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Reality Check


TheAussiePosse

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Coming off a dismal third period, many of the Habs who were cocky before the game (I'm talking about you, Ryan O'Byrne) will have to take a look in the mirror and decide whether they have the heart, or skills, or balls (or all three) to pull off a win.

Price, bless him, ultimately handed the Bruins the game with that play early in the third. But without him, we wouldn't have been in that position. It'll say a lot about his character and his future on how he comes back next game.

Meanwhile, our top three forward lines better be doing wind sprints tomorrow for the pitiful final forty minutes of the game. After a great first period, you could literally see the thought bubbles emanating from their heads as they dreamed of holding the Stanley Cup, skating laps around the rink as fans cheered and scattered confetti. All this while Boston was figuring out that if we could play their style and win, maybe they could try our style and win too.

Worst yet, they have figured out Price. Or at least, they think they've figured out Price, which could be just as bad. Their PP is working (after going 1 for 17), their PK is strong as ever, and Thomas is making the right saves.

Thoughts? Anything else we're missing? You can blame the referees all you want, but it hasn't been as lopsided as we'd like to think.

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Ya your right, Price did give the game away in the third period, but if the Canadiens (defence and forwards) were playing like they should be the rest of the game, Price's little "gaff" shouldn't of been a huge momentum shift and Montreal would've already been up a couple goals...as i said, IF they were playing like they shouldve been.

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It's a very, very interesting series.

We're missing Koivu - not just his offence, but his experience and leadership - very badly. All our impressive young guns - the Kostys, Higgins, Pleks, Lats - are dazed and confused, which is not unusual for young talent. But we don't have a strong enough nucleus of offensive veterans to pick up the slack (the grinders have done a terrific job, but they can't carry your offence over a 7-game series). Kovy is on his own out there.

The Bruins are in many ways the polar opposite of us: a prototypical 'old NHL' team, built on the trap, suffocating defence, and (sigh) obstruction (and therefore benefit more than we do from the lax refereeing. I'm NOT saying they've been favoured by the refs, not for a second; I'm saying that the way the game is being called in the playoffs is not like in the regular season, and favours slower, defensive teams rather than ours).

Gainey is taking detailed notes. If we win next game, then we can chalk it up to the natural overconfidence and learning curve of the young. If we drop the series, then it's official: we need more sandpaper, and (sigh) we need better offensive depth at C.

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Well i say Boston has a much greater chance of winning game 6 at home, sorry guys it's reality :(

They have momentum and confidence, and we got the exact opposite. Please prove my first statement wrong habbies.

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This team doesn't fear losing enough. They fear enough about losing streaks, but not enough to hammer the nail in the coffin when it's necessary.

They'll learn, they'll learn. But they'll learn the hard way, and tonight was a big lesson. Saturday will be the exam.

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Well i say Boston has a much greater chance of winning game 6 at home, sorry guys it's reality :(

They have momentum and confidence, and we got the exact opposite. Please prove my first statement wrong habbies.

Montreal has responded all year, Montreal has been great on the road all year. But their work ethic and desire needs to

improve. The Bruins have wanted it more for the majority of the series.

That has to change. Hard work will beat talent everytime, but Hard work against talent with hard work is a different story.

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Price lost concentration (and confidence) after the second goal. He'll rebound, and the entire team will play (they'll need to) 60 minutes in game 6.

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Price lost concentration (and confidence) after the second goal. He'll rebound, and the entire team will play (they'll need to) 60 minutes in game 6.

I agree, he looked rattled.

THE RUSSIAN IS CUT. THE RUSSIAN IS CUT!

I fear that the Bruins really believe they can win now. Experienced teams do not allow teams back in to a series.

Especially a 1 seed.

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It will be an embarrassment if it comes down to game 7...

Habs need more pressure on them to perform, if this dosen't do it...I dont know what will. But they can't use that as an excuse when your being paid the big bucks...

I far as I'm concerned, we need to score at least 3 goals in the first period and take the wind out of thier sails. The Bruins are going to come out flying on Saturday, and I expect nothing less from them.

Price will need to be on the ball for the next game, thats if he starts the next game!

I'll end on a positive note...The Habs on the other hand, are one hell of a team on the road. Which they have proven time and time agian this season. They MUST play their balls off...

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It really shouldn't be a surprise that the Habs are being tested in this series. Let's hope they have what it takes to learn lessons and improve.

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At the end of the day we have amounted up to 1 GOAL in each of the past 3 GAMES.....Earth to habs...Playoff hockey usually doesn't result in 1-0 decisions!!!

Our cold PP and lack of discipline is what worries me, not Price's ability to stop the puck.

Thank god Price doesn't have a Tauntable goalies name. It better be known in every one of the Canadiens minds that they're about to go to war in Beantown Saturday :unsure:

Edited by l<OV4L3V
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Yep this is a wake up call.

Cannot sit on a 1 goal and rely completely on a goalie.

We all know the players that have to do better.

Play and win saturday or we gonna hire the Sens Trojan guy to pump up the crowd game 7,

just to put a little more shame on us, fans.

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This thread should be called GUT CHECK, instead of reality check.

What scares me the most is Julien has the B's playing like we did in 2004 with an added bonus of heavy hitting and the positive thinking of ''We can do this"

Julien knows he can out coach Carbo at this point in they're careers. Muller said we don't look like ourselves out there. We are not attacking like we did all season. It's obvious our players are not understanding what it's going to take to win, and I doubt Carbo can press a button to make them understand. Juliens counter is stifling carbos attack.

It's going to be close. It just might come down to two more overtimes, and I hope Carey Price is ready. He will be the deciding factor seeing we can't really get anyting past Thomas. It's not so much Thomas either, but he is good enough to stop what Boston's defense is letting us throw at him.

At this point I have to trust our boys will pull it off, we've had a great season and would like to keep rolling past the 1st round. Let's keep the posts positive guys and cheer our young team on. Bashing everyone and everything will just kill the spirit of the amazing season we've had. BATTLE BOYS.

GOHABSGO!!!!!!!!!

Koivu we need you!!!!!!!!!

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We saw this type of game every now and then throughout the season.

You could tell as soon as the game started that we didn't feel like working. I hope some urgency sets in and we come out in a fireball next game.

If there is a game 7 then I expect to see Koivu and Bouillon.

If it goes to game seven....IF.......I hope Koivu is back for game 6. I just can't see him making a dramatic difference after putting on skates for the first time in three weeks a few days ago. If he gets in game 6, he'll be fresh and ready to battle hard in game 7.

ahhhhhhhhhhh SHlT, I'm so nervous.

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If it goes to game seven....IF.......I hope Koivu is back for game 6. I just can't see him making a dramatic difference after putting on skates for the first time in three weeks a few days ago. If he gets in game 6, he'll be fresh and ready to battle hard in game 7.

ahhhhhhhhhhh SHlT, I'm so nervous.

It looks like we have awoken the bears from hibernation and they have found food in the habs.

Their confidence level is high and we are in deep doodoo if we don't play one level higher than yesterday. Now we know how the red wings feel and their over confidence.

Go habs go

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I think he would wait until game 7. If (and this is just an 'if') the team snaps out of it and plays like they can in game 6, we will finish off the Bruins. If said Bruins realise the end is nigh, they'll get chippy, and I don't want Koivu re-injured if we could have won it on our own (and we've shown in the past that we can, when we have our heads strapped on right).

If we lose game 6 (and it's looking probable), then he comes back with an ovation from the home crowd, gives us the motivation to pull out a win at home and salvage our playoff hopes. I haven't even seen him at any of the games, maybe the camera just isn't flicking over to him because I'm sure he'd be there, but still...

3 goals in 3 games is pitiful. If we don't see Stewart in next game, I'll be upset. We need all the third line muckers and grinders we can get our hands on, since they're the only ones doing something.

Anyone think waterboarding for our top 6 (minus Kovalev) is too extreme? Plekanec, the Kostitsyns, Higgins, Ryder, even Latendresse - it could be pretty effective in getting the fear of losing back into their system.

Edited by TheAussiePosse
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No fear here, not time to panic this is NHL playoffs anything can happen anytime.

Ducks are behind 3-1. They have a cup under their belt and they are being outplayed.

Habs have still two games to win this serie.

The better chances to score goal is with our best players.

The probability we will win is still very high.

Otherwise it will be a shame. A shame because they have to learn to win in team in playoffs mode.

I don't want our young players growing being chokers playoff time.

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Our strength this season has been a balanced offense where the top three lines - and sometimes the forth - could produce on any given night. At this moment, the Bruins only need to focus on the Kovalev line as the 2nd and 4th lines are absolutely pathetic, and the Smolinsky line cannot be counted on offensively no matter how well they've played.

Changes probably should have been made after Game 2.

I think someone needs to do some dirty work on the first line, and Latendresse could be a good fit there. The motivation to play on the first line should hopefully lit some fire in him to crash the net, bang the boards, and basically give us at least a glimpse of that monster we have seen during his first 2 training camps.

Also, we could unite the Kostsitsyn brothers to help out Chris Higgins on the second line; let these kids have some fun and get their confidence back. The third line has done a great job, so they should remain intact. Finally, I think it's time to see what the hype surrounding Kyle Chipchura leadership and cltch abilities are all about, so put him with Lapierre and probably Micheal Ryder (someone needs to be able to shoot the puck, and he really hasn't been that bad so far).

No big changes... just a little spark to revive the team's offense...

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The probability we will win is still very high.

I like your confidence! Especially seeing as the highest scoring team in the league has been stifled and held to just 3 goals in 3 games. The Fvc.king trap is killing our offense. Jacques Lemaire should be shot for inventing such a horrible way to play such a beautiful game!

The Boys need to work on the PowerPlay, it's the key to our success. Score 2 or 3 goals on the PP tomorrow, and we win the game.

Edited by Habsfan
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The Boys need to work on the PowerPlay, it's the key to our success. Score 2 or 3 goals on the PP tomorrow, and we win the game.

For that to happen though we need to skate and draw penalties, drive to the net hard so the bruins are forced to take a penalty, or give up a scoring chance. The only line that has been doing that has been Smokes line. Someones gotta give higgins a shake and tell him its playoff time.

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The trap didn't seem to bother them most of the year, they are 11-2 against them this year. The problem is effort, not playing through checks. Boston players are simply winning all the battles. It seems to me everyone is scared to make a play, eveyone looking to someone else (Price). Well Price isn't going to score you any goals.

I don't even think they had a quality scoring chance last night.

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The trap didn't seem to bother them most of the year, they are 11-2 against them this year. The problem is effort, not playing through checks. Boston players are simply winning all the battles. It seems to me everyone is scared to make a play, eveyone looking to someone else (Price). Well Price isn't going to score you any goals.

I don't even think they had a quality scoring chance last night.

I think they have had 3 in the last 2 games

Breezer's goal, Kovy hitting the post on a cross ice feed in the first and Ryder had a one timer Thomas stopped before the Price gaffe

Thomas has had it easy

Edited by Wamsley01
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I say wake up call.

Most of the time, teams up 3-1 or 3-0 have a tendency to relax, and it's natural.

Price has that ability to learn from his mistakes for good.

He'll be huge in game 6.

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