Edmonton Musings and In-Game Scribbles
October 11, 2009, by Homme De Sept-Iles
My English is as good as yours, I just write these in a stream-of-consciousness mode that I insist excuses me from small things like rules of grammar or general etiquette. Let’s call it conversational English, hopped up on beans. You know what kind of beans (no, Carl Mellesmoen, not the magic ones)
Montreal Canadiens (2-2) at Edmonton Oilers (1-1-1)
Saturday, October 11, 2009
Game Five (score posted following scribbles)
Musings and In-Game Scribbles are a “live blogging” of the game that are compiled (typed, actually) during the game and edited and posted shortly after the game.
I have decided to resume the Musings. I will do the best I can with the limited information I have. It just means I will be reviewing the game-film one or two more times. Yes, game-film. Game-tape? Game-files?
We are at Rexall Place tonight, the former Northlands Coliseum. Both ugly names for a building of any type, let alone a hockey arena.
Nikolai Khabibulin is in net for Edmonton and Carey Price is there for Montreal. The lighting in the arena is its usual, strange near-green version.
First Period
Early point-shot from Spacek deflects unnaturally to the left of The Wall but no shot.
Moments later, AK46 fires a dangerous wrister at Khabibulin. The weather in Edmonton has gotten colder and the ice looks a bit more real than in other arenas. No idea if the outside weather has any bearing on maintaining ice in pro rinks. Worth examining.
Khabibulin’s mask has a Fuhr feel to it. Hopefully we’ll see a close-up.
Lapierre, Latendresse and D’Agostini are together. Metropolit and Stewart are both absent and, of course, so are O’Byrne and Markov, both injured.
Table hockey drive by Edmonton’s number 10 results in an easy repulsion and turnover. Moen, Gomez and Gionta are on together. Interesting.
Canadiens are controlling the puck well and have the time of possession advantage. Pat Quinn is looking like a distinguished police commissioner behind the bench. Grey hair. Nice suit. And a big man’s demeanour and presence. He certainly passes the eye test.
But so did US president Warren Harding.
Canadiens take a penalty; hooking, Matt D’Agostini.
First PK pair is Plekanec and Moen. Gomez quickly replaces Plekanec when Montreal makes an early clear. Canadiens come up with a two-on-one. Moen’s very weak shot is an easy stop. Houde says if Moen had gotten more velocity on the shot it would have been a goal.
Canadiens cruise into the Oil patch again. Oilers are struggling with their passes. Ladislav Smid. Cool name.
Oilers set up.
But there are only five seconds left. D’Agostini returns to the ice. A few seconds later, D’Agostini dumps the puck out and the Canadiens survive the first test.
Price is looking alert. He’s sharp on a short shot from the slot.
I feel more alert, too. I’m no longer looking at the laptop screen. Summer is fading away.
We return from a commercial and we see Weber lose control of a puck which results in a shot for Edmonton. A replay of the slot shot.
Montreal’s control and passing is at its best so far. Very nice movement from Hamrlik, Spacek and Kostitsyn. Loss of control in the Edmonton zone but the Canadiens growing cohesion is a delight.
Gomez line continues the nice puck control. Very encouraging. I find myself wondering what Martin stressed in that practice.
Edmonton works it out and Price creates some alarm with a mishandle behind his net. Canadiens cover for him.
The pace is slower than in the previous four games, almost thoughtful from both teams. Conscious of turnovers.
Chipchura uses his size to get control of a puck but overskate it.
Puck goes down to the other end and Spacek takes a hooking call.
Montreal is a team that has passed well over the years, played well defensively and have a reputation for good puck control. I’m used to that, that’s my opinion and I’m just glad to see that coming back.
Spacek is frustrated with the penalty call. No matter, Edmonton goes to the power-lay and this time they are quick to set up. Hemsky is in the left circle. Odd spot at a forty0ive degree angle from the faceoff dot. He’s aggressively positioned and he is the most gifted Oiler.
Montreal gets a three man break but go offside. But we see some stop and look and a good pass from Hamrlik to Gionta.
Next up, Lapierre forces his way down right to the Edmonton slot. No shot. But Montreal is playing with growing confidence. Just twenty seconds left in the power-play for Edmonton.
Can you imagine if Wayne Gretzky was still playing and still in Edmonton? He’d still be good for 70-75 points a year. He’s forty-six.
Kostitsyn does his shoulder-shrug entry and fires a wrister that bounces to the other side for a slapper. Then Khabibulin freezes an additional shot.
Kostitsyn is shooting often tonight. Already four shots.
Gomez isn’t afraid to rupture feelings in the slot after whistles. He whacks Khabibulin after the goalie freezes the puck. And he doesn’t get the type of anger reserved for a milder player. Gomez’ reputation is earned.
It feels more like a Montreal game than ever. Canadiens are positioned well and it’s difficult for Edmonton to make incursions. Defence, baby.
Even Gill has a nice moment breaking up an Oiler middle entry.
Just five and a half minutes left in the first period. Where is Sheldon Souray? Edmonton Journal report states that Souray is absent because of a head-first crash into the boards on Thursday.
Gomez line control as if it’s a power-play. And Gill is a key in keeping the puck in the Oiler zone. Shabash.
Second line continues the control. No shots but plenty of TOP. Oiler fans are booing intermittently. Finally Edmonton gets it out and then they get a chance for which Price splays; and smothers. Play resumes without a whistle and Edmonton has been on the ice for a long time. Latendresse gets a chance from the slot and Edmonton finally gets a chance to make a change. Chipchura makes a brutal play, gives the puck away but the team isn’t punished for it.
Comrie gets a deep pass and scores. Great pass reception, says Houde and a beautiful top corner shot. Over Price’s glove.
Edmonton 1, Montreal 0
Great athletic play by the Oilers. Should Price have had that? Brunet says that he went down early. Comrie got it down the middle and skated in with a Canadien close by and a bit behind.
Edmonton has more hope in their presence and a Montreal turnover leads to a shot. Price stops it.
Period ends. Shots on goal are in Montreal’s favour, 13-6.
First Intermission
We see that NAPA commercial where a female cop busts an elderly couple making out in some out of the way spot. Now why is it that cops feel comfortable knocking on steamy car windows with their flashlights? What purpose does this serve? What community-protection principle are they serving?
Alain Crete’s haircut makes him look like a Scott Adams’ cartoon character. Management.
Marcel Aubut is involved. Again. Francois Bouchard and Crete discuss the recent overture made by Quebec City’s mayor in regards to a return to the NHL for the province’s capital city.
Crete is looking jovial, besides. And a bit shiny.
Alain Crete is in one of the best moods I’ve ever seen him in and something about him reminds of Ken Dryden. Never noticed the similarity before. I’ll think about it and let you know when I figure it out. Might be demeanour. Might be appearance.
Apparently, Big Deal Karl Peladeau is floating nearby like a huge, curious and unwanted fish.
Great.
Well, if there is going to be another team, it should be named Nordiques.
When chucktards collide; Karl Peladeau versus Jim Balsillie. Dread it, ice queens.
We find out that Edmonton giant Jean-Francois Jacques is fluent in French. Quick interview before the period begins.
Second Period
Gionta, Moen and Gomez are maintained as a line and start for Montreal. They get an early possession but Edmonton interrupts.
Spacek and Hamrlik are working well together. Two lefties on the first pairing. Hamrlik is a former first-overall NHL draft pick. Radek Bonk was a third-overall pick. Sorta Raider of Bob to bring some of these guys over later in their careers. Sometimes it works.
Hamrlik has been solid in Montreal. No flash but no mistakes, either. Generally speaking.
Long shot from Shmid deflects and goes in. Rising wrister that got deflected by Jean-Francois Jacques. Horcoff also tipped it before Jacques got it.
Edmonton 2, Montreal 0.
Montreal fans in the stands have to hear the hootenanny heckling now. I’m glad I’m not in that building right now.
Canadiens get more intense. Lapierre line controls and D’Agostini escapes from board to slot and fires wide from a very dangerous spot.
I find myself thinking of Dryden’s comment in The Game; I had them once, when I was young and the team needed me. I’m paraphrasing.
Pacioretty is on with Chipchura and Laraque and Max gets a good chance off a rebound he creates himself.
Gomez has two back-pass turnovers on this shift. One in the neutral zone and one in Edmonton territory.
Overall the pace has picked up.
Canadiens make some errors and O’Sullivan benefits. He slithers in and fires it true. Whoops.
Three Habs fail to correct a Gorges’ error along the boards. Martin calls a timeout and is chastising the team. Not too angrily. But with some emphasis.
Edmonton 3, Montreal 0.
Canadiens were leading 17-9 on shots just moments before that goal.
Chipchura gets leveled and Paul Mara goes after the guilty Brule right away. Blindside hit and a dangerous one. Mara reacted immediately. Well, that’s a bit different from last year, now isn’t it? Mara wins the fight.
Edmonton gets the power-play.
At the midway point of the second period (10:31 left).
Hemsky beats Price from the slot but hits something red.
Price is looking shell-shocked again. It’s something in the way he moves after a save. Stays in position. As if his pads are soaked in water. And that they’re old pads.
Now O’Sullivan hits a crossbar. Canadiens kill the penalty.
Cammalleri does a Saku shoulder to push Strudwick off the puck in the corner. He’s a smart, tough little player. Our new number thirteen.
Oilers now get their first extended five-on-five of the game. Good control but only about two shots. None of them are dangerous and Price traps the second one and freezes for a faceoff.
These late-night games are quite inconvenient. I wonder which players find them disruptive. I’d just have a later bedtime as a general rule. So that it doesn’t matter where in the league the team is playing. Say, a midnight PST bedtime every night.
O’Sullivan now takes a borderline tripping call. Replay shows it wasn’t very borderline at all. Good call.
Cammalleri, Gomez and Gionta are the first power-play unit. Weber and Spacek are on the blue line. First incursion is neutralized. Weber gets a boomer from the blue line on the second possession. Wide of the net.
Gomez is now on the right point. Weber is moving up past the hash and takes a pass there to continue moving it around. Edmonton now gets it out and a near-problem in front of Price occurs. But Hamrlik eliminates the threat.
Penalty ends.
Brunet shows Kostitsyn doing nothing. Skating and coasting and ignoring his responsibilities. Sounds about right. Looks like it. Really unfortunate. Great talent.
Latendresse tries a wraparound. Nothin’. Old Man Boolin is on it. Stick moves before his pads do.
Sports television needs multiple views that customers can control. Goalie cam. Main view. Sky-cam. Multiple television sets?
Last minute of play in the period. Sudden two-on-one, Gionta with Gomez and Gionta shoots from the faceoff circle. In.
Edmonton 3, Montreal 1.
Short slapshot.
More pressure after the faceoff and a dangerous sequence. Cammalleri, Gomez and Gionta generate two good chances. Now Plekanec’ line takes the deep faceoff with 23 seconds left in the period. They establish brief control but can’t generate a chance.
Second Intermission
Joel Bouchard shows us the importance of forwards creating good short-range targets for their defencemen on the breakout. One instance shows a Plekanec mistake with Hal Gill. Left Gill in the lurch by accelerating away and not looking for the pass.
We are reminded after the commercial that Kovalev got his first goal as a Senator tonight and that Selanne had three tonight (including a shootout winner) for the Ducks. I don’t think Koivu got any points.
Third Period
There are too many words on the ice at Northlands. ATB Financial, Telus TV and other lovely riddles. Get it white. Get it right. It’s ice. Not racing canvas.
Habs and Oilers both get early chances. Then the game mellows down. Gill’s passing is perfect tonight. (Turner Gill was 60% in his last season as a Concorde)
This game is very different in terms of spacing than Wednesday’s game against Calgary.
On the replay of Montreal’s early chance we see that Gionta fired it over the net and that he had Khabibulin in a very compromised position.
Who cares where a guy is from. If he’s great, we’ll take him. Gionta’s overshooting of the puck is because he put emphasis on getting it off as quickly as possible. Scorer’s attitude.
Lapierre line is on now.
Lapierre wins the faceoff. Latendresse’ shot bounces wide. Some good Oiler puck movement goes awry when a third pass goes off an Edmonton skate and Latendresse gets a free shot at the net. But he misfires.
About 14 and a half minutes left.
Another nice pass from Gill. Short breakout pass.
Laraque is on. This is his old team. He gives a weak check on this shift and seems to be cooling off in terms of aggression.
Gomez, Cammalleri and Gionta are reunited for this period. Gill is having a very good game. And he hasn’t crushed anyone yet, either.
Gomez’ creativity and awareness are sharp. But nothing on this possession despite a long presence in Edmonton territory.
Canadiens are slowly regaining momentum and control of the game. Latendresse line demonstrates this now. Lines are skating with confidence and Edmonton is giving Montreal too much space.
Gionta line is back on with just over ten minutes left in the game.
Stick lies in front of Price discarded. Pacioretty makes a rush and his extra effort to get the pass in front forces an Edmonton defender to take a penalty. Montreal power-play with about nine and a half to play.
Ales Hemsky. So, not a defender. Pacioretty was twisting around to get the pass in front.
Plekanec is on with Latendresse and Gionta with Mara and Gorges on the blue line.
Best control of the night from Montreal’s power-play. Nothing yet. Cammalleri and Gomez are on with Pacioretty now. Something but nothing.
Penalty ends and Khabibulin stops a Cammalleri entry and screened shot. He bobbles it a bit. But freezes it.
Just under seven minutes left.
These are men of action. They do, they don’t say. Gilbert’s stick breaks and he advances the puck smartly with his glove for the Oilers.
No need for words. They really ought to reduce the interview requirements for players. Sure that’s ironic for me to say. Efficiency is more important than convenience.
Price is wearing something super-heroic under his jersey. Looks like an old-school Beast uniform.
Cammalleri makes a lot of extra effort on the boards.
We see Georges Laraque’s dad in the crowd; he’s wearing a Habs hat (blue) and a very cool sweater. Hard to tell what the symbols on it are but it’s black with gold trim.
Just under four minutes left. Canadiens are still generating chances. And Houde’s enthusiasm is still there.
And so is Latendresse. Montreal scores.
But the referee has not indicated a goal. So we will have to wait for the review. Lots of Canadiens fans in the crowd. Replay indicates nothing. They will rule “no goal”.
Latendresse is talking and looking up at the jumbotron. Waiting. One of the refs is on the phone. To Toronto. Muller is looking at Martin’s notes. And commenting. Muller is an interesting guy.
No goal. The right call. No conclusive evidence to overturn the decision and that’s what the rules require.
Montreal scores anyway. Quickly.
Edmonton 3, Montreal 2.
Just a fluke goal from the point. Deflects off an Oiler. Hamrlik gets the credit.
Three minutes and a bit.
Montreal makes a brief presence, are driven out and must regroup. Another fail. Both teams are playing with purpose as Edmonton has woken up.
Now Price makes his best-looking save of the night. High shot, glove hand save. Houde doesn’t react with a lot of emotion. Seemed like a great save, though.
Minute and a half.
Latendresse and Moen are on.
Price leaves the net. Forty-five seconds left.
Gionta line plus Plekanec.
They get it back in the Edmonton zone. Spacek from the point. Gionta misses a doorstep chance. Gill messes up. Montreal loses control at the blue line. Game ends.
Hamrlik was shaken up and that’s why Gill was on the ice, Brunet explains.
HDS Stars: Khabibulin, Comrie, Hamrlik
RDS Stars: Khabibulin, Hemsky, Gionta
I have decided to resume the Musings. I will do the best I can with the limited information I have. It just means I will be reviewing the game-film one or two more times. Yes, game-film. Game-tape? Game-files?
We are at Rexall Place tonight, the former Northlands Coliseum. Both ugly names for a building of any type, let alone a hockey arena.
Nikolai Khabibulin is in net for Edmonton and Carey Price is there for Montreal. The lighting in the arena is its usual, strange near-green version.
Early point-shot from Spacek deflects unnaturally to the left of The Wall but no shot.
Moments later, AK46 fires a dangerous wrister at Khabibulin. The weather in Edmonton has gotten colder and the ice looks a bit more real than in other arenas. No idea if the outside weather has any bearing on maintaining ice in pro rinks. Worth examining.
Khabibulin’s mask has a Fuhr feel to it. Hopefully we’ll see a close-up.
Lapierre, Latendresse and D’Agostini are together. Metropolit and Stewart are both absent and, of course, so are O’Byrne and Markov, both injured.
Table hockey drive by Edmonton’s number 10 results in an easy repulsion and turnover. Moen, Gomez and Gionta are on together. Interesting.
Canadiens are controlling the puck well and have the time of possession advantage. Pat Quinn is looking like a distinguished police commissioner behind the bench. Grey hair. Nice suit. And a big man’s demeanour and presence. He certainly passes the eye test.
But so did US president Warren Harding.
Canadiens take a penalty; hooking, Matt D’Agostini.
First PK pair is Plekanec and Moen. Gomez quickly replaces Plekanec when Montreal makes an early clear. Canadiens come up with a two-on-one. Moen’s very weak shot is an easy stop. Houde says if Moen had gotten more velocity on the shot it would have been a goal.
Canadiens cruise into the Oil patch again. Oilers are struggling with their passes. Ladislav Smid. Cool name.
Oilers set up.
But there are only five seconds left. D’Agostini returns to the ice. A few seconds later, D’Agostini dumps the puck out and the Canadiens survive the first test.
Price is looking alert. He’s sharp on a short shot from the slot.
I feel more alert, too. I’m no longer looking at the laptop screen. Summer is fading away.
We return from a commercial and we see Weber lose control of a puck which results in a shot for Edmonton. A replay of the slot shot.
Montreal’s control and passing is at its best so far. Very nice movement from Hamrlik, Spacek and Kostitsyn. Loss of control in the Edmonton zone but the Canadiens growing cohesion is a delight.
Gomez line continues the nice puck control. Very encouraging. I find myself wondering what Martin stressed in that practice.
Edmonton works it out and Price creates some alarm with a mishandle behind his net. Canadiens cover for him.
The pace is slower than in the previous four games, almost thoughtful from both teams. Conscious of turnovers.
Chipchura uses his size to get control of a puck but overskate it.
Puck goes down to the other end and Spacek takes a hooking call.
Montreal is a team that has passed well over the years, played well defensively and have a reputation for good puck control. I’m used to that, that’s my opinion and I’m just glad to see that coming back.
Spacek is frustrated with the penalty call. No matter, Edmonton goes to the power-lay and this time they are quick to set up. Hemsky is in the left circle. Odd spot at a forty0ive degree angle from the faceoff dot. He’s aggressively positioned and he is the most gifted Oiler.
Montreal gets a three man break but go offside. But we see some stop and look and a good pass from Hamrlik to Gionta.
Next up, Lapierre forces his way down right to the Edmonton slot. No shot. But Montreal is playing with growing confidence. Just twenty seconds left in the power-play for Edmonton.
Can you imagine if Wayne Gretzky was still playing and still in Edmonton? He’d still be good for 70-75 points a year. He’s forty-six.
Kostitsyn does his shoulder-shrug entry and fires a wrister that bounces to the other side for a slapper. Then Khabibulin freezes an additional shot.
Kostitsyn is shooting often tonight. Already four shots.
Gomez isn’t afraid to rupture feelings in the slot after whistles. He whacks Khabibulin after the goalie freezes the puck. And he doesn’t get the type of anger reserved for a milder player. Gomez’ reputation is earned.
It feels more like a Montreal game than ever. Canadiens are positioned well and it’s difficult for Edmonton to make incursions. Defence, baby.
Even Gill has a nice moment breaking up an Oiler middle entry.
Just five and a half minutes left in the first period. Where is Sheldon Souray? Edmonton Journal report states that Souray is absent because of a head-first crash into the boards on Thursday.
Gomez line control as if it’s a power-play. And Gill is a key in keeping the puck in the Oiler zone. Shabash.
Second line continues the control. No shots but plenty of TOP. Oiler fans are booing intermittently. Finally Edmonton gets it out and then they get a chance for which Price splays; and smothers. Play resumes without a whistle and Edmonton has been on the ice for a long time. Latendresse gets a chance from the slot and Edmonton finally gets a chance to make a change. Chipchura makes a brutal play, gives the puck away but the team isn’t punished for it.
Comrie gets a deep pass and scores. Great pass reception, says Houde and a beautiful top corner shot. Over Price’s glove.
Edmonton 1, Montreal 0
Great athletic play by the Oilers. Should Price have had that? Brunet says that he went down early. Comrie got it down the middle and skated in with a Canadien close by and a bit behind.
Edmonton has more hope in their presence and a Montreal turnover leads to a shot. Price stops it.
Period ends. Shots on goal are in Montreal’s favour, 13-6.
First Intermission
We see that NAPA commercial where a female cop busts an elderly couple making out in some out of the way spot. Now why is it that cops feel comfortable knocking on steamy car windows with their flashlights? What purpose does this serve? What community-protection principle are they serving?
Alain Crete’s haircut makes him look like a Scott Adams’ cartoon character. Management.
Marcel Aubut is involved. Again. Francois Bouchard and Crete discuss the recent overture made by Quebec City’s mayor in regards to a return to the NHL for the province’s capital city.
Crete is looking jovial, besides. And a bit shiny.
Alain Crete is in one of the best moods I’ve ever seen him in and something about him reminds of Ken Dryden. Never noticed the similarity before. I’ll think about it and let you know when I figure it out. Might be demeanour. Might be appearance.
Apparently, Big Deal Karl Peladeau is floating nearby like a huge, curious and unwanted fish.
Great.
Well, if there is going to be another team, it should be named Nordiques.
When chucktards collide; Karl Peladeau versus Jim Balsillie. Dread it, ice queens.
We find out that Edmonton giant Jean-Francois Jacques is fluent in French. Quick interview before the period begins.
Second Period
Gionta, Moen and Gomez are maintained as a line and start for Montreal. They get an early possession but Edmonton interrupts.
Spacek and Hamrlik are working well together. Two lefties on the first pairing. Hamrlik is a former first-overall NHL draft pick. Radek Bonk was a third-overall pick. Sorta Raider of Bob to bring some of these guys over later in their careers. Sometimes it works.
Hamrlik has been solid in Montreal. No flash but no mistakes, either. Generally speaking.
Long shot from Schmidt deflects and goes in. Rising wrister that got deflected by Jean-Francois Jacques. Horcoff also tipped it before Jacques got it.
Edmonton 2, Montreal 0.
Montreal fans in the stands have to hear the hootenanny heckling now. I’m glad I’m not in that building right now.
Canadiens get more intense. Lapierre line controls and D’Agostini escapes from board to slot and fires wide from a very dangerous spot.
I find myself thinking of Dryden’s comment in The Game; I had them once, when I was young and the team needed me. Paraphrasing.
Pacioretty is on with Chipchura and Laraque and Max gets a good chance off a rebound he creates himself.
Gomez has two back-pass turnovers on this shift. One in the neutral zone and one in Edmonton territory.
Overall the pace has picked up.
Canadiens make some errors and O’Sullivan benefits. He slithers in and fires it true. Whoops.
Three Habs fail to correct a Gorges’ error along the boards. Martin calls a timeout and is chastising the team. Not too angrily. But with some emphasis.
Edmonton 3, Montreal 0.
Canadiens were leading 17-9 on shots just moments before that goal.
Chipchura gets leveled and Paul Mara goes after the guilty Brule right away. Blindside hit and a dangerous one. Mara reacted immediately. Well, that’s a bit different from last year, now isn’t it? Mara wins the fight.
Edmonton gets the power-play.
At the midway point of the second period (10:31 left).
Hemsky beats Price from the slot but hits something red.
Price is looking shell-shocked again. It’s something in the way he moves after a save. Stays in position. As if his pads are soaked in water. And that they’re old pads.
Now O’Sullivan hits a crossbar. Canadiens kill the penalty.
Cammalleri does a Saku shoulder to push Strudwick off the puck in the corner. He’s a smart, tough little player. Our new number thirteen.
Oilers now get their first extended five-on-five of the game. Good control but only about two shots. None of them are dangerous and Price traps the second one and freezes for a faceoff.
These late-night games are quite incontinent. I wonder which players find them disruptive. I’d just have a later bedtime as a general rule. So that it doesn’t matter where in the league the team is playing. Say, a midnight PST bedtime every night.
O’Sullivan now takes a borderline tripping call. Replay shows it wasn’t very borderline at all. Good call.
Cammalleri, Gomez and Gionta are the first power-play unit. Weber and Spacek are on the blue line. First incursion is neutralized. Weber gets a boomer from the blue line on the second possession. Wide of the net.
Gomez is now on the right point. Weber is moving up past the hash and takes a pass there to continue moving it around. Edmonton now gets it out and a near-problem in front of Price occurs. But Hamrlik eliminates the threat.
Penalty ends.
Brunet shows Kostitsyn doing nothing. Skating and coasting and ignoring his responsibilities. Sounds about right. Looks like it. Really unfortunate. Great talent.
Latendresse tries a wraparound. Nothin’. Old Man Boolin is on it. Stick moves before his pads do.
Sports television needs multiple views that customers can control. Goalie cam. Main view. Sky-cam. Multiple television sets?
Last minute of play in the period. Sudden two-on-one, Gionta with Gomez and Gionta shoots from the faceoff circle. In.
Edmonton 3, Montreal 1.
Short slapshot.
More pressure after the faceoff and a dangerous sequence. Cammalleri, Gomez and Gionta generate two good chances. Now Plekanec’ line takes the deep faceoff with 23 seconds left in the period. They establish brief control but can’t generate a chance.
Second Intermission
Joel Bouchard shows us the importance of forwards creating good short-range targets for their defencemen on the breakout. One instance shows a Plekanec mistake with Hal Gill. Left Gill in the lurch by accelerating away and not looking for the pass.
We are reminded after the commercial that Kovalev got his first goal as a Senator tonight and that Selanne had three tonight (including a shootout winner) for the Ducks. I don’t think Koivu got any points.
Third Period
There are too many words on the ice at Northlands. ATB Financial, Telus TV and other lovely riddles. Get it white. Get it right. It’s ice. Not racing canvas.
Habs and Oilers both get early chances. Then the game mellows down. Gill’s passing is perfect tonight. (Turner Gill was 60% in his last season as a Concorde)
This game is very different in terms of spacing than Wednesday’s game against Calgary.
On the replay of Montreal’s early chance we see that Gionta fired it over the net and that he had Khabibulin in a very compromised position.
Who cares where a guy is from. If he’s great, we’ll take him. Gionta’s overshooting of the puck is because he put emphasis on getting it off as quickly as possible. Scorer’s attitude.
Lapierre line is on now.
Lapierre wins the faceoff. Latendresse’ shot bounces wide. Some good Oiler puck movement goes awry when a third pass goes off an Edmonton skate and Latendresse gets a free shot at the net. But he misfires.
About 14 and a half minutes left.
Another nice pass from Gill. Short breakout pass.
Laraque is on. This is his old team. He gives a weak check on this shift and seems to be cooling off in terms of aggression.
Gomez, Cammalleri and Gionta are reunited for this period. Gill is having a very good game. And he hasn’t crushed anyone yet, either.
Gomez’ creativity and awareness are sharp. But nothing on this possession despite a long presence in Edmonton territory.
Canadiens are slowly regaining momentum and control of the game. Latendresse line demonstrates this now. Lines are skating with confidence and Edmonton is giving Montreal too much space.
Gionta line is back on with just over ten minutes left in the game.
Stick lies in front of Price discarded. Pacioretty makes a rush and his extra effort to get the pass in front forces and Edmonton defender to take a penalty. Montreal power-play with about nine and a half to play.
Ales Hemsky. So, not a defender. Pacioretty was twisting around to get the pass in front.
Plekanec is on with Latendresse and Gionta with Mara and Gorges on the blue line.
Best control of the night from Montreal’s power-play. Nothing yet. Cammalleri and Gomez are on with Pacioretty now. Something but nothing.
Penalty ends and Khabibulin stops a Cammalleri entry and screened shot. He bobbles it a bit. But freezes it.
Just under seven minutes left.
These are men of action. They do, they don’t say. Gilbert’s stick breaks and he advances the puck smartly with his glove for the Oilers.
No need for words. They really ought to reduce the interview requirements for players. Sure that’s ironic for me to say. Efficiency is more important than convenience.
Price is wearing something super-heroic under his jersey. Looks like an old-school Beast uniform.
Cammalleri makes a lot of extra effort on the boards.
We see Georges Laraque’s dad in the crowd; he’s wearing a Habs hat (blue) and a very cool sweater. Hard to tell what the symbols on it are but it’s black with gold trim.
Just under four minutes left. Canadiens are still generating chances. And Houde’s enthusiasm is still there.
And so is Latendresse. Montreal scores.
But the referee has not indicated a goal. So we will have to wait for the review. Lots of Canadiens fans in the crowd. Replay indicates nothing. They will rule “no goal”.
Latendresse is talking and looking up at the jumbotron. Waiting. One of the refs is on the phone. To Toronto. Muller is looking at Martin’s notes. And commenting. Muller is an interesting guy.
No goal. The right call. No conclusive evidence to overturn the decision and that’s what the rules require.
Montreal scores anyway. Quickly.
Edmonton 3, Montreal 2.
Just a fluke goal from the point. Deflects off an Oiler. Hamrlik gets the credit.
Three minutes and a bit.
Montreal makes a brief presence, are driven out and must regroup. Another fail. Both teams are playing with purpose as Edmonton has woken up.
Now Prices makes his best-looking save of the night. High shot, glove hand save. Houde doesn’t react with a lot of emotion. Seemed like a great save, though.
Minute and a half.
Latendresse and Moen are on.
Price leaves the net. Forty-five seconds left.
Gionta line plus Plekanec.
They get it back in the Edmonton zone. Spacek from the point. Gionta misses a doorstep chance. Gill messes up. Montreal loses control at the blue line. Game ends.
Hamrlik was shaken up and that’s why Gill was on the ice, Brunet explains.
HDS Stars: Khabibulin, Comrie, Hamrlik
RDS Stars: Khabibulin, Hemsky, Gionta
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