!
Yep: Monday night we will know for sure whether:
a.] Don Cherry is the boob
b.] Anti-Don Hab fans are the boobs.
...... and unless kovalev shows up monday.....
Kovalev's game is not up to the challenge of this series and this alone has deprived our team of two essential elements that were constituant to our identity this season,..... a very good offensive line when 5 on 5 and our great power play machine.
Handicaped as a consequence of it and further deprived with the weakening of our second line in Koivu's absence,.... maybe we should feel lucky that we have not been ousted already and still have a chance left next monday.
Boston have kept progressing throughout the series and their game last night was their best of the lot,... their defensive coverage is better than ours, their passing is more intelligent and better executed, their forechecking is outstanding and they are better at creating scoring chances than we are....... and last but not least this team can now score... as we know it too well.
We have a chance on monday but we have a long way to go while they dont.
Despite having a better roster in game 6 ( Saku, Bouillon ) our game remained tentative and error proned compared with the Bruins,... can that be fixed in one day ? you tell me..... but even if our cohesion improved it would still be a tossed up without Kovalev making his line and our PP much better than seen in the first six games,..... I have my doubts that it will happen,.... seeing Kovalev slashed on Ward today at the risk of being penalised and seeing him missing out on getting the puck out of our zone at the most crucial of times makes me think that his head has not been where it should have been in this series,.... and if he takes on to redeemed himself in the lenth of one game this will only make matter worst ( for his line and our PP ) as he will hang on to the puck too long.... and this will put us back to square one,.... not a place you want to be,... as I said, compared with the Bruins we have a way to go..... and contextually,... a long way to go might be a more appropriate way to put it.
100% agree that Carbo is been outcoached. In a series where Boston has dominated the battles for the last three or four games he iced the smallest team he could tonight. O'Byrne must play he has been solid in the games he's played and he has to be told why is being put in: TOUGHNESS! Unless Ryder is hurt he should play with Saku. Streit OUT! I think he is hurt because he has been brutal the whole series. Latendresse...why was he out...he was one of the guys showing some toughness. Lapierre is working hard but he looks like a chicken with its head cut off out there running around and bouncing off everyone he hits. This was all meant to be though so they could win big at home in game seven!!!
GO HABS GO!!
I agree with you that Carbo has been outcoached. I never liked him as a coach. Even when habs were winning (seems like a while now, doesn't it) I still always throught that he will not take us far in the crucial moments (you know, like playoffs for example) and seems like he won't.
Unfortunately, because he is Gainey's buddy he will never be gone until Gainey's gone. So, buckle up, we'll win another eastern conference title next year and promptly choke in the playoffs.
Don't worry...
I could have got seats behind Price for game 5, I decided no way, I opted for game 7 with seats that are almost center ice...
I KNOW I MADE THE RIGHT DECISION!!!
Brilliant, that is what Monday will bring, brilliant hockey played by the BEST team Canada has seen in a long time.
GO HABS GO!
I HAD seats behind Price for game 5... and I wish I could get a refund... :-(
tickets are already bought...gonna be a great game!!!
nice pic ;)
GO HABS GO!
Congrats to Propecia Theodore, he's really bounced back
__________
16 for 25 all for one
a Freind of mine made a good point, how Carbo is getting outcoached.
We tie it at 4. Who does Carbo put out? The 1st line. You want to slow the pace down, put the 3rd and 4th line on for jeere's sake.
"One face-off, one battle, one shift, one period, one game, one series at a time."
I am sorry, Teach, but are you questioning the coach that won the eastern conference? The same coach who had best power play in the regular season and had the team score most goals in the league... in the regular season. How dare you?!
My friend made the point. I am agreeing with it tonight.
I didn't do it when he was coaching his team to the number 1 spot as it made no sense most of the time.
Doesn't mean I want him fired or lined up and shot.
"One face-off, one battle, one shift, one period, one game, one series at a time."
Ooh... lined up and shot. That's a kind of idea I can get behind.
I've been hearing similar comments about Carbo getting outcoached and not making sufficient adjustments to respond to Boston's style and to the poor performance of the PP.
I also wonder whether our team is properly built for the playoffs. We have outhit the Bruins in games, but it appears that Boston is a grittier, tougher team (see, Lucic, Milan). We have guys like Streit, Pleks, and AK46 who have struggled in the playoffs despite playing extremely well in the regular season.
I bring this up mainly because I think our performance this series will help determine what moves BG makes going forward (e.g., whether to resign Streit, who we sign to replace Ryder, who makes the club - Stewart? Chipchura? Valentenko?).
Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be in the fetal position until Monday.
__________
16 for 25 all for one
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