Wilde Horses
- Brandon Prust played perhaps the best game I have seen him play as a Hab. Around the net all night, Tampa's D had their hands full with his determination to get close to Bishop. Some strong chances. He's not a great finisher but the hope he can is high when he's that influential.
- P.A. Parenteau another member of one of the two strongest lines of the night. That would be a so called third line and it looked like a first line buzzing.
- Lars Eller, the centre on the line winning puck battles in all zones. Such an underrated player, he remains probably the Habs' best forward in these playoffs. Knew his role in front of the net on the power play but didn't get in Bishop's vision yet as he got boxed out on one point shot. Eller does so many good things and he is tough to play against on the regular with his physicality.
- Plekanec with another strong game as well especially killing penalties with Pacioretty. He had a glorious chance on the kill with a 2 on 1 but found the glove of Bishop.
- Pacioretty had a tough series coming back from his likely concussion finding it takes time to lose that fear. He admitted to the difficulty. Pacioretty is over it. He was outstanding. Split through Strallman for a breakaway and then killed the puck 20 seconds in the corner. Also on the PK he set up Plekanec for a beauty. The goal wasn't even close to his best chance on the night. Bishop completely muffed it.
- The Habs best line's last player Brendan Gallagher who almost won it in overtime with his usual amazing work rate. Just couldn't get the puck up from in close and Bishop made an excellent save. Gallagher Plekanec Pacioretty look to be a keeper.
- Dale Weise was on a mission early to throw the body around as all the Habs seemed to be in the first period. He had great jump on the forecheck.
- Carey Price was in form. He looked composed through out. He was Carey. Nothing to be done about the Johnson goal. A tip from 2 feet in front of you does not give you enough reaction time. It either hits you or it does not. It did not. The winner was a perfect shot from a high quality position that there was nothing that a goalie could do.
- Eric Engels looks at me and says "that kids got no pulse" It was a compliment to Greg Pateryn who gets thrown in to a tough spot and handles it with a coolness that he should not be able to.
- JDLR is going to be some kind of player. Don't know what his upside on the goal front is. He's probably a 10 to 15 goal man but wow is he a horse on defense and position. What an intelligent player. A coach is just going to want to keep going to him the tighter the game gets. He is for 19 years of age as mistake free as you're going to ever see for that age. Yep 19. Wow. What instincts for the game at that age.
Wilde Goats
- Alex Galchenyuk with 3 minors. Surprised that his leash didn't get shortened to the point he was on the bench. A tentative player right now lacking in confidence.
- Andrei Markov with the same issues as the first round. Markov has to be injured. He looks to be skating in mud. There's no first stride. He just kind of is still in the same place after the stride. Going to be hard to go far when your number 2 D is perhaps your poorest D. Hell of a challenge. Someone has to step up when your 2 is your 6. There is no one who has that ability. Petry is already doing so much. They need Beaulieu back.
Wilde Cards
- Excellent adjustments from Therrien in preparation for this. It sure looked better than the regular season. The pinching D made the game play more in the TB end than this season. The dump ins away from Bishop helped the forecheck. And the Habs actually entered the zone with the puck. Yes I actually saw it - a series of controlled zone entries.
- Ben Bishop looked so shaky in the early going. Two posts: one he flat out whiffed on an easy shot and the second he didn't see. He also made a save off the goal line he didn't really see. But then he lost his nerves and found his game - until the shot from Pacioretty which was just flat out horrendous that he whiffed. Just right through his glove hand. The Habs will no doubt target that area because Bishop needs to prove his arm isn't shaking so bad that he can move it. The Plekanec save on the 2 on 1 is not an argument that his glove is ready as that shot landed there and he did an oh look what I got.
- Credit to the coach too in the re-assignment of Desharnais as he is more suited to this reduced role. He doesn't have Pacioretty and that is good because Plekanec does and those two seem to have a little chemistry especially on the PK where they're dangerous and generated more chances than the Habs PP.
- Overall, bad puck luck. Yeah yeah I know you make your own luck but that's just not a reality. It bounces your way when you're around the net a lot all night or it does not. For the Habs, they were around the goal. They forced the issue and carried a good portion of the play but it would not fall for them. Now the road is long. The stats are not good when you lose the first game at home. Add to that, where does the club draw faith now that they have lost 6 straight to Tampa. If I am Therrien, I don't panic. You have to play game 2 like game 1 and wait for the break that you deserve.
