Sunday, April 13, 2008

Habs Don't Deserve Shit: Listless Effort 3, Hard Workin' B's 2 (OT)

We've got another game to look forward to in less than 10 hours, so there is no time for niceties (like yours truly ever holds back). Habs were outworked and outplayed last night. Point final. We won because of TFS and the refs gave us enough PP's eventually we had to score one. Let's take a look at the storylines:

TFS is God - 37 saves. Lots on in-close chances. As all around him were crumbling, he just stood in there and did what he had to do. Playoff goaltending at its best. In his second NHL playoff game. At 20 years old. Excuse me, I need a tissue.

Kovy: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - The Good was the redemption he got scoring the OT winner, and the magnificence in the offensive zone as he did all the work on Little Tits' 2nd period goal. The Bad was his inability to do much on the PP until the OT winer. The Ugly was what he got redemption from, his stupid retaliation slash that got him two minutes and got the B's the tying goal. Veterans who do that shit in the playoffs should be benched. Good thing Kovy refuses to go back to the bench most of the time, so he was on the ice to score the winner.

Open your fucking eyes - the refs were, uh, not good. They missed what they needed to see, they saw what they needed to miss. Both teams could rightfully complain on this night.

Other crap - Markov played like it. Must have had a bad pre-game meal, because he shat his way across both zones. The PP, given every chance to win the game, even thought they finally did, was tentative and weak throughout. May have something to do with Slowinski getting major minutes on it. Whoever picked the 3 stars was the ultimate homer. The stats sheet says we had 28 giveaways. That can't be good. Ryder and Higgins need to show up soon.

Just so I can't be accused of being completely negative - I thought Hamr had a great game in both ends. The Kosto-Slowinski-Bégin line continued to be the spark. We're up 2-0, I guess that's something.

See you in a few hours. At least I don't have to get on a plane. Who came up with this joke of a schedule?

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

The thing is, you have to win a few games in the playoffs that you don't deserve. I remember feeling guilty a lot in the spring of '93.

moeman said...

Ugly win for sure but not nearly as ugly as don cherry. The fun thing about the cbc/hnic's resident racist is that he's so red in the face that he'll eventually turn blue and that'll go nice with his white beard making him blue, blanc et rouge. The only thing missing last night was Kovy taking the OT/PP game-winning puck, giving it to Friedman and giving it on air to cherry as a gift.

14 for 25.

Anonymous said...

No one has ever won a Stanley Cup without ugly wins along the way. What matters most is that we managed to pull it out in the end and lower our magic number by one.

And I don't feel guilty one little bit.

Oh, and Don Cherry sucks, too.

Jeff J said...

Habs earned the win. Sure, B's had the edge in shots but Habs shot quality was through the roof (see the expected goals column).

If they converted either breakaway or if either goalpost went in, the mass media would be talking about how the Habs dominated both games, not how they 'stole' the game. I dunno, maybe everyone is confusing ugly officiating with an ugly win.

Young HF29 said...

So the overall feeling is I should just shut up and enjoy the win. Hmmm. I'll try.

Jeff good to see you back working hard during he playoffs. That got you back on the blogroll

Brian said...

The missed breakaways were the killers for me. On both occassions, the forwards had enough time to go out for cocktails, Chinese and still bury the biscuit. You don't get many of those in the playoffs. You have to score on those or they'll come back like Jacob Marley's ghost and haunt your sorry ass.

Jaybird said...

Wow more joyless habs fans. What you were't smiling after the win? Looking for things to complain about when all I see in every paper today is that the series is 2-0 MONTREAL. Remember we have the youngest team in the playoffs and sorry if I shock some people but we may not win the cup this year. The point is we are set for years to come with a balanced competitive hockey team. ENJOY THE MOMENT!

Anonymous said...

HF29, it sure would be something to get some production out of Higgins and Ryder. I actually thought Higgins would have a good series points-wise, maybe my expectations are too high him.

While the team did not look great in last night's game I do agree somewhat with Jeff's point. The Habs had a lot of good quality scoring chances that they just didn't convert on.

I am loving what we are seeing from Smolinski's line but it is concerning that they seem to be the best line night in and night our recently. Hopefully some other guys (Higgins, Ryder, Plekanec)step up tonight.

Young HF29 said...

@jaybird - to quote Crash Davis, "the moment's over." love your blog btw

@matt - i thought Ryder had some good moments in Game 1, but other than that, blech. Koivu is missed. and ur right, when your 4th line is your best, that's trouble

Anonymous said...

So... Can anyone talk about Little Tits yet? You know, the guy who scored a goal in both games? The guy who i'm prematurely hoping him to become a top-notch playoff performer?

He scored two goals in two games, let's see if her gets a third.

Young HF29 said...

@FT - an egregious omission on my part. you're right, he deserves big props

Jaybird said...

On re-reading my post I think I came off like a dick lol didn't mean too! Ive been trying to take the self hating out of myself as a habs fan on bad nights. As the first reader of my site I thank you haha! On your post above I laughed when I read the bullet "Mike Milbury is an idiot" as there is nothing else to be said about him. No elaboration needed. Little tits is awesome we started calling him Luke Skywalker as his resemblance in talent, looks, and force skills is similar. The guys I wretched over all season was Smolinski but I think he deserves some props also! Brisebois unfortunately will never win my heart back.

Young HF29 said...

@jaybird - not to worry. if anything, we need some positive vibes around here. you're new, so you wouldn't know we're all pessimists