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Habs add Insult to Injury in Toronto...Is Carey Price the Best? |
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That first period of hockey was as straight of a period as I've ever seen between both these teams, yet something seemed eerily wrong. This game didn't have the emotion that the others had, and it got me thinking that this Leafs team is so disheveled they can't even get up for the Habs. That was of course when Darcy Tucker scored his third goal of the season and seemed pretty pumped about it with his most aggressive "I finally scored" face on.
Twice in this game the Leafs took the momentum, and gave it right to the Canadiens directly after. Mark Bell takes an offensive zone penalty the shift after Tucker scores, and wouldn't you know it...the number 1 powerplay in the league clicks. The Leafs don't get discouraged, and a few minutes later Kilger exposes Markov as Markov confuses Komisarek(who thought he was steering Kilger straight into Markov)and in goes another past Carey Price. More excitement for a brief moment at the ACC, until about 30 seconds later when Saku Koivu decided he's fed up with slumping. He goes out and has an absolutely dominant shift and all but scores Latendresse's goal for him. Then the Leafs take two penalties to give the Habs a five on three powerplay, which would extend to the third period. One penalty wears off, but Kovalev makes 'em pay on the other, with his second of the night, and 12th of the season. The Habs played a typical game from there on. They kept it tight in their own zone, and played it safe on offense, and at the very last second, Koivu has a chance to clear a puck down the ice, he gets it half way there, and Sundin capitalizes on a rebound by the net.
Overtime and a shootout were enough to prove that Carey Price was more than just the MVP in this one. The Leafs were coming off an embarrassing loss against Phoenix. You know they wanted to rebound, shut the media up, and do it against the one team they usually have success against. But Carey Price was also coming off a loss, and you saw him play last night...does he seem like the type of guy who loses straight games? Let me ask you this: When the game was on the line, with Jason Blake taking that last shot, did you even have a shred of doubt Carey would save it? He made 42 saves look as easy as the ones he made in the shootout. All this talk about Patrick Roy is hard to deal with, but the facts remain that they are similar in more ways than they can imagine.
It's not in the attitude, the mannerisms, or even the style. It's the confidence of not even having to put up the best numbers to be the best. Carey Price through nine games this year has a modest 2.71 gaa, and a .916 SA. He has no shutouts. Yet even you Leaf fans must admit you haven't seen anything quite like him since St. Patrick was playing against you in Maple Leaf Gardens. No disrespect to Brodeur, or Kiprusoff, or Luongo, but Price has something about him that makes you feel like he's just not beatable. I'm not trying to blow this out of proportion nine games into his NHL career, but if you think I'm this confident about him, imagine how his teammates feel. Imagine how his opposition feels. Imagine how Cristobal Huet feels, as he is the leading vote-getter among goalies up for All-star honors in the East, yet he knows this kid is better than he'll ever be. I'll leave the conversation on this final note: Patrick Roy's best season in the NHL was his second to last, where he put up a 1.94 gaa, and a .925 SA. The numbers never really mattered with Patrick, what mattered was he always made you feel like you would win, and that's how Carey Price makes you feel.
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I'm thinking just about every GM in the league would've traded Kovalev at some point last year. If not then, they probably would've unloaded him for nothing, or someone else's garbage in the offseason. Those who would've been thrilled to have Alex Tanguay in his place are quickly retracting. In 24 games, Kovalev has 12 goals and 21 points. Last season he scored a total of 18 goals; he's on pace to double that mark. Alex Kovalev was the 1st star in the NHL last night, but he's also been the first star on the team all-season long (alongside the goalies of course). I'm going to go out on a limb here, and I might be lambasted for saying it, but Alex Kovalev is hardly a fourth liner...
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Was Brisebois wearing number 43 last night, cause I could've sworn he had never left, considering the way he was playing. Pinching at inopportune moments, and missing each time!! A disaster in front of his own net, despite some nice breakout passes throughout the night. He hasn't been bad this year, but what does he really bring to the table? He got nailed a few times, and fans were waiting for someone to stick up for him when Tucker got the best of him. My friend brought a great point up after the hit: defensemen in the NHL are supposed to be the ones sticking up for others. Brisebois brings talent and experience, but he can't stand up for others, let alone himself. For someone logging minutes next to our third defensemen we need a more intimidating presence in front of the net, and in the corners. I wonder if this Brisebois experiment will last all year. This isn't a personal knock on Patrice, but the shortcomings of his game are exposed, especially in the new NHL where forwards aren't held up before they reach defensemen.
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Latendresse has had a tough season so far, but he deserves to be commended when he plays well. He adds a physical dimension to the top line, and because of it Koivu looked more like Koivu last night, and Higgins had to do slightly less work than he normally does to keep this line on the plus side of the ledger.
Welcome Brian Smolinski, and thanks for playing your first game of the season. We'd be glad to see you play like that for the rest of the season, and if you find a way to ramp it up slightly more no one will be opposed.
Kostitsyn had a pretty rough night until he did his job in the shootout, but thanks to his soft hands the Habs avoided losing three times in a row.
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I know your not looking forward to it, but the Canadiens next game is in New Jersey. Houde and Pednault jokingly said perhaps the Canadiens will have better luck in Jersey's new building...I don't know about you guys but I'm just praying this won't be the most boring game of the year. If the Habs squeeze one out then Amen! As long as the game doesn't put me to sleep, because then I'll have nothing to write about come Saturday morning!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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