ECF-Game 2-Rangers at Canadiens

[brobin]

This series is all but over...won't be surprised to see a Ny sweep. Tokarski is not Dryden or Roy... He is a decent, but small goalie who isn't going to out duel Lundquist.

[Habsfan84]

In this game the rangers scored very timely goals that just deflated us.

#1- 17 seconds after Patches goal

#2- 1 minute to go in the first after we dominated the period

#3- insurance goal on a terrible penalty call that showed the Habs they had nothing going for them.

I thought Tokarski played alright. The only bad one he let in was the 2nd. I'm not sure how you go back to Budaj after taking away his confidence. We have to win both in New York.

[hab29RETIRED]

This series is all but over...won't be surprised to see a Ny sweep. Tokarski is not Dryden or Roy... He is a decent, but small goalie who isn't going to out duel Lundquist.

I dont blame Toakrski and if Budaj was playing, i wouldn't have played him either. It doesn't matter who's in net, when he isn't going to get more than 1 goal and the team can't score on the PP.

THey need to make some changes to the lines. Like i said earlier, Vanek and Galchenyuk are being wasted with Pleks. Those two guys are not shut down guys. Play them with Briere. Play Weise and Prust with Pleks.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Agreed. This thing is done - and was done, pretty much after the Nash goal IMHO. Habs needed to be rewarded in the 1st to keep the faith alive, they weren't, and the rest is just after-effects.

Habs29, I know that the team cannot be considered "exposed" after losing its best player. I'm just saying that much of the post-mortem commentary will take the opposite view.

In terms of the future, the nucleus of this team is still very young, and the core has now gone from missing the playoffs, to a first-round exit, to a three-round run. PK, Patches, and Price are all now truly battle-tested playoff veterans and that's gonna pay off going forward - provided Price in particular can stay healthy.

This series is all but over...won't be surprised to see a Ny sweep. Tokarski is not Dryden or Roy... He is a decent, but small goalie who isn't going to out duel Lundquist.

[tomh009]

Unless the goalie can score, it doesn't matter who is in net. Tokarski made some great saves.

Didn't we shut out the Rangers in the regular season? Twice?

Both Budaj and Tokarski are capable of playing shutout hockey. The question is whether they can pull it off in games 3 and 4.

I'm not confident on this count, but neither am I throwing in the towel at this point. Down 0-2 in the semis is far better than most years in the four decades since I started following the Habs.

[BCHabnut]

I dont blame Toakrski and if Budaj was playing, i wouldn't have played him either. It doesn't matter who's in net, when he isn't going to get more than 1 goal and the team can't score on the PP.

THey need to make some changes to the lines. Like i said earlier, Vanek and Galchenyuk are being wasted with Pleks. Those two guys are not shut down guys. Play them with Briere. Play Weise and Prust with Pleks.

Totally agree. I would start Tokarski again and put Vanek and Chucky with Briere. I have a feeling if new york did not score 1 second after our goal, this game would have gone differently

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Didn't we shut out the Rangers in the regular season? Twice?

Both Budaj and Tokarski are capable of playing shutout hockey. The question is whether they can pull it off in games 3 and 4.

Ha ha, gotta love those fans still clinging to hope I'd love for you guys to be proven right, but if the Habs win this series I will eat my hat. The best to hope for is not to be ignominiously swept. C'est fini.

[Toronthab]

I think you got it Habsfan84 . .. .All the energy got sucked out of us and put a large sack of rocks on everyone's back. I'm not too unhappy with anyone other than Vanek despite the results.

[Jeff Price (no relation)]

There is still hope. It's just not very likely.

Gotta love the way the team played tonight. Lundqvist stole this game.

[comfortfablyHABS]

That's it guys. No matter how hard I try to stay positive, I think we are done for the series. Looking at the positive side, we had an amazing run... This team will get better and better. Tinordi is coming and so Pateryn. We hope next season is Chucky breakout season.

[Chris]

Well the vets were invisible, Pleks, Gio, Vanek was awful, The defense is slow and not very physical.

They played hard, some bad turnovers and dumb penalties early, never got to the net. Hard to believe the 2nd smallest player on thhe team is the only one who consistently drives the net.

He didn't score but Bourque, Eller were pretty good.

I'm not sure who you sit but I would go back to Moen Prust and Weise the 4th line to cycle down low and start hitting the rangers Dmen.

[hab29RETIRED]

I like the young nucleus, but we really need to bring in a bigger winger who can score like Vanek.

I think you gotta move pleks to do that. Tonight was a perfect example of wasting two creative offensive guys on a checking line. Eller proved he can shutdown AND provide offense and we need to give Galchenyuk a chance to be a centre, but need to get him a winger.

Agreed. This thing is done - and was done, pretty much after the Nash goal IMHO. Habs needed to be rewarded in the 1st to keep the faith alive, they weren't, and the rest is just after-effects.

Habs29, I know that the team cannot be considered "exposed" after losing its best player. I'm just saying that much of the post-mortem commentary will take the opposite view.

In terms of the future, the nucleus of this team is still very young, and the core has now gone from missing the playoffs, to a first-round exit, to a three-round run. PK, Patches, and Price are all now truly battle-tested playoff veterans and that's gonna pay off going forward - provided Price in particular can stay healthy.

[hab29RETIRED]

Hey, I'm always going to hope for the miracle - I'm just not expecting it. I probably live and die with this team probably a lot more than a 43 year old should, but old habits die hard.

Ha ha, gotta love those fans still clinging to hope I'd love for you guys to be proven right, but if the Habs win this series I will eat my hat. The best to hope for is not to be ignominiously swept. C'est fini.

[tomh009]

There is still hope. It's just not very likely.

This.

People on these forums were writing the team off after we went down 3-2 to Boston as well. Have faith in your team, or at least hope. We came back from 3-2, Rangers came back from 3-1. We have a goaltending problem, but if we can find a solution to that, we have a chance, even if not a very big one.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

I like the young nucleus, but we really need to bring in a bigger winger who can score like Vanek.

I think you gotta move pleks to do that. Tonight was a perfect example of wasting two creative offensive guys on a checking line. Eller proved he can shutdown AND provide offense and we need to give Galchenyuk a chance to be a centre, but need to get him a winger.

Yep, wing is the organizational weak-point, and MB will need to address it. I hear you on Plekanec, but there may be other ways to enhance our position at W, and we minimize Pleks's contribution at our peril. So we agree on what needs improving, I'm just more agnostic about how we can or will get there. Let's see what Bergevin comes up with.

I've just seen too much hockey to think this team can come back. Too many things have gone wrong. I have no hope at all, but that doesn't mean I don't care, obviously.

[hab29RETIRED]

If Breuer isn't going to play with skill, it's pointless playing him. His line isn't being matched up against the slow Thornton line this series.

I'd play Weisse-Bournival or Prust-Bournival with pleks and play Briere with Galchenyuk and vanek. Unless MT makes some changes, this series is over in 4.

Well the vets were invisible, Pleks, Gio, Vanek was awful, The defense is slow and not very physical.

They played hard, some bad turnovers and dumb penalties early, never got to the net. Hard to believe the 2nd smallest player on thhe team is the only one who consistently drives the net.

He didn't score but Bourque, Eller were pretty good.

I'm not sure who you sit but I would go back to Moen Prust and Weise the 4th line to cycle down low and start hitting the rangers Dmen.

[Lovett's Magnatones]

T Plekanec-

16 TOI, 2 shots, -2.

That's just not good enough.

Remember when Plekanec scored that big goal? In game 1-versus the Lightning? What has he done since then? For a defensive stalwart, he sure seems to get a lot of minuses in big games, while blowing key faceoffs.

I'd really like to see an updated look for the Habs next year. It's safe to say we've seen the best of Markov, Plekanec and Gionta. Markov is needed, not sure what Emelin does without him, except whittle on the bench and locker room, but I want to see a big body brought in for Gionta and Desh-Galchenyuk-Eller at center. Plek and Gio have been good soldiers, but I don't see the need for them to go out on their shield. If we didn't do it for Saku, I'm not sure why Go comes back.

There would be some warts with Galchenyuk at center and Nate and Tinner/Pateryn on D, but great teams have these 40 game-1 year retools on the fly.

Let's see what else this team is capable of doing.

[dlbalr]

Ha ha, gotta love those fans still clinging to hope I'd love for you guys to be proven right, but if the Habs win this series I will eat my hat. The best to hope for is not to be ignominiously swept. C'est fini.

Why the rush to proclaim doom and gloom? I've never understood the need to make proclamations about a team losing in advance. (This isn't directed specifically at you, CC, just a general observation.) The fact is, the team is still in the playoffs and they haven't lost 4 games yet in the series. Why not save the death talk for when they're actually down and out?

This was a much better effort tonight and they deserved a better fate. I liked their fight at the end and that gives me some hope that the players aren't giving up either. It'll be an interesting discussion for the next two days as to what to do with the goalie situation and I'm sure we'll see a lineup change or two for Game 3. I'd like to see Moen get back in there, he's a bit more defensively responsible and when you're running a backup goalie out there, a bit smarter of a defensive zone presence can't hurt.

[habs rule]

Bad result for a team that played pretty damn good. I put Tokarski back in. He got better the whole game. Why take him out , now that he has the knots worked out. Budaji ain't gonna do it. Put the egg line back together. Put the no 1 line back together . Let's go with what was successful all year. We got caught on a bad play by gio. Pleks not so good. We can still win this, and we will do it. Vanek can sign with Minni who cares. No heart.

And lets remember LUndy has played out of his mind. GET TO THE NET.

[Toronthab]

It's goaltending. A deflection, a weak goal, and a goal on a bad penalty call beat us tonight.

With good goaltending in game 3, and the right spirit, we have a good chance.

If we take 3, we have a good chance of taking 4.

We were not outplayed by these guys who got ever single bounce tonight.

[Lovett's Magnatones]

Yep, wing is the organizational weak-point, and MB will need to address it. I hear you on Plekanec, but there may be other ways to enhance our position at W, and we minimize Pleks's contribution at our peril. So we agree on what needs improving, I'm just more agnostic about how we can or will get there. Let's see what Bergevin comes up with.

I've just seen too much hockey to think this team can come back. Too many things have gone wrong. I have no hope at all, but that doesn't mean I don't care, obviously.

They might make it interesting. They could win one at MSG and we could take game 5 in MTL. The takeaway from this season is that they beat Boston. That's more than we've gotten 15 out of the last 20 years of this circus.

I hate to bring up bad memories, but I'm going to.

Can this clip get any worse?

What's to like? 4-0 in the first period of an elimination game. Tremblay behind the bench. Thibault in net. Oleg Petrov and Valerie Bird with Mark Recchi. (Smurfs)! Breezer. Pat Jablonski coming in. Fox track! This was the official start of the Dark Age!

The accoutrement is Kovalev blowing around breezer like a traffic cone. The same thing happened the play before to the Great Peter Popovic.

[Toronthab]

It's the goals ... their nature and the effect they had on us, unavoidably. A deflection, a weak goal, and a goal on a bad penalty call beat us tonight.

With good goaltending in game 3, and the right spirit, we have a good chance.

If we take 3, we have a good chance of taking 4.

We were not outplayed by these guys who got ever single bounce tonight.

[dlbalr]

Tonight's 3 Stars: http://www.habsworld.net/article.php?id=3402

[Toronthab]

MT was good in the post game interview.

He praised the team and Tokarski for playing well.

Looks like he'll get the start in #3.

I'm OK with that. I think we can beat them.

We just beat Boston. We just need solid goaltending and we got close to that tonight.

MT put the game on Lundquist. Not a bad judgment.

I've been generally impressed with his approach to team confidence.

This was our game except for the goals.

[Guest Stogey24]

Why the rush to proclaim doom and gloom? I've never understood the need to make proclamations about a team losing in advance. (This isn't directed specifically at you, CC, just a general observation.) The fact is, the team is still in the playoffs and they haven't lost 4 games yet in the series. Why not save the death talk for when they're actually down and out?

This was a much better effort tonight and they deserved a better fate. I liked their fight at the end and that gives me some hope that the players aren't giving up either. It'll be an interesting discussion for the next two days as to what to do with the goalie situation and I'm sure we'll see a lineup change or two for Game 3. I'd like to see Moen get back in there, he's a bit more defensively responsible and when you're running a backup goalie out there, a bit smarter of a defensive zone presence can't hurt.

We couldn't score. Putting moen in is like taking a step backwards