Game 81, Habs vs Red Wings, Thursday April 9th
Apr 10, 2015 7:13:45 GMT -5
Post by BadCompany on Apr 10, 2015 7:13:45 GMT -5
I too thought some of the "big" names had rough nights. Markov, Subban (who was back into "trying too hard" mode if you ask me), Gallagher, Galchenyuk... even Plekanec looked disinterested at times.
On the other hand I thought our third and fourth lines were at times outstanding. Mitchell and Flynn had their best games in Montreal uniforms, as did DSP in my opinion (though that was a bad penalty to take). DSP was going to the net with or without the puck, and it was because of him, Desharnais, and the two Red Wing defensemen covering them, that Markov was able to score through a screen. Eller was good, as were Petry and Pateryn. Is it just me, or is Pateryn the master of the 6 foot-between-two-defenders-pass? We see come up the boards in his own end, get forced into the "trap" with one guy stopping him at the blueline and another one closing from an angle, and instead of trying to hammer it off the boards and out he just makes these nice little touch passes between the two to spring somebody out of the zone. Very underrated but calm play. These are all the guys we're going to need come playoff time, so yeah, it's a good sign that they are ramping up. The team has also scored three or more goals in 5 of the last 6 games played, also a good sign.
I don't know what to do about tomorrow's game. On the one hand, resting Price wouldn't be a bad thing, you don't want him to get hurt, and it is the Leafs. If you can't trust your backup goalie to get you a point against the Leafs then why bother having one? Might as well dress seven defensemen. But on the other hand, getting home ice advantage against Tampa in the second round (which is how things could very easily play out) could be huge. Yes, they've owned us, and it might not matter at all, but on the other hand our powerplayer is much, much better at home (now up to 8th in the league) and Tampa is a very mediocre road team. An extra powerplay goal in a 7th game could make all the difference. In which case it might be a good idea to go full-out for the win and secure home ice advantage. Do you play the long game, looking ahead to a potential second round matchup? Or do you play the short game and say that nothing is guaranteed in the first round, let's make sure we get there healthy and rested?
Tough call.
On the other hand I thought our third and fourth lines were at times outstanding. Mitchell and Flynn had their best games in Montreal uniforms, as did DSP in my opinion (though that was a bad penalty to take). DSP was going to the net with or without the puck, and it was because of him, Desharnais, and the two Red Wing defensemen covering them, that Markov was able to score through a screen. Eller was good, as were Petry and Pateryn. Is it just me, or is Pateryn the master of the 6 foot-between-two-defenders-pass? We see come up the boards in his own end, get forced into the "trap" with one guy stopping him at the blueline and another one closing from an angle, and instead of trying to hammer it off the boards and out he just makes these nice little touch passes between the two to spring somebody out of the zone. Very underrated but calm play. These are all the guys we're going to need come playoff time, so yeah, it's a good sign that they are ramping up. The team has also scored three or more goals in 5 of the last 6 games played, also a good sign.
I don't know what to do about tomorrow's game. On the one hand, resting Price wouldn't be a bad thing, you don't want him to get hurt, and it is the Leafs. If you can't trust your backup goalie to get you a point against the Leafs then why bother having one? Might as well dress seven defensemen. But on the other hand, getting home ice advantage against Tampa in the second round (which is how things could very easily play out) could be huge. Yes, they've owned us, and it might not matter at all, but on the other hand our powerplayer is much, much better at home (now up to 8th in the league) and Tampa is a very mediocre road team. An extra powerplay goal in a 7th game could make all the difference. In which case it might be a good idea to go full-out for the win and secure home ice advantage. Do you play the long game, looking ahead to a potential second round matchup? Or do you play the short game and say that nothing is guaranteed in the first round, let's make sure we get there healthy and rested?
Tough call.