Good Things Happen to Those Who Try...

Well it's the first time in almost a month since my last post and I get to start over with this. Perhaps it's some sort of hex or curse that someone cast upon Montreal that disables our talent whenever we play >playoff teams. Whatever the case may be, Tampa Bay (now 17-21-10) has picked up 5 of a possible 6 points against us.

It's simple, the Bolts won tonight by doing the exact opposite of what Montreal did: They worked their buts off. Yes, the first period was all Habs however, one period doesn't win games. Starting right from the get-go of the 2nd, the gritty players stepped up (Downie, Artyukin). By fore checking, hitting, winning the one-on-one battles, they managed to completely shut us down. Plus, throw in 9 penalties called on Montreal to the equation. Vinny and Marty combine for 2 on the PP while everyone else works to get 3. Kudos to them, because they're not too far off from a playoff spot.

I have to say, Ryan O'Byrne played quite well tonight. Not spectacular, but managed to stay at even par in +/- with 12:38 of TOI. Perfect, boost up his value right in front of the eyes of both of Florida's GMs. Higgins also, made a very good comeback. If it weren't for Lang's lack of finishing, he would have gotten at least gotten a point.

Just like Carbo said after the game, something is not right when your 4th line is your best one. Lapierre, Kostopoulos and Latendresse combined for 2 goals and 13 shots. Hmph, if it weren't for these 3 and Smith's bad pass, we'd have been shut out.

We have to look at the big picture here. The amount of pressure on le tricolore is tough to match. When you're expected to win 82 of 82 games, chances are some might crack. However, when you play sub-par teams like Tampa Bay or Atlanta, these are the points that are going to kill you in the long run. A good team would have come out flying, but played a full 60 minutes. We have failed to do that on multiple occasions this year and it is costing us some valuable points. Hopefully, we'll take the Panthers a little more seriously on Thursday night.

Photo courtesy of: Yahoo! Sports