Montreal Canadiens versus New York Rangers

Musings and In-Game Scribbles

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 (24-23-5) host New York Rangers (24-20-7)

Friday, January 23, 2010
Game Fifty-Three (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. Usually the RDS telecast of the game.

Jaroslav Halak and Henrik Lundqvist are the goaltenders for tonight.

First Period

D’Agostini and Andrei Kostitsyn are absent tonight.  Paul Mara is not in the defensive lineup and Sergei Kostitsyn is back.

Canadiens score the first goal.

Montreal 1, Rangers 0

Faceoff outside the Montreal zone.  Lapierre loses it to Brian Boyle.  Ranges make an entry and a high slot pass is knocked away.

Canadiens enter.  Penalty is overlooked (Ranger infraction).  Lapierre manages a dangerous backhand from the slot.
Houde says that the play tonight has been very intense.  I missed the first twelve minutes.  I don’t want to talk about it.

Gorges traps a Ranger behind Halak.  Canadiens exit.  Plekanec and Gionta are on with Cammalleri, a new line.

Dubinsky enters.  Shot.  Big rebound.  Gaborik blows the shot and Houde says it’s rare for him to muff such a chance.

Rangers re-enter.  More pressure.  And yet more.  Halak freezes the puck.

Replay shows Gaborik’s shot was high but close.  Over the top of the net.

We resume action.

Five and a half minutes left in the period.

Kostitsyn and Pouliot are on with Gomez.

Line change.

Lapierre is on with Pacioretty and Metropolit.

In the corner.  To Halak’s left.

Dubinsky up top.  Puck floats offside.

Houde comments that the game is going very quickly.

Faceoff outside the Montreal blue.

Rangers win it.  Rozsival handles it.  Sends it up.  Sent back.

Rangers enter now.  Shot.  Plekanec sweeps the rebound away.

Plekanec exits.  Follows it into the right corner.  Moen is behind him.  Two Rangers.  Moen walks out in front.  Great zest.  Backhander is prevented from decorking.

Puck goes out of play.  Whistle.

Faceoff outside the Ranger blue.  Guess it was offside.

Boyle moves in.  Net goes off.  Backhander fails.  Whistle.  Replay shows that there was no shot.  What game am I watching?

Canadiens win the faceoff.

Neutral zone.  Long shot.  Neutral zone.  Drop pass.  The action is too fast for me tonight.

Prospal is working down low.  Rangers are putting on great pressure.  Halak makes three saves.  Habs relieve the pressure.

Markov sends a long pass.  Misses targets.  Sergei reaches it first, eliminates the offside.

Rangers move it out.  Dump-in.  Hamrlik retrieves.

Just over a minute left.  Pace slows slightly.

Ryan Callahan is pursuing with prize dog hunger.

Puck goes the other way and is frozen.

We get a shot of Jim Schoenfeld and Glen Sather up in the box.  Sather has his glasses and suit on.

Now we see a close-up of Avery.  He’s on the Ranger bench watching the goings-on.

Period ends with Dubinsky working along the boards in Montreal ice.

Siren goes.  Houde says it was an excellent period.  Brunet compliments Halak.

Shots are 13-10 in the Rangers’ favour.

First Intermission
Montreal 1, Rangers 0

We see a bit of a verbal showdown between John Tortorella and New York writer Larry Brooks.  It’s a replay of a Jan 21 incident and Francois Gagnon discusses coach-media showdowns.  We see a few old showdowns on tape.

Alain Crete references an airplane showdown involving the Canadiens and Francois Gagnon laughs and says what happens on the plane, stays on the plane. They both have a good chuckle.

Earlier today I was listening to Gainey’s Jan 21 press conference Q&A regarding the Laraque dismissal and heard Gagnon’s question of Gainey.  Gagnon, as I mentioned yesterday, is a sharp journalist and I read one of his blog articles for the first time the other day.  Solid stuff.  French, of course.

Well, I suppose in the past, I was all for the coach in a situation like this but I’ve come to realise that there are more quality media members than I had previously realised.  As a general rule, though, most of the media don’t know the game in the same way as the coaches.

I’m mulling it all over.

Bouchard and Demers both say the game is good and that Montreal is playing very well.  Bouchard adds that upcoming are the team’s fifth and sixth periods in two nights and he’ll see if they can keep up this energy level.

Luc Gelinas interviews Scott Gomez prior to the second period.  Is someone reading my stuff?  Someone from RDS?  Hmmm.  Free donuts for all.

Gomez has won four of six faceoffs in the first period; we see the graphic.  Good.  He’s been struggling with the dot for quite some time now.

Alain Crete apologizes for the gaffe prior to the first period between Luc Gelinas and Renaud Lavoie.  I missed that.  Crete says they love them both the same.  I’ll agree.  I love them both the same.  Yup.  Uh-huh.  Le meme.

Second Period
Montreal 1, Rangers 0

Lapierre goes up against Boyle and beats him.  Puck goes to Gill and is in the corner very quickly.  To Lundqvist’s left.  Moen loses it quickly.

Canadiens have to work it out of their zone soon afterward.  Line change follows a mini-dump.

Now Gill is retrieving it from Halak who is behind the net.

Prospal swoops in seconds later.  Beats his coverage and creates a backhander for himself.  Halak drops and slides across with it and makes the save.

Gorges is called for hooking on the play.

Faceoff to Halak’s left.

Rangers win the faceoff.

Interference.  Gaborik grabs Markov and prevents him from advancing to create a chance for himself.  Legit call.  Tortorella smiles in  disagreement.  Whatever.  I like him but.  Whatever.  Smile away.

Four-on-four.

Gionta just goes offside on a long release pass from Hamrlik.

Close, close.

Martin is watching from behind the bench.  It’s more his team now than ever.  I believe he wanted Laraque off the team.  Gainey said that normally he can advocate for a player but that Laraque did not give him enough material to defend him with, not enough material to create space for a player to continue with a team.  I’m paraphrasing and interpreting but … Gainey referenced other situations in an inferential way.  Kovalev’s deux jours de congee came to mind.

Canadiens score.

Cammalleri was going to the bench and then had to curl back towards the action.  He got the puck just inside the blue line the instant he turned back and shot.  Wrister.  All net.

Montreal 2, Rangers 0

Whenever I start rambling, we score.  Hmmm.

Gill moves the puck out like a pail guy.  Backhand.  Shoulder up.  Eyes on the prize.  He works hard and smart.  Not a great skater but he does what he can with his abilities.  And he’s playing with élan in Montreal.  I never thought …. another goal.

Darche.  Lapierre.

Horn.  Hyena laughter.  Shiny ice.  Nerves.  Beaten defenders.

Montreal 3, Rangers 0

Funk the Rangers.

Lundqvist was left and right.  Bending and dipping.  Out of the crease and back in.  We go to video replay.  Martin adjusts the upper button on his blazer.  It doesn’t need adjusting.

Puck went in off Lundqvist.

Refs confirm the goal.  Button is safe for now.

Lapierre gets the goal.

What shall I ramble about now?

Lapierre is on for about ten seconds following the goal.  Plekanec line is on.  Typing his name has a different feel this season.  He’s a starting starter’s starter.

There are no stars in starter.  Just a little lie to see.

Canadiens are pressuring again.

Whoah times three.

Canadiens score.

Pressure.  Puck on geometric wheels.

Cammalleri.

Gionta backhanded it blind from behind the net.  He knew.

What a play.

Montreal 4, Rangers 0

Funk the Rangers.  New goalie.

We are not as bad as people said we were last Sunday.  Pay funking attention.

It’s Cammalleri’s 26th goal of the season.

Mats.

No, the little one.

Thirteen and a half minutes left in the second period.

Pouliot is on.  Tries a back pass.  Can we not do those?

Moen and Gomez are on with Pouliot.  So this is another new look for the team.

Whistle.

Cammalleri’s home goals, 18, are third-best in the league.  Who cares.  What a stupid stat.  Grasping to find something good.

Rangers have it in our zone (yes it’s a “we” night).

Gaborik.  Point control.  Board control.  Eleven seconds plus.

But Markov and the boys put batter in the punch bowl.  Asteroid lunch.  Puck is out.

My head is itchy but I don’t stop typing.  I’m inspired by Metropolit.  Houde says que Metropolit ne lache pas.  Like me and my itchy head.

Higgins elicits some boos as he circles behind Halak.  Two against two behind Halak.  Higgins is one of them.  Higgins gets a special word now.

I’d ramble but …

Gill works it up along the left.  Bergeron can’t continue it out.  But Darche exits.  He is taken down in front of Lundqvist.  He sweeps like a lame gazelle at the puck.

Whistle.  Rangers are called for interference.  Darche fell on his own.  Penalty was unrelated.

First wave is Bergeron and Markov supporting Pacioretty, Plekanec and Cammalleri.

They swirl around the net after some delays and then control it well.  Triangle passing near the left circle.  Then it comes back to Cammalleri who sends it through again.  Shot in.  Goal.  Pouliot.

Or it was deflected.  No.  It was Markov.  RDS is having audio trouble.

Montreal 5, Rangers 0

Remember when…. uh.  No.  We wont’ say that.  (Kovalev, le buuuuut!)

RDS scrolls the audio trouble text in English and French along the bottom of the screen and goes to commercial.  Just so you know, Coors owns Molson’s but the public face they put on it was that it was a merger.  But Coors owns Molson’s.

Exactly.

Audio problems continue.

Gionta, Gomez and Pacioretty are on.

Rangers get an entry and a shot.  Canadiens respond with an attack of their own.  Their shot is stopped by Zaba.  The backup goalie.  Matt Zaba.

Lack of sound is upsetting.

Seven and a half minutes left.  And the loud thub-clicks of my heavy-handed typing.  It’s a Latitude laptop from Dell.  Solid.

Hamrlik moves it up to Metropolit.  It’s in the zone.  Cammalleri has it along the side now behind the net.  Goes around.  Turns back.  Backhand pass.  Rangers finally recover the puck.  Cammalleri made it feel like 1985 all over again for a moment.  Canuck wheeling.  Wild yellow and turn.

Lisin exits with the puck.  He’s playing very well.  He’s on with Higgins.  Lisin nails someone on the boards.  Backchecks.

Houde says they are back and apologizes.  Just over five minutes left in the second period.

Gomez has it behind our net.  The resulting rush and shot are mild and easily repulsed.  Action slows.

Sergei is on.  He’s not feeling slow tonight.  He’s hunched low.  Robin with a batarang.  Sends a sharp-elbow, low-hang backhand pass ahead into the slot passing lane.  Nothing this time.

Del Zotto goes back two skirmishes later to retrieve.

Avery is on the ice.  Sends it to Boyle.  Goes beyond them all and Gill scoops it behind the net and starts Montreal the other way.

He has to do so again after another failed rush.

Metropolit enters and fires one high.  Went off a stick.  Behind the net.  Darche.  Working the corner.

Gets support from Bergeron.  Metropolit watches and enters when the best moment comes.  Canadiens rough and tumble it in that corner to Zaba’s left for a good eight seconds.

Lisin and Gilroy are working it down low now.  It lasts four seconds.

Just over a minute left.

Christensen’s shot attempt fails but the puck dribbles close to Halak where a forgotten Ranger gets a backhand chance.  Pace is back up to the nearly untraceable level it was at in the middle of the first.

Ole, ole chant starts.

Just under thirty seconds.  Chant sounds broken and drunk.  Great failed harmony.

Callahan has it on the boards deep.  Sends it to Higgins.  Shot.  Dangerous.  But wide.

Brunet says it’s one of the best periods he’s seen Montreal deliver this season.

Tortorella gives some encouragement to a player before they return to the dressing room.

Shots are in favour of Montreal 11-7 in the second and 21-20 total.

Second Intermission
Montreal 5, New York 0

Feels more like 2-0.

Joel Bouchard says that the Canadiens work ethic, their puck pursuit, is the main reason they are up and scoring.

He says that he could show Ranger errors but has elected to show the good work of the home team.  We see a few convincing replays.

Third Period
Montreal 5, Rangers 0

Bergeron line starts.  Thirty-second shift.  Sound goes off again.  Avery’s shot from the hash goes up into the crowd.
Bergeron has an irritating countenance.  But he’s playing well.

Halak grasps for the sponge on the stone floor.  Can’t get it.  Small spiral galaxy of red, white and blue and the puck floats away behind the end line.

Next sequence sees the Canadiens working the boards behind Halak.  And they squeeze it out.

Now the Canadiens are sharp passers and sending Pacioretty in on the left.  He drops it with a forehand pass from the left to Bergeron who shoots it wide.  Hands high on his stick, he follows through like a grave shoveller.

Three minutes elapsed.  Pouliot jumps onto the ice and into a Ranger.

Bergeron is still on the ice and he gets a pass from Pouliot just over the blue line and shoots on net.  Goes up and out.

Pacioretty is spitting on the ice and engaged in brief chatter with Metropolit.  On the bench.

God, Montreal’s blue is ugly.  They should go to a majestic midnight blue.  Spider-man blue and Superman red just don’t do it.

Avery is swearing as he is called.  He is shaking his head.  Roughing.

Tortorella has a smile I can’t interpret.  He is looking over in the general vicinity of the box.  Then he looks away.

More coaches should wear t-shirts.  Really, it’s a sporting event.  Tortuno is in a suit, of course.

Markov and Bergeron are on the points.  Bergeron advances to the circle.  Plekanec is in the phone booth.  Puck moves.  Goes up and out.  New wave.

Gomez and Metropolit backed up by Hamrlik and Spacek.  Gionta is the winger.

Thirty-five seconds left.

Shot from Spacek from the point.  Stopped and held by Banaz.  Forgot his name.

Zaba.  Close.  Pretty close.

Fifteen seconds left.  Darche.  Lapierre.  In front.  Parking crease backhand.  Nope.  Walked right in.

Penalty ends.

Darche is giving instructional sentences and nodding his head.  It’s his, what, second, third game?  What is it with these (minor-league and other) veteran guys coming onto our ice?  All nods and wisdom.

Get over yourselves.

Just over thirteen minutes in the third.

Plekanec and Cammalleri enter on the right side.  Drop-pass.  Shot.  Nope.

Gomez is in next.  Chance but not much else.

Pacioretty gets it up for Gomez.  Back for Pouliot.  Fires.  Tough save.  Just over the blue line.

Does the team really work harder for Halak?

Hmm.  Would we get a lot more for Price?

Halak will be better in the short term and Price will be better in the long.  This is the wisdom that resonates most with me.  Heard it from a hockey expert a few weeks ago.

Rangers are called.  Bergeron was entering the zone and got hip-clipped by Rozsival.  Not sure who the penalty is against.  But we’ll find out after a non-hockey muting.

There were two penalties.  Boyle tripped.  And Rozsival’s hit was to the face.

Five-on-three.  Bergeron and Markov on the point.  Cammalleri and Gionta are with Plekanec as the forwards.

Control.  Control.  Pass.  Control.

To Plekanec at the side.  He pauses for effect.  Or something.  Backhands it into a Gretzky porthole.  What a placement.

Over Baza’s right shoulder.  Baza is a right-hander (goal-stick in the right hand).

Buzzle.  Whatever.  I missed my nap.

Montreal 6, Rangers 0

Oh.  Zaba.

They’re singing the na-na-na-na song.  One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four.  Hey, hey, hey.

Just over nine minutes.

Halak just made two great saves.  One of them was a solid paddle down.  Biscuit bends permanently if you make enough of those.  With today’s equipment, what, one?

O’Byrne is going to fight Voros.  O’Byrne gets some good hits in.  Then he is rocked by Voros.  Then he responds.  What a fight.  Grand old Byrnie.

Voros is a good fighter.  But O’Byrne has his best fight ever.  And Voros and the Rangers don’t like it.  The crowd loves it.  Brunet is pleased.  The desire shown by Big Ryan is likely the reason.

Bettman and the Governors should have to ref games.  You know.  Just like how state governors should be on the front lines in Iraq.  Get going.  Oh.  And get back to work you others over there.  You slum-rogues.

Well, it’s all good business on the ice.  No more dogue.  Just swerve and snow.  The shash of skates on ice.

Just under five minutes left.  Both teams are playing tight wire wonder.

Score has become irrelevant.

But there are a few guys on the Rangers playing irritably.  None are currently on the ice.

Darche continues his lecture series following a whistle.

Faceoff to Halak’s left once I stop fussing over damaged video files.  It hasn’t been a good week, technically speaking.

Avery is looking around the ice before the faceoff.  Looking for what.  A lost bauble?  A small enemy?

Just over three minutes.

The Bananarama song starts again.  The song they covered.  Stole.  Whatever.

I only like that song when the Flyers or Nordiques are losing.

No.  Not the Leafs.  I don’t fear the Leafs.  Pity.  Sure.  Disdain.  Fine.

Brunet reminds us that on October 24th, Mike Cammalleri scored three goals against the Rangers.  Tonight he has two.

Brunet comments on how this is quite a way to respond to the humiliation against Rangers on Sunday night, a 6-2 loss.

Minute and a half left.

The Rangers keep it clean and cool.

They enter with just under a minute.  Bergeron has Higgins against the boards.  Lisin has it on the side now.  A shot results.  Halak makes the save.  Brunet suspects it hit the post to his right.  Second post for him tonight.

“I’d rather be lucky than good.”  Who said that.  Who said that.  Not me.

Darche makes a nice play retrieving a puck under the Ranger end line.  Takes the puck and sends it to the slot.  Almost a scoring play.

Game ends.  Horn.  Gloves on Halak’s head.  No nonsense.

Montreal 6
Rangers 0

HDS Stars: Mike Cammalleri, Scott Gomez, Andrei Markov
RDS Stars: Mike Cammalleri, Jaroslav Halak, Jaroslav Spacek