Gionta 3, Caps 2 (SO): Small captain, big heart

Don't you just want to grab him and huggle him?

Perhaps Ovechkin could learn a few things from Captain America. What I saw tonight from the Great 8 was an embarrassing, ridiculous childish display of pent-up frustration tipping to the point of stupidity. His attempts to draw penalties by slashing Halpern's stick only to break his own and scream at the ref who didn't fall for it? His facewashing exchange with PK where the official pulled only PK to the box considering the exchange ended in a pile by Price's feet. If his swan dive against the Rangers was bad, tonight he pulled out the whole gamut of tricks. Humour not lost on me, the 3 All-Star participants were heavily engaged in each other on the ice tonight, with PK in his face all night like Gorges usually is. I'm sure if Mcguire was doing the game, he'd be warning us about not poking the bear, yada yada yada. In all honesty everyone knows Ovie's going to cut to the middle pretty much every time.

It all came down to Price stopping him in the shootout and going nuts for the win. Dans ta face.

Regardless, Habs did us proud and earned these points after kicking off the dust from the ASG break. I was actually shocked to see they have a semi-winning record post-ASG break but for a while it looked bad. However, the Captain did what a captain should do: take control of the situation and prop up his team on his tiny little back instead of flailing at the officials, banging his stick on the boards, and bitching about not getting the puck when HE wanted to. Gionta knows how to handle a team and knows the team is all that matters. Price settled comfortably back into his crease. (Funny video of him coming late to practice 'cause his gear pulled a Corey Locke on him). The D played rather well even with the few Hamr brain farts. I thought Weber was fantastic and I wish people would stop saying he's pure trade bait. I also wish Wiz would get a dark stick because you can see the puck from the Space Station when he has it... And for some long stretches it was back-and-forth action my brother said resembled the ASG but with effort and defence.

And I know the Habs can't do this every game. I'm not stupid. But this game was Gionta's statement. He buzzed around the Caps all night, even with their extra long fat bladed sticks. Not sure if it's officially called a hat trick since the winning goal was a shootout goal, so we'll call it a Kovy Hat Trick. And if it were physically possible, I think Superman wears Brian Gionta pijamas.

I love Ben Cahoon. I love Brian Gionta. To me, these two are cut from the same amazing cloth.

Hover! Habs bromance!

Habs 5, Islanders 1: A New York warm up

Yes, the Islanders played to a tough shootout victory last night and they looked it. Habs played to a quiet shootout victory the night before that and had a good rest between and looked it. But what can you say. When in a slump, hope the Thrashers and Islanders come in to bring the suck. It worked.

Over the course of the past few games the shots against got lower and lower, which is great, because the forwards had the puck more and the defence was forcing everything wide. Tonight they added a new tool to the shed: goalie protection. Shots rarely got to Jaro tonight, and those that did were seen all the way. They also kept people from walking out in front too much (but when they did they were either neutralized or just shot wide from fatigue).

It's nice to see the defence be aware for once. No more kicking pucks in your own net by a stunned and annoyed goalie. Reason for this? Positioning. Movement. If you're standing still unaware at how your foot is angled towards the net, you will be burned. If you're running about overwhelmed you will plotz. And with Jaro's problematic rebounds, it's good to see the awareness of the defence when the puck actually came to him and bounced out to the slot that they would whack it out of harms way. The active stick, it works.

Yea it was another quiet night, and Jaro probably grabbed a beer.

But... "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do." (Emerson). So yea, the Habs took the foot off the gas in the 3rd, and Jaro showed us just how much he sucks at playing the puck to break his own shutout bid while on the powerplay, and gave the Islanders a shmidgin of energy. Nothing like a good ol' error to remind us just how easy the tides can turn in a hockey game. Hey ya gotta keep it interesting, right?

That or I guess they really did have a beer in the room before coming out.

W00T!
- Sorry Biron, you're not Billy Smith.
- Uh huh... With two uneventful games for our goalie, it didn't take long for the Price bashers to come out and spew their bile. Funny how they were quiet when he was stealing games while making the 40 shot saves earlier. That goes double for the Gazette's Hickey...
- Cammy's PP goal using his Bret Hull knee shot! IMMA FIRIN MAH LAZER!
- Bergeron collected some gold and change tonight. He's still a little weird when he's being forechecked though.
- Chipper came to his aid when Jackson punched Bergeron while defending, only somehow ended up fighting Thompson.
- Tavares should learn those slick OHL moves really don't work in the NHL too well. But I'm happy he's not a Leaf or we'd never hear the end of it. They'd probably ruin him anyway.
- Streit stays out for the entire Islanders powerplay. No wonder his ice time is so high.
- Metro's back! Metro's back! And he's still awesome! And got the first star!
- Patches scored a la Kovy Spin from the slot.
- I never noticed that Dagger is kind of tall...
- If Gomez keeps scoring, his parents won't leave.
- Keep this type of play up when the Rags come in Saturday and then I'll be absolutely impressed.

V 2, A 1 (SO): Aliens, I'm sure of it

So now you guys decide to play defence? (Until you forgot in the 3rd period which was why Army scored, of all people). Though I don't know what's more disturbing: the fact the 4-1 T(h)rashers looked completely opposite from the team that made Brodeur look silly, or the fact the Habs could only really score one against such a muddy defensive coverage while keeping the thrashers to 12 shots for 40 minutes. I also find it disturbing that every open net ended up with a post, and that Jaro kept looking behind him even when the puck never got to him...

My only conclusion: V!

That's right. The Habs are really some strange group of reptilian aliens hiding under a human skin seeking control of our world by trying to integrate themselves into our society via our fascination with hockey. Check your pets!

Look out! Or not! The Habs can't shoot straight!

Meanwhile Jaro could have taken a lunch break for 40 minutes and the outcome would have probably stayed the same.

My theory of aliens having taken over the team would probably answer my questions on why the Energy Line isn't very energetic these days...save for Patches, who is playing with a separated shoulder yet actually manages to cause all forms of havoc. Though the effort is wasted after the zone is lost on the next line, and forced back to defend. Yay!

Apparently the T(h)rashers like to toss people badly into the boards. Good line brawl with Lapierre dropping Army (hiss) while Bergeron wobbled into the corner. And a clearly annoyed Gomez turning and attacking after he was sent head first into the boards.

I was not pleased with the powerplay that barely had any set up save for when Pleky was out there. Towards the end of the game though it just fizzled. I was pleased with the penalty kill though, that looked better than the powerplay. Keep that up, however... as Streit and John "Back Door" Tavares are coming in next.

So the Habs Aliens can only win in overtime this year apparently. I was not happy it went to a shootout, especially with Jaro in nets (who's method is "hope and pray they miss"). However we're lucky Kovalchuk appeared out of it (he was quiet the entire game actually, which usually indicates a loss for Atlanta...7 goals in 5 games, did nothing tonight except for one shot that was aimed right for the CH on Jaro) and shot wide, and Peverley just didn't know what he was doing on the shootout (Kozlov is their shootout guy, who was out for tossing Gomez head first into the boards). Even my brother was thinking Little would be one of the shooters before Peverley. Seriously? Gomez and Gionta > Kovy and Peverley for shootouts. Just saying.


W00T
- OK so defensively it's a little better, but the minute you forgot about it there was a goal...stop that.
- Goalies switched their water bottles for something harder: Halak's had smooth beer, Pavelec's had straight vodka.
- Guimauve, park your ass in front and SCREEN. They're not asking you to tip it wide, they want you to screen the goalie.
- I don't think I can take 1-0 games for the entire year. I also think Jaro and Price will have nervous breakdowns by December from it. Please someone else score!
- Andrei, how many times do you need to deke when you're just dumping the puck? Yes it's cool, but the puck went the other way...
- Winning goalie or not, I hold my breath whenever Jaro leaves his net to play the puck and suicide passes it to a defenceman's skates...
- Can we please win in regulation next time?
- Can we also just give Gionta the C already?