GDT May 3rd - Game 2 - Bolts vs Habs, 6 PM

[TurdBurglar]

I also just turned it off. This is... this is... I'm not sure what this is. I'm not sure how Therrian and his staff can expect to have a job next year.

The PP is god awful, and it's 100% on the coaching staff. 2 PP lines, 10 players and only Subban has the green light to shoot. Pacioretty doesn't shoot on the PP. Am I imagining that Pacioretty was the highest scoring player on the team during the regular season? Why are they not feeding Pacioretty the puck with the green light to shoot? Nevermind I know the answer to that; it makes sense. I know 100% I could direct a better PP than what they are using, It's depressing.

Anyone else sick of the majority of shots Montreal takes are below the hash marks, from the boards with nobody in front for a rebound? I counted 3 in the second period. They had 5 shots. 60% of shots in that period weren't shots to score or create a scoring chance. 60% of shots that period were nothing more than a shot to say they shot.

Nobody is ever in front of the net when the puck can be put on it for a scoring chance. When someone established net presence the puck gets cycled endlessly until it comes out or one of those grade A shots from the boards below the hashmarks. Only other opportunity is a forced shot from the point, not screened, trying to force the puck through a defenseman.

[Habs30/31]

Well don't throw in the towel boys. Michelle the genious Therrien will get them "to execute" in the third. Plus "Get some momentum from the powerplay"

Pleks has not scored in 7 play off games so he is due.

Gilbert is doing exactly what most of us expected and predicted he would do.

MB knows where the holes are. Rome was not built in a day.

GO HABS

[Guest Stogey24]

This all started from Prust's penalty. Another guys whos been absolutely useless.

[hab29RETIRED]

Well don't throw in the towel boys. Michelle the genious Therrien will get them "to execute" in the third. Plus "Get some momentum from the powerplay"

Pleks has not scored in 7 play off games so he is due.

Gilbert is doing exactly what most of us expected and predicted he would do.

MB knows where the holes are. Rome was not built in a day.

GO HABS

No, but it was burned in a day. in the habs case, in less than 20 minutes.

[Guest Stogey24]

Well don't throw in the towel boys. Michelle the genious Therrien will get them "to execute" in the third. Plus "Get some momentum from the powerplay"

Pleks has not scored in 7 play off games so he is due.

Gilbert is doing exactly what most of us expected and predicted he would do.

MB knows where the holes are. Rome was not built in a day.

GO HABS

Tough to swallow

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Yah, Prust is the problem. PLEASE.

I've seen playoff series like this before...team plays really well, yet everything seems to turn to shite.

What happened, IMHO, is that the Habs substantially outplayed the Lightning for 5 out of 6 periods and yet lost Game One and ended up down 2-1 in the second period of Game Two. The air goes out of the tire and the whole bench thinks: it's just not in the cards, we're not gonna beat these guys. This is frustrating to watch, but it's a normal - indeed, universal and inevitable - reaction. We've done it to a number of teams over the years ourselves.

A decent power-play would have made ALL the difference. No question. The PP coach absolutely must be fired.

[habs rule]

I hope I am wrong and miracles do happen but this series is over. If MB wants to improve this team he better get someone who can score. Defence wins hockey games? Nope not if you can't score. The PP which is so unimportant has killed us. They have one we don't. You can't win 0-0, you wont win often 1-0. We need some scoring and a PP.

[hab29RETIRED]

This all started from Prust's penalty. Another guys whos been absolutely useless.

hey, don't slag on a leader blood and guts player who is one of our most essential players.

[Lovett's Magnatones]

Way to go MB.

They've wasted a Hart, Vezina, Norris and imo Selke performance this year and it's not likely that they will get a repeat next year.

Nice of him to pick up world beaters Jiri Sekac, Manny Malhotra and PA Parenteau in the off season, then trade Bourque and Moen for two defensemen who have been in the press box since March. The deadline got us two more muckers, but they're faster muckers. And a fatass who has one goal in like 40 games.

Then they get a stiff from the team that eliminated them who is so bad at his job they can't even remember how to play the PP.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

I hope I am wrong and miracles do happen but this series is over. If MB wants to improve this team he better get someone who can score. Defence wins hockey games? Nope not if you can't score. The PP which is so unimportant has killed us. They have one we don't. You can't win 0-0, you wont win often 1-0. We need some scoring and a PP.

I really question whether the PP's problems are personnel related. Sure, we aren't stacked with talent at FW, but teams with comparable forward units have better power-plays than this garbage. Heck, with PK and Patches alone, we should be able to do something. It's a problem of mentality and, possibly, system. The first thing to do is fire the power-play coach.

All the bitching and mewling is overlooking the fact that we outplayed Tampa except for the third period of Game One and, now, the second period of Game Two. If we have a functioning power-play, the series is at worst tied.

Blaming Bergevin is stupid. Blaming Prust or Gilbert or Desharnais (hey, how's that 'Eller is the Saviour' argument working out?) is stupid. The team is strong. It has one glaring problem, and it has paid for that glaring problem by losing this series (barring a miracle). That problem is fundamentally fixable, which is the good news.

[Habs30/31]

No, but it was burned in a day. in the habs case, in less than 20 minutes.

But it was coming long before that.

[hab29RETIRED]

I hope I am wrong and miracles do happen but this series is over. If MB wants to improve this team he better get someone who can score. Defence wins hockey games? Nope not if you can't score. The PP which is so unimportant has killed us. They have one we don't. You can't win 0-0, you wont win often 1-0. We need some scoring and a PP.

you don't need scoring or PP in the playoffs. you need more pluggers. we need to pickup some more players like Prust, Mitchell, Weisse, Smith-Kelly, Malhotra and Flynn, so we are tougher to play against. We have plenty of offence.

[Lovett's Magnatones]

Hopefully they bow out gracefully and avoid a penalty filled third.

[Chris]

The top 6 has been way more diapointing than Prust, Mitchell or the a couple of third liners.

Pleks has been due every year he has been in the playoffs, it isn't going to happen. He is in hibernation until the regular season starts.

[dlbalr]

Lots of talk about the inept power play...what about the inept penalty kill that has allowed 3 PPG's tonight? You can get away with one element of special teams struggling...two is a killer.

[habs rule]

This game was completely in our control at one time...hard to believe now, but it was. Then the penalties. Bad, stupid, pointless penalties...followed by our shitty momentum-killing powerplays when we got them, and boom...we're DONE. Price should refuse to come out for the 3rd...possibly even tell them to go F themselves, shower, and go home...not even sit as a backup.

He would probably like to but he can't. He is a leader of this team.

[Habs30/31]

Yah, Prust is the problem. PLEASE.

I've seen playoff series like this before...team plays really well, yet everything seems to turn to shite.

What happened, IMHO, is that the Habs substantially outplayed the Lightning for 5 out of 6 periods and yet lost Game One and ended up down 2-1 in the second period of Game Two. The air goes out of the tire and the whole bench thinks: it's just not in the cards, we're not gonna beat these guys. This is frustrating to watch, but it's a normal - indeed, universal and inevitable - reaction. We've done it to a number of teams over the years ourselves.

A decent power-play would have made ALL the difference. No question. The PP coach absolutely must be fired.

Tampa bay played poorly with their best player picking still not scoring....and won game one. Bad sign.

Lots of talk about the inept power play...what about the inept penalty kill that has allowed 3 PPG's tonight? You can get away with one element of special teams struggling...two is a killer.

Yes TONIGHT the pk has been as bad as the pp was ALL YEAR

[Guest Stogey24]

So we need 5 goals and 4th line is getting offensive zone starts

[hab29RETIRED]

But it was coming long before that.

horrible PP and inability to score were signs of decay that MB should have recognized and MT's inability to fix the PP IMO is grounds for firing. I really don't care about 110 points. Big shit. This is montreal, not friggin florida. Who friggin cares about the regular season!

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

Tampa bay played poorly with their best player picking up a point....and won game one. Bad sign.

Yes TONIGHT the pk has been as bad as the pp was ALL YEAR

Absolutely. And that is why those idiotic calls in the first period really, really hurt. We needed to be REWARDED for being by far the better team. At some point, if you're not rewarded, the team sags. And that's what happened tonight.

If Therrien doesn't fire the Power Play coach, then he should be fired himself. Other than that, this team has excellent fundamentals and is well-coached, so firing MT would be dumb (unless, of course, you're bringing in Babcock).

[Habs30/31]

The top 6 has been way more diapointing than Prust, Mitchell or the a couple of third liners.

Pleks has been due every year he has been in the playoffs, it isn't going to happen. He is in hibernation until the regular season starts.

Yes i know.....i was being sarcastic. Pleks is playing as i expected and predicted he would. Watch him do this every year.

[hab29RETIRED]

I really question whether the PP's problems are personnel related. Sure, we aren't stacked with talent at FW, but teams with comparable forward units have better power-plays than this garbage. Heck, with PK and Patches alone, we should be able to do something. It's a problem of mentality and, possibly, system. The first thing to do is fire the power-play coach.

All the bitching and mewling is overlooking the fact that we outplayed Tampa except for the third period of Game One and, now, the second period of Game Two. If we have a functioning power-play, the series is at worst tied.

Blaming Bergevin is stupid. Blaming Prust or Gilbert or Desharnais (hey, how's that 'Eller is the Saviour' argument working out?) is stupid. The team is strong. It has one glaring problem, and it has paid for that glaring problem by losing this series (barring a miracle). That problem is fundamentally fixable, which is the good news.

or the coach he reports to.

Is Eller playing with maxPac yet?? Despite Galchenyuk being totally lost out there, the line hasn't looked bad.

The top 6 has been way more diapointing than Prust, Mitchell or the a couple of third liners.

Pleks has been due every year he has been in the playoffs, it isn't going to happen. He is in hibernation until the regular season starts.

I don't dispute that. What i don't get is MB's fetish of continuing to get more 4th liners, despite having enough to fill 4 lines.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

or the coach he reports to.

Is Eller playing with maxPac yet?? Despite Galchenyuk being totally lost out there, the line hasn't looked bad.

I wouldn't cry in my beer if MT is fired, but I think it would be a silly thing to do. What I saw until this period is a team that plays excellent defensive hockey and has a very good break-out, with everyone buying in. That's good coaching. Like I say above, I'd only fire Therrien if he refuses to fire the PP coach.

You keep clinging to that fantasy that Eller is the Answer.

[hab29RETIRED]

Lots of talk about the inept power play...what about the inept penalty kill that has allowed 3 PPG's tonight? You can get away with one element of special teams struggling...two is a killer.

the PK started brilliantly, but there are only so many stupid bonehead penalties you can kill.

I wouldn't cry in my beer if MT is fired, but I think it would be a silly thing to do. What I saw until this period is a team that plays excellent defensive hockey and has a very good break-out, with everyone buying in. That's good coaching. Like I say above, I'd only fire Therrien if he refuses to fire the PP coach.

You keep clinging to that fantasy that Eller is the Answer.

I've never said that Eller is the answer. What i've said all along, its that given our choices at centres, Eller is the much better answer, but has never gotten a chance to play with the best wingers.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

the PK started brilliantly, but there are only so many stupid bonehead penalties you can kill.

I've never said that Eller is the answer. What i've said all along, its that given our choices at centres, Eller is the much better answer, but has never gotten a chance to play with the best wingers.

Yeah, the PK was incredibly strong in the first. But only if you are playing the Montreal Canadiens can you be expected to kill off and endless parade of random penalties unscathed.

Eller has impressed me with his solid all-around play in these playoffs, but offensively he remains a complete and utter MEH. It's just not worth getting agitated about him not being played with Patches. He won't do any better than DD from the blueline in. He's a third line C and that's it.