Habsfan84 Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 Habs need to use the crowd to their advantage and win both games or else this series is over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brobin Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 (edited) Yup.. and the Price fans are already calling for Halak's head... For the record, his save percentage was still better then the two guys at the other end of the ice. He deserves a chance to start game 3 and bounce back. If he struggles in game 3, he will be on a short leash. That is the value of having two good goalies. We can shake up the team. Yeah, when you have no chance, everything is gravy. Like I said earlier, what really drives me crazy is that all the 'experts' can now start saying 'I told ya so' when it fact they grossly underestimated the character and skill of the Habs. And once we lose the series, it'll all go back to the 'defeat was inevitable/smurfs suck' storyline. BLEH. Edited April 18, 2010 by brobin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar Posted April 18, 2010 Author Share Posted April 18, 2010 I disagree that the habs got steamrolled. I will not accept that rationale, they played a great game...and IF they game had been called regular season not playoff the habs take a 2-0 lead back to Montreal, but not this is the playoffs, where the so-called 'best of the best' referee...now that's a joke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wamsley01 Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 The Gomez fight was really the turning point. Washington really started taking it to Montreal after that. Great trade for Washington. Poti for Gomez. Montreal was effectively down to one line after that. I don't agree. The 4th goal for the Habs was the turning point. After that goal the Caps outscored them 5-1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar Posted April 18, 2010 Author Share Posted April 18, 2010 Yup.. and the Price fans are already calling for Halak's head... For the record, his save percentage was still better then the two guys at the other end of the ice. He deserves a chance to start game 3 and bounce back. If he struggles in game 3, he will be on a short leash. That is the value of having two good goalies. We can shake up the team. I dunno..how many times can you get beat on the same glove side before it clues in to do something about it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habsy Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 Yup.. and the Price fans are already calling for Halak's head... For the record, his save percentage was still better then the two guys at the other end of the ice. He deserves a chance to start game 3 and bounce back. If he struggles in game 3, he will be on a short leash. That is the value of having two good goalies. We can shake up the team. He absolutley deserves the start, I don't hear head calling. He did allow 6 goals, and a few looked stoppable. And wow, the caps make him seem tiny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 (edited) Yup.. and the Price fans are already calling for Halak's head... For the record, his save percentage was still better then the two guys at the other end of the ice. He deserves a chance to start game 3 and bounce back. If he struggles in game 3, he will be on a short leash. That is the value of having two good goalies. We can shake up the team. Yeah, I think you, me, and Wamsley all agree on this. Halak should get the next start. But Halak WAS weak or at least questionable on the last two goals. That won't do, and neither will comparisons to the guys at the other end. We all knew going in that we had to have significantly better goaltending to win this thing. Once we start playing the 'well, he's been better than Theodore' game, we've lost the series. (In fact, I think we've lost in anyway. I said going in that this game would be determinant, and I stand by that, although there's always a chance...). Price would be our only remaining ace in the hole - a desperate, Hail Mary coaching move, but one we should do if we fall behind 2-0 early in game three. Edited April 18, 2010 by The Chicoutimi Cucumber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wamsley01 Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 (edited) Its really a shame because this was shaping up to a nice 2 game lead. Now I think we are back to the long shots instead. If anyone expected Halak to put up a high save percentage in a series against the team with the most dangerous shooters in the league, they were dreaming. Yup.. and the Price fans are already calling for Halak's head... For the record, his save percentage was still better then the two guys at the other end of the ice. He deserves a chance to start game 3 and bounce back. If he struggles in game 3, he will be on a short leash. That is the value of having two good goalies. We can shake up the team. This has been the crux of my argument all season in regards to the goaltending. Strength of opposition is a big factor in analyzing statistical importance. Halak deserves a chance to rebound, but if he is average in Game 3, I would start Price in Game 4. He has earned the chance to redeem himself. Edited April 18, 2010 by Wamsley01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quebecois Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 Well guys, 2-0 would have been fantastic and we gave it our best effort tonight. I wasn't happy with the non-GI on the Caps 2nd goal, but what can you do. Now in the past, a game like this would have crushed our team. We all saw it in 2002 after the Canes came back from 3-0 down to win 4-3 and take the series in 6. I truly believe this team is different and I'm excited to see how we respond. Remember, 1-1 was all we needed coming home, and we got that. Of course it is disappointing but we still have the upper hand here, we just need to come out and take control on Monday and Wednesday. Knocked down but not out, we CAN still get the momentum back and win this thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 (edited) Well guys, 2-0 would have been fantastic and we gave it our best effort tonight. I wasn't happy with the non-GI on the Caps 2nd goal, but what can you do. Now in the past, a game like this would have crushed our team. We all saw it in 2002 after the Canes came back from 3-0 down to win 4-3 and take the series in 6. I truly believe this team is different and I'm excited to see how we respond. Remember, 1-1 was all we needed coming home, and we got that. Of course it is disappointing but we still have the upper hand here, we just need to come out and take control on Monday and Wednesday. Knocked down but not out, we CAN still get the momentum back and win this thing. It's not impossible. But the real lesson of this game is that, under playoff refereeing conditions (if ever), we cannot beat the Capitals if the Capitals are rolling at 100%. Halak can't stop them, Hammer and Spacek are overwhelmed; it's just not gonna happen. The Caps will take that knowledge with them through the rest of the series. The ONLY way to win this series now is to have unbelievable goaltending at our end and horrible goaltending at their end. We have lost the chance to inflict a serious psychological wound on this team, which was our best chance for winning the series. It's like the Ali-Foreman Rope-a-Dope. Ali bent, didn't break, and then destroyed Foreman, psychologically more than physically, after getting him off balance for a few rounds. The difference here is that the Habs - playing Ali - have now landed face-down on the mat. They'll get up, but both Foreman and Ali know who has the balance of power. Caps in 6. Edited April 18, 2010 by The Chicoutimi Cucumber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brobin Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 to be fair, I wouldn't call Price a hail mary play.. putting him in is not a desperation move. He is a quality goalie. (I am sure you didn't mean it that way)... On the other hand, maybe the caps will be back to over confident and we can surprise them again in Montreal. A couple of those goals were a bit weak, but they were perfect shots by guys allowed time to snipe. Halak will have to adjust and come out more if he sees the D backing up... He has a pretty good record of snapping back. Still, we don't win this series unless our Goalie is much better then theirs. They are outshooting us badly and they have far more arrows in the quiver. The way they are shooting, Halak might need a game off just to rest. Yeah, I think you, me, and Wamsley all agree on this. Halak should get the next start. But Halak WAS weak or at least questionable on the last two goals. That won't do, and neither will comparisons to the guys at the other end. We all knew going in that we had to have significantly better goaltending to win this thing. Once we start playing the 'well, he's been better than Theodore' game, we've lost the series. (In fact, I think we've lost in anyway. I said going in that this game would be determinant, and I stand by that, although there's always a chance...). Price would be our only remaining ace in the hole - a desperate, Hail Mary coaching move, but one we should do if we fall behind 2-0 early in game three. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brobin Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 I wouldn't wait until game 4 if he struggles early. Price is close enough in quality that we don't have to be scared to toss him in there. If that happens, we might see Halak and Price a few more times each in this post season. (assuming we can go long enough). I won't be surprised to see Theo back in net. He played great in game one and V wasn't really that good. He have up 3 goals on about 22 shots or something like that. Maybe game three will see Halak and Theo stoning everyone like game one. I am sure the coaches would prefer that to these wild shooting games. This has been the crux of my argument all season in regards to the goaltending. Strength of opposition is a big factor in analyzing statistical importance. Halak deserves a chance to rebound, but if he is average in Game 3, I would start Price in Game 4. He has earned the chance to redeem himself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habsy Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 So, it's a best of 5, and we have home ice advantage... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar Posted April 18, 2010 Author Share Posted April 18, 2010 What I would like to see is JM calling out the refs, it works in other sports, you call out the refs after a terrible performance and it's worth at least 2 calls your way. Or at the very least, get Darche or Laps orders to run into the caps goalie, and make it blatant, make it so they know it's tit for tat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrhabs Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 (edited) Painfully obvious we are not going anywhere with JM as coach. Also, i'm convinced there is a conspiracy against the habs ( i.e running the goalie , missed calls ) . It looks like home ice adv will mean jack and any lead isn't safe against the caps. Edited April 18, 2010 by jrhabs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wamsley01 Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 What I would like to see is JM calling out the refs, it works in other sports, you call out the refs after a terrible performance and it's worth at least 2 calls your way. Or at the very least, get Darche or Laps orders to run into the caps goalie, and make it blatant, make it so they know it's tit for tat. Pat Burns was the master of this. Quinn too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 I don't understand this ragging on Martin. The Habs played absolutely great until the Caps machine simply overwhelmed them. What more do you want? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar Posted April 18, 2010 Author Share Posted April 18, 2010 I think JM is too passive to use technique I'm afraid...Phil Jackson in the NBA is legendary for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrhabs Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 What a heartbreaking loss ... Monday will be the turning point and will show if we can get over it. I doubt though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habsy Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 I don't understand this ragging on Martin. The Habs played absolutely great until the Caps machine simply overwhelmed them. What more do you want? I can't wait for the Guy Boucher era to begin, but I don't get the anti JM tonight as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 (edited) What a heartbreaking loss ... Monday will be the turning point and will show if we can get over it. I doubt though. I believe that this team has loads of character. We'll get over it for next game. But the Capitals won't. We had the chance to seriously rattle their cage and failed. They now know we can't stop them. I wouldn't be surprised if we win Game Three. I'll be jaw-droppingly amazed if we win the series now, however. As for Martin, this 'passive' argument is getting ridiculous. He has the team playing up-tempo hockey with incredible puck support and, until the last 25 minutes or so, incredible discipline. The fact is that teams DO reel when an opponent of that size and skill comes at them with full-bore intensity and desperation. ALL teams do. It has nothing to do with passivity or JM. Hockey is a momentum game. JM's system did a tremendous job of contributing to stopping the Caps from getting any, but once they got it, the only answer was MORE of JM's system, not less - and unfortunately the Habs got rattled, as anyone would. Martin has done an ace job in these two games. Edited April 18, 2010 by The Chicoutimi Cucumber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTH Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 I believe that this team has loads of character. We'll get over it for next game. But the Capitals won't. We had the chance to seriously rattle their cage and failed. They now know we can't stop them. I wouldn't be surprised if we win Game Three. I'll be jaw-droppingly amazed if we win the series now. As for Martin, this 'passive' argument is getting ridiculous. He has the team playing up-tempo hockey with incredible puck support and, until the last 25 minutes or so, incredible discipline. The fact is that teams DO reel when an opponent of that size and skill comes at them with full-bore intensity and desperation. ALL teams do. It has nothing to do with passivity or JM. Hockey is a momentum game. JM's system did a tremendous job of contributing to stopping the Caps from getting any, but once they got it, the only answer was MORE of JM's system, not less - and unfortunately the Habs got rattled, as anyone would. Martin has done an ace job in these two games. I don't know what's so crazy about it. Sure, the Capitals are the better team, but this is a race to 3 wins. They aren't so infallible to me that a tie series is already a lost series. I'd take this position over the situation we were in three nights ago any day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrhabs Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 Right said ... but the scary thing now is that the CAPS have the momentum bigtime and "ohechcan" has got his mojo back from Dr.evil. We are still a fragile team going against this powerhouse and tonite was a example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 I don't know what's so crazy about it. Sure, the Capitals are the better team, but this is a race to 3 wins. They aren't so infallible to me that a tie series is already a lost series. I'd take this position over the situation we were in three nights ago any day. No question about the last bit, but my operative assumption is that the key to the series was to stagger the Caps so hard early that they couldn't really get back up. We almost did it; but they're up and waaay out of their corner now. Looked at on paper, we've done great. Psychologically, though, I really believe it's the next thing to over. These guys have the wind in their sails now. With that much size and skill, that's big, big trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar Posted April 18, 2010 Author Share Posted April 18, 2010 The caps don't have momentum...they have worry that a 8th seed is making them go to overtime twice in a sereis that was supposed to be over in 3 games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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