Lightning @ Habs - Jan. 8/04

[jl.roberts]

Tonights Goalies : John Grahame vs. Jose Theodore .

Time: 7:30 ET

Date: Jan. 8/04

TV: RDS

Radio: CJAD 800, Post-game Team-990

Probable Habs Lineup:

38 Bulis - 11 Koivu - 73 Ryder

20 Zednik - 71 Ribeiro - 26 Icantskate

24 Dackell - 25 Kilger - 17 Ward

35 Plekanec - 94 Perreault - 15 Langdon

44 Souray - 05 Quintal

08 Komisarek - 43 Brisebois

51 Bouillon - 52 Rivet

Key Matchup:

vs.

Who would you rather have setting YOU up?

Players to Watch:

[Edited on 2004/1/9 by jl.roberts]

[puck7x]

Its very important for the habs to play a full 60 minutes tonight , we cant take off a period or two against a team like Tampa and still expect to win. Its doubtful Theodore can keep up his 1 goal per game against average over the past 5 games (But who the hell can? ... Whos not named Brian Boucher, lol). As long as Theodore makes the saves he has to make , we'll be fine.

I'm looking forward to seeing Plekanec back in action tonight (Can thank the Juneau injury for that) , I just wish he had the chance to show what he's got playing with some decent linemates getting decent minutes , though its understandable why we're not playing a young rookie who was just called up in that role. Maybe he'll get 2nd unit PP time anyways?

:hlogo::hlogo::hlogo:

:ghg:

[jl.roberts]

Chad Kilger needs to proove he's the man for the third line job. If he keeps up his play, he all of a sudden becomes very valuable to us.

:-^ all those GM's who didn't take him on waivers. I think he'll proove them wrong.

[puck7x]

Actually Grahame is playing in nets. And Juneau is also playing (guess he was alright to play) , habs using same roster as last game...

Pretty lousy start to the game from the habs , the Bolts came out flying , luckily we held them off and gradually got ourselves back into the game , too bad the penalties we took halted our momentum...

But... We have a PP to start the 2nd , so things are okay...

Shots in 1st : 8-4 TB

Score : 0-0

:ghg:

[jl.roberts]

Doh!

I actually wrote Grahame in the game preview, oh well. Not much of a goaltending matchup then. :zzz:

Not a great first by the Habs. Four shots on goal :guru:

[puck7x]

Time for the habs to do the unexpected again and impress me , come back from being down after 2 and get out of the game with points...

its only 3-1 Tampa , and the habs cant play much worse then they have so far tonight , its only up from here... One habs goal and this is a one goal game...

Never give up... fight till the end , thats what I want to see.

:hlogo::hlogo::hlogo::hlogo:

:ghg:

:hlogo::hlogo::hlogo::hlogo:

[Edited on 2004-1-9 by puck7x]

[simonus]

surprise! they got worse.

[puck7x]

Originally posted by simonus

surprise! they got worse.

lol...

Not the surprise I wanted...

Ahhh well , had to lose sometime. Now lets hope its out of the habs system ,

That was a stinker of a game , habs were being outhustled by the Bolts all night long. We didnt have our legs out there... Our top players did not come to play , while Tampa's all showed up.

Is it just me or does Martin St Louis have our number? I HATE it when local players burn us... Its not fair , only 2 teams in the NHL have to play against local-area players every night , the habs and the leafs. I cant stand it when players elevate their games when they play in their hometown , .... At least play like that for 82 games a year and not just those couple of games.

[Edited on 2004-1-9 by puck7x]

[jl.roberts]

Ow.

I guess it's Garon in Pittsburgh.

[Quebecois]

The only consolation is that the Habs do play the Pens next (i'll be there :/) ) and that we have a golden opportunity to regain the momentum that we had prior to these last 5 periods. Of course, if we don't play a good game in Pitt, it could get ugly.

[jeppa]

Originally posted by Quebecois

The only consolation is that the Habs do play the Pens next (i'll be there :/) ) and that we have a golden opportunity to regain the momentum that we had prior to these last 5 periods. Of course, if we don't play a good game in Pitt, it could get ugly.

I agree, the game against Pens is a must win game and maybe the best game for CJ to test some new line combos.

Though I'm not able to watch the games it seems like it would be time to put Zednik back with Koivu and try to figure out which players would fit best on the second line. Dags and Ribs often plays good against weaker opponents, but have quite a hard time against stronger teams and was a -3 for the night :hlogo:

[Colin]

Anyone awake out there? THe Habs have a problem on their hands because it wasn't just tonight's game that was without passion, it was also the last two periods against the Sabres. That's a trend that has to cause some concern amongst the habs brass. Tonight we were almost never first to the puck; we played with almost no passion or intensity; indeed at times it looked like we were preferring to watch the game rather than play it.

What this game proved, ultimately, is that if our best players aren't playing good games, this team doesn't have a chance no matter how good our filler is. Because let's be honest here, it wasn't like the Daganais' and Dackell's played much different than usual, it was the big guns who were out to lunch. Personally, I would have pulled Theo at the end of the second and allowed Garon to take that third period as it probably would have been a good wake up call and Theo had really struggled to that point.

I'm not sure why Julien rolls his lines much better when the Habs are losing. Tonight, the fourth line got regular shifts when we needed to try and pull the game back, whereas on nights when we're winning, he tends to shorten that bench and leave the Langdon's of the team to pick out splinters for much of the night. Before I make a judgement I'd love to hear an explanation of sorts - even if it's as simple as him just not seeing anything worth playing from everyone else - because to me, it's a really odd decision.

~~

Notes:

Theo: Don't take too deep a whiff, you might get sick from the noxious smell. Three goals were ones that Theo would have had on most other nights. Like I said, I'm shocked he stayed in for so long. His rebound control - that which I was so pleased with in recent days, was horrendous. C-

Bouillon: At least he'd fairly consistent. I don't think he played a particularly poor game, in fact I like the way he handled himself when he was against LeCavalier. He's a player that doesn't get intimidated by talent and that's a good thing to see from a player like him. On a game like this where most stunk, he was even for the night. B+

Rivet: Turned the corner, perhaps not. Turning the corner, absolutely. Again, another player who was even tonight and despite getting caught running around a couple of times, despite a couple of nasty passes, he looked pretty good out there. Again, though, it's a case of the lower players being consistent, and this team can't afford that. B+

Brisebois: I'm starting to get a little concerned about his game now. That's three in a row where's he's made a few boneheaded plays. Back to the simple game, Breezer, or the boo-birds might make a re-appearence. C+

Komisarek: For someone who spent most of the night on his off-side, I don't think he played that poorly. He's made some good adjustments in his game and is looking better, and getting more ice time as a result. If you compare he and Souray, you can see the differences and his deficiencies boldly: tentative, slower, more prone to panic. However, for his age and maturity level, he's not doing badly. Then again, I'll be interested to see if he plays next game if Markov is back. C+

Quintal: For one of the rare occasions it was Quintal bailing out Souray a few times. All night he was consistent in his play and like any good defensive defender, you rarely noticed him. I particularly love the way he uses his experience to tie up sticks when he's about to be beaten. B+

Souray: Take a deep breath habs fans and pray that this game was an aberration. He made rookie-type mistakes and just didn't look good at all out there tonight. There was no fire to his game - other than the revenge fire that he showed to some Bolts which was more borne out of frustration in his game than it was in something they did. C

Langdon: While I'm not overly pleased to see him out there when the Habs are down later in games, I think he played a pretty good one tonight. Once again I found myself smiling at his actual hockey and thinking it was way better than I expected when we first acquired him. B

Ward: WHen he was put on the first line late in the game, I just about choked. With apologies to Wardo fans, that was a bit of a joke. He certainly didn't have a great game and while he works hard, he doesn't even have the offensive skill Bulis has when the latter's confidence is low. B

Perreault: I thought one play late in the game was pretty much typical of his night. Someone won the puck along the boards and passed it out to Yannick....who was skating slowly the other way not paying even a lick of attention. D

Kilger: Three in a row. Who'd a thunk he would have really taken that message to heart. He's my first star for the Habs in tonight's game. Hits, shots, solid play everywhere....intensity! With those ingredients, he stays. A-

Juneau: Perhaps that half game off helped because Joe had some good jump tonight. I was quite pleased to see him back in the lineup and even more pleased when his game was so good. He was probably one of the better Habs all night in both ends of the rink. B+

Dackell: Another typical Dackell game. He did his job effectively all over the ice, and you can't really expect more. Now, tonight he was a little less effective than he usually is, but I think that was just along the vein of the team. B-

Dagenais: Dags lovers rejoice, he scored again. Right place, right time - and that's something you can't teach anyone. Of course, hockey lovers should be cringing about now, because other than that one play, he was dismal all night. C-

Zednik: While most of the rest of the team turns south, Zed looks to be getting a little more jump in his skates. Instead of going the long way around, he's going to the net more. He's making those plays - the little ones - which will untimately make him a more successful player in the end. Look for him beside Saz with Ryder on Saturday. B+

Ribeiro: After such a great game two nights ago....... Ribs should have stayed home, he was putrid. There was almost a complete lack of effort tonight, his shifts were again too long, and he was just about the most AHL-looking player I've seen in the NHL in a while. And that INCLUDES Dags and Ward. His line was dominated almost every shift, and much of that was on him in the defensive zone as he continually failed to put in his work. F

Bulis: Not his best effort tonight, unfortunately. He was skating well and on the PK he was good, but overall he just didn't seem to be where he needed to be. B

Ryder: Are we about to see another benching for the uber-rookie? This was one of the worst games I've seen him play all year. He got a real chewing-out when he totally left his position to hit someone on the other side of the rink. Hopefully he comes back with a much better effort Saturday. D+

Koivu: Again, just not all there tonight. Sax just didn't have the zip he's had for the last 10 or so games. That said, he still created more in the offensive zone than anyone else tonight and was also really good defensively - particularly when matched against LeCavalier, but it was just not a top-notch night for the Captain. B

~~

Let's just put this one out of our heads and hope things look better on Saturday. I'm sure there will be a few choice words from the coaching staff over the next couple of days and I would suspect there will be a few lineup changes as well. Don't be surprised if Garon gets the start - and I really believe he should have had it tonight.

Pittsburgh it is - the team that shocked the Devils 4-2, so we can't take them lightly at all. Sets your alarms because it's an early game, starting at 1:00 in the afternoon. No Mario doesn't mean win, it just means that everyone else on that team works a little harder. An effort like today from the Habs will give us another loss, and some real soul-searching to do.