Flyers

Canada vs. Russia for the International Ice Hockey Federation Championship.

Flyers – Penguins V. 

Does it get any better than this?

Two great games are in prospect, and I'm not even going to whine about being indoors on a sunny afternoon.

I haven't watched the Worlds at all, but this game should be a corker. I'm looking forward to seeing Andrei Markov: it's been a while.

Markov is wearing number 52. He has three shots on goal, one assist, four minutes in penalties and is even in plus/minus. 

Later it's the Flyers trying to stay alive in Pittsburgh. Kimmo Timonen will be back and maybe Braydon Coburn, but I think the game will come down to whether Martin Biron can do what Marty Turco did yesterday in Detroit.

I doubt it. The best team in hockey may be in trouble heading back to Dallas, but the best team in the East should end it today. I think Michel Therrien will have the Penguins ready to rumble.

•  •  •

The buzz is that Pittsburgh can't afford to sign Marian Hossa. Primary suitors, come July 1, are the Canadiens and New York Rangers.

I'm still hoping for Mats Sundin. I think he'd solve more problems – size, grit, top-line centre – than Hossa would. 

Get out the brooms – maybe the ones that weren't used in Dallas last night.

Can the Flyers emulate the Stars by avoiding a sweep?

Do-able ... but not easy.

Pittsburgh is firing on all cylinders. And Philadelphia is not as good as Dallas.

Maybe the zebras will make things interesting by cocking up a goaltender interference call.

Whatever, it's just postponing the inevitable:

The Red Wings and Penguins will play for the Stanley Cup.

And the sooner they start, the happier we'll all be ... if only because CBC might be smart enough to assign Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson to the final.

Bit of a late post because our Gazette boss took the Habs I/O crew – me, Stubbs and Hickey (Mio was MIA), plus photographers and copy editors who work on the print pages – to lunch at The Keg.

I ate like a pig (as I always do when it's free), and I'm sitting here in a fair degree of gastric distress, waiting for the game to start. I think dinner will be a Bloody Caesar and some peanuts.

Setting up the post early today so I can go spend some time with my dear 91-year-old mother.

Mike Ribeiro: Phone home. Whatever she tried to teach you didn't take.

Maxim Talbot will be back in the lineup for the Penguins for Game 2.

Hey, if Pittsburgh wins topnight can we proceed directly to the Penguins-Red Wings all skills/all the time final that we want to see?

That way hockey will be over before the end of the month and we can can get out and enjoy the sunshine. 

Same deal as last night: feel free to vent if you're watching the game.

Let's hope the zebras do a better job. Bill McCreary was brutal. The 5-on-3 was ridiculous, the Holmstrom goal should have been disallowed.

That said, Dallas was exhausted and Detroit was .... well, Detroit.

Pittsburgh will be Pittsburgh tonight. But can Philadelphia, sans Timonen, be Philadelphia?

Pierre McGuire thinks the Penguins will go right after Braydon Coburn and R.J.F. Umberger.

Hope it's a decent game. I was watching a movie by the end of the second period last night.

We'll have a whole summer to get used to the idea, and it may take that long:

The beter team won the series.

Not the luckier team. The better team.

Because as Christopher Higgis and Josh Gorges have been saying, you make your own luck. The great golfer Ben Hogan put it another way:

"People say I'm lucky. But it's funny: the more I practice, the luckier I get."

Philadelphia's superiority manifested itself during the second period last night.

After Christopher Higgins beat the suddenly-beatable Martin Biron with the kind of short-side laser that had been eluding Carey Price, the Canadiens led 3-1. Minutes later, they killed off a 5-on-3 Flyers power play and everyone in the Bell Centre was thinking the same thing:

"Back to Philadelphia!"

Everyone, that is, except the guys on the visitors' bench. They were going back to Philadelphia, all right – but not for Sunday night hockey.

From the Canadiens' PR department:

Translated: "We expected more. We went  deep into the playoffs and acccomplished many things. Sometimes when you lose a game, a series like this it helps you make progress."

Translated: "We would have liked our goaltenders to be better, but in a few weekks there will be 29 teams saying the same thing."

Translated: "You have to give the Flyers credit. They took advantage of their chances, the bounced and the breaks." 

“The
fourth (goal) really hurt us. Actually, every goal hurt us. We played
five games against them. They took advantage of all their breaks.”

“They took care of their business, and we didn’t get a chance to take care of our business.”

“This is probably our worst game in the playoffs against Philly.”

“Umberger… Everything he touched turned into a goal.”

Courtesy of the Canadiens PR department:

“It’s
pretty rewarding for us to see our players be that excited, to see
everyone in our organization moving on against a team like Montreal.
What a great team, and a great year.”

“Wow…
(Umberger) was a possessed man. We moved him around and he didn’t even
bat an eye. He just wanted to play. He went from right side to left
side… He’s just been a force.”

“It was a pretty
intense environment coming out there. The crowd here is terrific. We
had the ability to settle down and get things back on track. I think
our guys really wanted this game.”

“Our leaders led the way and our young players grew up in a hurry.”

Now or never. (THE GAZETTE/John Kenney)Carey “I’m Rested” Price is getting the nod.
Alex “Something to Prove” Kovalev is going to be reunited with linemates Andre Kostitsyn and Tomas Plekanec.
The Montreal “Must-Win” Canadiens return to the friendly confines of the boisterous Bell Centre for Game 5.

But maybe most importantly – Guy Carbonneau will sport “the tie”.

Take the flags off the cars.

Wash the red, white and blue out of your hair.

No more Olés.

No more hockey in Montreal, until the Canadiens' centennial season begins in the autumn.

"Daddy, you're all done with the season," said one of Bryan Smolinski's kids, walking into the Canadiens' somber room on either side of their Dad.

"All done," said Smolinski. "You guys want a drink? Let's get you a drink."

Let's all have a drink. It was helluva ride, from read-leaved October to the darling buds of May.

Canadiens fans saw more hockey than we thought we would when the season began. So let's not mope unduly about aa fairly igominious exit by the hometown heroes.

"Obviously, I'm disappointed," said captain Saku Koivu, who described the five-game loss to Philadelphia as "frustrating."

"I thought we outplayed them, definitely in the first four games," Koivu added. "To come up with one win, you hav to give a lot of credit to their team. They did a lot of things right and found ways to win games."

This they did. The Flyers came back from a 3-1 deficit wih three unanswered second-period goals, then took conntrol of the game after Andrei Kostitsyn briefly brought the crowd to life by tying it early in the third period.

looking at the season in perspective, Koivu said "you have a lot of ups and a lot of downs, but you always remember the last night."

Koivu said the season had produced "a lot of great things, a lot of positive meoments" to be savored once the pain of tonight's loss diminished.

That will take time.

"For the next little while it's going to be tough," said Josh Gorges. "These things happen. Only one team can win every year, and this year it's not us. We have to learn from our mistakes.

"We got a young group of guys. We'll soak up a lot of what we went through together in these playoff series. In a month or so when we're at home we'll think about this series and what we could have done diffrently and what we can do differently next year."

Christopher Higgins, who was devastated after the final-game loss knocked Canadiens out of playoff contention last April, said tonight's loss felt worse.

"We got a taste of what it was like after winning one series," Higgins said. "After you win one it's kind of addictive. You want to go on and on and see how far you can take this thing." 

Gorges said Carbonneau told the team he was proud of them, that no one had given the Canadiens a chance this season but they'd stuck together from Day One and played hard for each other.

"I think we grew as a team," Gorges said. "It's a tough time because not everybody will be back next year. You never know. Hopefully everyone is back because we have a great team, a good group of young guys. We'll learn from this." 

 "We proved a lot of people wrong," Koivu said. "We were really consistent as a team and that's something to be proud of.

"I strongly believe especially in the NHL you don't become a winner overnight,"  Koivu added. "It takes a lot of work, huge steps. It's not going to be any easier next year. But we can keep improving as a team and the future will be good for us.

"That's the mentality I hope everyone takes home for the summer and gets ready for the next training camp." 

Four Habs Fans, one of the best Canadiens sites around, has a fan's harrowing account of his visit to the Wachovia Centre.

Parental discretion is advised.

•  •  •

I've been on Michael Ryder's case and I think I've cracked it.

Those weren't paper airplanes he was floating out of the pressbox during Game 4.

They were CV's.

OK. have another drink and start posting.

He's rested.

He's ready.

Carey Price has a new glove, a new blocker – and a seemingly carefree atitude toward his biggest start of the season.

"Three broken fingers, on each hand," Price grinned, waving his digits at the media horde after a late-afternoon practice today.

But seriously folks ...

Price is fine. And he's known for 48 hours that he'd be the Game 5 starter.

"Coach told me after the last game," Price said. "He said prepare for the next three games. It's going to be a war."

It better be. Canadiens, down 3-1 in the series, are fighting for their lives.

Does Alex Kovalev need new linemates who were his old linemates?

Canadiens' leading regular-season scorer has done squat since Game 1 of the Philadelphia series. There are suggestions that as a player who needs the puck, Kovalev cannot function on a line with Saku Koivu.

Kovy was at his best this season when playing with Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn. A renuon may be called for – except Plekanec and the Brothers Kostitsyn  were Canadiens' best line in Game 4.

One thing Guy Carbonneau can do, with last change tomorrow night, is try to keep Kovalev away from the Flyers' shutdown defensive pairing of Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn.

•  •  •

François Gagnon of La Pressse reports that while his teammates were losing Game 3, a seemingly carefree Michael Ryder was chatting on his cellphone in the pressbox.

Then during Game 4, the Canadiens' erstwhile 30-goal scorer amused himself by making paper airplanes and floating them down into the Wachovia Centre stands.

He is so out of here.

•  •  •

The unsung hero of the playoffs is a guy you've never heard of:

Hakan Andersson.

He's director of European scouting for the Detroit Red Wings.  Based in Sweden, Andersson has found a succession of gems,  including Johan Franzen, whom the Wings drafted as a 24-year-old defensive centre, grabbing him in the third round, 97th overall in 2004.

Franzen, nicknamed The Mule, goes 6-3, 220 and is making a cap-friendly $950,000 this season. He scored six game-winning goals in March and nine in the sweep of Colorado – including two hat tricks (last night's were scored on the PP, shorthanded and even-strength). Both achievements broke team records set by Gordie Howe.

Michael Farber of Sports Illustrated has told me whoever takes over in Toronto should make Andersson his first hire. But it might be difficult to lure him away from the Red Wings.

A couple years ago,  Farber said, Detroit wanted to pay Andersson a bonus. He politely declined, saying he made quite enough money to live comfortably in Sweden.

Don Cherry is right: these Europeans are ruining hockey. 

• Steve Bégin gets the homeboy penance. Three Hail Marys, an Our Father and don't do it again, ya crazy monkey! If it were Bryan Smolinski taking that penalty, he'd be drawn and quartered in Place Jacques Carter.

"For Bégin's penance," says my Opus Dei friend, "he should crawl to the Holy Land on his knees."

Which he looked like he was doing after that shot rung the berries. 

• Hands up everyone ready to give Mark Streit a three-year, $8 million  deal.

• The old "broad side of a barn door" metaphor seems somehow inadequate to describe his situation. Christopher Higgins couldn't hit an elephant's ass with a banjo. 

• Sorry, Matt D'Agostini. The team has enough small skill guys. Let's hope that Gregory Stewart and/or Max Pacioretty can play.

• Gazette colleague Don Macpherson says: "This is all Carey Price's fault. He hasn't scored a single goal on the power play."

• Total hits by the Andrei Markov-Mike Komisarek pairing last night: 0.

• Shots on goal by Alex Kovalev: 3 Giveaways: 3 

• Canadiens were badly prepared for Boston and it nearly cost them. They are badly prepared for Philadelphia and facing elimination. Both opponents have nullified the power play, clogged the passing lanes, pressured the Canadiens' D and substantially neutralized Kovalev.

Guy Carbonneau has been outcoached by Claude Julien and John Stevens, tacticians whom no one has ever mistaken for Scotty Bowman.

I'm no Xs and Os guy, but do you suppose Bob Gainey should be taking a hard look at his pro scouting staff? 

Tried the goaltender switch.

Didn't work.

Tried the lightning strikes/deficit-erasing/momentum-changing comeback.

Didn't work.

Tried playing Alex Kovalev with Maxim Lapierre.

Didn't work.

Nothing works. Your Montreal Canadiens are Sisyphus on skates.

On the evidence of this grim playoff series, in which they find themselves one loss away from the first tee, Canadiens have somehow offended the Gods of Hockey ... and I don't mean Gary Bettman and Bill Daly.

Was it hubris?

All those bloody flags. The "Drive for 25"? The tin foil, thoroughly Torontois Stanley Cups? Red Fisher's Canadiens in five prediction.

Whatever. This team cannot catch a break.

Snakebit? That doesn't begin to describe it. Canadiens have been swallowed by an anaconda, and the whole team is headed toward the southern end of the digestive tract.

Maybe Carbo should fling a virgin into a volcano.

Any volunteers?

Does the R. stand for Rocket?

R.J.F. Umberger: The first goal and the last, an empty-netter. He has six in four games against the Canadiens.

In between, Scott Hartnell created the Flyers' customary 2-0 lead before Tomas Plekanec and Saku Koivu beat the unbeatable Martin Biron in the span of 37 seconds to make it a new game with seven minutes left.

That's when Steve Bégin took what might have been the worst penalty of Canadiens' soon-to-be-completed season:

A mugging of Sami Kapanen, who didn't have the puck. Even in a 2-2 game, the refs had to call it.

(Fans with long memories may recall the Bégin penalty that let Toronto back into that fateful April 7, 2007 game.)

On the ensuing power play, Daniel Brière tucked in the winner.

Guy Carbonneau did not like the call. When asked to comment, his reponse was:

"I don't want to get fined. You watch the whole hgame and tell me after. You know what was written in the paper today ..."

That was an allusion to the Flyers whining about Canadiens getting all the calls. Each team had four penalties tonight

I thought the Bégin play was blatant. In a tight game, he cracked a guy into the boards for no obvious reason. It had nothing to do with the flow of the play. 

Canadiens come home down 3-1 and reeling.

Once again, they outshot and substaintially outplayed the Flyers.

And once again, Martin Biron was a brick wall long enough – 28 saves through 40 minutes – for his teammates to get the lead.

Flyers got two goals on four power plays.

Canadiens went 0-for-4.

Of the Canadiens last night: "It was not one of their more cerebral games.".

On the inability to retrieve power-play shoot-ins, McGuire suggested Canadiens either "had no plan" or were "cramping up mentally." The number one priority on the PP is winning faceoffs. Number two is getting into formation, which involves fluidity and a lot of movement in the Canadiens' PP.

On Carey Price: "He's gotta be a lot better. If he's not, they won't win. It's very simple."

On the chances of a goaltending change: No way. It would be a sign of panic. "You're basically telling your players this is our Game 7." 

Keys to Canadiens winning: The PP. Better puck movement by the D. Better support for Kovalev. Better goaltending.

As usual, interesting stuff on the CKAC afternoon drive show.

Ron Fournier said the series is "far from over", but if the Canadiens go down 3-1, a comeback would be "very tough".

"Canadiens have played well," said Michel Bergeron, "But can their style win in the playoffs?"

Easy goals, highlight-reel goals, Bergeron added, just don't happen in the postseason.

The former Nordiques and Rangers coach criticized Canadiens for breaking a primary rule of the NHL: Don't surrender your blueline.

"Canadiens," he said, "do  it all the time."

You’re down 2-1 in a series.
You’ve lost home-ice advantage.
Your starting goaltender was pulled from his last start.
Your team is playing well, but not winning games.

What do you do?

Guy Carbonneau described his goaltender as "ébranlé".

It means shaken, unsettled.

Or, for you Led Zeppelin/Richard Linklater movie fans, dazed and confused.

It's not just Price's soaring GAA,  his plummeting save percentage and his suddenly sieve-like glove hand. Price is makig mental mistakes. His puckhandling is uncertain, a prime, Huetish example being that ill-advised handoff Price attempted during the sequence preceding Mike Richards' shorthanded goal.

Price's body language betrays his jitters. He does not look like a confident goaltender.

And for all that, I think Carbo has to start him tomorrow night.

In what amounts to a must-win game, how do you go with Jaroslav Halak, who has faced two shots in a month?

And what would a switch at this point do to Price's psyche?

The Kid is the future of the Montreal Canadiens. Do they want to mess with his head? 

PHILADELPHIA – Head coach Guy Carbonneau reinserts Guillaume Latendresse into his lineup tonight for Game 3 vs. the Flyers, leaving Mathieu Dandenault as the healthy scratch. The lines you can expect to see, at least at the start:

Koivu with Kovalev and Higgins
Plekanec with the Kostitsyn brothers
Smolinski with Latendresse and Kostopoulos
Lapierre with Bégin and Streit

Defenceman Ryan O'Byrne is in again tonight. No news on the leg injury suffered by Patrice Brisebois during warmup for Game 2.

"We'll sit down tomorrow," said Guy Carbonneau, "when everything is cool and everyone can talk softly."

And what they'll talk about is goaltending – specifically whether Carey Price will start Wednesday night in Philadelphia. In his post-game remarks, the coach made a point of defending his young goaltender.

"He's 20 years old," Carbonneau said. "We can't forget that. We're asking a kid to be a saviour."

In reference to a two-minute 5-on-3 power play – during which the Canadiens managed only one shot on goal – Carbo said "we had five our best players on the ice. Maybe we should blame them."

"It's a team game," Carbo said, and everyone – himself included – had to be held accountable for a loss.

"We're not happy." he said. "We're frustrated. We played really well and lost two games."

Carbonneau promised "this will be a long series."

"We'll contnue to work hard," said Steve Bégin, who works hard every game. "We have to win the next game. We have no choice." 

Canadiens, dead in the water after 40 minutes, outshot the Flyers 17-2 in the third period and got goals from Tomas Plekanec and Saku Koivu during a five-minute power play to make the final score respectable.

Too little.

Too late.

And in the case of Derian Hatcher, whose indiscipline opened the door to the Caadiens' comebacl: Too stupid.

An enormous monkey has clambered aboard the young back of Price. He has lost four of his last six starts, during which his GAA is 3.35 and his save percentage 86.1

If Price hadn't been beaten for three goals on 12 shots in 40 minutes tonight ... well, who knows?

From The Gazette's Herb Zurkowsky. Consider the flames fanned for Game 3:

Less than 24 hours after his team was accused of commiting a cowardly act by Philadelphia coach John Stevens, Guy Carbonneau has rushed to his players’ defence – especially atoning the behaviour of Tom Kostopoulos.

“That (the Flyers) is one team that shouldn’t talk,” the Canadiens coach said Sunday, after his team participated in an optional practice in LaSalle. “Over 82 games, they had the most suspensions in the league.”

This Eastern Conference semifinal series is threatening to erupt following an incident late in Saturday’s game, won 4-2 by Philadelphia.

As controversies and playoff feuds go, this one may be DOA.

"It was the heat of the moment. I was upset. I don't think it was that big of a deal."

Tom Kostopoulos, whose late-game face-wash on Kimmo Timonen was described as "cowardly" by Philadelphia coach John Stevens, was not admitting cowardice yesterday. But surrounded by media in the Canadiens' room at the Bell Centre, Kostopoulos – whose zen monk mien and low-key demeanour rival Carey Price's – said he wished the incident hadn't happened.

"I think I just kind of let my emotions take control," Kostopoulos said. "I was upset we were about to lose the game."

The Canadiens, he added, had done a good job alll year and through the Boston series of playing between whistles and skating away from extra-curricular activity.

During his press briefing, Guy Carbonneau said the Flyers were taunting his team. He said a team that led the NHL in suspensions shouldn't be whining about late-game face-washes.

"Just take your two points and go home," Carbonneau said. "Don't start ragging our players. I think (Timonen) deserved it. That's why they didn't call penalties on it.

"It was just a face-wash. He didn't cross-check him in the face or high-stick him in the face."

"When you're on top maybe you can do stuff like that," Kostopoulos said of the taunting. "I should have controlled my emotions and skated back to the bench."

Kostopoulos – who actually was assessed a roughing minor on the play –doubted that the incident would become sort of rallying cry.

"Both teams will be motivated for the next game," he said. "I don't think anything like that will boost anyone.

"It's going to be an intense series. Both teams are playing hard. Sometimes emotions are going to come out.

"Game 3 is going to be a big battle. Both teams are going to try to stay disciplined because the power plays are so good.

"They play hard. They're a physical team. Both teams are going to push each other all series."

Shall we start with the positives or the negatives?

The sun is shining this fine Sunday morning in Montreal, so let's look at what went right for the Canadiens in their 4-2 loss to Philadelphia:

• The offence was firing on almost all cyclinders. Had his teammates buried half their chances, Carey Price said, the score would have been 8-4 Canadiens. They had 36 shots on goal, the Flyers blocked 23 and another 21 went wide or high. Every skater except Josh Gorges and Maxim Lapierre (more about him later) had at least one shot. On 80 shots, you deserve more than two goals unless you're facing Vladislav Tretiak.

• The power play is back. Good puck control, good chances and a goal, by Saku Koivu.

• Christopher Higgins (thanks, Teacher) had four shots, four hits and played like his hair was on fire. His combination of speed and strength drove the Flyers' D nuts.

• Canadiens are not being physically manhandled or intimidated. They outhit the Flyers 33-28 and didn't back down in numerous post-whistle confrontations. Props to Tom Kostopoulos for taking some whacks at a team that loves to late-hit.

Courtesy of the Canadiens' PR department:

Guy Carbonneau: 

Translated: "(Biron) stole the game or he was lucky. We had chances to score and we didn't. So call it what you want."

Translated: "We had success (in Philadelphia) all year. we didn't lose a game there. We've played well there for several seasons now."

“A
lot of emotion was left behind (tonight), but we knew it was going to
get a little bit more intense, and it did. I don’t think it’s going to
slow down.”

“We just have to be sharper around the net.”

Translated: "Carey said it. He can be better. I think by the time he'd faced 13 shots they had three goals. For sure that's not the goalltender we've seen in the past. We don't ask him to be perfect, and I'm sure with his strong character he's going to bounce back."

John Stevens:

“We’re just
glad to get a split out of here. I knew Montreal would play better.
Marty was going to probably have to be our best player, and he was.”

“It’s a gutsy effort by our team. I love the response by our team.”

“The only
thing that kind of really disturbs me is that, at the end of the game,
Kostopoulos – hey, he’s a tough kid and I’ve got a lot of respect for
him and Bégin... But to go up and blindside-sucker Kimmo Timonen on a
play at the end there... That’s cowardly, in my opinion. There’s no
place for that. Kimmo’s our best player. He’s totally unsuspecting.
That leaves a bad taste in your mouth.”

“Sometimes
you forget that the goalie is a member of your team, and sometimes you
need him to be the best player. He’s certainly a player on our team
that we’re going to count on. He’s raised the bar to a level of play…
that we are starting to expect.”

Coach Guy Carbonneau will dress the same team tonight as the one he used in Game 1 vs. Philadelphia on Thursday. That leaves Guillaume Latendresse, Michael Ryder and Ryan O'Byrne in the pressbox.

Flyers took a 2-0 lead .. again.

But this time, on the strength of Martin Biron's goaltending, the Canadiens comeback fell short.

And as the teams head to Philadelphia for Gmaes 3 and 4, on Monday and Wednesday, there is cause for concern about the Canadiens' inability to capitalize on scoring opportunities.

"We can feel good about the chances we're getting," said Christopher Higgins. "But the playoffs are all about execution."

And the playoffs are all about goaltending. Carey Price hhas been beaten by odd deflections in both games, but his save percentage for the series is 87.5. Biron's is 91.4.

"We're obviously disappointed with the loss," Price said, "but I thought we carried that game. If we had buried half of the empty-netters we had, we would have won 8-4."

In assessing hhis game, Price said it was "kinda tough when you're not getting a whole lot of work and you gget a bbad break."

"You just have to hang in there. I know I can play better."

Saku Koivu was on for two Philadelphia goals but scored the power-play goal that put Canadiens bback into the game at 2-1 and assisted on the Andrei Markov goal that made it 3-2 early in the third period.

The captain had five shots on Biron and linemate Higgins had four.

"We'll jjust forget thhis one," Koivu said. "We'll grab all the positive things we did and not feel too disappointed or frustrated.

"We've had some success in their building. It's ging to be a tough one. Just watching their first round against Washington, there's a great atmosphere there.

"They're playing well right now. We're not expecting anything easy. We have to get back to playing our style, and hopefully it's going to pay off."

Some may be offended by this satiric adaptation of Downfall, in which the great Bruno Ganz plays Hitler.

World War II connotationns aside, just think of him as Bobby Clarke with a moustache:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfsorLmH-f4

Phew!

How many times this season do you think we’ve heard, “this was a game the Canadiens shouldn’t have won…”?