Habs finally win a opener 4-3!

[JAVO16]

If Daignault cannot teach this defense to play properly he needs to go......D-men STOP going behind the net to check a player he is already being checked......learn the bloody game.....you are taught since your 5 head on a swivel pick up the open man.....the least dangerous player in the offensive zone is the man with the puck.....the dangerous player is the d-man jumping in off the point,the winger like Hull,Bossy,backing out of traffic with their stick ready for a one timer.

Markov really needs to learn how to play the game.

 

[Kriss E]

The big positive...the Plekanec line...chemistry looked good and Galchenyuk looks like a guy that will take a nice leap forward in production. Hopefully less d-zone draws helps Pleky have a 55-60 point year. Price was a rock and he stopped every shot he had a chance on...one went off Eller, one off Kadri 3 feet in front, the other was blown coverage.

Desharnais line was excellent also, but they finished strong last year...

The Malhotra line had some ups and downs, but overall should be a line that can play against anybody.

The big negative...Eller line...Sekac was by far the best of the 3, which is not a good thing, Bourque was mediocre and Eller was just bad. That line needs to do more, not just be another 4th line.

Defense...both the Subban-Emelin and Markov-Gilbert pairs had some rough patches but also some very good plays. At this point this does not worry me. Weaver-Beaulieu was solid, no major mistakes and Beaulieu did a good job moving the puck.

I don't think there was any strong positive, or negative. It was a very sloppy game, like most opening night games. Rust was very present. Some nice plays here and there, some bad plays here and there, plenty of work to do.
Great to walk away with the W.

 

[JAVO16]

At the very least, the reasonable thing to do would be to swap Gallagher and Sekac. Gally has proven chemistry with Eller and fits a lot more his style of play, while Sekac looked good with Plekanec when given the chance. Also, more offensive talent in my opinion than Gallagher, and thus and even better 2nd line.

Yeah, but Plekanec should get more ice time and better OZ start %, so it's normal that a "young veteran" like Gally should get to play on his wing before Sekac. In any case, I'd give the guys 5-10 game to develop some chemistry before pushing on th scramble button.

 

[417]

I don't think there was any strong positive, or negative. It was a very sloppy game, like most opening night games. Rust was very present. Some nice plays here and there, some bad plays here and there, plenty of work to do.
Great to walk away with the W.

Agreed...sloppy game

But there were a lot of positive signs from Habs, seemed they were doing less puck chasing than in years past. The flow from defense to offense was way more fluid than we've seen in the past.

 

[CupInSIX]

weak attempt at humor

 

[Kriss E]

Agreed...sloppy game

But there were a lot of positive signs from Habs, seemed they were doing less puck chasing than in years past. The flow from defense to offense was way more fluid than we've seen in the past.

Yes that was evident. Our transition game will be much improved, which is great because it was a big flaw last year. That being said, unless things change, I feel we're still going to be a poorly structured team defensively.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

I'm gonna go watch all the leafs highlights from last season

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

Okay, done.

 

[firewagon77*]

Nikata Scherbak 3 goals in his 1st 2 games with Everett Silvertips in the WHL.

 

[Charon]

I liked most of what I saw from every player in terms of meeting or exceeding my expectations for a first game, with the exception of a few:

- Gilbert - I'm not convinced we can rely on him to be a top-4. He just doesn't look solid in his own zone, and didn't look entirely comfortable with the puck either at times.
- Emelin - Less concern than Gilbert to be playing top-4 minutes, but he looked off at times in his defensive zone.
- Bourque - Didn't do as much as I would have liked, compared to the playoffs last year for example (surprise, surprise?)
- Prust - Didn't play the kind of game I expected from him, and I think it was him that made that ghastly turnover in the d-zone.

We'll see what the next games bring.

 

[Scintillating10]

I just watched the game...must say I was impressed. Management done a good job of putting this team together. Fast team, bigger, defense moves puck quick. All the newcomers fit in well. Except for Gilbert who seemed tentative. Parenteau looked good with Pacioretty. I liked Plekanec playing with more offensive wingers in Galchenyuk and Gallagher. Upgrade over Bourque and Gionta. Uses his offense more. Malholta good faceoff guy, Beaulieu I thought played well. I downloaded MP4 and watched the game. Like this better as it cuts out commercials and intermissions.

Toronto usually starts season well and always up to play Montreal...good to come out of there with a win. An omen for season to come?

 

[FloJack]

I'm gonna go watch all the leafs highlights from last season

Okay, done.

Beautiful sequence, well done.

 

[optimus2861]

I only watched the first 20 minutes before having to get some sleep (damn this cold from hell), but in perusing the stats I see we outshot the Buds 23-13 at even strength over the final 40 minutes and all 4 goals came at 5-on-5. Not bad. Some sloppy & rusty play, to be expected in the opener, but take the two points and some encouraging signs and run with it.

 

[Hoople]

At the very least, the reasonable thing to do would be to swap Gallagher and Sekac. Gally has proven chemistry with Eller and fits a lot more his style of play, while Sekac looked good with Plekanec when given the chance. Also, more offensive talent in my opinion than Gallagher, and thus and even better 2nd line.

Ditto.

A positive for both of those lines.

 

[gunnerdom]

I liked most of what I saw from every player in terms of meeting or exceeding my expectations for a first game, with the exception of a few:

- Gilbert - I'm not convinced we can rely on him to be a top-4. He just doesn't look solid in his own zone, and didn't look entirely comfortable with the puck either at times.
- Emelin - Less concern than Gilbert to be playing top-4 minutes, but he looked off at times in his defensive zone.
- Bourque - Didn't do as much as I would have liked, compared to the playoffs last year for example (surprise, surprise?)
- Prust - Didn't play the kind of game I expected from him, and I think it was him that made that ghastly turnover in the d-zone.

We'll see what the next games bring.

I think the giveway was Eller. Prust actually saved a goal when he checked Bozak who had an open net.

 

[Habsawce]

Gilbert is playing with the best player he's ever played with. It will take some adjustments and time to gel and figure it out, let's not get on him. The only thing in his game was the tentativeness to take a hit on the end boards.

He looked good to me, made excellent passes out of the zone where Gorges would have put it on the glass making it difficult for the wingers to coral.

 

[Rapala]

I really question whether or not people would be whining about Eller if the puck hadn't bounced off of him and into the net. I always find it fascinating how it takes one bad play for people to perceive the player as being 100% useless in that game. Similarly, people do the same with players who are having a bad game and get one point, all of a sudden they had a good game.

He and his line played fine yesterday. They had a few chances to score (one came seconds before Toronto's fluke goal) and were able to bring the puck into the offensive zone successfully on many attempts despite having only 2 O-zone starts the entire night.

Same thing with Gilbert, I really don't get the hate he's getting. I'm baffled.

The absolute most god awful giveaway was our man Prust. No one Mentions that one.
Thank You Carey!
Eller was at fault on the goal for turning the puck the wrong way when his support was open on his forehand the easier play but he decided a backhand to PK was in order???
The bounce was a fluke.
I've read enought PGT's to understand many only see what they want to see.
The least insightful posts are not usually the next day.
One game in and we should move our leading point producer in the previous playoffs.
On to Washington.

 

[Church]

weak attempt at humor

thats pretty good lol

 

[Church]

Sportsnet is very heavy in their Leafs bias but it should be better tonight against a different team.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/no-one-knows-losing-like-the-maple-leafs/

 

[rumple03]

Reading all the posts, typical Hab fans. This guy sucks, that guy was terrible, anyone could have scored that goal. Let's all analyze every single decision every player made in game # 1, and complain about every bloody thing. Most fickle fans in all of hockey are Montreal Canadien's fans.

The amount of hate directed at certain players, or the continually obsessive campaigns to crucify certain players of this team are some of the exact reasons many big stars want nothing to do with playing in Montreal. From the media and the fans, the scrutiny that goes along with playing for the Habs never ceases to amaze me. I've been a Hab fan since Roy's rookie season, and I can tell you if I ever had the talent and blessings to make it to the NHL, the last team I would want to play for is Montreal because I would hate to have the deal with the idiot media and the whining fans posting on this forum.

Hockey is a game of mistakes, some players make more mistakes than others, some have higher hockey IQ, some are better scores, some are better hitters, some can make better plays under pressure, etc...and guess what, no team can afford to have the best player in the league at every position, so you hire based on who you can afford and who wants to actually play for you.

All the hate DD (the guy responsible for setting up many of MaxPac chances that helped him score 39 goals), Gilbert (the guy who is playing his very first regular season on a new team, new system and new D partner), and Eller (who played very little preseason and likely may still be a bit tender and was one of the best forwards during our playoffs last year) are getting on here is @#$%ing brutal.

I've popped on these forums after games the Habs won 5-1 or 4-0 and it's still nothing but whining and throwing guys under the bus. And it's always the same negative nancy's, people that always need to find something to be critical of no matter the success or other positive things that happen in a game. I am willing to bet these same folks would be complaining about certain players even if we had made it to the finals and won the cup. I can see the posts now.. "we will never win another cup with that guy on D or this guy at C, we def need to get bigger here or faster there if we hope to repeat, we were lucky to win with this lineup, etc...".

Canadien's fans, the most difficult fan base in all pro sports to please.

 

[Analyzer*]

First flash of season 3 is up.

 

[FloJack]

Gilbert is playing with the best player he's ever played with. It will take some adjustments and time to gel and figure it out, let's not get on him. The only thing in his game was the tentativeness to take a hit on the end boards.

He looked good to me, made excellent passes out of the zone where Gorges would have put it on the glass making it difficult for the wingers to coral.

That's exactly what I was thinking too, and I thought he looked alright.

 

[Rapala]

Subban making Emelin the offensive juggernaught Cube never was? LOL

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/no-one-knows-losing-like-the-maple-leafs/

...sad...the way these sheep from LEAFSnet, oops, I mean Sportsnet, describe the game you'd think the Leafs dominated and we only won because of dumb luck...of course there's no mention that Reilly's goal was just as fluky as Pleks winner...or that the first Leaf goal, which they describe so sublimely, was offside...or that after the 1st period, Montreal outshot the Leafs 26-16 and controlled the Lion's Share of the O-Zone play...I miss TSN already...at least a few of them tried to be unbiased on occassion...

 

[Tyson]

Gilbert is playing with the best player he's ever played with. It will take some adjustments and time to gel and figure it out, let's not get on him. The only thing in his game was the tentativeness to take a hit on the end boards.

He looked good to me, made excellent passes out of the zone where Gorges would have put it on the glass making it difficult for the wingers to coral.

Look for Gilbert to have a solid season being paired with the General. Also thought PAP and Sekac looked solid in their Habs debut, especially Sekac who looked and played like a seasoned NHLer, bodes well for the Habs!