No biggie boys. We've gotten over tougher hurdles. Not gonna be easy, this was my most feared matchup coming into the playoffs. Now that we're here, just keep working. Quick notes:
- Seems that the break did more harm than good. We looked deflated, tired, sloppy. Kind like a student a few days after writing his finals. Lazy bug hits.
- Tough game for Subban. Obviously does not merit any ripping but a nice reminder to fans that he's still a rookie thrown into the fire. Let's not retire his jersey just yet. He'll be better next game.
- Bergeron I can rip. I'll say it again. He has one use and that's his one-timer slapshot. He can't QB, he can't defend, he makes atrocious decisions and is a definite liability. Dress O'byrne and put him exclusively as a trigger man on the PP.
- This game was quite a testament to what happens when our D's block the shots and when they don't. Either get in the lanes or clear the net for Halak otherwise, this series is over.
- ****ing discipline. Stupid penalties pretty much cost us the game.
Not a lot of positives. I thought we had a pretty good 1st despite coming out it trailing. We just crumbled under Philly's momentum. At least we defended against the stretch pass pretty well.
Emphasis on discipline, simplicity, focus and forward support. After Washington and Pittsburgh, I didn't worry much about Philly's offense and I still don't. What I was worried about is OUR offense against their D. We need to tap into another level of opportunism to make this one competitive.
Right now, I feel like only some "Jack Daniels" will save me.
I want game 2 to start now, cuz all the pre-game talk and "we'll be better stuff" won't convince me given the way they lost this time. I have to SEE it to believe it. I'm pretty sure (although we all "believed"), we only actually said to ourselves that we could play with the pens until that lead in game 2 and the Cammy finisher. I want proof nowwwww!
Right now, I feel like only some "Jack Daniels" will save me.
I want game 2 to start now, cuz all the pre-game talk and "we'll be better stuff" won't convince me given the way they lost this time. I have to SEE it to believe it. I'm pretty sure (although we all "believed"), we only actually said to ourselves that we could play with the pens until that lead in game 2 and the Cammy finisher. I want proof nowwwww!
I hear you. We very well could be better next game, but no one really knows that at all. We could very well be worse, if thats possible.
It's a huge wake-up call for the team to work doubly hard to get back "in the groove" -- when you were used to play every other day and then, all of a sudden, you got a 3 days break, you lose a bit of that fight, hunger and emotion. This butt-kicking may bring all these things back. Also, this is a message that the Flyers will eat them alive if they are not prepared to give their all in this series.
Also, it will shut the Cup talking bandwagonners up for a while.
I need to find an anti-Flyers picture. My Pens picture was a picture of Crosby crying. Who's the target on the Flyers? Pronger? Carcillo? Anyone have any?
Besides these PO (215 minutes up to now) does anyone see anything spectacular?
He is not a young goalie, he is going to turn 29 Wenesday.
It is possible that Leighton could beat us. Any hot goalie can beat a team during PO (Like Biron did two years ago).
The problem with Leighton is not if he is going to collapse, it is when.
If we can not burst his bubble, it will deflate completly in the cup finals.
This guy is not a blue chip and this is the best he will ever play.
Granted, he plays with a very good defense.
He is more a Raycroft than an Osgood.
We all know the Flyers are a great team but in the goal, they are living on borrowed time.
What do you really know about Leighton though? His sample size in the NHL is not enough to draw any real conclusions IMO. He was behind Cam Ward in Carolina, who was, and is their future. He has never had a real look anywhere in the NHL until now. You can see he was good all season when he played, but the sample size is still too small. Who is to say he isn't a diamond in the rough, and who is to say that he isnt just riding an incredible lucky streak?
He could very well turn out to be a pretty solid goaltender that just needed regular playing time. He is also getting the goalie coaches attention now that he is starting for us. Don't underestimate that, as the coach can be a HUGE factor in how a goalie performs.
Until he gives me a reason to not believe in him, I will. On the other hand, you could say the same of Halak. What has he done before this post season, or regular season? He is younger, but still just as unproven as Leighton. Maybe a little more highly touted, but still, he hasn't done a whole lot, especially because he was stuck behind Price for a couple years.
What do you really know about Leighton though? His sample size in the NHL is not enough to draw any real conclusions IMO. He was behind Cam Ward in Carolina, who was, and is their future. He has never had a real look anywhere in the NHL until now. You can see he was good all season when he played, but the sample size is still too small. Who is to say he isn't a diamond in the rough, and who is to say that he isnt just riding an incredible lucky streak?
He could very well turn out to be a pretty solid goaltender that just needed regular playing time. He is also getting the goalie coaches attention now that he is starting for us. Don't underestimate that, as the coach can be a HUGE factor in how a goalie performs.
Until he gives me a reason to not believe in him, I will. On the other hand, you could say the same of Halak. What has he done before this post season, or regular season? He is younger, but still just as unproven as Leighton. Maybe a little more highly touted, but still, he hasn't done a whole lot, especially because he was stuck behind Price for a couple years.
He had a shot to prove his worth on an - admittedly bad - Chicago team when he first came into the league. He played a lot of games that year, failed to really prove himself, and then cued his journeyman saga.
Leighton has never shown top-level mechanics, athleticism, or potential. He's just big, and has undeniably benefited from a great defensive team playing in front of him.
That said, Habs fans, I've been saying that Leighton is living on borrowed time since he was first thrust into the starting role for us in December, and I have yet to see any sign of an impending collapse...so you should probably invest your hopes into other areas of this team's game not holding up, or in Halak regaining his magic (which I have no doubt he will).
To be perfectly honest, I think the Flyers have a better team and better system, but I fully believe Halak can steal another series, and expect him to be nearly lights-out in game 2. That man is a difference maker.
Besides these PO (215 minutes up to now) does anyone see anything spectacular?
He is not a young goalie, he is going to turn 29 Wenesday.
It is possible that Leighton could beat us.
Any hot goalie can beat one team during PO (Like Biron did two years ago).
The problem with Leighton is not if he is going to collapse, it is when.
If we can not burst his bubble, it will deflate completly in the cup finals.
This guy is not a blue chip and this is the best he will ever play.
Granted, he plays with a very good defense.
He is more a Raycroft than an Osgood.
We all know the Flyers are a great team but in the goal, they are living on borrowed time.
You mean like the way the Bruins burst his bubble in game 7?
This series is going to be won on the boards and inside the creases, the way playoff hockey should be. Goaltending is huge, but it isn't the only thing.
You mean like the way the Bruins burst his bubble in game 7?
This series is going to be won on the boards and inside the creases, the way playoff hockey should be. Goaltending is huge, but it isn't the only thing.
We'll see.
I think this series is going to be won in the neutral zone. Montreal needs to adjust to Philly's stretch passes and support through the neutral zone or they will not win these games. Montreal's best scoring chance of the game came from properly clogging up the neutral zone.
Despite the outcome, good game (from a flyers fan). You've went through this quite a lot so I do not see the need for negative nancy threads that will probably come up tonight and tomorrow.
On a side note, I just want to let you guys know that I completely respect your team, you fans and what you guys have done. In my eyes, you're all extremely lucky to have the habs as your team( i'd rather the flyers though haha). You're history is undeniable, your passion is incredible and your teams balls are immeasurable. I sincerely hope Halak gets it together (like i assume he will) and we have a close, epic series the rest of the way.
Sincerely,
NOT a pens fan
Because of our size playing against physical teams are our weakness. Washington and Pitt played a wide open offensive style, where our size was not such an issue. But we all knew this going in and only the luck of the draw got us this far. If we played a physical team in first round we are out in 5 games
Why does Martin keep playing PK Subban...on the PK? And right of the bat instead of Gorges? The guy has an offensive mind, he doesn't belong there. Why doesn't he split PK and MAB on the PP when MAB needs a lefty so he can do a one timer?
I am looking at the carreer of of 29 years old goalie.
I did not focus on his NHL carreer. Just his AHL results...
Do you really expect him to do better all of a sudden in NHL than he did in AHL?
Anyway, you seem to say that he will be better in NHL than he was in AHL...
Talk to you in three or four weeks.
If this is a cup winning goalie, then it will be the surprise of the decade as far a goalie goes...
No one is saying Leighton is the next coming of Patrick Roy, but everyone has been waiting for him to screw up and he's just kept up the solid play game after game. I think the key to that is that he has NOT been a hot goalie, contrary to the hype. Leighton is a big goalie and our goalie coach did a great job teaching him to play positionally. The Habs had so many deflection chances just hit him because he's so big. With our defense playing the way it is, the Habs won't see many rebound chances, so combine that with a giant wall in net, and you have the recipe for the Flyers' goaltending success.
Despite the outcome of game one, and regardless of how the rest of the series plays out, I for one am satisfied with the Habs post season play. Conventional wisdom had them playing 4 games then out. With this series, we will reach a minimum 18 games...maybe more...
Leighton may simply be a late bloomer. It is possible.
That, and almost any goalie can have a great, banner year, and maybe that's what Leighton is having.
I really think that we Habs fans need to stop underestimating the guy. He looked very solid last night. Sure, we didn't give him that tough of a game, but he did stop 28 of 28 shots.
Leighton may simply be a late bloomer. It is possible.
That, and almost any goalie can have a great, banner year, and maybe that's what Leighton is having.
I really think that we Habs fans need to stop underestimating the guy. He looked very solid last night. Sure, we didn't give him that tough of a game, but he did stop 28 of 28 shots.
This goalie thing is getting rewritten. What I mean is look at this year last 4 team,no goalie has ever won the big game. Last year's best playoff goalie went down in the second round(Fleury) and was barely a factor in his team first round victory. Brodeur has lost a notch in his game. Lu was gold in the Olympic but shaky in the playoffs. Nabokov has been label has not being able to win in the playoff and that with a stacked team.Niemi is just a rookie and his amazing so far but had looked bad in a few games of the first round. Boucher does well and goes down just in time for Leigthon to come in. Halak stole 3 games literally to himself but also got blown out 1 game of each round. 1vs2 and 7vs8.
So
If SJ wins, Nabokov's history become history
If Hawks win, Niemi becomes an instant proven winner
If Philly wins, Leigthon become a number one
If Canadiens win, Halak has to prove it again next season
I've said this before: IMO blowouts are the least meaningful type of game there is, and yet the ones people try to read the most stuff into, because that lopsided score strikes the imagination. They're rarely the result of outright dominance, however. Sometimes one team buries 6 chances out of 14 and the game's over just like that. Goalie has a bad game, bounces go the wrong way, everything one team throws at the net deflects it, whatever. It happens and it's not exactly telling. Heck, Montreal outchanced Philly until the score was 4-0.
Sometimes a team gets blown out because they're utterly dominated. This happens in the IIHF when Canada plays Norway. In the NHL, the teams are too closely matched, and blowouts (like the Habs taking a 4-0 lead against the Penguins, or losing 6-0 to the Flyers) are an aberration. The winning team may be playing better than the other team before the game turns to garbage time, or they may not; that's actually not particularly relevant in this case.
And what do they mean? Often, not a whole lot. A team can lose 6-2 to a team and turn around and beat them 6-0 the next time they meet. This happened between the Habs and the Rangers over a span of two weeks.
Blowouts are rarely the winning team's best games. The scariest type of game is the one where you get outplayed, outchanced, and outdone over 60 minutes and lose by a couple of goals. (The kind of win Washington and Pittsburgh pulled over Montreal actually). Games that are over after 30 minutes with the shot clock tied are a different kettle of fish.
Nope. Olivier on his blog, where he's kept track of scoring chances all year, scores the game 13-16 in favor of the Flyers, with the Habs holding a 10-9 edge at even strength in the end. The fourth goal was the chance that made the count 9-9.
Eyes lie. In lopsided games, eyes lie a lot. People see the final score and instantly forget that the Habs outplayed the Flyers in the first period, for example.
Does it seem to you that the Flyers took a huge number of shots in the slot and the crease and the Habs did not? Nope, it was actually fairly even. But the Flyers buried theirs and the Habs didn't. (Don't go look at this stuff for the Washington and Pittsburgh series. It could break a lot of myths about Martin's "tight defensive system" -- such as the notion that it works.)
What annoys me is that this is a lot like 2007-2008. The Flyers score, the Habs don't, the Flyers don't carry the play, but the media still make ridiculous stories about physicality and close-in shots and going to the net. Reality painted a different picture then. After the Habs gutted and lucked their way to this conference final while letting two of the league's most talented offensive clubs bombard them, it would be annoying (but highly ironic) if they were to lose this series in the same manner they lost their last one.
Meh. First period we were 'ok' but I was hoping that Philly would be a bit more tired than they looked. We came out very tentative for sure, and then when the puck started to go in for them we just mailed it in.
We'll be much better in game 2, simply because as most have pointed out - it'll be hard to look worse.
Flyers in 5... we can't match them physically and our mental state is completely different from the past rounds. We'll have a hard time mentally and we'll probly wake up when the series will be 3-1 or 3-0.
Certainly no fun for Patrick V. Hickey, who had a worse night than the Canadiens.
The Gazette's intrepid beat man parked his Honda Civic – 564,000 km and purring like a kitten – at the Wachovia Center.
Because the car has Quebec plates, Flyers' fans slashed the tires – and stole the plate!
Two Canadian TV trucks were vandalized as well.
And Marc-Antoine Godin of La Presse Tweets: "2 PHI fans yelled at TV guy 'go back home, you f@#$#& French-Canadian!' One had Briere jersey, the other a Gagné"
****ing animals need to be taught a lesson! I hope we crush their dreams in the next 4 games. Go Habs Go, I believe!
