Post-Game Talk: Habs beat Stamkos Bay 4-1 (series 2-0)

[No More Subban]

I'm pretty sure he won't be wearing it on Sunday night. Just break into his house while he's at the game...

Sure.. I could do that.

He lives in downtown, right?

 

[Athletique_Canadien]

Interesting how it's Eller, Gionta, Bourque, Briere & Desharnais who are some of our big heroes right now. This list probably constitutes the group of players mostly in the collective fans' doghouse over the season. Now all we need is for Murray to get in to the lineup & score a goal & it's set!

 

[Vi Nc E x13x]

Markov was pretty terrible in game 1. He really screwed up the coverage on the 4-4 goal and didn't really do much positively either.

Besides that play which everyone on the ice screwed up on ... He was solid so i dont know what your talking about. Not only was he solid at breaking up plays but he was also physical which i never see from marky

 

[Kriss E]

Interesting how it's Eller, Gionta, Bourque, Briere & Desharnais who are some of our big heroes right now. This list probably constitutes the group of players mostly in the collective fans' doghouse over the season. Now all we need is for Murray to get in to the lineup & score a goal & it's set!

It's not just them. They stand out because they were pretty bad for most of the season. But Vanek was solid, creating a bunch of chances and doing some great defensive back checks/coverage too. Plek as usual. Weise and Bournival have played their part pretty much to perfection. PK was very solid game 2, Gorges is his usual PO self. Price after having 3 rather poor periods stepped it up in the OT and definitely held the fort in game 2.

Most of our team has played well, which is terrific to see because there isn't one team that will go far in the POs without everybody playing their part.

 

[Team_Spirit]

Interesting how it's Eller, Gionta, Bourque, Briere & Desharnais who are some of our big heroes right now. This list probably constitutes the group of players mostly in the collective fans' doghouse over the season. Now all we need is for Murray to get in to the lineup & score a goal & it's set!

True! The same happened when we had a huge game vs OTT when they were still in the playoffs race.

Briere,Eller,Gionta,DD and then Bouillon in OT all scored.

 

[Teufelsdreck]

The Habs have won the first two games on the road but they haven't won the series. I was in Prague in 2011 when I paid to get on-line at my hotel and learned that the Bruins, who lost the first two games at home, had come back to win the seventh game. It's less likely that the Lightning can duplicate that feat but we shouldn't be overconfident. Of course I expect the Habs to win the series and if they take Sunday's game I'd consider it to in the bag.

 

[Mike Mike Caron]

The best part is knowing Leafs and Sens fans are watching, alone in the dark, seeing Habs playing inspired hockey.

 

[MDN]

The best part is knowing Leafs and Sens fans are watching, alone in the dark, seeing Habs playing inspired hockey.

Have you read the Sens outta town thread? All they talk about is how they would have been a better match up than Tampa, and how much they would hurt us, and what they did last year, lol. It reeks of butthurt.

 

[StanAjax]

Have you read the Sens outta town thread? All they talk about is how they would have been a better match up than Tampa, and how much they would hurt us, and what they did last year, lol. It reeks of butthurt.

Truth is, they wouldn't. Their team is worse, and Anderson is back to being a mediocre #1.

I told them last year. They were dominated by the Habs in actual hockey play in all games but one and were saved by Anderson being red hot. You don't build a perennial successful team that way. We've seen it with the Theo teams...

Now, they're back to being crappy as it was expected and they're whining. Too bad they didn't listened, they wouldn't be so bitter now. There's a lot of work to be done in Ottawa before they're a consistent playoff team again...

 

[LesHabsRock]

The depth of this team is unmatched by Tampa Bay. All four lines have a great combination of skill and size to compliment the smaller forwards. Gionta is playing with Eller and Bourque (big skilled forwards). Desharnais with Pacioretty and Vanek (big skilled power forwards). Briere's talent is complimented with size and grit on his line as well. Plekanec's line has skill, size and grit. All four lines have players who can and have scored 20 plus goals.

Simply put, Tampa can't handle the depth of this team in addition to the performance of Price. Let's close out this series at home these next two games. Go Habs

 

[Runner77]

Bishop's absence is the least of Tampa's problems. The Lighting has been flat out dominated in both games.

I don't get how Tampa was dominated in the first game, they took us into OT and we couldn't contain Stamkos. Some of our players got out-muscled by a lowly rookie, Paquette. If they had Bishop, not so sure we'd have the same outcome.

Remember when Price was out during that West Coast swing and we had to rely on Budaj and Tokarski? How well did we play in front of them? Having your no. 1 goalie is critical in the playoffs. The Habs were opportunistic, but let's not go overboards.

 

[Bryson]

I don't get how Tampa was dominated in the first game, they took us into OT and we couldn't contain Stamkos. Some of our players got out-muscled by a lowly rookie, Paquette. If they had Bishop, not so sure we'd have the same outcome.

Remember when Price was out during that West Coast swing and we had to rely on Budaj and Tokarski? How well did we play in front of them? Having your no. 1 goalie is critical in the playoffs. The Habs were opportunistic, but let's not go overboards.

The Habs were opportunistic? I think you have it backwards. Tampa scored a goal every four shot attempts. How often does that happen vs a vezina caliber goaltender? Once every hundred games? Also habs not only dominated but crushed Tampa in possession numbers. They dominated in every metric including nearly doubling shot totals, except the scoreboard which was much closer than it should have been.

No doubt this is a different series with Bishop in nets but considering the injury bug I'm very happy to be on this side of the fence for once.

 

[Runner77]

The Habs were opportunistic? I think you have it backwards.

Based on the metric from the scoreboard, the series could have been tied 1-1. An OT goal is opportunism. I don't see how these two games warrant all the gloating we've been witnessing here.

 

[MD thaivuN]

I told them last year. They were dominated by the Habs in actual hockey play in all games but one and were saved by Anderson being red hot.

I kinda disagree with this statement.

From what I remember of that series is that:
-Game 1: Anderson saved them (though the habs gave him plenty of warm up shots which probably boosted his confidence)
-Game 2: Habs dominated and won
-Game 3: No one in the team bothered showing up and got destroyed
-Game 4: Therrien out-coached himself in the 3rd period
-Game 5: Repeat of Game 3

I kinda feel Anderson's performance was overrated.

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

I don't get how Tampa was dominated in the first game, they took us into OT and we couldn't contain Stamkos. Some of our players got out-muscled by a lowly rookie, Paquette. If they had Bishop, not so sure we'd have the same outcome.

Remember when Price was out during that West Coast swing and we had to rely on Budaj and Tokarski? How well did we play in front of them? Having your no. 1 goalie is critical in the playoffs. The Habs were opportunistic, but let's not go overboards.

Habs outshot Tampa 35-16 in regulation. If the eye test didn't tell the story, then the shot count helped it along.

Happy to see depth is playing a big part in the proceedings thus far. While I don't expect the Bourques and Brieres and so on to register points every game, if the lineup can have a clean, consistent cycle of offensive contributions then they absolutely can go far. Will it last past round one, or even the entire series? Not 100% convinced, but it is never a bad thing to get rolling from the get go.

 

[99GoHabsGo99]

Truth is, they wouldn't. Their team is worse, and Anderson is back to being a mediocre #1.

I told them last year. They were dominated by the Habs in actual hockey play in all games but one and were saved by Anderson being red hot. You don't build a perennial successful team that way. We've seen it with the Theo teams...

Now, they're back to being crappy as it was expected and they're whining. Too bad they didn't listened, they wouldn't be so bitter now. There's a lot of work to be done in Ottawa before they're a consistent playoff team again...

We own Ottawa now. They can't even win if we spot them up 3 goals with 3 minutes left

 

[hockeyfan2k11]

The Habs have won the first two games on the road but they haven't won the series. I was in Prague in 2011 when I paid to get on-line at my hotel and learned that the Bruins, who lost the first two games at home, had come back to win the seventh game. It's less likely that the Lightning can duplicate that feat but we shouldn't be overconfident. Of course I expect the Habs to win the series and if they take Sunday's game I'd consider it to in the bag.

Different situation. The Bruins weren't getting dominated in those games like the Lightning were. The Bruins were also a team full of vets and an elite goalie at the time. I have no idea why people are worried about this. Tampa will lose the rest of their games. They can't hang.

 

[MarcBergevin*]

For now it's only happening in your basement.

I hate how bipolar Habs fans can be -- one loss and the whole team needs to be rebuilt. A couple of wins against a team deprived of their starting goalie and all hell breaks loose about parades.

I believe that was more a troll post, by a butthurt Nords fan.

 

[Kriss E]

I don't get how Tampa was dominated in the first game, they took us into OT and we couldn't contain Stamkos. Some of our players got out-muscled by a lowly rookie, Paquette. If they had Bishop, not so sure we'd have the same outcome.

Remember when Price was out during that West Coast swing and we had to rely on Budaj and Tokarski? How well did we play in front of them? Having your no. 1 goalie is critical in the playoffs. The Habs were opportunistic, but let's not go overboards.

Gonna have to disagree. TB had 14 shots at 5 on 5. That's just under 5 shots per period. As much as shot totals doesn't always tell the story, you're gonna have a tough time arguing a team that shot so little while its opponent had twice the amount didn't get dominated. We definitely owned possession that game.

I mean, TB had some chances, for sure. When's the last time you saw a hockey game that only saw one team get scoring chances (or even just 2-3?)?? But I can say that Gudas looked like a peewee player every time Plekanec came from his side. TB's Dmen have a very tough time keeping up with the speed of our guys, they're really struggling.

As for Bishop, well sure, if he was in, we probably would have lost, or not. Did you think Price was going to let 4 goals in on 14 shots at 5 on 5? So you can't really say Bishop would have performed great. Maybe he would have had the 1st game jitters like Price seemed to have.
I will agree though that fans seemed to have forgotten how things can quickly change. One timely goal or event and the whole series can swing around. But there's really no reason not to be confident at this point.