Wamsley01

I don't think they relish the underdog role, what I think is this team is a 12-16th place team that isn't good enough to bury teams and provide the effort required for push back when the other team is desperate. The only way they will win a series in less than 6 games is with some luck. A team like the Canucks is good enough to take some punches and say "is that all you got?" The habs aren't right now. Not for one second do I think that they weren't trying, but when both teams bring 100% effort the outcome will be decided by breaks.

Halak's name is front and center at habsinsideout tonight.

Like I posted before the playoffs, 7 game series ebb and flow. One team looks done and they find a reserve tank and the other team looks done. Right now Bruins fans cant see how they can possibly lose but one or two adjustments and increased Canadiens effort and they will be in shock again. Everybody forgets that even when they choked against Carolina, the Canes required 2 OT wins to take that series.

Either that or these two teams are evenly matched and when you don't bring 100% effort you lose. That game was split right down the middle. The habs controlled half, the Bruins the other half. A break or two here or there either way and the habs win. Both goalies were scrambling for their lives because it was wide open a poorly played defensively. This isn't over by a long shot.

It is offside, but you cant expect somebody to see that at full speed.

Price was scrambling because his defense were leaving guys wide open and allowing a ton of lateral puck movement. They were second to the puck on pucks that missed the net, forcing him to power push to backside recoveries. On the backside recoveries his D was losing the battle and the Bruins were reversing the puck back resulting in another power slide for another backside recovery. All controlled movements, not the erratic scrambles from Thomas. unfortunately you cannot win if your goaltender has to move that much. You view it as Price overcompensating because he is. When the opposition has somebody in open space like that you are in trouble regardless of who is in goal.

That is the problem with assessing small sample size. Two of those goals are low percentage shots. Ryder and Ference make those shots 1 of 10 times. That is the thing about goaltending. If one of those miss then we are looking at a different conversation right now. It is why Roy could have a game 7 shutout and give up 7 in the next game 7. That is why it is integral to get goals close in and have guys who go to the dirty areas. If you get those goals then you have a better chance to buck the odds and probabilities. The Bruins created havoc down low on 3 of their goals, add in some low percentage snipes and you lose. Three of the goals Price allowed were Bruins all alone in front of the net. He was fine, the Bruins just got some breaks. How many pucks were sitting in the slot with Thomas out of position? Pucks that couldn't be corralled? They lost because they sat back. They stopped skating and were the team playing tight, like they were the team on the brink.

You cant really put it on tonight. You can just as easily put it on Game 3. The thing that pissed me off about game three was that they never forced Boston to play tight with their season on the line. If they came out on Monday like they did tonight the Bruins would have had to put that effort forth with fragile confidence. Allowing them back in set up tonight. They have been a fairly cocky bunch, so lets see if they have learned a lesson or not. The habs have not done anything the easy way in years, so we should have seen this coming.

They deserved that. All they had to do was finish that off after a great 30 minutes, that is the worst game they have played in 3-4 weeks. Was that Boston push back or poor Montreal execution? We are about to find out on Saturday.

Habs have been out shot 22-7 since the Kostitsyn goal.

In a series that is this tight, you have to take advantage of opportunities like this. There is a huge difference between 3-1 and 2-2. They can put the Bruins in the position of playing flawless hockey for 3 games to win. This OT is huge.

Nobody to blame but themselves if they lose tonight. 4 leads and they blew all of them. Very ugly defensive effort.

I can't wait to see DD in a couple of years.

They all are. Playing not to lose.

They had that coming. When a team ices the puck 6-7 times before the 15 minute mark you are not moving your feet.

Martin should use his timeout, they are fading badly. I think they are going to need 5 to win tonight.

Poke check pad save was on him, the rest was a little lucky but he covered as much net as he could, that is always good. This is 2002 Canadiens defending a lead, not what we have become used to. As much as I believe in the technical goaltender revolution, I do miss the snow angels.

More fortune than skill I think.

And there is their perfect shot!

They are extremely fortunate to be in this game. They have played 6-10 good minutes and made two perfect shots. Maybe it is averages regressing to the mean after game 1 and 2. The Habs play a good period, they will win.

No, but what you are seeing is referees influencing the game by "not influencing the game". Letting them play favors the Bruins.

The Bruins have been fortunate tonight. In game one they had three to four chances where they couldn't close the deal, tonight they made two perfect shots, how many times have we seen Ryder sail that shot 10 feet high? Ference picking a shot an inch inside the corner bar? Price plays the percentages and sometimes he gets game one, sometimes he gets tonight or the 7-0 game. If Montreal continues to do what they are doing, they will win.

Benny is what he is. We get over it and move on. Richer, Corson, Malakhov, Kostitsyn, Bulis, Zubrus etc, etc. never matched their potential, the best thing to do is assess the potential of him maxing out and if he isn't treat him as the asset he is and see if you can steal a more productive player based on his potential. The Habs did this beautifully with Richer. Corson and Malakhov. They turned them into Damphousse, Muller and Souray all three were making an impact long after those three were done.

That would be dumb. People complain about asset management and I still have to hear about Ribeiro and S. Kostitsyn. Pouliot is an RFA and after this season will not be expensive to re-sign. There will ALWAYS be a GM who thinks he can salvage a top 5 pick so he holds value. Re-sign the guy and package him or deal him for picks or younger prospects. They got Bournival for O'Byrne (funny how nobody mentions how great he is anymore) and Pacioretty/Gorges for a stiff like Rivet. Frustration or not, you don't let a guy like that walk.

Don't count on it.