Ottawa Musings, In-Game Scribbles
March 20, 2009, by Homme De Sept-Iles
Montreal 4 at Ottawa 5
RDS informs us that:
Montreal had 43 turnovers in Guy Carbonneau’s last four games.
Montreal has 79 turnovers in Bob Gainey’s first four games.
First Period
Guillaume Latendresse scores the first goal on a set-up from Maxim Lapierre. It’s Latendresse’ 10th goal. In his second game back.
Ottawa scores very quickly afterward on a four-on-four. Price could have had it.
Price makes a great save on an Ottawa breakaway. Then Koivu gets a great chance alone in front of the Ottawa net. Loses control on a quick stick-handle attempt.
Coast to coast.
The mix of Montreal and Ottawa fans is culturally satisfying and fits well. It seems almost fifty-fifty.
Andre Kostitsyn, Thomas Plekanec and Alex Kovalev are reunited. Kovalev sets up Kostitsyn for a good backhand chance in the crease.
Typical torrid first-period start for Montreal.
Matt D’Agostini, Glen Metropolit and Max Pacioretty are together tonight. First time ever for this trio.
Waiting for Halak. Murray watches and takes his own notes.
Christopher Higgins’ hands are almost as good as Alex Kovalev’s. In terms of quickness on stick-handle. Flashed gloves board-ward.
Alfredsson’s chops-range is broad. He comes in on Schneider one-on-one and gets Schneider out of sync twice on the sequence but his SOG goes wide.
Gorges is on with Komisarek. Another new combination.
Kovalev loses the puck on entry after a nice neutral-zone move. Three Senators converged on him. Normal. The convergence.
Due to score again; Plekanec and Koivu.
Lapierre line is great in getting back and adding numbers to the defensive. Now Komisarek takes a questionable roughing.
First penalty-kill is Higgins and Lapierre. Second pk unit is Plekanec with D’Agostini.
Ottawa scores on the power-play. Second PP goal of the night. Spezza. Smooth-skill goal from #19. Pulls it from behind the goal-line, cruising backward, shifts it to forehand and pumps it in.
Tanguay is on with Koivu and Higgins.
Mike Fisher is on the ice. He hasn’t been the same player for quite some time. It’s a bonus for Montreal each time we play them. Something like Darcy Tucker’s emotional absence from the Leafs two seasons ago.
Ottawa scores a goal that needs review. Another lost faceoff (Koivu). Spezza on a long deflection and it counts. A great goal.
3-1, Ottawa.
Brunet is concerned that this might have an effect on Price’s confidence.
Kovalev sets up a good chance for Kostitsyn. The only line that is threatening in the past ten minutes. Play closes and Plekanec gets into a scrum. The result is roughing on Dany Heatley.
Montreal power-play goes on the ice and it’s a must-to-should in terms of need.
Another lost faceoff. And a chance for a streaking Kelly. No SOG.
No scoring chances and the period ends. Twenty-three seconds remain in the power-play.
First Intermission
Demers says that the team continues to have a great lack of confidence.
Spezza gives a polite interview and his eight points in eight most recent games is discussed.
Second Period
Canadiens score. Koivu-Higgins-Tanguay. Tanguay gets the Chardonnay finish. Fine wine goal.
Backhand short-side goal goes in. What the fudge. Halak is on the ice.
4-2, Ottawa
Halak looks sharp early. Quality pad save. Halak later stops Schubert on a breakaway.
Andrei Kostitsyn turns it over and gets back with intensity to make up for it. He gets the puck back on that sequence.
Halak makes the save of the night so far. Off a prolonged Ottawa stay that seemed preventable. Plekanec backed off on Spezza near the top of the zone. Halak’s upper half went one way and his lower half the other. He is giving this team a real chance to come back.
Best second period from Montreal since the first ten minutes of the second period of the Calgary game. The pace and flow is excellent. Both teams.
Higgins stick is shattered by a Senator. No call. Pace continues to increase. Then Latendresse scores on a backhand off a pass from Gorges.
4-3, Ottawa
Kovalev draws a penalty on the ensuing sequence.
It’s hard to say just what confluence of variables are the ideal distillation for second-period success. For Stanley Cup success, let’s face it. It’s findable, though. We just need better technology.
Power-play unit one is the Plekanec line. Good control and a few shots on the first segment.
Markov and Schneider on the points. Markov is up a bit. On the left.
Ottawa takes another penalty. Montreal controls and get one shot. Holding penalty puts Ottawa at a 5-on-3 disadvantage.
Will Kovalev return to the ice?
Yes. With D’Agostini. Koivu, too. The unit cleverly and quickly creates some space but Plekanec can’t finish with a final pass.
No goal but there is no loss of pace and energy from Montreal. If reality sets in, Montreal will get the chances that result from this kind of pace. In a speed game, Montreal always has the advantage.
Is this the arrival of Guillaume Latendresse?
Letting them shoot. Letting them shoot.
Ottawa scores.
5-3, Ottawa.
Nobody wanted to block the shot. Kovalev included. Goes in from the point. Chris Phillips gets credited.
Higgins makes a nice defensive play that prevents an Ottawa three-on-two. Poke-check turning homeward
Latendresse narrowly misses a hat-trick golf-shot. From Lafleur territory. The left dot.
How good is this Elliott guy, anyway? And I keep forgetting that Metropolit shoots right.
Ottawa defender slips. Brisebois sees it and gets the puck back to Hamrlik. He fires true from the blue line.
5-4, Ottawa
Andrei Kostitsyn is playing with a fire tonight, too. A lot of fire from this team. Lot of fire.
Second Intermission
Latendresse is talking about togetherness as a line in a way I’ve never heard any player talk this season. Not that it hasn’t happened. It just hasn’t been said on an intermission like that. I like what I’m hearing. And I like the band-aid across the bridge of the nose.
Third Period
A fired up Sergei Kostitsyn would be the right closing spice for the sauce. A good addition at the right time.
Team is maintaining a strong tempo.
Hit the post. The post. Markov on a long shot. Beat the Senator.
Maybe what this team needs is a great young North American player who is blue chip and vocal.
To meld with the veterans. Possibly Koivu and Kovalev are too old to relate as well to the younger guys.
Koivu line is going to score. At some point in the third.
Latendresse line is back on again. And that line continues its excellent work on the boards and in creating space for shots.
A great third from Montreal. To go with the second. The first such sustained effort to close a game in several games. More than several.
Tanguay gets hauled down after many, many minutes of Montreal-Ottawa comet-cross orbits. With four minutes left, this will be the best chance. Not the only chance. But the best one.
Power-play needs to click. Chris Phillips in the box. They could have let the call go. Clichés are clicked. No goal.
Montreal is forced to pull the goalie. Some sustained control but in the end Higgins is gassed and doesn’t or can’t give the effort to keep it in and create one more chance.
No goals to end the game.
Tim Peel and Brad Watson were the referees tonight and they called a great game. No penalties were undeserved. Except the one at the end that benefited Montreal.
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