sakiqc Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 Sakic, I didn't repeat your point on purpose. I was typing and oyu posted the same thing. LOL. well, I guess it proves we were watching the same game I hope Habs will find a way to generate more scoring chances Thursday. It's great to neutralize Crosby and Malkin, but Habs got to score! Nice to see AK get going. I'm still hoping to see SK back. We need more offensive weapons out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brobin Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 The pens have figured this out... stop trying so hard... just play in our zone, but don't give up any bad chances. Don't let us score early. Be patient and wait for it. Washington (and the Pens in game 2) were trying to score so bad, they gave up goals and played into our strategy. now... can JM impress us by changing his strategy for the next game, or are they going to come out 5 men back to start game 4, until the crowd is asleep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habsy Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 well, I guess it proves we were watching the same game I hope Habs will find a way to generate more scoring chances Thursday. It's great to neutralize Crosby and Malkin, but Habs got to score! Nice to see AK get going. I'm still hoping to see SK back. We need more offensive weapons out there. I agree, at this point why not try SK? It seems he's really done something wrong, to not even be considered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sakiqc Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 Fleury was good when he had to be, but that one save aside, I don't think that he was spectacular. The real credit goes to the Pens who blocked shots and got in the passing lanes every chance that they got. They played exceptionally well on defense. Compared with Halak's performances, it was surely not "spectacular", but he closed the door on the few occasions the Habs were a threat. At least 3-4 times. I wonder if the Habs want to play the same type of game Thursday and hope to capitalize this time on their opportunities. The Pens took only 2 penalties. If Habs were able to control the puck just a little longer, it would draw more penalties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafikz Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 (edited) Same as game 3 vs WASH Lots of energy in the 1st, well too much energy, then we suck the rest of the way It's a sign :hlogo: The 93 Habs had the OT mojo, the 2010 version has the game3lossafterasplitontheroad mojo Edited May 5, 2010 by rafikz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sakiqc Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 Same as game 3 vs WASH Lots of energy in the 1st, well too much energy, then we suck the rest of the way It's a sign :hlogo: The 96 Habs had the OT mojo, the 2010 version has the game3lossafterasplitontheroad mojo hahaha, let's hope it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTH Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 The pens have figured this out... stop trying so hard... just play in our zone, but don't give up any bad chances. Don't let us score early. Be patient and wait for it. Washington (and the Pens in game 2) were trying to score so bad, they gave up goals and played into our strategy. now... can JM impress us by changing his strategy for the next game, or are they going to come out 5 men back to start game 4, until the crowd is asleep. Why should they change the system? It's been working for us. With this system, a mediocre Habs team knocked out the top team in the league and is giving the Penguins some trouble. Tonight Montreal allowed just ONE goal, and had their chances to score but they just didn't bury the chances like they've done in previous games. No credible NHL coach is going to change up his team's system because they lost a game - let alone one that was this close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brobin Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 At some point, Pleks has to show up offensively. He has done nothing for several games now. they have to change because the other team is adapting to it. I am not talking about major changes, I am talking about finding a way to get more then 20 shots. Why should they change the system? It's been working for us. With this system, a mediocre Habs team knocked out the top team in the league and is giving the Penguins some trouble. Tonight Montreal allowed just ONE goal, and had their chances to score but they just didn't bury the chances like they've done in previous games. No credible NHL coach is going to change up his team's system because they lost a game - let alone one that was this close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomh009 Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 Nice to see AK get going. I'm still hoping to see SK back. We need more offensive weapons out there. Alas, I'm afraid SK is less of a weapon than he is a tool ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomh009 Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 At some point, Pleks has to show up offensively. He has done nothing for several games now. they have to change because the other team is adapting to it. I am not talking about major changes, I am talking about finding a way to get more then 20 shots. Finding a way to get more than 20 shots? Yes, absolutely. But that doesn't require changing the system wholesale, we just need to get some energy into some key players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brobin Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 Interesting that we only dressed 17 players for the game... that is a message to SK. Rather be short one then put you in... anyone hoping to see that guy in a habs uniform will need to use photoshop soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabsWEST Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 Interesting that we only dressed 17 players for the game... that is a message to SK. Rather be short one then put you in... anyone hoping to see that guy in a habs uniform will need to use photoshop soon. Too bad SK doesnt have his head in playing for Habs.... We all move on...as for the series: MTL in a must win Game 4, Penguins unlike Washington have that grit and experience of winning that they will not lose 3 in a row... having said that. Penguins can be had!! ---- Good first period, 2 posts...( Lapierre, Cammalleri....)and team was skating ---- not until late in 3rd did we return to that.. As mentioned on here and reporting, YES team is looking out of gas...the 3 lines for Game 2, and today Metroplolitan plays 5 minutes, and Darche 0 minutes, was he even dressed? Whats the point.....Dress and play that depth the team needs now....( other than SK, unless someone can knock some sense into him) ---- Plekanec needs some more offense production ---- Pouliot needs that scoring to come back from when he first arrived ---- Bergeron CANNOT be playing 20 + minutes!!! ( when will Spacek be back?) ---- AK production: AK atleast showed some solid hits and intensity, but need his scoring back!! Gorges and Gill in Box for 3rd period start cost the goal!! only soo much to rely on HALAK, and without Cammalleri goal, spells loss with no goals... But again, feel that PENGUINS are ripe to be taken!!, but we need above elements to work!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wamsley01 Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 The Penguins just countered. People need to stop looking at shot clocks to determine their opinion on the game. The Penguins dominated that game more than they did Game 3. Halak was better tonight than he was in Game 2. The Pens sent only two guys deep, dropped players down low in their own zone and they cut down on their risks. They stopped firing from the perimeter and offered a more patient approach to attacking the Montreal defense. The Montreal offense was stagnant because the Penguins gave up very little. The Canadiens have been living off the counter attack. They sit back, defend, defend, defend and hope they can counter attack on mistakes or capitalize on the powerplay. The Penguins essentially called out the Canadiens. That is why they are the Champs and the Capitals are watching the playoffs. The Capitals only knew how to win one way, the Pens just dialed up the New Jersey Devils playbook for that win. Tonight was like watching two counter punchers go at it for 12 rounds, both refusing to punch because they don't want to leave an opening. One opening, BANG. They made one mistake and Fleury came up with a spectacular save, Game. Set. Match. Your move Jacques. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 (edited) The Penguins just countered. People need to stop looking at shot clocks to determine their opinion on the game. The Penguins dominated that game more than they did Game 3. Halak was better tonight than he was in Game 2. The Pens sent only two guys deep, dropped players down low in their own zone and they cut down on their risks. They stopped firing from the perimeter and offered a more patient approach to attacking the Montreal defense. The Montreal offense was stagnant because the Penguins gave up very little. The Canadiens have been living off the counter attack. They sit back, defend, defend, defend and hope they can counter attack on mistakes or capitalize on the powerplay. The Penguins essentially called out the Canadiens. That is why they are the Champs and the Capitals are watching the playoffs. The Capitals only knew how to win one way, the Pens just dialed up the New Jersey Devils playbook for that win. Tonight was like watching two counter punchers go at it for 12 rounds, both refusing to punch because they don't want to leave an opening. One opening, BANG. They made one mistake and Fleury came up with a spectacular save, Game. Set. Match. Your move Jacques. Excellent analysis. I'd just add that the absence of Markov was a major factor, if you ask me. In a game where we needed some attack, he could have kindled an extra 2-3 opportunities. (For a spellbinding analysis of Markov's importance, check this out: http://www.habseyesontheprize.com/2010/5/4...-without-markov The other element was Fleury. Unlike nearly every other game in these playoffs, the goalie we faced made ALL the big saves and routine saves that he needed to make. Our counter-attacking system is premised on opportunism, and - de facto - less-than-stellar netminding. If Fleury can suddenly be relied upon to make, oh, 5 big saves a night, we're in trouble. Edited May 5, 2010 by The Chicoutimi Cucumber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wamsley01 Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 (edited) Excellent analysis. I'd just add that the absence of Markov was a major factor, if you ask me. In a game where we needed some attack, he could have kindled an extra 2-3 opportunities. The other element was Fleury. Unlike nearly every other game in these playoffs, the goalie we faced made ALL the big saves and routine saves that he needed to make. Our counter-attacking system is premised on opportunism, and - de facto - less-than-stellar netminding. If Fleury can suddenly be relied upon to make, oh, 5 big saves a night, we're in trouble. I don't even address the Markov thing because he is gone and not coming back. It worked for the Pens tonight, but the way they played in Game 2 probably would work as well. I am just not convinced that the rope-a-dope can be sustained for too long against those shooters. What are the odds that Cammalleri continues to maintain a 28% shooting accuracy? His percentage on the season is 12%. If he reverts to normal, who picks up the slack? Pleks is at 22%, his season average is 11%. Gionta is at 16% when his season average is 12%. Any 2-3 game slump and this run is over. Think back to the 93 team and the guys who were scoring big goals. Not only were Muller, Damphousse and Bellows scoring, but Dipietro, Leclair, Dionne, Keane and Carbo were scoring timely goals. Unless Moen, Darche, Lapierre etc light the lamp, the success will not continue. The Canadiens shouldn't change a thing though. If the Pens are willing to slowdown the tempo, they are playing right into the Canadiens hands. A slower tempo favours the team with less talent. Edited May 5, 2010 by Wamsley01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sakiqc Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 I don't even address the Markov thing because he is gone and not coming back. It worked for the Pens tonight, but the way they played in Game 2 probably would work as well. I am just not convinced that the rope-a-dope can be sustained for too long against those shooters. What are the odds that Cammalleri continues to maintain a 28% shooting accuracy? His percentage on the season is 12%. If he reverts to normal, who picks up the slack? Pleks is at 22%, his season average is 11%. Gionta is at 16% when his season average is 12%. Any 2-3 game slump and this run is over. Think back to the 93 team and the guys who were scoring big goals. Not only were Muller, Damphousse and Bellows scoring, but Dipietro, Leclair, Dionne, Keane and Carbo were scoring timely goals. Unless Moen, Darche, Lapierre etc light the lamp, the success will not continue. The Canadiens shouldn't change a thing though. If the Pens are willing to slowdown the tempo, they are playing right into the Canadiens hands. A slower tempo favours the team with less talent. Good points Wamsley. Moore's GWG against the Caps on game 7 gives weight to your point that we need secondary scoring. I believe we have that potential. Lapierre had 2 great scoring chances tonight. He's been playing lately like he did last year. We've got a 20+ goal scorer on the 4th line that is slowly picking things up. We have Metropolit that has scored goals this year and is due for a couple. Unfortunately he doesn't seemed at 100%. My main concern right now is Plekanec, our top forward this year. He seems dead tired and not the dominant in your face player he was during the season. I just read an article on cyberpresse about Sergei. Looks like we'll never see him again in a Habs uniform, as Brobin suggested above.. http://www.cyberpresse.ca/sports/hockey/20...icle_ECRAN1POS2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCHabnut Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 The Penguins just countered. People need to stop looking at shot clocks to determine their opinion on the game. The Penguins dominated that game more than they did Game 3. Halak was better tonight than he was in Game 2. The Pens sent only two guys deep, dropped players down low in their own zone and they cut down on their risks. They stopped firing from the perimeter and offered a more patient approach to attacking the Montreal defense. The Montreal offense was stagnant because the Penguins gave up very little. The Canadiens have been living off the counter attack. They sit back, defend, defend, defend and hope they can counter attack on mistakes or capitalize on the powerplay. The Penguins essentially called out the Canadiens. That is why they are the Champs and the Capitals are watching the playoffs. The Capitals only knew how to win one way, the Pens just dialed up the New Jersey Devils playbook for that win. Tonight was like watching two counter punchers go at it for 12 rounds, both refusing to punch because they don't want to leave an opening. One opening, BANG. They made one mistake and Fleury came up with a spectacular save, Game. Set. Match. Your move Jacques. Totally correct. The Habs put on a clinic in the 1st and Pens dominated the rest of the game. More dominant than the first two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Minister Koivu Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 Crosby drives me crazy! Can he play one shift without yapping to the ref about anything and everything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brobin Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 Crosby is yapping because it works for him. that holding call on Gill was utter nonsense, but I guarantee you that the ref was watching for something, anything to call. The Pens figured out that if you play 2 minutes behind our net, eventually the ref will call us for something. You could just see it coming in that shift when we failed to get it out. Crosby then hacks Gorges and Letang gets fighting... well played by the Pens, setting them up for a PP on fresh ice with our top two D in the box. I will also state with complete conviction that if that whole mess was started by Laps doing what Crosby did, and then Laps was wrestling with one of the Pens (as Crosby was), he would have gotten a roughing call. Reffing is biased. Not neccessarily against this team or that team, but against players and their histories. The team has to regroup and JM must counter with a tweak to the strategy. It was clear that he made a coaching call to rein the boys in for the 2nd period. Unfortunately, we didn't have a lead like in the other games. He should have realized that and told them to keep pressing until they did get the lead. You simply can't expect to win taking 3 shots in the 2nd period. As per Wamsley, I view that shot total as generous. We were not even dangerous in the 2nd. And when you don't forecheck, you don't draw penalties. if we want to live off the powerplay, we need to draw penalties, which means we need to do some work. In past games, even in our turtle mode, the 3rd line was working hard in the other end getting us those powerplays. I hope the boys can counter and win the next game. if we go back to Pitts all tied up we are in good shape. I don't see another comeback from being down 3-1 in the cards against Pitts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wamsley01 Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 (edited) Crosby is yapping because it works for him. that holding call on Gill was utter nonsense, but I guarantee you that the ref was watching for something, anything to call. The Pens figured out that if you play 2 minutes behind our net, eventually the ref will call us for something. You could just see it coming in that shift when we failed to get it out. Crosby then hacks Gorges and Letang gets fighting... well played by the Pens, setting them up for a PP on fresh ice with our top two D in the box. I will also state with complete conviction that if that whole mess was started by Laps doing what Crosby did, and then Laps was wrestling with one of the Pens (as Crosby was), he would have gotten a roughing call. Reffing is biased. Not neccessarily against this team or that team, but against players and their histories. The team has to regroup and JM must counter with a tweak to the strategy. It was clear that he made a coaching call to rein the boys in for the 2nd period. Unfortunately, we didn't have a lead like in the other games. He should have realized that and told them to keep pressing until they did get the lead. You simply can't expect to win taking 3 shots in the 2nd period. As per Wamsley, I view that shot total as generous. We were not even dangerous in the 2nd. And when you don't forecheck, you don't draw penalties. if we want to live off the powerplay, we need to draw penalties, which means we need to do some work. In past games, even in our turtle mode, the 3rd line was working hard in the other end getting us those powerplays. I hope the boys can counter and win the next game. if we go back to Pitts all tied up we are in good shape. I don't see another comeback from being down 3-1 in the cards against Pitts. I know it was generous. The Habs generated almost zero chances. Fleury outside 2 shots had a walk in the park. The Pens locked down defensively and Martin's passive system was neutered. All that being said, if Cammalleri scores on that breakaway instead of missing the net, then the Pens need to take some chances. The Pens made adjustments, but I am fine with them playing this way. If they are going to get into a we are both going to take 5 or 6 punches and whoever lands the biggest one wins game, I am in. The Habs have the better goalie. The Pens should continue to hammer away, I think what they did shows their lack of confidence in Fleury to handle the 5-6 counter opportunities per game. Edited May 5, 2010 by Wamsley01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athlétique.Canadien Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 Look on the bright side. If any of you concur with me then you must be feeling good. We can win this. Hopefully we do. For the exception of the 3rd and a lack of a full 20 minutes the team showed they can skate and work with the Pens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 They played allright, especially in the forst. I think they only had 8 shots after the first which you aren't going to win much doing that. The players skated hard and played well in there own end. You can't complain too much about the effort. The Penguins just out worked and won all the battles in there own end. The habs need someone besides Cammi, Gomez and Gionta to score some goals. Hopefully they'll bounce back and score some goals Tursday night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted May 5, 2010 Share Posted May 5, 2010 I know it was generous. The Habs generated almost zero chances. Fleury outside 2 shots had a walk in the park. The Pens locked down defensively and Martin's passive system was neutered. All that being said, if Cammalleri scores on that breakaway instead of missing the net, then the Pens need to take some chances. The Pens made adjustments, but I am fine with them playing this way. If they are going to get into a we are both going to take 5 or 6 punches and whoever lands the biggest one wins game, I am in. The Habs have the better goalie. The Pens should continue to hammer away, I think what they did shows their lack of confidence in Fleury to handle the 5-6 counter opportunities per game. Agreed. It's not like we have much choice to stick by our system in any case (what're we gonna do, run and gun with the Pens?). And just because it didn't work last night doesn't mean it won't work going forward; as you say, a slightly inferior performance by Fleury, or a little better sharp-shooting from our guys, and it's a whole other ballgame. So the system is fine; there may need to be some tweaks here and there within that context, but that's another story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlbalr Posted May 5, 2010 Author Share Posted May 5, 2010 Might as well ask since I wound up continuing the GDT's despite losing Game 1, anyone up for doing the one for tomorrow? If not, I'll keep tossing them together... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toronthab Posted May 6, 2010 Share Posted May 6, 2010 Alas, I'm afraid SK is less of a weapon than he is a tool ... HAHAHHA! Fraid so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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