Game Analysis: Pregame And Postgame Discussion

[Guest bigsby]

so quiet in here...

no analysis needed, i guess. the hungrier team will win. the boys have been outstanding all season long and have made history when it counted. it comes down to one game. they need to show up. that's all.

[Guest 77Bourque77]

so quiet in here...

no analysis needed, i guess. the hungrier team will win. the boys have been outstanding all season long and have made history when it counted. it comes down to one game. they need to show up. that's all.

its as simple as that.

[Guest hablover]

60 minutes to either doom or joy

[Guest keithman]

I'd like to take a minute to analyze my chest.

Well, i tried to eat healthy today to avoid any potential heart attacks (I'm predicting one a period)

I didn't leave the house today (in fear of getting a heart attack while driving)

I couldn't do number "2" today (too anxious and excited)

I couldn't, you know, *winks*

I went for a run to start my heart a bit pre-game styles.

I have an exam tomorrow I have not yet prepared for.

All in all,

I'm ready for this game.

[Guest hablover]

I'd like to take a minute to analyze my chest.

Well, i tried to eat healthy today to avoid any potential heart attacks (I'm predicting one a period)

I didn't leave the house today (in fear of getting a heart attack while driving)

I couldn't do number "2" today (too anxious and excited)

I couldn't, you know, *winks*

I went for a run to start my heart a bit pre-game styles.

I have an exam tomorrow I have not yet prepared for.

All in all,

I'm ready for this game.

ha ha! Thats hilarious!

Thats one of the funniest posts i've read in a while

[Guest GreekHockeyCoach]

I'd like to take a minute to analyze my chest.

Well, i tried to eat healthy today to avoid any potential heart attacks (I'm predicting one a period)

I didn't leave the house today (in fear of getting a heart attack while driving)

I couldn't do number "2" today (too anxious and excited)

I couldn't, you know, *winks*

I went for a run to start my heart a bit pre-game styles.

I have an exam tomorrow I have not yet prepared for.

All in all,

I'm ready for this game.

Excellent post

[fourtrax]

Ye gods, they were skating last night!

And with the skating, the two-man forecheck was causing the Bruins all kinds of problems. They just don't have the same team speed we do. We were beating them to the puck and there was nothing they could do about it.

[fourtrax]

Just noticed from the boxscore that Carbo really rolled lines and pairings evenly last night. Higgins actually played a bit more than Kovalev, probably because we had to kill off so many penalties. Dandenault only played 6:50, though, which really makes me want Ryder in the lineup.

[Guest Innis_Mor]

Ye gods, they were skating last night!

The Habs returned to their game -- skating, puck movement and scoring. They took their minds off "hitting and avoiding hits" ('Play-Off Hockey' ) and just "went and got the danged puck". I saw a number of players (forwards in particular, and no one more so that Koivu) dedicate themselves to getting to the puck first, taking the squelching hit, and bouncing back up to get into position again (mostly to take a pass, because they had pushed the puck to a teammate, or at least to another spot that a teammate could battle again for the puck).

• The D can still play better (and I know they will)
• Touch passes and touch puck movement still needs to improve (and I know it will)
• Price? Well, he doesn't need to improve at all!!

[Guest netcase]

perfectly said

Yes, still repeating the mistakes from previous games. The point misses, the soft, puck pushing passes.

Once the Habs got into overdrive however, the Bruins were just whirling around confused.

That is their style of play that got them into first place and finally out of that series as big winners.

Message to Carbs; please don't change a thing and stick to OUR style.

[Guest Innis_Mor]

Message to Carbs; please don't change a thing and stick to OUR style.

Yes, skip the "Play-Off Hockey" . Just skate and get the puck. Deal out a hit if it is there, but don't go looking for it -- look for the puck.

[Guest Chinook]

great series - of course not in terms of solid hockey but for sure great for the remainder of the play-offs. we are now well in the rythm, we know that we can handle the pressure of a 7 game series. sounds strange - but this shaky series is the best that could happen to us - imagine we had won it in 4 straight games - no good at all to get over confidence. our guys now know it will take at least another 5 % percent out of each to make it through the next round. I am convinced this 7 games series is the best that could have happen to us in view of the many games still to follow......

[Guest bigsby]

new series...the flyers...not my favourite team for so many reasons.

i caught as much as i could of the caps series and usually saw the caps win so the flyers look beatable to me. i saw that they hit ovechkin every chance they could and i noticed that they run the goalie and crowd the net. i think our d are pretty good at watching the front of the net - most goals against come from further out. that's a plus.

the hitting..well i'd like to think that the bruins play a smarter game than the flyers do.

i guess...what i'm looking for is the aspect of their game the habs should be concerned about. habs are still the favourite which is great but i'm wondering what the flyers can do to make them struggle? if they use the boston game plan, i think they'll fail.

if our boys show up and play like they did in games one and seven good things will happen. i can't imagine they'll fall into the same 'hitting trap' that they did against the bruins and i think markov's passing game will work if the flyers don't trap. so, what else do the habs need to do other than get their pp rolling? play smart and don't get hurt i guess.

[Guest Onzeee]

new series...the flyers...not my favourite team for so many reasons.

i caught as much as i could of the caps series and usually saw the caps win so the flyers look beatable to me. i saw that they hit ovechkin every chance they could and i noticed that they run the goalie and crowd the net. i think our d are pretty good at watching the front of the net - most goals against come from further out. that's a plus.

the hitting..well i'd like to think that the bruins play a smarter game than the flyers do.

i guess...what i'm looking for is the aspect of their game the habs should be concerned about. habs are still the favourite which is great but i'm wondering what the flyers can do to make them struggle? if they use the boston game plan, i think they'll fail.

if our boys show up and play like they did in games one and seven good things will happen. i can't imagine they'll fall into the same 'hitting trap' that they did against the bruins and i think markov's passing game will work if the flyers don't trap. so, what else do the habs need to do other than get their pp rolling? play smart and don't get hurt i guess.

why are we the favorites? the slate is clean starting tonight

[Guest halifax_habs]

if our boys show up and play like they did in games one and seven good things will happen. i can't imagine they'll fall into the same 'hitting trap' that they did against the bruins and i think markov's passing game will work if the flyers don't trap. so, what else do the habs need to do other than get their pp rolling? play smart and don't get hurt i guess.

I think the only thing we need to 'worry' about is the Flyers have more firepower than the Bruins but for me this isn't a huge worry. The other worry is Marty Biron I guess - a French Canadian goalie playing in Montreal always seems to come up huge, although I don't know if this can be counted on for a whole series.

As lots of others have said it and as long as the Habs skate they should beat Philly. I think the Bruins actually did us a favour by pushing it to seven - our team now knows how much is at stake and the work needed to win a series.

[Guest russianhabsfan]

why are we the favorites? the slate is clean starting tonight

Would you stop being so negative all teh time?

As an any sport "Montreal (1) vs Philladelphia (6)" just this should tell you that Montreal is the "favourite".

Consider it like tennis seedings.

[Guest bigsby]

I think the only thing we need to 'worry' about is the Flyers have more firepower than the Bruins but for me this isn't a huge worry. The other worry is Marty Biron I guess - a French Canadian goalie playing in Montreal always seems to come up huge, although I don't know if this can be counted on for a whole series.

As lots of others have said it and as long as the Habs skate they should beat Philly. I think the Bruins actually did us a favour by pushing it to seven - our team now knows how much is at stake and the work needed to win a series.

their firepower was a concern tonight. thier 7 20 goalscorers are a definite concern. as we saw, goals came from anywhere and anyhow.

i worried about biron but he looked, and was, beatable tonight. the difference: counter to all the predictions...as is usually the case, their d outplayed ours. some adjustments should fix that but it was not pretty out there tonight.

skate, yes, and NOT give up when they're down. how did the habs fall back when they were down? that's ridiculous when it's a one or two goal game in this nhl...i was very disappointed, especially after we made it 2-1 and the habs still didn't show any life! thank you kovalev and koivu for continuing to raise the bar when the other guys fall off their game...good grief.

[fourtrax]

What was with the forwards playing about 100 feet from the D in our zone? It left 'em no choice but to keep trying these long breakout passes that kept getting picked off. The forwards have got to stay closer to our blueline when we're trying to get the attack started.

Also, our defense has to not be atrocious, because Komisarek, Brisebois, Gorges, and Bouillon all took turns wearing the goat horns tonight.

[Guest Onzeee]

our D has a ton of trouble making breakout passes, same thing during the boston series... its a concern

[fourtrax]

When we're trailing in the third period, our D-men don't realize they're supposed to activate and start taking risks to keep the puck in the zone. More than once, I saw a good offensive surge deflated because the puck went round the boards and the d-man backed off the play, not pinching because he was afraid of the possibility of an odd-man rush. However, when you're down by a goal, you have to take those chances or you'll never get any sustained pressure. Without Markov pinching in to keep the puck in the zone in OT, we'd never have scored the game-winner.

[Guest bigsby]

What was with the forwards playing about 100 feet from the D in our zone? It left 'em no choice but to keep trying these long breakout passes that kept getting picked off. The forwards have got to stay closer to our blueline when we're trying to get the attack started.

Also, our defense has to not be atrocious, because Komisarek, Brisebois, Gorges, and Bouillon all took turns wearing the goat horns tonight.

you're right! what was the point of that? trying to get passed a non-existent flyers trap?

murphy's law: we were supposed to smoke them at the back end and man did our d look bad. no wonder i gave markov such high marks; everyone else was way off their game.

if i hear that the game was weird one more time...now we can playing poorly weird? lol.

two questions after last night's game:

1) does brisebois take a night off for o'byrne? i see the physical upside to o'byrne but i feel like he'll get caught as much as breezer did last night...it's a much faster game than the bruins series.

2) why aren't we duplicating the flyers' deadly point shots? it doesn't look that hard?!

[fourtrax]

1) does brisebois take a night off for o'byrne? i see the physical upside to o'byrne but i feel like he'll get caught as much as breezer did last night...it's a much faster game than the bruins series.

Initially, after last night's game, I was pretty set on O'Byrne drawing in to replace Breezer. But you make a good point about the speed of the game. On the other hand, a night off could be just what Breezer needs to come back refocused and fresh in game three. O'Byrne is actually a faster skater than Breezer so I don't think speed will be an issue. He could get exposed through positional errors, but he could also pancake guys like Briere along the boards. It's a tough call.

2) why aren't we duplicating the flyers' deadly point shots? it doesn't look that hard?!

To my mind, there are four main reasons why we aren't doing it right now:

1. With the exception of the Smoke line, our forwards have forgotten how to play simple hockey, i.e. chip the puck in, skate hard after it, regain possession, and attack. The other three lines get caught trying to be too cute at the Flyers' blueline, and in most cases never even gain the zone, instead spending most of their shifts in the neutral zone or in our end. You can't take point shots if you don't have puck possession in the offensive zone.
2. Our D are way too conservative on the pinch, like they're terrified of being caught. Many times last night, I watched a perfectly good play get snuffed out because the puck came back around the boards to the other side but the d-man just backed off instead of keeping the puck in the zone.
3. Our d-men simply have to do a better job of getting pucks to the net. Brisebois did it effectively in round one. Markov is starting to do it now. But everyone else has to step it up.
4. The Flyers are actually very good at pressuring point men, whereas we get strangely passive in the same situation, giving the enemy shooters way too much time and space to shoot.

[Guest bigsby]

Initially, after last night's game, I was pretty set on O'Byrne drawing in to replace Breezer. But you make a good point about the speed of the game. On the other hand, a night off could be just what Breezer needs to come back refocused and fresh in game three. O'Byrne is actually a faster skater than Breezer so I don't think speed will be an issue. He could get exposed through positional errors, but he could also pancake guys like Briere along the boards. It's a tough call.

i don't see o'byrne being faster though that might be how i interpret his size. i'm not sure. i know breezer isn't the fastest and he gets caught but at least when he does get caught his reaction time is usually fast enough to relieve some pressure. o'byrne i'm not sure has fast enough reflexes - most likely it's experience that i'm speaking of...but i could easily be wrong. however, i do see hitting being an asset if o'byrne is smart enough to use it to our 'possessional' advantage: hit, get the puck, pass it to hammer and await the offensive rush. however, one reason why i would keep breezer in the lineup is his offensive contributions considering how much trouble we're having finding the net on most nights. that said, i think i agree with you. rest him a game and let o'byrne tire out the flyers. lol.

To my mind, there are four main reasons why we aren't doing it right now:

1. With the exception of the Smoke line, our forwards have forgotten how to play simple hockey, i.e. chip the puck in, skate hard after it, regain possession, and attack. The other three lines get caught trying to be too cute at the Flyers' blueline, and in most cases never even gain the zone, instead spending most of their shifts in the neutral zone or in our end. You can't take point shots if you don't have puck possession in the offensive zone.
2. Our D are way too conservative on the pinch, like they're terrified of being caught. Many times last night, I watched a perfectly good play get snuffed out because the puck came back around the boards to the other side but the d-man just backed off instead of keeping the puck in the zone.
3. Our d-men simply have to do a better job of getting pucks to the net. Brisebois did it effectively in round one. Markov is starting to do it now. But everyone else has to step it up.
4. The Flyers are actually very good at pressuring point men, whereas we get strangely passive in the same situation, giving the enemy shooters way too much time and space to shoot.

agreed on all counts. perhaps you could forward that to carbo - though i'm sure he's noticed it.

two comments:

i found that the dmen were pinching and lost the point in which case i watched the puck glide by...well, no one. how does backing off the puck make the play any safer? it sounds, and was, much more dangerous when you put it like that.

good grief. the passive play when the flyers had a chance to set up shop in our end was disheartening - the habs were more aggressive on the pk than they were 5 on 5. absurd! if they watched game 7 of the caps series, our boys should have been smarter than that. of course...a similar play gave us the ot winner this time

[Guest GreekHockeyCoach]

Initially, after last night's game, I was pretty set on O'Byrne drawing in to replace Breezer. But you make a good point about the speed of the game. On the other hand, a night off could be just what Breezer needs to come back refocused and fresh in game three. O'Byrne is actually a faster skater than Breezer so I don't think speed will be an issue. He could get exposed through positional errors, but he could also pancake guys like Briere along the boards. It's a tough call.

To my mind, there are four main reasons why we aren't doing it right now:

1. With the exception of the Smoke line, our forwards have forgotten how to play simple hockey, i.e. chip the puck in, skate hard after it, regain possession, and attack. The other three lines get caught trying to be too cute at the Flyers' blueline, and in most cases never even gain the zone, instead spending most of their shifts in the neutral zone or in our end. You can't take point shots if you don't have puck possession in the offensive zone.
2. Our D are way too conservative on the pinch, like they're terrified of being caught. Many times last night, I watched a perfectly good play get snuffed out because the puck came back around the boards to the other side but the d-man just backed off instead of keeping the puck in the zone.
3. Our d-men simply have to do a better job of getting pucks to the net. Brisebois did it effectively in round one. Markov is starting to do it now. But everyone else has to step it up.
4. The Flyers are actually very good at pressuring point men, whereas we get strangely passive in the same situation, giving the enemy shooters way too much time and space to shoot.

Excellent analysis, I agree with Bigs that you need to forward this to Carbo. I especially like your assessment about the D being too conservative. I guess they feel that Philly is somewhat of a fast team and they want to avoid odd man rushes. They definitely do need to shoot more, even a weak shot that gets through can create either a loose puck or at worst a faceoff in their zone.

I felt that our main problem last night that was that we weren't covering their points. Therefore the Flyers D had free reign on the point shot. Alot were blocked but that problem has to be addressed. I can understand Carbo's defensive style where he was the forwards to collapse down low and flood the slot but as we saw yesterday, Philly noticed that and started using their points more.

[Guest bigsby]

What was with the forwards playing about 100 feet from the D in our zone? It left 'em no choice but to keep trying these long breakout passes that kept getting picked off. The forwards have got to stay closer to our blueline when we're trying to get the attack started.

Also, our defense has to not be atrocious, because Komisarek, Brisebois, Gorges, and Bouillon all took turns wearing the goat horns tonight.

carbo addressed this as a 'concern' in his postgame press conference: rds le point de presse de carbo

let's see what happens tonight!

same lineup last i heard so if they've fine tuned what gave them problems in the first game (other than fluky goals) it should be a great game!

woooohoooo!