Game Analysis: Pregame And Postgame Discussion

[Guest Onzeee]

Carbonneau dropped the ball tonight keeping brisebois in the lineup,

[Guest Clammy]

Wrong thread...

[Guest bigsby]

what happened last night? neither team played well, imho.

the habs were very good at controlling the puck, especially in the d zone for most of the game...but it looked to me like our scoring chances were very few and theirs were just messy.

brutal. did they forget this was a playoff game?

[Guest slode]

we gotta have two guys beside each other,one,to conveniently get in Philly's way..

get Plakanecs to help the defense but getting to the boards

start the game with the lines that are the most dynamic and have the best flow..3 k's..bros together..ryder with higs

get 1st goal and never look back,comebacks won't work with Philly,anymore

pull Price after down 2,for club momentum shift,Halak..?

dress guys who play like Carbo and Gainey

last think of hockey as a big flat rock with a ball under it.each team balancing their end,on attack it takes more energy(and more risky) to fight to keep balance at our blue line to center..after center to their blue line it's easier,thus use a good puck carrier to bring it up,passed center,,using a block guy...lifting the puck,would also keep it off of Philly's stick safe on passes

the shots won't work from the point..because Philly is packing the zone..get some muscle to clear you a path and add some screenin

[babinator77]

the fan-bashing-banter bores me...so, any thoughts about the game itself?

my keys to the game: price, going to the net and discipline.

i thought the habs did a good job of covering the dzone and minimizing their point shots - they seemed less dangerous in any case on sat.

i want game seven intensity from the good guys tonight! woohoo! it's game day!

[fourtrax]

my keys to the game: price, going to the net and discipline.

Agreed, but I'll add "finishing plays" to that list.

If Price plays well and we finish our chances, I'm not worried at all.

[babinator77]

Agreed, but I'll add "finishing plays" to that list.

If Price plays well and we finish our chances, I'm not worried at all.

absolutely agreed.

[svetlana_mtl]

I watched the game with my dad tonight, we're both habs fans, and i got so mad when the phillie player i forget who it was now tripped little Carey Price.

Price is a cute little thing, he is, a 20 year old rookie going through a bit of a tough time , Im not even sure he should have played this game I think he needed a rest and Halak played well as his replacement,

price is a good little goalie and he will be a great one when he gets some more experience.

so price haveing a bit of a tough time he just trying to play his game, didnt even do anything to the flyers and then the flyer tripped him. For no reason. What the.....?

The chutzpah of him!

but i liked how komisarek and 2 others i think came to prices' defence and price just stood there and watched. He looked to me like a sad little lost souyl having a bit of a rough time. I pitied him seriously. and when he sat on the bench in 3rd period and watched thought he looked rather sad.

I liked how he didnt fist into the flyer who tripped him he kept his composure. But he has good friends and his friendscame to help him. That was sweet.

i wonder what happened with the habs since the series with boston. They seemed to have lost their spark. dad thinks it might be because carbonneau is futzing with the lines too much too much control and all. ah well. we'll have to see how it goes. I hope they bring ryder back. Not because im a newfoundlander, but because he 's a pretty good player and montreal had the best pp line when he played and when they played boston he played and montreal did good vs them.

oh well.

[fourtrax]

Agreed, but I'll add "finishing plays" to that list.

If Price plays well and we finish our chances, I'm not worried at all.

Well, Price didn't play well at all, and we couldn't finish what seemed like an endless series of chances. Not surprisingly, we lost. I'm officially worried.

[Clammy]

Well, Price didn't play well at all, and we couldn't finish what seemed like an endless series of chances. Not surprisingly, we lost. I'm officially worried.

Well, think of it this way. We weren't supposed to make the playoffs at all. Certainly we were not supposed to finish 1st in the East. So, right now we're in the gravy zone, and it's all a bonus.

That said, the guys have what it takes to win this series and continue on, and I think they will do exactly that. What they've really been lacking so far is a little luck. With a couple of bounces going our way instead of the floppers' way, this series could EASILY be 3-0 in favour of the Habs right now.

No matter what happens, I am proud of the guys. They FAR exceeded even the most optimistic predictions!

GO HABS GO!!!

[fourtrax]

Well, think of it this way. We weren't supposed to make the playoffs at all. Certainly we were not supposed to finish 1st in the East. So, right now we're in the gravy zone, and it's all a bonus.

That said, the guys have what it takes to win this series and continue on, and I think they will do exactly that. What they've really been lacking so far is a little luck. With a couple of bounces going our way instead of the floppers' way, this series could EASILY be 3-0 in favour of the Habs right now.

No matter what happens, I am proud of the guys. They FAR exceeded even the most optimistic predictions!

GO HABS GO!!!

I agree with the gravy zone argument to some extent, but the galling thing right now is that we are NOT being outplayed, we are beating ourselves. The minute we start to forecheck effectively, skate like we're interested in winning the board battles, get some traffic in front of Biron, and finish even a handful of the myriad scoring chances we get each game, we will demolish the Flyers. Price was poor tonight, but imagine if we'd converted even ONE of those first-period chances.

[Clammy]

I agree with the gravy zone argument to some extent, but the galling thing right now is that we are NOT being outplayed, we are beating ourselves. The minute we start to forecheck effectively, skate like we're interested in winning the board battles, get some traffic in front of Biron, and finish even a handful of the myriad scoring chances we get each game, we will demolish the Flyers. Price was poor tonight, but imagine if we'd converted even ONE of those first-period chances.

Exactly. If one of those goalposts goes in, the tone of the game is set in our favour. When the floppers scored that first goal, you could just feel the frustration in the team. BUT, even still, the team never gave up or folded, even after the second and third goals. They kept on going. We just need a bit of luck, and for Carey to regain his confidence. I have faith that both will happen, and we'll walk out of Philly tied at 2. Seriously, if we fire on all cylinders, the floppers have NO chance at beating us.

GO HABS GO!!!

[sach]

when you are eliminated you look back then and say it was gravy, but right now we need to be focusing on winning games and not excepting loosing because its all gravy

[habsfan-go-oil]

Exactly. If one of those goalposts goes in, the tone of the game is set in our favour. When the floppers scored that first goal, you could just feel the frustration in the team. BUT, even still, the team never gave up or folded, even after the second and third goals. They kept on going. We just need a bit of luck, and for Carey to regain his confidence. I have faith that both will happen, and we'll walk out of Philly tied at 2. Seriously, if we fire on all cylinders, the floppers have NO chance at beating us.

GO HABS GO!!!

Yes, the luck will turn! We just need a break and we'll explode!

[babinator77]

I agree with the gravy zone argument to some extent, but the galling thing right now is that we are NOT being outplayed, we are beating ourselves. The minute we start to forecheck effectively, skate like we're interested in winning the board battles, get some traffic in front of Biron, and finish even a handful of the myriad scoring chances we get each game, we will demolish the Flyers. Price was poor tonight, but imagine if we'd converted even ONE of those first-period chances.

i will not buy into the gravy argument until this season is over. i don't even really understand it, tbh, if we were the eighth seed fine, no one expects us to make it out of the first round but we're the first seed. all preseason expectations should be tossed out by now.

i'm with you wm, without question we are beating ourselves. where is the intensity? the drive to win? our guys should not be nervous anymore. i don't care who or where they're playing. this is round two, game three. they have no more excuses - either they show and we win or they don't and we'll lose.

things i noticed from last night's game:

price had another bad game. i'm not worried about his confidence, what i worry about is the flyers' game plan. it works for them when they don't shoot. i was watching us cycle the puck in the second, not doing much with it, while the flyers were waiting for their chance and waited to see what price would do with their first shot on net and i expected it to dictate the game...which, in the end, it did. i would start halak in the next game, not because i've lost faith in price but because i think halak can stay in the game when he's not challenged. carbo said it earlier, price needs to be in the game to play well. flyers are doing nothing out there and then capitalizing on very weak chances.

our pp was the worst i've ever seen it in the first and outstanding during the five minute major. what?! a little consistency boys. do they need the game on the line every night to play well!? flyers are being called for their crap. so let's capitalize guys.

get in the game. guys are afraid to crash the net which is really the key to this series. i'd like to see higgins, lapierre etc. (though they're having all kinds of trouble with the puck) behind the dmen getting pushed around than standing in the slot where their d know how to handle the puck.

finally, i noticed, that when the guys weren't holding their sticks too tight looking for the perfect play, the passing game got going and created chances. play smart but keep it simple - that's dizzying enough for the lead-footed flyers, and play to win.

i'll be disgusted if the flyers play like crap and manage to make it out of this series because the habs 'didn't feel like' playing them...

[GreekHockeyCoach]

i will not buy into the gravy argument until this season is over. i don't even really understand it, tbh, if we were the eighth seed fine, no one expects us to make it out of the first round but we're the first seed. all preseason expectations should be tossed out by now.

i'm with you wm, without question we are beating ourselves. where is the intensity? the drive to win? our guys should not be nervous anymore. i don't care who or where they're playing. this is round two, game three. they have no more excuses - either they show and we win or they don't and we'll lose.

things i noticed from last night's game:

price had another bad game. i'm not worried about his confidence, what i worry about is the flyers' game plan. it works for them when they don't shoot. i was watching us cycle the puck in the second, not doing much with it, while the flyers were waiting for their chance and waited to see what price would do with their first shot on net and i expected it to dictate the game...which, in the end, it did. i would start halak in the next game, not because i've lost faith in price but because i think halak can stay in the game when he's not challenged. carbo said it earlier, price needs to be in the game to play well. flyers are doing nothing out there and then capitalizing on very weak chances.

our pp was the worst i've ever seen it in the first and outstanding during the five minute major. what?! a little consistency boys. do they need the game on the line every night to play well!? flyers are being called for their crap. so let's capitalize guys.

get in the game. guys are afraid to crash the net which is really the key to this series. i'd like to see higgins, lapierre etc. (though they're having all kinds of trouble with the puck) behind the dmen getting pushed around than standing in the slot where their d know how to handle the puck.

finally, i noticed, that when the guys weren't holding their sticks too tight looking for the perfect play, the passing game got going and created chances. play smart but keep it simple - that's dizzying enough for the lead-footed flyers, and play to win.

i'll be disgusted if the flyers play like crap and manage to make it out of this series because the habs 'didn't feel like' playing them...

My sentiments exactly Bigs. I can't buy into the gravy thing either. We are definitely not being outplayed, we're beating ourselves. Of course it doesn't help that our star goalie decided to take a few games off. Being beat by a team that only had 14 shots on goal is really frustrating to say the least. Not being able to skate circles around these slow Flyers is even more frustrating.

My only hope for us to come out on top of this series is if we start to show some urgency. The breaks will come if we continue taking the game to them real hard like we did in game 2. We can't give up, we're not playing that poorly. Hockey is game of momentum and timely goals. We haven't been able to get those timely goals thus far, we've only managed to hit untimely posts.

Alot of people are blaming Price and I agree, he has to take part of the blame. Not all, but part. The playoffs require stellar goaltending and we're far from getting that. To all those that put blinders on and can't see Price doing no wrong, I strongly disagree. A star goaltender is supposed to make the key saves when his team is struggling to score goals. Price hasn't done that and don't think it doesn't weigh heavily on the players when they're getting stoned on the other end by Biron while any shot from anywhere is going in on Price. Take the blinders off people.

To all those blaming Carbo, there's absolutely no basis for this. Yes, he made a few bad moves here and there but nothing that warrants that he be blamed for the Flyers' dumb luck.

There are instances where the best team doesn't win. Let's hope this isn't one of them. The stars are all aligned for the Flyers at the moment but eventually even those get out of alignment.

Let's hope that the good guys can pull it together and win this series.

[babinator77]

My only hope for us to come out on top of this series is if we start to show some urgency. The breaks will come if we continue taking the game to them real hard like we did in game 2. We can't give up, we're not playing that poorly. Hockey is game of momentum and timely goals. We haven't been able to get those timely goals thus far, we've only managed to hit untimely posts.

well put.

Alot of people are blaming Price and I agree, he has to take part of the blame. Not all, but part. The playoffs require stellar goaltending and we're far from getting that. To all those that put blinders on and can't see Price doing no wrong, I strongly disagree. A star goaltender is supposed to make the key saves when his team is struggling to score goals. Price hasn't done that and don't think it doesn't weigh heavily on the players when they're getting stoned on the other end by Biron while any shot from anywhere is going in on Price. Take the blinders off people.

every player i think is open to criticism when it's warranted. and the fact is, however you want to see it, price is not getting the job done. i don't think it's fatigue and i don't think he's taken games off, i really believe that as big as price is and as focused as he can get, he needs to be tested early and often to be effective - at least in this stage of his career.

i'm not about to argue that halak came in and saved the day but, as a shakeup will often do, it gave the team the confidence they lacked. maybe starting halak in the next game will allow the team to open up early rather than (as unacceptable as it may be) waiting for the flyers to score the first two goals. we should be better than that, but right now the confidence just hasn't been there.

To all those blaming Carbo, there's absolutely no basis for this. Yes, he made a few bad moves here and there but nothing that warrants that he be blamed for the Flyers' dumb luck.

Let's hope that the good guys can pull it together and win this series.

i have to agree with you there and anyone who wants to contribute and break down what carbo is doing wrong that has directly resulted in our being down in this series please feel free to contribute (rather than slam) because i don't see it either. it's his job to get the most out of his players, yes, but it's up to the players to play to win. our system is fine, they just have to play it. is it the benchings? breaking up the tko line? please explain.

they can! but it's up to them to do it!

[Win-the-cup]

I've played professional hockey & had a coaching stint to boot. I'll offer my analysis as to what is wrong with the Habs in these playoffs. First...it's not shots that indicate the play...it's scoring chances. Don't get me wrong...the more shots the offense launches at Biron the better, because it gives the opportunity at rebounds. Kovalev led the team through the season but has few shots in this series. His linemates have to clear a path for him in the shooting lane. Kovalev is deadly with that stick of his. Have you noticed that the Habs throw the puck from behind the net to an open spot high in the slot....why doesn't someone from Montreal stay in the high slot? Years ago it worked pretty good for a guy named Phil Esposito who worked from that office area. Markov has been the reason the Montreal powerplay is so weak...when the puck is shot up to him he has a problem keeping the puck in the zone. This wastes valuable time. He skates with no urgency. Take him off the powerplay. Lastly, Price should be benched. These are the playoffs and no one member of the team should be treated different than anyone else. Price has stopped 58 of 68 shots for a horrible save percentage of 85.3. During the regular season at the NHL level nothing less than 90% is acceptable & anything above 94.0 usually gets you to the next round. Price has a weak glove hand and does not follow the play well after a shot.....he lacks concentration. He needs time to reflect on the bench. In his last 6 games his record is 2 wins & 4 losses. In any playoff round that means elimination. Montreal is not in any position in this series to afford another loss at this stage. The coaching staff has been more than patient with the 20 year old. Halak should get the call for the rest of the series. Remember a couple of seasons ago when Montreal chased Gerber out of the net in the Carolina series. That coach made the change and Montreal found themself out of the playoffs. Carolina won the Cup.

[Innis_Mor]

I've played professional hockey & had a coaching stint to boot. I'll offer my analysis as to what is wrong with the Habs in these playoffs. First...it's not shots that indicate the play...it's scoring chances. Don't get me wrong...the more shots the offense launches at Biron the better, because it gives the opportunity at rebounds. Kovalev led the team through the season but has few shots in this series. His linemates have to clear a path for him in the shooting lane. Kovalev is deadly with that stick of his. Have you noticed that the Habs throw the puck from behind the net to an open spot high in the slot....why doesn't someone from Montreal stay in the high slot? Years ago it worked pretty good for a guy named Phil Esposito who worked from that office area. Markov has been the reason the Montreal powerplay is so weak...when the puck is shot up to him he has a problem keeping the puck in the zone. This wastes valuable time. He skates with no urgency. Take him off the powerplay. Lastly, Price should be benched. These are the playoffs and no one member of the team should be treated different than anyone else. Price has stopped 58 of 68 shots for a horrible save percentage of 85.3. During the regular season at the NHL level nothing less than 90% is acceptable & anything above 94.0 usually gets you to the next round. Price has a weak glove hand and does not follow the play well after a shot.....he lacks concentration. He needs time to reflect on the bench. In his last 6 games his record is 2 wins & 4 losses. In any playoff round that means elimination. Montreal is not in any position in this series to afford another loss at this stage. The coaching staff has been more than patient with the 20 year old. Halak should get the call for the rest of the series. Remember a couple of seasons ago when Montreal chased Gerber out of the net in the Carolina series. That coach made the change and Montreal found themself out of the playoffs. Carolina won the Cup.

Agree on the PP and Markov points (I think his injuries are affecting his play, but I could be wrong). On Price I say give him one more game. These Flyers are crap. Habs can win three games against them, especially with two of them at home. They've done it before. If Price is an issue Game 4 and the Habs lose, then insert Halak Game 5. Otherwise Price may be re-righted (and I am expecting that all to happen -- Price in Game 4, plays fine, Habs win).

[Win-the-cup]

Since Philly is up a game on the series.....in game 4 ....in the first period.....they should come out storming the Montreal net...looking for that 1st & 2nd goal. If Philly loses....so what....they are still even in games with the Habs but had the opportunity of taking a stranglehold on this series. That's what you do when you're a game up...go for the throat.

Montreal has to be a step faster in the 4th game & play the man...not the puck....on one-on-ones...take care of your responsibility. Your team-mate will do his job.

If Montreal plays Price, his lack of confidence will be reflected in their play.....they've stopped trusting him to keep them in the game and consequently will take the punch out of their offence. What's worse if Philly score an easy goal on him early again. They'll come back and over defend on plays. That will slow the Habs down just enough to give Philly a chance to keep up with them. Boston and Philly were/are happy to keep it close in the third period since both are less talented slower teams than the Habs.

If Halak plays and takes care of business....it will just take one shot & one hard shot to send a message to the team that he can be trusted & the Habs can go to the attack and see how much rubber Biron can hold up against before he loses his concentration. In order to regain their confidence the Habs need at least to put 5 behind Biron to know he can be beaten. Kovalev should undress him at least once to send a message.

[Innis_Mor]

Price's goal support from his teammates this Flyers series:

• Game 1: first Hab goal - 29:44
• Game 2: first Hab goal - 16:18
• Game 3: first Hab goal - 47:29
• Games 1-3: first Habs goal - average of 31:10 (that's past the halfway mark of regulation, folks) (Price's fault too, I suppose!? )
• Game 4: first Hab goal, ???? Not Price's (or Halak's call) Up to the rest of the team to get their team and their goalie a lead. That is the central question to Game 4, IMHO. Not whether Price stops another Komi/Hamrlik/Pleks/Hab player (not Flyer!) screened/deflected puck.

For the life of me, I fail to comprehend how people can characterize Price's play as rather sorry, while seemingly wholly ignoring the Hab skaters culpable futility in their two key assignments of (1) scoring and (2) keeping shooting lanes clear for Price to see shots.

Who's ever playing goal in this series shouldn't matter to the Habs. The Flyers are not very good, and the Hab team (the whole team, not just Price, and barely even including Price, IMHO) is letting the Flyers off the hook.

Price, "the scapegoat". . Gimme a break.

[Clammy]

Price's goal support from his teammates this Flyers series:

• Game 1: first Hab goal - 29:44
• Game 2: first Hab goal - 16:18
• Game 3: first Hab goal - 47:29
• Games 1-3: first Habs goal - average of 31:10 (that's past the halfway mark of regulation, folks) (Price's fault too, I suppose!? )
• Game 4: first Hab goal, ???? Not Price's (or Halak's call) Up to the rest of the team to get their team and their goalie a lead. That is the central question to Game 4, IMHO. Not whether Price stops another Komi/Hamrlik/Pleks/Hab player (not Flyer!) screened/deflected puck.

For the life of me, I fail to comprehend how people can characterize Price's play as rather sorry, while seemingly wholly ignoring the Hab skaters culpable futility in their two key assignments of (1) scoring and (2) keeping shooting lanes clear for Price to see shots.

Who's ever playing goal in this series shouldn't matter to the Habs. The Flyers are not very good, and the Hab team (the whole team, not just Price, and barely even including Price, IMHO) is letting the Flyers off the hook.

Price, "the scapegoat". . Gimme a break.

Yup. You hit the nail on the head. It's typical Habs fans - bi-polar! When we win, he's the second coming, no matter how the game went, or the types of goals scored against us, but when we lose they call for his head on a platter and he can do nothing RIGHT, no matter how the game went or type of goals scored against us. It's so friggin WEIRD, and very frustrating for non bi-polar fans such as myself!

Carey really didn't play a bad game last night. The goals scored against him were deflections/screens/seeing-eye shots.

Look at the rangers/penguins game tonight: rangers out shot the penguins 39 - 17, and lost 5-3. It was scoring chance quality over quantity. Same as the last 2 games for us. We need to fill the floppers' net early, and put THEM on the defensive and make THEM play catch up.

I look forward to watching Carey come out with a solid performance tomorrow night, and the Habs heading back to Montreal with the series tied 2-2.

CHOKE floppers CHOKE!!!!

GO HABS GO!!!!!

[babinator77]

I've played professional hockey & had a coaching stint to boot. I'll offer my analysis as to what is wrong with the Habs in these playoffs. First...it's not shots that indicate the play...it's scoring chances. Don't get me wrong...the more shots the offense launches at Biron the better, because it gives the opportunity at rebounds. Kovalev led the team through the season but has few shots in this series. His linemates have to clear a path for him in the shooting lane. Kovalev is deadly with that stick of his. Have you noticed that the Habs throw the puck from behind the net to an open spot high in the slot....why doesn't someone from Montreal stay in the high slot? Years ago it worked pretty good for a guy named Phil Esposito who worked from that office area. Markov has been the reason the Montreal powerplay is so weak...when the puck is shot up to him he has a problem keeping the puck in the zone. This wastes valuable time. He skates with no urgency. Take him off the powerplay. Lastly, Price should be benched. These are the playoffs and no one member of the team should be treated different than anyone else. Price has stopped 58 of 68 shots for a horrible save percentage of 85.3. During the regular season at the NHL level nothing less than 90% is acceptable & anything above 94.0 usually gets you to the next round. Price has a weak glove hand and does not follow the play well after a shot.....he lacks concentration. He needs time to reflect on the bench. In his last 6 games his record is 2 wins & 4 losses. In any playoff round that means elimination. Montreal is not in any position in this series to afford another loss at this stage. The coaching staff has been more than patient with the 20 year old. Halak should get the call for the rest of the series. Remember a couple of seasons ago when Montreal chased Gerber out of the net in the Carolina series. That coach made the change and Montreal found themself out of the playoffs. Carolina won the Cup.

thanks for the constructive feedback.

my question is: admittedly, markov was horrible on the 5-3 in the first but has also been key in two pp goals we've scored. if you take him off the pp (and i wouldn't do that, i'd take him off the first unit instead) who do you use to cover the points? streit's not getting the job done either. hammer and gorges? sergei?

[babinator77]

For the life of me, I fail to comprehend how people can characterize Price's play as rather sorry, while seemingly wholly ignoring the Hab skaters culpable futility in their two key assignments of (1) scoring and (2) keeping shooting lanes clear for Price to see shots.

Who's ever playing goal in this series shouldn't matter to the Habs.

i don't understand why it has to be an either or scenario (maybe i haven't read the same posts you have, which is possible). i think the team is at fault from the goaltender to the dmen to the stars to the coaches. they all have to be better, make adjustments, play as a team and play to win, none of which do they seem to be doing.

this is the playoffs, goaltending is very important (some would say the most important) so to say it shouldn't matter is a bit of a stretch, no?

[Innis_Mor]

i don't understand why it has to be an either or scenario (maybe i haven't read the same posts you have, which is possible). i think the team is at fault from the goaltender to the dmen to the stars to the coaches. they all have to be better, make adjustments, play as a team and play to win, none of which do they seem to be doing.

this is the playoffs, goaltending is very important (some would say the most important) so to say it shouldn't matter is a bit of a stretch, no?

• It certainly is not an either/or -- I feel "at fault" for being down 2-1 in this series has Price in the bottom Hab quartile. Team effort? Yes, it certainly is.
• Goaltending most certainly matters; I was stating, against these Flyers, it shouldn't matter whether it is Price or Halak. Both are more than good enough (and I feel Price has been; may not have been his best, but good enough against these Flyers) if the rest of the the team would just perform (score some goals, score in the 1st half of the game, and don't flub so expensively in the Hab zone (cough-ups, own-screens and own-deflections). If the Habs need the goaltender to steal them games against the Flyers, well, it'll be the last series for the Habs, 'cause they ain't gonna win 4 games all 1-0 against the Pens (I know, I am exxagerating to illustrate a point here! ).

I have seen a plethora of Price-centric posts, blaming him, and the media is loving the "Price-gambit": it is a simple story, to centre the spectre of failure in place of success upon a single person, particularly one who plays the position of last defense. Quite simply (IMHO), Price has not played all that poorly, and the key elements of support for him have been, despite best efforts, absent (goals scored, and clear lanes for shots to defend). All the Habs are trying; others (many Habs) are failing greater than Price, IMHO.