Excellent game on many facets tonight. I'd like to see the PP convert a little more but they did control the puck well on occasion. PK was pretty solid once again, and Price delivered a superstar performance.
Koivu-Tanguay-Higgins were extremely dangerous all night. Kovy & company didn't have their best night but got chances. Other than a few mistakes (I mostly noticed the Lats-Sergei duo here), the team pulled together in the defensive zone much better than in recent games.
I also quite enjoyed the team defending each other, especially the Ruutu situation. Too bad Neal wouldn't drop the gloves.. would have added to the entertainment value of the night!
Chris Neil is a p.u.s.s.y, that is all. His team was losing 3-0, there was no spark, he's the one who's supose to look for a fight but Laraque was kind enough to ask him, and he said no!
God i love Laraque, anyone who thinks he's useless badly needs hockey lessons
Laraque will be money in the playoffs, and i finally realize why kovy is put on the pk, he doesn't lay down to block shots (yet) but be very afraid if you give up the puck to him, he's a lot quicker this year
sick pass to koivu on the pk (the points will come, he's on pace for another 80 point year)
georges was excellent against alfredsson, and price was just solid and in the zone
right on higgy, good for you man
Not to toot my own horn but let's take a quick look at my post from this afternoon:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lyle_Odelein
I'm sure that the Habs will play better tonight after the stinker in Toronto. Check
This is the type of game that the Habs got Laraque for. I think that his presence should tone down Neil a bit, even if they don't fight. Check
I also think that S. Kost will have a good game after getting riled up in Toronto. Hopefully he plays with some edge, and gets his line firing. Check
Price is due for a shutout soon. I'm not guaranteeing it will happen tonight, but I think he'll have a SO before the end of the week. Check
Some other random notes:
- O'Byrne had a brain cramp on the delay of game penalty, but the kid bounced back and played terrific hockey. He took the man, and made the simple plays. He did very well against Spezza down low. That's the kind of play that will keep him in the line up. Great job by him tonight.
- Gorges played like a rock. I love this guy. If only he'd score a goal.
- Higgins looked fantastic tonight. That's the kind of sniping instinct that most of us know he has. Hopefully he builds confidence from tonight and goes on a streak.
- A Kost's hit on Fisher was amazing.
- The third line all played well tonight. Especially S. Kost.
- Markov looked solid again after his two game "slump".
- Komisarek played his best game of the year.
- Koivu played a great two-way game tonight. He looked determined out there. You know he's playing well when he launches a 100 foot back hand flip pass right on target for a breakaway.
- Lapierre played perfectly within his role tonight. I couldn't expect more from him.
- Frankie B. stepping in for Lappy was a great thing to see. He wanted to rip Ruutu's head off. If only he was a little slower though. Georges was storming in with fire in his eyes. That would have been a massacre.
- Price made a tough game facing lots of chances look easy.
- Neil was invisible tonight. Carbo made a great choice to match Laraque up with him. Laraque looked like he was just waiting for an excuse to fight him. Neil did anything he could, not to give him one. You can see that Laraque's presence kept Neil in check.
- Ruutu embarrased himself tonight. That elbow on Lapierre was another intentional headshot elbow (see my rant about Commodore from Friday's GDT). That was a deliberate intent to injure a vulnerable player. Will the league do anything about it? No. Why? Because Lapierre was lucky enough to not get injured on the play. Ridiculous. Why was Ruutu so happy to get thrown out of a 3-0 game with half a period left? What a selfish, joke of a player. He probably annoyed his coach and his own team more than the Habs tonight.
- Carbo's sitdown with the team had the perfect result. The whole team looked more committed to the defensive game. I still think that the D is a little too passive on the rush, but this weakness is a lot less glaring when the centres and wingers are hustling back to help break up plays.
- All in all, this was the best all-around game the Habs have played this season so far. Very encouraging.
