CrashingTheGoalie

by desertdawg

What a difference a few months makes. I remember the furious battles of the chat boards last summer when the fan bases between two teams started firing the verbal Tomahawk Missles into each other’s camp. The battle became so heated that word out of Ottawa indicated Steve Harper was considering invoking the War Measures Act to quell the insurection.
The gist of the Montreal argument was that, if Mats Sundin wanted to win a Stanley Cup, he would surely sign with Les Habitants. After all, as Canadiens’ fans continually reminded us, the Habs have 24 Cups under their belts. And besides, it is their 100^th Anniversary. They deserve the Cup this year. A no-brainer for Mats to sign on la line dotted. The Vancouver response was that Montreal wasn’t even the best team in their conference, let alone the league. And that Roberto Luongo is still the best goaltender in the league; we have the strongest Swedish contingent (ok…outside of Detroit) in the league; and besides, wouldn’t Mats like to lead the Swedish contingent in the 2010 games from the comfort of his condo in Coal Harbour.
Ahhh, such youthful enthusiasm. Such innocence. The Habs and the Canucks. Two teams with nicknames that are slang for being Canadian.
And here we are, near the end of February, with both teams simply trying just to make the playoffs. Everyone loves Mats, but no one expects a guaranteed Cup appearance anymore. The rose-colored glasses have come off in Vancouver. Yeah, we love the big guy, and he could help, but he’s not the dominant force that some predicted.
And as for Montreal, well, they’ve finally won a game to end their recent slump…but of course, there’s no guarantee that the slump is really over. And the Canucks have been on a great streak in February. But let’s be honest here, we aren’t a lock tonight either. The Habs are a very good team on home ice.
Still, gotta be a surprise that both teams are still fighting for a playoff spot. Gotta be a surprise that the Nucks and the Habs are within a point of each other.
Time has a way of slapping us all around until we admit that predictions are best left to the tiny heads that run the sports networks out of Toronto. Well, that’s probably unkind. Bob MacKenzie doesn’t have a tiny head. But a couple of the others…well, lets just say that there’s room in the TSN brainpain for three walnuts to roll around in and still have room for two episodes of King Of Kensington. I’m not picking on Toronto, you understand, but I do take issue with some of the hockey prognostications made from the center of the universe.

So what to expect tonight. I expect the Canadiens to shoot the puck deep, and chase it hard then get up into Bob Luongo’s grill. I expect the Canucks to shoot from every angle…just keep putting pucks to the net. And the first period sees both teams play their strategies relentlessly. Brisebois rings one off our bar and then Daniel sets up Burrows at the other end for a close in shot. Both teams look ready. We dodge the first penalty, but the Habs had three very good chances but the boys are blocking beucoup de shots tonight. The early heat is all coming from the rouge, blanc et bleu.
But a couple of shifts from the Sedins reminds us that we have a team as well. The third member of the twins does his job, not only in front of the net but in front of the players benches as well and the standard brouhaha ensues. We are back on the PK. The Montreal PP looks deadly early and the lame for the balance. We have no problem killing the two minutes.
Then an errant Kovalev stick clips Henrik and we get the four minute PP. I am not a huge fan of the double minor. Teams on the PP never seem to show the same urgency. The first two gives us one chance and then the dreaded two man advantage. Dreaded for both teams. If we don’t score it can be a momentum killer. We get two big chances with Sundin and Bieksa coming close. But then Wellwood just poops the bed three times in a row. The third leads to Plekanec coming out of the box, getting a breakaway and then wiring a dart in the top corner.

Worst fears confirmed.

We didn’t play well in T.O. and it looks like it spilled over into this game. Chances but no finish. We looked like teenagers at our first prom. We start the second period looking lazy and outclassed particularly in the face off circle and it leads to an early Habs PP. But it’s the best we’ve looked on the PK all night. By the way, I don’t have a problem with the fans booing Mats…he didn’t play for them for 13 years. Seven minutes and change into the period, the Habs don’t have shot on our net. And a good shift by Wellwood’s line gives us the PP. Our best chance comes when Wellwood sends Demitra in. Pavol calls for the puck, but Demitra shoots it into the pads. That’s a head shaker.
Still we are carrying the play. Well, carrying it until Kovalev goes in on a clear break. I thought the Lou made the big save, but the replay shows Kovy rings it off the post. It changes the Mo-mentum and shortly after that Burrows serves up a lumberjack special on Brisebois and we are short five minutes (and Burrows is out for the game). Ouch.
Double ouch when Henrik blows the breakaway. And the Habs respond with a goal. Doesn’t end the PP though and we are clearly in trouble. We escape without further damage, but we are down two heading into the final period. The old saw is that the two goal lead is the worst in hockey. We can only hope.
We start the third on the PK after Bernier gives le petit chop at the end of the second. Usually, a PP at the beginning of any period is not the greatest opportunity because the ice is too fresh and the offence is not. We kill the PP but the rink is tilted against us.
We get the PP off some decent fore checking but our PP looks like all effort, no results. It looks bleak for the comeback kids. We get the shots, we get the chances but it’s like sucking a strawberry through a straw. It just don’t seem to be busting lose. I’ll give our boys credit for trying…but trying isn’t delivering. We take a late penalty effectively killing all hope. The pulled goalie in the late PK seems like what it is. Desperation. The Habs score the empty net.

As the crows in Dumbo sang “I think I seen most everything, but I ain’t seen an elephant fly.”