MTL v OTT - LOSS 5-4 Summary

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There is a lot to say, and yet nothing to say about yesterday's game. According to the score, it was a close game. But I'll tell you that 1/2 the twitter-sphere that watches the games with me clicked off in the second. The game had a lot of end-to-end action; but there were still times where Montreal was caught standing still and watching. Ottawa was pretty lucky in the first, as Carey Price let in 2 goals he could have stopped, and one that was offside + tipped by a high stick; and counted only by inches. Latendress had a huge game with Lapierre and Tommy K -- but the Eastern Blok was more like a Block of ... je ne sais pas quoi.

Its getting tiresome to see parts of the team come to play, and other parts not show up at all. despite Ottawa's horseshoes, they were very beatable last night. If Price was a little sharper, we would have won. If the P-AKs line had done anything with their ice-time, we would have won. These are the guys who need to score the big goals: the top scorer, AK-46 (-1, 0 shots). The hot hand, Plucky-Plekanic (-1, 4 shots), and The Artiste, AK-27 (-1, 2 shots). There were no communication issues here -- there were execution issues.

The Good:
Latendresse, Lapierre, and Tommy K were awesome. Well, especially the first 2 (Tommy K did his thing). Higgins / Tanguay / Koivu were pretty good, but Koivu is really looking beat out there. The New Additions of Max Pac, D'Agostini and Metropololit had a good game, but didn't see much ice, so its hard to praise them too much. Markov, as usual... solid.

The Bad:
Sigh, once again Carey Price had a bad game. If I had to sum it up, I'd have to say he wasn't ready for "the next" shot. Sharp goaltenders are the ones who are prepared for the next shot, not spectating, or over-anticipating, or admiring their last save looking for the puck. Price was not ready. Komisarek didn't have a strong game either.

The Ugly:
The no.2 line played like a steaming no.2. Kovalev's contant turnovers, Kostitsyn's late on every puck, and Plekanic was invisible. They had a good first 5 minutes; and then disappeared. They coulnd't feed off the momentum form the other lines? They couldn't get energized with a new goalie? They couldn't bring themselves to care, only 1-goal down with a period to play in a "must win" game? Next time just give the fans the finger and stay home you arseholes.

Price is a good goalie. He is gonna be awesome next year -- you'll see. But I hope he doesn't play another game this year.