GDT: Game 2, Habs vs Penguins

[Toronthab]

Cammalleri now leading the league in playoff goals.

Thank you Mr Bon Gainey!

[Toronthab]

I'm happy we won but I don't think we played well at all. Credit to Halak for standing on his head and to the team for keeping many plays to the outside. The Pens did not look good and they still badly out shot us. Most of the game looked as if the pens were on the PP.

We need to step it up in Montreal.

As my philosophy professor used to say, "Good Lord willin' 'n the 'crik don't rise, we got a chance. And I give us lots of credit for all the gutsy tenacious play we're showing. In game one we were new to the moves and dekes of these superstars and they spun us all night after we lost our momentum with Markov. Today, they were much less effective because their moves were better anticipated.

Kudos to tout le gang for the team win today. Admittedly it doesn't happen without them having a Jarring jolt, but the team worked their butts off to make it possible.

Nice going team

Nice going coaches.

With Markov we'd be a lot nastier , but maybe PK, the Wunderkid will work a little more magic out there for us and ease the post partum depression.

[Easy Ryder]

One of the wonderous part of this win is that they have done it

without using three players.

We win with the best players and that is a very good thing.

But having passengers on board doesn't help at all.

Some players will get very tired if 4th line players don't cut some slack by giving

at least 8 good minutes of hockey.

Sergei and Andrei should take a walk with Pierre Gauthier. It did some good to others before.

Hey K's step up!! Need you soulja boy

[saskhab]

Yeah, I think it's pretty easy to see that the Habs in general will have to pick things up the deeper the playoffs go. Markov out makes this difficult, but maybe getting Spacek back we can have 3 effective, though not brilliant, D pairs.

Wamsley: another example you left out of a team like the Habs making a deep run that fell just short: late '90s Sabres, culminating in 1999.

We can't afford another injury to a d-man. Bergeron has to be good to go next game, as painful as that Bergeron-O'Byrne pairing was. Alex Henry or Andre Benoit can't suddenly get thrown into this situation.

Jacques has to find some minutes for AK46 at some point again. And I think he really needs to find a 4th line. He has all hands on deck up front... how can he not find a 4th line?

[Guest Syn]

Agreed. I don't think we should even talk about that at this stage. Our boys have surprised us up til now, but let's be honest here, they haven't accomplished anything yet!

No shit.. just enjoy the run while it's here.

[Wamsley01]

Yeah, I think it's pretty easy to see that the Habs in general will have to pick things up the deeper the playoffs go. Markov out makes this difficult, but maybe getting Spacek back we can have 3 effective, though not brilliant, D pairs.

Wamsley: another example you left out of a team like the Habs making a deep run that fell just short: late '90s Sabres, culminating in 1999.

We can't afford another injury to a d-man. Bergeron has to be good to go next game, as painful as that Bergeron-O'Byrne pairing was. Alex Henry or Andre Benoit can't suddenly get thrown into this situation.

Jacques has to find some minutes for AK46 at some point again. And I think he really needs to find a 4th line. He has all hands on deck up front... how can he not find a 4th line?

The 1999 Sabres did go on a strong run, but were only outshot in the first round and in that round they swept the Sens.

Against the Bs and Leafs they held a shot advantage, nothing like what we are seeing right now.

[Chris]

I actually thought they played better on Friday but Halak was out to lunch. Fortunately he showed up again yesterday.

I think the kosty bros have played there last game in habs uniform.

A little more offensive zone time will go a long way to resting the 9 players and D Martin continues to use. You burn more energy in your own end. Let's hope they can at least get a split at home, they seem to play much better ont he road.

Cammi, Gomez and Giont have been excellent, The other 6 forwards have done pretty well except for the offense. Soem points from those guys will go a long way.

Nothing more to say about the D, they have been excellent. MAB is a train wreck in his own zone but at least he tries. Which is more then i can say about some of these guys.

[Habsfan]

Sergei and Andrei should take a walk with Pierre Gauthier. It did some good to others before.

Hey K's step up!! Need you soulja boy

Jacques has to find some minutes for AK46 at some point again. And I think he really needs to find a 4th line. He has all hands on deck up front... how can he not find a 4th line?

I'd sit AK46 for the next game. Get his brother Sergei to play with Darche and Metropolit. We need our 4th line to play a solid 7 to 9 minutes per game, otherwise our top two lines will run out of gas before game number 5.

Like I said earlier, sit AK46 out for game 3, and see how he responds in game 4. If he still doesn't give a solid effort in game 4, trade him as soon as possible!

This guy has had more chances than anyone else on this team, enough is enough. Start producing or its bye-bye!

[ForumGhost]

Kostitsyn is so frustrating because he has the skill to be a deadly top line player on par with Cammy. I've been a supporter of him for years but now, if you can trade him for another legit, young, top six forward, I would take it. If we could package both him and his brother for something great, that would be good, but moving Sergei would be way harder than moving Andrei.

It's not such an issue in the regular season if he gets on a roll, scores a bunch of goals than go quiet for another while, but in the playoffs, especially against superior teams like Caps and Pens, everyone has got to work 100% every night if we are to stand a chance. This is especially true if you are relied upon to bring offense.

Edited May 3, 2010 by ForumGhost

[saskhab]

AK46 already sat this last game essentially. I say enough with the punishment and get him back out there to see how he responds. No way were they asking him to bring offence if they played him less than 2 minutes.

Chris, you really think Martin won't play either of the Kostitsyn's the next couple of games? That means playing Maxwell (unless Spacek is back I suppose) as well as Darche ahead of both of them.

[Chris]

His mistake was the cause of the 1st goal. I don't see a reason to play them. They don't hustle, follow the system or produce. AK46 has had 1 good game out of 9 playoff games. If your not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. It's pretty obvious who will be around next year and who won't.

JM will probably play 1 or both again though, they can't keep playing 9 forwards every other day, they'll get burned out.

[Toronthab]

Yeah, I think it's pretty easy to see that the Habs in general will have to pick things up the deeper the playoffs go. Markov out makes this difficult, but maybe getting Spacek back we can have 3 effective, though not brilliant, D pairs.

Wamsley: another example you left out of a team like the Habs making a deep run that fell just short: late '90s Sabres, culminating in 1999.

We can't afford another injury to a d-man. Bergeron has to be good to go next game, as painful as that Bergeron-O'Byrne pairing was. Alex Henry or Andre Benoit can't suddenly get thrown into this situation.

Jacques has to find some minutes for AK46 at some point again. And I think he really needs to find a 4th line. He has all hands on deck up front... how can he not find a 4th line?

>>Jacques has to find some minutes for AK46 at some point again. And I think he really needs to find a 4th line. He has all hands on deck up front... how can he not find a 4th line? <<

How about between periods on the Zamboni?? Can we afford the goals against? He's been adding lead weights to everyone elses's legs.

[Toronthab]

His mistake was the cause of the 1st goal. I don't see a reason to play them. They don't hustle, follow the system or produce. AK46 has had 1 good game out of 9 playoff games. If your not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. It's pretty obvious who will be around next year and who won't.

JM will probably play 1 or both again though, they can't keep playing 9 forwards every other day, they'll get burned out.

At least AK doesn't get as many hooking penalties as SK. He doesn't care enough even to hook.

It may be a language and cultural thing that having Kovalev around really helped in the past, so, without putting too much weight on them on a personal basis, they could just as easlily be surfing, though that requires a little more concentration.

[Toronthab]

I actually thought they played better on Friday but Halak was out to lunch. Fortunately he showed up again yesterday.

I think the kosty bros have played there last game in habs uniform.

A little more offensive zone time will go a long way to resting the 9 players and D Martin continues to use. You burn more energy in your own end. Let's hope they can at least get a split at home, they seem to play much better ont he road.

Cammi, Gomez and Giont have been excellent, The other 6 forwards have done pretty well except for the offense. Soem points from those guys will go a long way.

Nothing more to say about the D, they have been excellent. MAB is a train wreck in his own zone but at least he tries. Which is more then i can say about some of these guys.

Good summary Chris. Kudos to our D. Hammer stepped up really well to join the pantheon of G&G, and what more can we say about Subban! He's impressed the hell out of me. You guys were sure right on about him! The Costytsyns are too costly and AK is dragging down his line every time the puck comes near him or when he's needed to respond agressively. He's not finishing his text messaging quickly enough, and you know SK is going to hook someone once or thrice in a game and unleash the flying Crosbies.

Congrats to our excellent coaching staff. And MAB is disarmingly frank about his softspots, but I sure wouldn't want to have to block one of his shots. He can take off a leg.

[saskhab]

His mistake was the cause of the 1st goal. I don't see a reason to play them. They don't hustle, follow the system or produce. AK46 has had 1 good game out of 9 playoff games. If your not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. It's pretty obvious who will be around next year and who won't.

JM will probably play 1 or both again though, they can't keep playing 9 forwards every other day, they'll get burned out.

Maxwell also let his man go on that play, the man who got the primary assist (Talbot). And again, it was a clever play by the Pens to put Gologoski up front and then make the switch so Cooke came in behind Kostitsyn. AK46 was on the ice with the worst 4 Habs on the team. It definitely wasn't all on him, though he got fooled (O'Byrne did as well, while Darche and Bergeron failed to gain control of the puck off the faceoff).

And at this moment, there is no next year. The Habs are one of 8 teams left playing this year. Until that ends, there should be no consideration given for next year.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Maxwell also let his man go on that play, the man who got the primary assist (Talbot). And again, it was a clever play by the Pens to put Gologoski up front and then make the switch so Cooke came in behind Kostitsyn. AK46 was on the ice with the worst 4 Habs on the team. It definitely wasn't all on him, though he got fooled (O'Byrne did as well, while Darche and Bergeron failed to gain control of the puck off the faceoff).

And at this moment, there is no next year. The Habs are one of 8 teams left playing this year. Until that ends, there should be no consideration given for next year.

That was our fatal error in 2008. Thinking that that miracle season was just a prelude to a Real Run in 09. So I agree, this year or bust is the only way to think about it.

I don't know what Maxwell is doing here. We should have saved that call-up for another defenceman. A bizarre choice. Oh well, no real harm done - yet.

[Chris]

Put them with Metro on the 4th line then.

I'm just saying i wouldn't play them. I'm not JM, he probably will.

[saskhab]

That was our fatal error in 2008. Thinking that that miracle season was just a prelude to a Real Run in 09. So I agree, this year or bust is the only way to think about it.

I don't know what Maxwell is doing here. We should have saved that call-up for another defenceman. A bizarre choice. Oh well, no real harm done - yet.

Maxwell did have to be used at one point, so the callup wasn't wasted really, even though he's been up for a month and a half now with barely any game action.

I don't know if they can send him to Hamilton for conditioning, don't know if that still exists at this point.

[Habsfan]

And again, it was a clever play by the Pens to put Gologoski up front and then make the switch so Cooke came in behind Kostitsyn. AK46 was on the ice with the worst 4 Habs on the team. It definitely wasn't all on him, though he got fooled (O'Byrne did as well, while Darche and Bergeron failed to gain control of the puck off the faceoff).

Yes it was. All the most respected hockey journalists and hockey minds agree that the goal was mostly on Kostitsyns' shoulders. Had this been the first time that AK46 "disappears" for long stretches at a time, most people would say: "Oh well! I guess he'll do better next time." But this has become a frequent reality with this guy. He simpley doesn't seem to give a flying fv.ck about what's going on around him. Since the beginning of the playoffs, how many times has he lost control of the puck for absolutely no reason? at least a couple of times per game(and these are moments where nobody is around him. nobody to poke check the puck away) He simply lifts his head and forgets the puck!!

Oh, let's not forget that Maxwell and Darche hadn't played in a long time. It is somewhat expected of them to make mistakes, especially when you haven't played in a week.

Edited May 3, 2010 by Habsfan

[sakiqc]

dlbalr posted an interesting poll on the Habsworld front page.

If Bergeron/Spacek cannot play Tuesday, which d-man would you recall?

Shawn Belle

Andre Benoit

Alex Henry

Yannick Weber

I'm not following very much the Bulldogs, but isn't Weber injured? Isn't Henry the captain of the Dogs? I think I'd recall Henry. He has the most NHL experience in the pack, and would bring a needed physical presence. The Pens said they intended to rough us up as much as possible. I'd prefer having Henry retaliate/fight and in the penalty box than Gill or O'Byrne. We can't afford to lose any of our remaining defensemen.

[BTH]

Habs are very much alive in this series. Bylsma said Pittsburgh's plan was to avoid doing what Washington did: to spread the Habs up and take good shots from the inside instead of blasting from all over the ice. The Pens fell back into that trap yesterday. We're going to win more games than we lose playing rope-a-dope - the style seems to suit us.

Our coaching staff deserve a lot of credit. For a guy known for leading playoff chokers, Martin absolutely schooled Boudreau in the first round and is now working on a second young coach.

dlbalr posted an interesting poll on the Habsworld front page.

I'm not following very much the Bulldogs, but isn't Weber injured? Isn't Henry the captain of the Dogs? I think I'd recall Henry. He has the most NHL experience in the pack, and would bring a needed physical presence. The Pens said they intended to rough us up as much as possible. I'd prefer having Henry retaliate/fight and in the penalty box than Gill or O'Byrne. We can't afford to lose any of our remaining defensemen.

I chose Belle. He was pretty awesome in his earlier stint and we already have two similar players to Weber in Bergeron and Subban. It's Spacek that we need, but one of the more robust farmers like Belle and Henry could probably help us out.

[dlbalr]

dlbalr posted an interesting poll on the Habsworld front page.

I'm not following very much the Bulldogs, but isn't Weber injured? Isn't Henry the captain of the Dogs? I think I'd recall Henry. He has the most NHL experience in the pack, and would bring a needed physical presence. The Pens said they intended to rough us up as much as possible. I'd prefer having Henry retaliate/fight and in the penalty box than Gill or O'Byrne. We can't afford to lose any of our remaining defensemen.

Weber's DTD, figured I'd toss him in there in case he's ready to come back. For the record, Belle's my choice, he played with Subban most of the year in Hamilton and looked pretty good in a short term callup with the Habs. I think he'd be able to log a lot more minutes than Henry could. Of course, with Bergeron likely playing tomorrow, it's pretty much moot anyways.

[CoRvInA]

Where is the "SHut your Trap Matt Cooke" thread?

Can you believe this guy has the NERVE to call out PK for allegedly trying to purposefully injure him as he believes Stall got injured?

Assumption aside.... MATT COOKE is pointing fingers?!?!?! does he have no recollection of the type of player he is??!??! I actually think Cooke injured markov as he checked him with his knees aimed at Markies knees

.... Pleaseee Matt have some pride! I really honestly believe this is the league's dirtiest player in the History of the NHL, because not only does he injure his fellow colleagues on purpose, But he also pretends he doesnt! and Moreso He has studied the art of eliminating the opponents best players through these unethical tactics! and NOT living up to it!

I really wish for something bad to happen to him (there I said it) MHO!

Edited May 3, 2010 by CoRvInA

[jrhabs]

Where is the "SHut your Trap Matt Cooke" thread?

Can you believe this guy has the NERVE to call out PK for allegedly trying to purposefully injure him as he believes Stall got injured?

Assumption aside.... MATT COOKE is pointing fingers?!?!?! does he have no recollection of the type of player he is??!??! I actually think Cooke injured markov whis in forward facing knees! if you want to start spreading crap.... Pleaseee!

Holy crap I heard that and was about to write up a thread.

What a loser ... that's why he's an athlete ( somehow ) cause he has some social ( mental ) issues

[CoRvInA]

ALSO seeing as I've seen Alex HEnry play with PK SUBBAN in Hamilton... I also believe HENRY is the next best choice for a call up!