Game 8: Newcomers help stop skid

Reading the article, I wouldn't say the Thrashers goalie was better than Halak. Pavelec was amazing, but Halak wasn't really tested, and the one goal was a defensive breakdown leading to a wicked shot. You can't fault the guy for having a dull evening, but coming through when it was needed.

I know this is a black and white world, but the three on Price the game before weren't stinkers either. Both goalies have looked solid - it just remains to be seen if either can be solid consistently. Game by game, the goaltending has been largely decent, while the goalscoring has been awful. I'd like to see Halak get more work as he's a very good goalie and that the competition for the first string job has not been fair. But while it's easy to focus on the goalie, that's not the problem so far.

I like this idea of Lapierre on the wing with Pleks. Metropolit and Chipchura (who finally played an acceptable if unspectacular game last night) are okay as third and fourth line centres, and Maxime might bring something to the second line that it really needs. It could work out.

Martin should play Halak again, and again, and all year long, long enough to get a play off spot like Carbo played Halak and got fired for that.  Wasn't it funny to see Gainey playing Price and losing?

Tommy Pyatt should get some ice time given the injury to Metro and the non-performance of Chipchura. I know it's Chip's last chance, but he isn't doing anything.

Hey guys! Does anyone know what are the dates for special game events? The games that they usually give you gifts. Thanks!

i rule

Trouble in BeanTown

"Savard will miss four to six weeks with a broken left foot. The Bruins' announcement Wednesday did not say when Savard injured the foot."

Jaroslav Halak's record at the Bell Centre? 26-1.

Is it just me, or does this guy deserve more starts especially at home.

I just read that Lapierre is practicing on the wing of the Plex line.  Awesome!  I sugggested that just a week ago.  Given the chance, I think Laps will play well with more skilled guys, and on the wing.

Obviously Martin is listening to me... :)

--------------------------------------------------- `Could this team miss the playoffs? Who knows?' - Bob Gainey on the new Habs.

Three refreshing changes from last year:

- Martin's bench management. BGL has 3 minutes and the 1st line has an average 24 minutes. That's the way to go when the team needs a goal.

- Shots on goal

- Lapierre fights for his teammate. This shows that this team is closer together.

As long as we have good bench management and the boys are taking care of each other, we should have an enjoyable season (as compared to last year).

Up until last night, I've found Laps to be all but invisible, not the feisty PITA that he usually is and that's bad for Montreal.

Once a Habs fan, always a Habs fan

1.) Very good game.  I thought there was a bit of a lull in the 3rd period by our players and I could see the tying goal coming as a result. So a 60 minute effort still needs some work.

2.) A lot of posters are down on Gill.  He was brought in for his size, to kill penalties, to fill a #6 Dman role, and for what he can bring to the dressing room.  Then O'Byrne and Markov went down, and all of a sudden he is playing #4 minutes and he's lookng less than stellar.  Cut the guy a little slack.  It seems every year there is a scape goat on defence.  Last year O'Byrne and Brisebois, this year Gill.  I think players deserve a certain level of respect from the fans, unless they are bringing a selfish or disrespectful attitude towards the team and the fans.  O'Byrne and Brisebois never did that last year, and I don't see it from Gill this year.

3.) Gionta is the leader of the team and shows a lot of spark.  Cammalleri is making a good effort and hopefully will start to bury his chances soon.  Gomez is playing well too.  TSN were referring to this line as the Little Three or something like that.  I like that more than the Smurfs, as they are often called around here.  One poster came up with a brilliant name a couple of weeks ago, and I am disappointed that it hasn't caught on..."The Legion of Zoom."  Come on people.  That name is so appropriate and is such a great reference to the old Phillie line.  So how about it?  From here on in: The Legion of Zoom?

4.) The endless arguments over Price vs. Halak are a little tiresome.  As they were for Price vs. Huet and Huet vs. Abby and whoever it was before that.  We are fortunate to have 2 very good goalies.  I don't think either has reached his potential yet.  I was glad Halak got the start last night and he played well.  The problem this season thus far is not in goal.  It is scoring and to a lesser extent turnovers and defensive miscues.  I don't think it is clear at this point that giving Price a big edge in the number of starts is an advantage to the team and it would probably serve both goalies and the team to have a regular rotation until a pattern starts to emerge favouring one goalie over the other. 

5.) The Pleks AKost line is still not performing up to its potential.  I have confidence in Martin to find the right combinations.  But I think Lats could be given another chance at a top 6 position.  While the Legion of Zoom is by far our best offensive weapon, I hope Martin continues to experiment with Lats on the top 6, perhaps with Gomez and dropping Cammalleri to the Pleks line and giving that spot to Lats or Akost.  And I know everyone thinks the next game is must win just about every game we play, for continued success, we need to scoring lines, not one. It might take a little time to find the right combinations.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=295584

gonchar is out up to six weeks.

First off Halak was solid. Very Solid. And there were some threatening chances, but he is better with his lateral movement and he doesn't bite, without starting too much of a debate look at how he handled the shootouts, and now think to how price bites every time on the breakaway. second he didn't flop around, he  stayed with the play. I for one would like to see him finally get his chance as he has proven time and again that he can do it. I Honestly don't understand how people don't see that.

Second 13 was pretty brutal last night but I think we're all in agreement that it's no real cause for concern.

third D'ago playes one of his best NHL games, certainly his best this season

Just heard from a co-worker that Halak and Latenderness were injured in practise this morning and are out.

Can someone confirm/deny?

Apparently on RDS...

Once a Habs fan, always a Habs fan

A Must read for anyone that questions the changes made this year:

http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=57799

Matieu Darche scored another 2 goals in the Bulldogs' win last night. He's a left winger who has some size. He can't do worse than Pax or whoever else is on the 2nd line these days. Pyatt also scored hois 3rd of the year last night.

Although everyone seems to be on the same page on this one, I don't see Gill being benched anytime soon, not only that, it seem his ice time goes up while his +/- goes down. 

Either Martin sees something the rest of the world doesn't or Gainey is just being stubborn and is refusing to cut his losses and accept that this was a bad move.

Gionta for Captain!

I find the team is playing a little better each game. But, I have to wonder why each goalie we play has stellar nights. Why is each goalie so hot? I think it's because our shots are not menacing and the guys are shaky. Especially lucky #13. When things start rolling for Cammy though watch out. Don't know about you guys, but when Jaro is in nets, I feel less nervous. Price may be bigger, more talented, but Yaro is more consistent and sharp. I am not just saying this because he won last night. I have felt this way since last season.

There was no doubt Armstrong put his elbow to the head of Bergeron and he should have been kicked out of the game with a five minute major. The fact that Mcquire would even comment it was a clean hit shows his complete disrespect towards the Canadiens. Remember this is the idiot that compared the Leafs defence with the Canadiens big three. Why is this guy any where near a hockey rink. It"s no wonder no one in the NHL would ever take this guy serious enough to have him part of any team. TSN time to move on get rid of this jerk and find some one that will bring honesty and intelligent commentary to the hockey broadcast.

Shoot out was lots of fun.  If we keep rolling out the big 3 on shootouts we should be on the winning side of most of them...AK and Pleks being 4 and 5 if necessary.  Gionta was blazing.  The goalie actually was going to try for a poke check but by the time he got his stick in position, the puck was already in the net.

Finally..a win! Even though it was a shootout I'll take whatever I can get a this stage. For as bad as our record is, hockey is often times a game of breaks both good and bad. Sometimes they go your way, sometimes they don't. We hit 3 posts last night, those go in, we win in regulation. I was also thinking too, how many game have we lost where the opposition goalie has stood on his head...3 for sure, Edmonton, Ottawa, and Colorado. If those goalies don't stand on their heads, we're 6-2 vs. 3-5. I know it's been said lots already, ( and believe me I hate it when we lose as much as the next guy), but we still need to be patient with this bunch!

GO HABS GO!!!!!

TSN has a poll to see what is the greatest goalie mask in the NHL. I say we vote for the worst. Hands down the worst is Luongo. It's disgusting. I hate it.

Hal Gill, what can I say, he makes some good plays taking away pucks with that big stick but if he's pressured he'll cough it up almost every time. Why not give Belle, Subban, and the other defense men on Hamilton a good chance like a few games with the Canadiens and see who sticks with the club. This way the defense from Hamilton will know what they need to do to stay with the big club, pretty much like they did with LaPierre and Latendresse. What do we loose by sitting Hal Gill for a bit.

Well one thing for sure this team is certainly not being outplayed since the Vancouver game. Bad luck, bad calls and facing hot goaltending is the only reason this team is not above 500. The super smurfs were amazing last night but it"s time the the other guys step up and give them some help. We are still struggling with getting the puck out of our own end and the powerplay , well what can anyone say but its just not work.                                                                                

Montreal needs more face off wins, and we need an enforcer, not a washed up enforcer who wants to think he's a top 10 goal scorer, but an enforcer.  I am sure there are other teams that would willing take Laraques.  Also last night the refs were fair.  While they did not call every penalty at least they did not pick on Montreal.  Also Price was not in nets, so Montreal did not lose just by one or by many.  Clearly Price has lost his confidence agains this year with the barn burner in Vancouver.  Price has a confidence issue and the sooner we figure out that it only takes one game to destroy his year, the better.  We should consider trading Price now before any team figures this out and trade him for a high value player in return.  Perhaps the Leafs would consider.  If this means firing Gainey to do this trade, for the long term interest of the team, Price is a big liability.  So far he has not won.  We cannot wait years for this young man to evolve cause chances are he's always going to have this confidence problem.  Just my take.  Maybe I'm wrong about Price, but my gut instinct kind of tells me there is something terribly wrong that not even bringing over Tretiak to coach Price would solve Price.  Price needs to get over his Prima Donna attitude, learn how to lose and then get over that and win.