Another unconvincing win for Montreal. This one, need I remind you, should have been put away early on. Going into the third period, Montreal was up 3-0 from goals by D'Agostini, Plekanec and Markov. At this point, it was their game to lose. Atlanta, because of their first and second period performances, really did look like a last place team. Wayward passes all around, not able to clear the puck out of the zone and the only offense generated was shots from the outside. Yep, this one's in the bag, so why not go out to the third period and not try at all!Well Montreal decided to do just that. All it took was 59 seconds for Atlanta to score three (sometimes we need 2 games to score 3), starting with a powerplay.. oh, wait Laraque just forgot to step on the ice: Oops! Ex-Hab Ron Hainsey scored 2 followed by one by C.Thorburn... whoever he is. 59 seconds, and now the game's tied 3-3. These guys just never learn. Well, thanks to some awful defending on Atlanta's part, Andrei Kostitsyn managed to pull one back for Montreal. This, followed by an empty-netter from Lang, put the game out of reach. But, Montreal, once again, decided that the game was over. 19 seconds to go, Williams roofs it. Fortunately, the goal meant nothing as Montreal held on to win 5-4.
Another disappointing game for underachiever Chris Higgins. No points, a few giveaways and a penalty. Price was also ordinary tonight, not at his top form, letting in 4 to Atlanta. He better be ready for Thursday. A few players are starting to get some monkeys of their backs, including Kovalev who assisted on 2, Plekanec who scored and Kostitsyn who scored one and assisted on 2. Not bad, but it was Atlanta. When they play New York on Thursday, 5 goals won't come as easily.
Just like in the title, a sloppy game in the third led to a sloppy win. Not impressed at all by the lack of effort towards the end. They better be ready for Thursday's game against the red-hot Rangers.
Notes: Koivu is now the only player on Montreal to break 20 points, (he has 21)... Kovalev is now goalless in 14, but second on the team in points (18)... Laraque's +/- is a team-low -4... Players scratched: Sergei Kostitsyn, Ryan O'Byrne. Guillaume Latendresse.
5 comments:
Price was not as bad as you make it out to be.The Breeze was at his best...and yet he's in for power plays, some PK, and late in the game when we were "hanging by our
shorts".
From today's paper, McAllister has lived up to his first name.... the
NFL nailed him... again.... He has
successfully completed...da deuce.
UJ
Maybe Laraque is on to something. Staying off the ice to keep his +/-from getting worse :)
I am not calling for Carbo's head just yet, but a mistake as big as that, a performance- as you well describe - as sloppy as last night's does not start and end at the player level... If one, maybe two players are not performing, ok. But we're talking about a team that is clearly underachieving, not focused and simply not putting in the effort required. Are the arrows beginning to point towards Carbo?
Mr. Patterson has a request of you:
How much is ex-Hab Ron Hainsey making, plus contract length.
UJ
U J,
You can tell Mr. Patterson this:
Montreal drafted Hainsey 14th overall in 2000 but waived him 3 seasons later. He was claimed by Columbus and got 83 points in 213 games with them. During this summer, Hainsey was signed by the Thrashers to a 5-year $22.5 million contract.
4th Liner,
You bring up a good point. The arrows, as you mention, are surely beginning to point towards Carbo. Maybe he benched Laraque to relieve some of the blame on himself. It's like blaming someone else for being guilty by association. Do you see what I'm saying?
Post a Comment