I was eager to see how the Habs would respond for game 2 vs the Caps. While they played a good game overall, I found they ran into the same problems.

The first period ended with the score 0-0, which is good for a road game, but they were again being hit hard all over the ice. Anderson had a response of sorts but ideally you don’t want to take a boarding penalty doing so. Also, much like game 1, transitioning smoothly out of the dzone was an issue which resulted in the Habs having difficulty generating speed through the neutral zone.

The second started well with the Habs scoring first when Dvorak and Anderson double teamed a puck into the net. The lead did not last long and the Caps scored two quick goals and were all of a sudden in the driver's seat. Like game 1, I found the Habs were reluctant to dish out heavy punishment. They would finish their checks, but nothing really came close to the Caps constant heavy hits on their star players. (Ovie was a beast as usual, love this guy….just not vs the Habs). Also, they were heavily outshot during the second and Montembeault had to bail them out more than once.

In the third period, the Habs were able to generate more offense and had a lot of good chances to score. Unfortunately, Thompson made a lot of amazing saves, specifically one on Evans which should have been a sure goal. Overall they had a good effort, but came up short losing 2-1 ( fake 3-1).

Here is my breakdown of how the Habs did:

+Montembeault was amazing yet again
+Guhle had a much better game
+the first line played well despite not getting on the score sheet
+I love the Anderson-Dvorak-Gally line
+Struble continues to impress me

-Matheson and Caufield took a lot of punishment, someone needs to do something
-Hutson played a good game but made some uncharacteristic giveaways and a couple of bad reads
-the Habs need to hit the Caps harder, make them pay
-they need to find a way to get Demidov going (not in points, but stringing together dangerous shifts)
-avoid getting their shot blocked

Game 3 should be insane with the Montreal atmosphere. My prediction…..Pain.

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