We saw what this team is capable of against Ottawa, and thought performances like the one against Toronto were mere aberrations...
We were wrong.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SETTING: TD Banknorth Garden in Boston to 16,816 fans, many of whom looked stunned and near-suicidal in their bleu-blanc-rouge.
PLOT: I had predicted the game would resemble Mike Komisarek and Milan Lucic colliding at full speed... little did I know, the most notable collisions between the two would be Lucic's fist connecting with Komisarek's face, and the game played out more like a fat kid against a twinkie. Montreal looked absolutely listless, uninterested and uncompetitive. Boston didn't exactly look like a group of superstars, but did enough to humiliate the Canadiens from start to finish.
HEROES: Few and far between on the Montreal side, though Saku Koivu, Francis Bouillon and Guillaume Latendresse in particular appeared as though they at least cared... a little. The rest of the team's greatest contribution? Making Shawn Thornton, Marco Sturm and Stephane Yelle look like the second coming of the Legion of Doom.
ANTAGONISTS: Anybody wearing black and yellow, but mostly Milan Lucic... what can I say about this character? I'm quite certain I would love to have him on my team, but playing for the Bruins, he shall heretofore be the 
CLIMAX: Price's penalty for 'playing the puck in the restricted zone' (the first time I've seen that call)? It became rather clear following the Dandenault-Komisarek misstep that led to the B's first goal and a couple more deflating goals that it was gonna be 'one of those nights'. The penalty to Price was just the nail in the coffin.
DÉNOUEMENT: It was a long, painful unwinding, from the end of the first period to the final siren... Komisarek, you may have noticed, did not play again following his fight with Lucic. Barring an injury (oh please, no), his absence was a message from Carbonneau, who does not want his #2 defenceman goaded into fighting; that's not Komisarek's responsibility anymore.
THEMES: Humiliation, deja vu (Re: Toronto), inconsistent efforts... 4 straight listless outings on the road now. The Canadiens didn't lose like this when they were bad, so why now? Still only one line performing, and the Carbo-carousel of line juggling has officially begun. Also, why is Laraque so important to this team if nobody will fight him? Komisarek and Bouillon shouldn't have to do that job anymore.
Some of the rest is too hard to talk about right now... on to the next--Philly on Saturday, and a good test for a team struggling to assert itself.
6 comments:
oh please...
Give me a break... When the Habs win you go on about how great they are and the Cup is theirs. When they lose, its just because they didn't show up (if they showed up they would have killed those guys). Why can't you just bring yourself to say the Bruins played one hell of a game and totally out played the Habs. Come on, say it once. It doesn't hurt. Maybe just alittle.
And why does Lucic have to fight Larouque? He can do something that Larouque can't do... and that's play hockey and score.
Like I always say "Good Guys wear Black!!"
vince m
Guys,
First off, you'll have to forgive me for writing from a Habs angle, but that's what I do.
I know how annoying it can be to read a team-centric analysis, especially when you're a fan of the opposing team and especially when you read it on a general hockey blog... but I'm a Habs writer.
Secondly, I fully admit that Montreal got embarrassed by a better team last night, and sorry to have not sung their praises, but Boston played a very solid, not spectacular, game. Their goals came from plumbers, and they dominated a Habs team that looked like they didn't care.
I'll be the first to tell you I love the way the Bruins play, and I love watching them against the Canadiens.
As for Lucic, if he wants to go around pretending to be the toughest guy in the game, he ought to be able to drop 'em with somebody who actually knows how to fight... look at the list of guys he's gone toe-to-toe with and you'll see he's never gone at it with an actual heavyweight... so if you all want to talk about Komisarek (who doesn't fight) being such a pussy for not wanting to fight Lucic, you should consider the same aspect in Lucic's game...
Finally, I have never said anything about the Cup being automatic in Montreal and never will. The Canadiens are good, but far from dominant and a long way from winning the ultimate prize...
I understand your logic on the whole habs playing badly and b's getting goals from "plumbers" (besides the two from sturm, and one from lucic) But I know these wins mean a little more to me at least because my own father is a diehard habs fan living here in boston.
Anywho, on the whole lucic subject. Here's my problem with your argument. Last year, I will give you that, maybe he didnt take on the brashear's or laroque's of the league, but 1.) He's still a kid, i cant remember exactly but i think he was only 19, and a 19 year old, whoever you are, facing brashear is just not fair. 2.) he did not face all scrubs. Besides for making Mark Bell, and Nick Tarnasky look like worn out punching bags, he did drop the gloves with Jared Boll (leader in fighting majors last year, and did pretty well) and David Clarkson (#5 in fighting majors last year, and did some good damage to him.)
And finally, as for fighting komisarek last night, you have to remember, that was lucic's first fight of this year. He is not the "tough guy" that your claiming, if that was the case he'd be running around just trying to punch everybody in the head. I know he may not be the most popular guy in montreal, but come on, give the guy some credit/respect for being a pretty damn good young hockey player.
will,
I only hate Lucic because he's a Bruin, and because he tends to run over my team...
And I know that was his first fight of the year and he doesn't pretend to be a heavyweight champ all the time, but when it comes to Komisarek, he does... and Komi's not a fighter, never has been and never will be.
Lucic is a pretty good player... he's no Cam Neely, but he's sure as hell tough to play against.
P.S. Is Marco Sturm supposed to be a star all of a sudden?
haha not a star, but not a "plumber" either... this is a guy whos put up back to back 27 goal seasons, so no... not a star... but he's a quality goal scorer.
And as for lucic I do agree that he has always gone after Komisarek, but its not like mike never goes after him either. either way, I have a hell of a lot of respect for both guys. And if komisarek isn't a fighter, then I give him even more credit for dropping the gloves. It's enjoyable to watch these two guys have such a rivalry over the last two seasons.
Hopefully, another 7-game playoff meeting is in the works.
And on the topic of running over teams, what happened to kovalev last night? He's usually skating around without a helmet, scoring 2 goals a game and making Bruins defenders look like totem poll's.
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