Post-Game Talk: Habs lose 3-2 to Sens Pt. Deux

[Jesker]

I'm concerned that the Habs are losing a series 3-1 when they outplayed the Sens on three out of four occasions... Speaks volume about the lack of finish of the team... guys just can't seem to get it done, as opposed to the Sens... Bringing back memories of our last playoffs against the B's to when they had 3 OT wins to beat us in 7... We need finishers... Big time.

Anyway, last night really sucked. Doesn't matter though, they just got to take one game at the time, try to push it to game 7, and who knows... Sens have won 3 games in four while playing very average hockey, I guess the Habs can win three in a row if they play the solid hockey they played all season (and saw a flash of during the first two periods of yersterday's game...). Team played well in front of Budaj all year, seemed to play a tighter system... Why not ?

 

[roy munson]

I ain't even mad.

When the Sens scored in OT I let out an "Oh well" that surprised me. My GF can usually see pretty quickly if we won or lost by the mood I'm in because I don't take losses lightly, never had. We'll see what will happen, but I'm not very optimistic for the rest of the series.

Like others have said, we were in for a treat this year and I don't want to start a thread for this, so I'll post it here :

a) Every team has banged up players this time of year, but some of ours seem to literally be at the end of their rope. They're injured. They're exhausted. We had a great season, but in order to achieve what we've done we had to play at over 100% of our capabilities. My opinion;
b) I have complete faith and trust in MB and his whole team. They know what they have to do and I believe they will do whatever they can to add/substract what the team needs before next season;
c) Gallagher, Subban, Galchenyuk, Tinordi, ... The future is very bright;
d) I love this team so much and I've been waiting a long time to see it be competitive, we're less than a year from that;
e) **** the pathological haters. The time will come, very soon, that they'll have no choice but to admit the greatness that is the Montreal Canadiens ...

 

[sandysan]

for a team whose motto is " no excuses" a lot of fans seem to have forgotten it,

Yeah losing sucks, but the habs have played good for some parts and bad for other parts. Sometimes fans think the team got a fate they didnt deserve but deserve has nothing to do with it. sometimes you get the bounces, sometimes the bounces go against you. its always been this way.

blaming the refs is just intellectually lazy, the refs didnt try to sit on a two goal lead by playing kitty bar the door ( knowing full well how that would turn out from last season) the refs were not responsible for the charming soft defense who could not clear giants like connacher and turis from the front of the net.

It looks like our team will be the significantly less talented on thursday, if the habs lose I'm okay with that so long as we dont adopt the inane idea of victimhood at the hands of some grand league-directed conspiracy and then mail it in because there is no way to overcome this perceived bias.

We have played 4 games, but have yet to play a full game well. I can accept losing due to youthful mistakes, I can accept that if our guys are really banged up we might get outclassed. I cant accept this defeatist attitute and players looking disinterested on the ice the freaking stanley cup playoffs. if we lose because the sens beat us, that's fine. If we lose because we are convinced we cant beat the sens, that's not.

 

[arian487]

I certainly don't blame the loss on the officiating...The Habs lost in the end because

A- They didn't score that crucial 3rd goal which would of buried the Sens (repeat of game 1)

B - Because they couldn't keep a lead

However, saying the officiating wasn't a factor in how the game played out is not being realistic. Of course, that's not the Sens problem, they did what they had to do to win and full marks to them.

But it's difficult to win in those circumstances for the Habs...you expect to get at least ONE of those 50/50 calls

The officiating was not NHL quality last night...doesn't discredit what the Sens did though.

I completely agree. I think what gets me is the inconsistency. I've seen Zibby's goal called back many times, and I've seen it called a good goal many times. It's been like this all series really. Add to that a bunch of calls that could have been roughing or boarding but weren't, and it gets frustrating as a fan. Often times when we get called for something that wasn't called 5 minutes ago, we all get mad.

 

[Sala90]

Yeah, sitting back. That's what happens when you play Diaz and Gorges as if they were top-4 d-men. The whole team follows that stupid philosophy.

The worst part is that one of these two bums actually speaks as if he was the captain of this team... What a travesty.

The 2nd team in the eastern conference has only two top-4 d-men ?

 

[MSLs absurd thighs]

The 2nd team in the eastern conference has only two top-4 d-men ?

Yes, yes it does. 2nd team in the East in a short season where players conditioning meant a lot, and that's about to get knocked out by the 7th seed because of its inability to protect leads, by the way.

 

[void]

I still feel sick to my stomach... I love this team too much.

 

[Luigi Habs]

I'm still struggling with last night's loss.

I hope the sens get sweeped in the 2nd round even if it was against the bruins or the leafs

 

[onebighockeyfan]

Sens fan coming in peace. I just wanted to say that yes, the icing calls were BS but I don't think the loss was the icing calls, the loss was that you guys sat back and stopped playing the way you did in the first two periods. This is what killed you guys in game 1 as well. With speed and skill, you guys are always in our zone and am pretty sure we'd be losing this series.

Blown calls happen, as a team you live with them and regroup and you always try and put yourself in a position so that a small blown call like an icing is not the make or break for your team.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the review for the first goal Toronto's decision? As in, the refs make a call and if Toronto does not agree with it, they have veto power. That means both the refs and the Toronto office were okay with the call. I'll admit when I first saw it I was sure it would be disallowed but if you saw the breakdown on TSN, the reason they called it a goal was because Zibby hit the puck with his stick first and directed it in his skate, so it was deemed a redirection.

As for some of you claiming theres some grand conspiracy against the Habs, I hope most of you don't actually believe that. The NHL has nothing to gain from rigging anything for the Sens (the Habs would make them way more money).

Anyways, great series so far and good luck in game 5, don't lose hope yet!

If those two icing calls were not made the Habs would have won. WTF are you talking about? No doubt about this. Go back to your threads. For the kicked in goal, seen some of those calls go either way. This went the Sens way. The two offsides and the faceoff issue are the majors gaffes.

 

[LePoche69]

It was a fun and nice year. I'm allready excited for next year. Heck, I'm allready excited for this summer as I doubt Bergevin will bring back the exact same team.

Last night, for the first time this season, I second guessed Therrien.

• Galchenyuk was his best player for 2 periods, yet he benched him in the third...
• Gorges plays way too much... (I hope he and Markov gonna be replaced in the off-season.)
• Playing conservative in the third was a mistake...

 

[sandysan]

Most importantly, if this were to happen to their team, they would not accept it, know that the there was no excuse for the reffing, and even the Team would not accept it. THAT'S how strongly the Habs were screwed over yesterday.

I'm sorry, I've watched more than my fair share of hockey but if the shoe was on the other foot, you claim that the sens would not accept it. what do you mean by that ? How would they not accept it ?

Bad calls have decided far more important games than this, people act like whenever it happens to " their" team that this is the most egregious transgression in the history of the game. Sometimes we get the benefit of the calls ( like bourque getting to play in game 4, Gryba getting the hook for 2) sometimes we dont. Its always been this way, as unless the NHL adopts the IBM computer the way tennis did to evaluate line calls, its always going to be this way.

 

[arian487]

The NHL is rooting for Anderson and Karlsson. People looove these guys. Also, what better way to raise the Sens' profile and promote the franchise than a gongshow of a series like this one? Not saying there is a conspiracy, but you are wrong when saying the NHL has nothing to gain.

Most importantly, if this were to happen to their team, they would not accept it, know that the there was no excuse for the reffing, and even the Team would not accept it. THAT'S how strongly the Habs were screwed over yesterday.

Those saying the icings had nothing to do with the outcome clearly haven't watched much hockey where MANY goals are scored after having an icing called against a tired team OR are just trying to make themselves feel good about the Sens win. It was KARLSSON skating in molasses! Hey, what happened to the 'best skater in the NHL'? Huh, apparently, it doesn't apply in circumstances like these.

So you honestly believe there is some internal bias to try and help the Sens into the second round? If you want to talk about screw jobs, how about the lack of suspensions? I think most habs fans would agree the Bourque elbow at least was a suspendable incident.

As for the icing, I already said they were BS calls. I fully acknowledge they were bad calls. But I think you should also fully acknowledge that it was not the sole reason you are down in the series. Sens have outscored the Habs 9-0 in the third. I'd cite that as a larger reason for being down 3-1 then officiating.

And Karlsson, I know we preach this a lot and I know fans will always criticize the best player on the opposing team, but he is playing 2 months removed from a severed achilles. Whether you want to admit it or not, that is a very serious injury and I will be the first to admit he's been slow this series, and he's made some bad plays. But he has 5 points in 4 games and he's a +4 I believe with 12 shots. If this is the new Karlsson, if he can never regain the skating he had pre injury, I'll take these numbers all day.

 

[arian487]

If those two icing calls were not made the Habs would have won. WTF are you talking about? No doubt about this. Go back to your threads. For the kicked in goal, seen some of those calls go either way. This went the Sens way. The two offsides and the faceoff issue are the majors gaffes.

If you want to play the 'what if' game we can do that too. 'If' you guys had the suspensions you should have had, you would not have dominated the first two periods. 'If' you guys kept the lead in game 1, the series would be 2-2 or 3-1 for the habs. 'If' Gryba's questionable suspension didn't happen, we would have won game 2.

There are a world of what ifs in every single NHL game, which is unsurprising given the speed of the game. As a fan, I too would get mad at blown calls but I'd also acknowledge the faults of my team and understand that NHL losses don't happen on a single play.

 

[Wats]

I hope they at least make game 5 competitive. My gut tells me blow out loss with a ton of penalties.

My biggest concern is hoping no one gets seriously injured...we already lost one of our brightest hopes for the future for who knows how long and now Price. More important than this series is Gallagher/Galchenyuk/Subban/Pacioretty/etc avoid a long term chronic injury - but judging by this series that's too much to ask too.

 

[habs88]

I don't know about anyone else but when we were leading 2-0 I was already screaming about the refs it's not just cause we had we won I woulda said despite the refs best efforts go rematch the FULL game I saw many uncalled interferences(like on plekanec or Gallagher who got knee on knee) it was a joke and yet déharnais gets a weak penalty like that? What a joke the reffing was yesterday won or lose. And that second goal was goalie interference he was in the crease and price couldn't get his stick where he wanted that why one of the refs originally called no goal then randomly changed to goal... It was disgusting and Marc Bergevin agrees. I don't usually complain about refs and even tho there is the occasional person who does when everybody says it(except haters obviously) then something was obviously wrong

 

[jedimyrmidon]

So you honestly believe there is some internal bias to try and help the Sens into the second round? If you want to talk about screw jobs, how about the lack of suspensions? I think most habs fans would agree the Bourque elbow at least was a suspendable incident.

No, I don't believe there is a conspiracy. I was just arguing that the NHL would indeed have something to gain from a hypothetical conspiracy, contrary to what you wrote.

As for the icing, I already said they were BS calls. I fully acknowledge they were bad calls. But I think you should also fully acknowledge that it was not the sole reason you are down in the series. Sens have outscored the Habs 9-0 in the third. I'd cite that as a larger reason for being down 3-1 then officiating.

The 9-0 outscoring in the 3rd is HEAVILY slanted by the 4 goal outburst in the Habs meltdown in Game 3. It's a factor, but NOT the main factor the Habs were robbed of a victory last night. The reffing accounted for probably 70% of that.

And Karlsson, I know we preach this a lot and I know fans will always criticize the best player on the opposing team, but he is playing 2 months removed from a severed achilles. Whether you want to admit it or not, that is a very serious injury and I will be the first to admit he's been slow this series, and he's made some bad plays. But he has 5 points in 4 games and he's a +4 I believe with 12 shots. If this is the new Karlsson, if he can never regain the skating he had pre injury, I'll take these numbers all day.

I wasn't saying that Karlsson was a bad skater. In fact, I was using the proven fact that he's an EXCELLENT skater to point out the ridiculousness of the icing calls because he wasn't fast enough to get back to the puck.

 

[habs88]

If you want to play the 'what if' game we can do that too. 'If' you guys had the suspensions you should have had, you would not have dominated the first two periods. 'If' you guys kept the lead in game 1, the series would be 2-2 or 3-1 for the habs. 'If' Gryba's questionable suspension didn't happen, we would have won game 2.

There are a world of what ifs in every single NHL game, which is unsurprising given the speed of the game. As a fan, I too would get mad at blown calls but I'd also acknowledge the faults of my team and understand that NHL losses don't happen on a single play.

Dude everything you said is crap lol if we didn't get the icing you don't score on our tired players we wok the end bad calls stop whining about our whining you should be ashamed of your win

 

[Compile]

Supposedly Bill McCreary was livid about the officiating in the game.

 

[void]

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1423671&page=25

 

[jedimyrmidon]

If you want to play the 'what if' game we can do that too. 'If' you guys had the suspensions you should have had, you would not have dominated the first two periods. 'If' you guys kept the lead in game 1, the series would be 2-2 or 3-1 for the habs. 'If' Gryba's questionable suspension didn't happen, we would have won game 2.

There are a world of what ifs in every single NHL game, which is unsurprising given the speed of the game. As a fan, I too would get mad at blown calls but I'd also acknowledge the faults of my team and understand that NHL losses don't happen on a single play.

From reading the Habs boards, we know that we were lucky to not get any suspensions. Were there many Habs fans saying that no suspensions were deserved? If so, that's unfortunate. I will argue that PK didn't deserve anything: he got cross-checked in the face and the refs did nothing.

This is what I read from a Habs website describing their puzzlement over no suspension to Bourque: http://www.habseyesontheprize.com/2013/5/7/4306948/brendan-shanahan-nhl-discipline-and-dirty-hits

 

[arian487]

From reading the Habs boards, we know that we were lucky to not get any suspensions. Were there many Habs fans saying that no suspensions were deserved? If so, that's unfortunate. I will argue that PK didn't deserve anything: he got cross-checked in the face and the refs did nothing.

This is what I read from a Habs website describing their puzzlement over no suspension to Bourque: http://www.habseyesontheprize.com/2013/5/7/4306948/brendan-shanahan-nhl-discipline-and-dirty-hits

Honestly once emotions died down I think the only truly suspension worthy play was the elbow. The others were probably just penalties and maybe a call from the office (like telling White not to two hand slash players with their backs turned).

 

[WeThreeKings]

Supposedly Bill McCreary was livid about the officiating in the game.

Where is this supposedly information coming from?

 

[sandysan]

Supposedly Bill McCreary was livid about the officiating in the game.

I'm not questioning this but do you have a source ? I'd like to read it because I'm pretty sure that McCreary is enough of a pro that if it were true, it wouldnt be public knowledge.

 

[arian487]

Dude everything you said is crap lol if we didn't get the icing you don't score on our tired players we wok the end bad calls stop whining about our whining you should be ashamed of your win

You just used 'if' again. It happened, live with it. As a fan thats all you can do. We all live a ton of what ifs every game and every season. I'll be the first to say that I don't think the Sens have ever lost a full series because of officiating. You might lose the small battles, a play here or a play there but never a full series. It usually balances out by the end...

 

[LuisinMinnesota]

Hi guys, im a big habs fan, but first time posting here!
About the game: My parents taught me to not blame my problems on others, to not whine about things I cannot control but step up and do better if I fail. True character shows when all things are against someone. Truth is, our team has blamed all there problems on others this whole playoff series, when the truth is , despite what we cannot control, our losses are our fault! Soft goals (Budaj/Price in game 1), collapsing defense (Markov/Diaz/Georges), non-existent offensive players (David Desharnais, Max Pacioretty, Brian Gionta), and letting the opposition get to you (PK Subban). We are in a 3-1 Series hole because of how we have played, not the Refs, CBC, NBCSPORTS, PJ Stock etc. With character and hard work, we can win this series. I hope our players are grown enough to understand that.