Game #24: Thrashers @ Habs - Tues. Dec. 2, 7:30et

[fourtrax]

Weep, when the puck went in you could see GL from the bench with his foot partially on the ice just realizing, yeah, hmmm, only 4 guys out there. Terribly embarssasing situation when scored upon. Did you know that grading papers on game night is a no no .

Hey, I sure didn't want to do it, but I had a deadline.

Laraque is really not helping himself out here. With SK74 and Lats on the bench, it was his chance to show he could have a positive impact as a physical fourth-line player, especially down low. Instead, his blunder led to a goal against that started Atlanta's comeback.

[Rygar]

Did my eyes deceive me, or did we only have four players on the ice for the first Columbus goal despite not being short-handed?

GL didn't play again after that.

All in all, two and a half periods of good effort is better than no effort through 3, I guess.

I'm glad we won.

[babinator77]

lol. my thuoghts exactly. I think it wouldn't been as bad though if the atlanta goals weren't scored in a matter of minutes lol. but then again that would have given us less time to rectify the problem. oh well i'm just happy we won but i would have much rather it be 5-0 (ok 5-1 i guess atlanta could have like on powerplay goal)

try 3 in 59 seconds.

i think this game is summed up perfectly by the headlines:

habsinsideout: canadiens win needless nailbiter

rds: le cauchemar évité (nightmare avoided)

good grief. if this doesn't prove that you have to work hard for SIXTY minutes, i'm not sure what will.

nice to see the on-ice chemistry we've been lacking of late (passes reaching their mark, players aware of their teammates. i'm not sold on our forecheck yet). our d is considerably better with dandenault back there and markov is starting to play the way we expect - actually i could say that about a few players (kovalev, kostitsyn, higgins...). great team game, despite the lapse.

[Rygar]

try 3 in 59 seconds.

i think this game is summed up perfectly by the headlines:

habsinsideout: canadiens win needless nailbiter

rds: le cauchemar évité (nightmare avoided)

good grief. if this doesn't prove that you have to work hard for SIXTY minutes, i'm not sure what will.

nice to see the on-ice chemistry we've been lacking of late (passes reaching their mark, players aware of their teammates. i'm not sold on our forecheck yet). our d is considerably better with dandenault back there and markov is starting to play the way we expect - actually i could say that about a few players (kovalev, kostitsyn, higgins...). great team game, despite the lapse.

Good points.

I'd also like to point out that we aren't the only team that can coast through a game and show up with intensity for short periods of time. Sure we had some brainfarts out there (unintended short handedness, etc), but it also coincided with Atlanta deciding to play hard.

[Habsology]

Did my eyes deceive me, or did we only have four players on the ice for the first Columbus goal despite not being short-handed?

Your eyes did deceive you, because we were playing Atlanta!

[Flying_Lion]

Well, I guess a Win is a Win is a Win. & nothing given the other way in terms of extra point. Still, I can't help but think that this game should have been over when it was 3-0, that the Habs should never have been in the situation they found themselves in during the 3rd period.

Two disturbing trends I've noted that don't seem to be getting addressed:

1. We come out firing on all cylinders, establish control and even a lead, only to start letting up as if the rest of the contest is a formality

2. We come out flat, go down by a goal or 2, before digging in and playing with effort.

Neither scenario is a viable long-term game plan.

Hopefully we can play another tight game against the Rangers, one similar to the game against Detroit and the 55 minutes we played against Atlanta.

GO HABS GO!

[BigBADHabs]

a deserved win outplayed Atlanta almost the whole game and some teams would have collapsed after blowing such a lead but we regrouped and got the Job done

that's all that needs to be said

Rangers are going to be tough though hope there will be no brain farts in that game

All though part of me is hoping for another 5 goal come back win from the Habs like last year just a part of me

[RSD]

Thank god for the empty net goal because that 4th. goal Price let in was another stinker, 4 soft goals hopefully next game he won't let any soft ones in, we bailed him out and got the 2 points!

are you kidding me? 4 soft goals?? the 1st one was a bomb, if that was markov who scored on the thrashers you wouldnt be calling that a soft shot...and the 2nd goal was barely even a goal...the third was a nice pass-and-play ok he coulda had that one but the thrashers just walked in on him thats gona be a goal...the fourth one he shoulda had...i wouldnt say 4 soft goals man thats taking it a bit far...

[habs-24]

That was a bad third period breakdown, just a simple lack of discipline, combined with a last ditch push by Atlanta.

Happy to walk away with the W. It was deserved, but the L would have been just as deserved had it happened that way.

Sorry to say it, but the goal was a goal. The video replay must have been inconclusive, so the call on the ice stands. Whether it was the correct call or not, without seeing that it did not cross the line, you have to admit it certainly looked like it was over the line. The tape couldn't prove otherwise.

The waved off goal was also the correct call. For whatever reason, Lapierre and the goalie were playing footsie and the goal went in before the goaltender had the chance to recalibrate. We don't play the front of the net strong enough, so if we manage to add it to the arsenal, we will have the odd call like this until our players learn how to fill that role.

Dandenault is playing well on D and should only get better if allowed more time on the blue line. He could be a little rusty, but he still did a decent job at it. I'd like to see him stick around there for a while yet.

Tanguay's penalty was wrong. He is just returning from a neck injury and he was being headlocked along the boards, so he grabbed a leg and tried to upend the player to take the leverage off the hold. That's what it looked like to me anyway. I know what the ref saw, but I'm pretty sure the ref didn't see the whole picture and certainly should have been aware of Tanguay's injury.

Haven't seen anything special from Dags, but he is playing at least as well as everyone else. Nice to see him get the first marker out of the way. Perhaps he will get more comfortable and we will see a bigger presence from him, but I got the impression from his interview that he doesn't show a lot of emotion. I like a little fire in my players, so I'll keep an eye out and see if his play is inspired or methodical.

Koivu was awesome.

what do you want the kid to show in interviews exactly? he is keeping a level head... he is smart

[357908_1475251331]

I've been grading papers all day and writing papers all night, give me a break!

Sorry, I meant Atlanta, of course.

A W is nice and all, but I would sooner smoke crack openly in my graduate seminar tomorrow than term tonight's 'effort' a positive sign.

i certainly did call it a positive effort, mostly due to the koivu, ak pairing, but in the face of your criticism i will admit that no mother's son will become a hockey player on the basis of this game.

i think lang was on point mostly due to the energy being expended by ak and koivu as it looked like they were on afterburners during most of the game.

[go_leafs_go11]

I feel like the expectations the media put on this hockey team has completely wiped out the sense of reality of many Habs fans. The fact of the matter is, we are not an overpowering, dominant team. This unbelievable "talent" we are supposed to possess has simply never existed. Last year we were not a first place team until the very last game and that was only because Pittsburgh wanted to face Ottawa in the first round. In fact, last year started out worse than this one.

What makes us SO much better this year? Tanguay? Lang? These guys are good players but they aren't the type of guys that turn a team from good to unstoppable. Also, we lost Streit, who can make case for himself as a top 3 offensive defenceman in the East. If we added Dan Boyle and Rob Blake and already had top 5 players in the league like Joe Thornton, we then could expect our team to go out and dominate teams like San Jose does.

But this is the NHL and other cities have very good hockey clubs. It is silly to think that we should go out every night and play picture perfect hockey, beating other teams handily night in and night out. Its crazy to think we won't sometimes make mistakes or have meltdowns. The fact is, we are finding ways to win.

Instead of talking about how "lucky" the habs were to pull out this victory, why not talk about how UNLUCKY they were that they had a goal that should have counted disallowed, and Atlanta had one that was allowed that maybe shouldn't have been. Atlanta was closer then they should have been, why can't we talk about that?

Instead of talking about how the Habs gave up a 3 goal lead, why not talk about how resilient they were to score one soon after, when they could have hung around until overtime. Andrei Kostitsyn was clutch, why can't we talk about that?

At this moment, the Habs are on a 2 game winning streak and have points in 7 of the last 9 games. Are they going in and dominating teams for those wins? No. But who does?

[WindsorHab-10]

Good post Renko. Can't argue with any point you made.

[Innis_Mor]

I feel like the expectations the media put on this hockey team has completely wiped out the sense of reality of many Habs fans. The fact of the matter is, we are not an overpowering, dominant team. This unbelievable "talent" we are supposed to possess has simply never existed. Last year we were not a first place team until the very last game and that was only because Pittsburgh wanted to face Ottawa in the first round. In fact, last year started out worse than this one.

What makes us SO much better this year? Tanguay? Lang? These guys are good players but they aren't the type of guys that turn a team from good to unstoppable. Also, we lost Streit, who can make case for himself as a top 3 offensive defenceman in the East. If we added Dan Boyle and Rob Blake and already had top 5 players in the league like Joe Thornton, we then could expect our team to go out and dominate teams like San Jose does.

But this is the NHL and other cities have very good hockey clubs. It is silly to think that we should go out every night and play picture perfect hockey, beating other teams handily night in and night out. Its crazy to think we won't sometimes make mistakes or have meltdowns. The fact is, we are finding ways to win.

Instead of talking about how "lucky" the habs were to pull out this victory, why not talk about how UNLUCKY they were that they had a goal that should have counted disallowed, and Atlanta had one that was allowed that maybe shouldn't have been. Atlanta was closer then they should have been, why can't we talk about that?

Instead of talking about how the Habs gave up a 3 goal lead, why not talk about how resilient they were to score one soon after, when they could have hung around until overtime. Andrei Kostitsyn was clutch, why can't we talk about that?

At this moment, the Habs are on a 2 game winning streak and have points in 7 of the last 9 games. Are they going in and dominating teams for those wins? No. But who does?

Very good points, Renko. And things have been turning around; it just seems like it's 2 steps forward, one step back -- but, at least they're moving forward!

But on "who does dominate", and I'd have to say San Jose does. I watched them last night for the first time this season. Wholly molly!! Hand those guys the Cup already!!

[CareyPrice31]

Very good points, Renko. And things have been turning around; it just seems like it's 2 steps forward, one step back -- but, at least they're moving forward!

But on "who does dominate", and I'd have to say San Jose does. I watched them last night for the first time this season. Wholly molly!! Hand those guys the Cup already!!

nty.

[LeafHater]

try 3 in 59 seconds.

i think this game is summed up perfectly by the headlines:

habsinsideout: canadiens win needless nailbiter

rds: le cauchemar évité (nightmare avoided)

good grief. if this doesn't prove that you have to work hard for SIXTY minutes, i'm not sure what will.

nice to see the on-ice chemistry we've been lacking of late (passes reaching their mark, players aware of their teammates. i'm not sold on our forecheck yet). our d is considerably better with dandenault back there and markov is starting to play the way we expect - actually i could say that about a few players (kovalev, kostitsyn, higgins...). great team game, despite the lapse.

i was talking real life minutes and not hockey minutes. that's why lol but yeah i had almost put minute and then i was like couldn't actually be THAT bad...but i guess it was. i was concentrating on the beer down my back and my wanting to hit my head on the bar in front of me to notice i guess lol

[RicochetII]

what do you want the kid to show in interviews exactly? he is keeping a level head... he is smart

I probably should have mentioned personality. This is his chance to make an impression and face time is a good way to do it. If he makes a good impression with the media and the fans, and combines that with a solid on ice performance, that could speak well for him.