GDT: Game 5, Montreal vs Washington

[BTH]

Except that his mistake in the defensive zone directly led to the Ovie goal (SK just stood motionless like a tourist...) and on another play he almost cost us a scoring chance by not backchecking. He barely caught up with Morrison whose about 40 yrs old.

I think SK works fine as a 3rd or 4th liner. Invisible for 90% of the time, but fine. I'd definitely rather have Pouliot and SK in the line up over Darche and Maxwell. We're facing elimination - it's not the time to place farmers in our roster, especially two with limited upside. Pouliot at least has the potential to rip a slapshot into the net out of nothing.

[dlbalr]

I think SK works fine as a 3rd or 4th liner. Invisible for 90% of the time, but fine. I'd definitely rather have Pouliot and SK in the line up over Darche and Maxwell. We're facing elimination - it's not the time to place farmers in our roster, especially two with limited upside. Pouliot at least has the potential to rip a slapshot into the net out of nothing.

I'm not a SK fan but I agree, he has the best upside between him, Darche, and Maxwell. Darche had a chance early on and didn't do well, while Maxwell...well, he's okay defensively so if I had to pick between which of the two to put in if SK was out, I'd take him.

[saskhab]

Jacques Martin deserves a LOT of credit for this, especially the Moen move, which few of his all-knowing online bashers ever thought of.

I agree with BTH, though, the odds of the Habs beating the Cap three times in a row are next to non-existent. Moen, for instance, is not a first-line player; to expect him to have that kind of impact night after night is unrealistic. If halak slips even a slight bit, we lose. And on and on and on. But I'll say this - I thought they had next to no chance in Game 5. Maybe that's the key, to surrender even the fainest glimmer of hope :hlogo:

This feels like a huge win for the team, though, in terms of salvaging some pride and respect - whatever happens going forward.

Moen doesn't have to play like a first line player. Gomez and Gionta have to continue to do so, Moen just has to be better than what Pouliot had been providing. If he is, then Gionta and Gomez can score the goals with Moen not hurting the trio. We don't need Moen to score every game (though obviously we'd take such a random hot streak right now), but we need that line to score.

The Habs need to win a home playoff game already. The Molson/Bell Centre has seen way too much playoff disappointment for such a young building. 12-22 is the Habs' record there, with every year but 1997 the Habs getting eliminated in their own building since they've moved from the Forum. It's time to spare the home crowd this grief.

And my other favourite hockey team, the Saskatoon Blades, were eliminated after losing all 3 of their home games to Brandon, yet winning 2 of 3 in Brandon. Not a good sign for my Habs.

[ForumGhost]

Belanger lost 7 teeth. :S

[rafikz]

Belanger lost 7 teeth. :S

He has become Washington's ugliest player

Ovechkin is jealous now

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Moen doesn't have to play like a first line player. Gomez and Gionta have to continue to do so, Moen just has to be better than what Pouliot had been providing. If he is, then Gionta and Gomez can score the goals with Moen not hurting the trio. We don't need Moen to score every game (though obviously we'd take such a random hot streak right now), but we need that line to score.

No question that I'd have Moen on that line for Game 6. And you know, you don't need three top-3 players on your top line; as I recall, Dave Cementhead patrolled Gretzky's wing for years with pretty good results. So you've got a point.

Furthermore, one tendency in the NHL over the last decade has been the shift towards duos rather than trios on offence. E.g., Lecavalier/St Louis, Ribeiro/Morrow, Sedin/Sedin, and so forth. The third piece is just something you throw into the mix and hiope the chemistry works. Gomer/Gio + Moen works perfectly on this logic.

All I'm saying is that there is a reason Moen has never been regularly used in the top-6 at any stage in his career. It's easy to lose sight of this because he provided offence in Game Five. But are Gomez and Gio players of sufficiently elite offensive talent that they can thrive with a non-productive physical presence on their line (c.f. Gretzky and Kurri)? Or do they need someone with hands/footspeed/creativity to seal the deal? I guess we'll find out.