Montreal Canadiens versus Ottawa Senators
January 30, 2010, by Homme De Sept-Iles
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 (25-25-5) visit Ottawa Silver Seven (30-21-4)
Saturday, January 30, 2010 - 2PM game
Game Fifty-Six (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. They’re also a unique way to catch the game if you missed it.
The anthem. Unneeded. The flag. Out of place. It’s a gigantic flag that covers several seats in the arena. I’ll say this; the old Canada Cup trophy is the coolest-looking trophy in all of sport. That silver half-leaf is magnificent. I saw it at the HHOF (Hockey Hall of Fame) the other day. Again. Bring it back and rename the tournament. Also again.
Vos gardiens pour ce soir; Jaroslav Halak et Brian Elliott.
First Period
Plekanec is on first with Cammalleri and Sergei Kostitsyn.
Canadiens lose the faceoff. Puck moves in long lines with no possessions til the end of the first minute. Kovalev takes a long shot that is turned away by Halak.
Pouliot, Gionta and Gomez are on next.
Canadiens go offside.
Brunet says that Kovalev, Fisher and Foligno played well in their recent game against Pittsburgh and that Kovalev has been playing good hockey lately. He has eight points in his past eight games.
Darche is on and Maxwell and Bergeron are on with him. They are unable to capture the disc.
Hamrlik retrieves the puck from behind the net.
Giveaway and Halak saves the situation against a dribble in and shot from the slot.
Gorges works it out with Hamrlik, the pass going up to Plekanec. Plekanec has it behind the net and curves out butt-backwards and sends a backhand pass through the slot. Perpendicular failure.
Whistle and a faceoff outside the Montreal blue line. Gomez wins it and the Canadiens work to dump it in. They succeed but there is no following chase.
Now the puck is in the corner to Halak’s right. Action moves to the opposite corner. Pass in front. Shot from the slot misses its mark. Kovalev works the puck and the Senators extend their stay.
Metropolit, Lapierre and Moen move it out of danger and get a four-second presence on Ottawa ice.
Darche line is on. Bergeron gets a distance shot and the obtuse angle is an easy parry for Elliott.
Sergei enters next. At the circle. Stops. Shoots. Great placement but the angle results in another simple stop.
Line changes are more frequent than normal. Pace is hectic but precise. Pouliot dumps it in after some Ottawa fervor deep.
Alfredsson passes it to Michalek. The forward is in on his backhand and is taken down by Gorges as he cuts to the net. Michalek slides into the net and play is stopped for sixty seconds.
Some guy pretending to be a Conservative is in the crowd this afternoon. His sweaters and newfound French are a thin disguise. Fail.
Faceoff to Halak’s right is won by Montreal. Hamilton Bulldog call-up Yanick Weber handles the puck for the first time today. Sends it in from just outside the Ottawa blue line.
Weber is paired with Hal Gill.
Faceoff outside the Ottawa blue.
Senators take control. Puck rounds behind Elliott but the puck is intercepted but Pouliot goes offside.
Long shot from Campoli shortly after the next faceoff goes out of play.
Martin has an impress me expression. Frowning intensity.
Another whistle following a shot nearly parallel to the end line from the corner to Elliott’s left.
Spezza takes it in following another faceoff.
O’Byrne and Markov move the puck on its course.
Ottawa exits with little effort. Gomez is playing behind the Montreal net in Saku backchecking territory.
Just under ten minutes left in the first period.
Weber gives it away to Kovalev behind the Montreal net. Pass and shot. Poor angle and Halak makes the save.
Puck exits.
Foligno sends the puck down and is called for icing.
Gorges is in discussion on the bench with an unseen teammate.
Faceoff. Kovalev stays on the ice.
Darche works down low behind Halak. Loses it. Controls the puck behind Halak. Loses it and gives a return shove.
Gorges is retreating and poke-checking; using his arms to ward off the offensive.
Sergei and Cammalleri have a brief presence.
Ottawa has a chance now. Two on one. Markov gets back to intercept the slot pass.
Gionta to Pouliot.
Tempo bubbles.
Turnovers increase on both sides.
Halak drops to the left. Slides to the right. Shot goes wide.
Lapierre exits with the puck. Down the left. Around the net.
Puck is lost near the blue line.
Hamrlik retrieves. Stops beside Halak. Sends down the middle. Puck gets trapped down the left side. Hamrlik comes up to support.
Possession ends and line changes occur. Five and a half minutes.
Darche’s crew is on.
They work the boards. Gill pinches. Kovalev takes advantage and a two-on-two with a forward back is the result. They repel the artist this time.
Chances are decreasing. Puck is on the rink perimeters.
Sergei changes that with a backhand pass to Plekanec in the column area. Lines change. Ottawa gets the puck as a result. O’Byrne retrieves. Pauses briefly behind Halak.
Ottawa gets it seconds later
We go back. We go forth.
Hitting is infrequent. Both teams bend the game, twist it with will.
Members of the crowd boo as Kovalev handles it around the net. Chance. No.
Back it goes to the blue line. Pass across. Kuba sends it to the side of the net. Kovalev is alone. No mistake. No goalie.
Ottawa 1, Montreal 0
Houde says that the goal ends a six-minute and thirty-seven uninterrupted segment.
Brunet keeps saying “ce soir”.
Elliott smothers a puck. Another stoppage.
More Olympics-flavoured commercials. The experiment is a grand disaster already and threatens to be one of the great white elephants in Canadian history. It will be a worse economic blunder than the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. Felicitations.
Scuffle in the corner. It tones down but then Spezza has to get his balding pate into it. Refs get in control after an additional six seconds of stupidity.
Michalek is in the box and Brunet says Montreal will have a power-play.
Cory Clouston will win a couple of Stanley Cup rings before his career ends. The Ottawa coach is managing his bench with intensity and aplomb.
Martin shakes his head briefly. He is no nonsense today.
Result is a four-on-four.
Plekanec and Cammalleri are the first pairing. Fisher and Alfredsson are Ottawa’s duo.
They get the first significant sequence. Fisher nearly sneaks in for a great shot from the side. Puck floats wide.
Gomez and Gionta move the puck through the neutral zone. They are turned away moments after entering.
Now a long shot from the neutral zone is stopped by Elliott. Whistle.
Faceoff is to his left. Sens win it. Horn goes. End of period.
Shots on goal are tied 11-11.
First Intermission
Ottawa 1, Montreal 0
A La Une. Crete says that Francois Gagnon is in his rightful spot in the Ottawa rink. They share a laugh over it.
Gagnon discusses the upcoming 14-game road trip for the Canucks and says it is the longest road trip in NHL history. Longer than the Rangers circus displacement of the nineteen-twenties? Could be, could be.
The Olympics are the reason for the road trip. The Olympics doing nothin’ fer nobody. Except your favourite feather-in-hat people. A time to strut. And a time to count. Peacock cash grab. Where’s NBC?
Edmonton has lost 19 of their last 20 games. Did I hear that right? What. What.
Gagnon adds that Sheldon Souray is being shopped around the league. He mentions the Elk Point native’s four million dollar salary. That’s a medium-sized salary. There are defencemen making five and six million in this league. And more. Cap is about 56 million for 23 active roster players (teams can carry more than those 23). Ovie is making 10 million and is, I think, the highest-paid dude. Alex Ovechkin, the NHL’s best player. And its coolest. And most marketable. And its favourite. Chocolate Bar Superstar.
No arguments necessary.
Luc Gelinas interviews Ottawa Senator captain Daniel Alfredsson. Is he the greatest captain since the lockout? He’s in an impressive group including Markus Naslund, Nicklas Lidstrom, Mats Sundin and our very own Saku Koivu. Uh, well, he was our very own. I’m sure he will retire a Canadien. One of those one-day Tim Brown jersey things. Ya feel me?
Second Period
Ottawa 1, Montreal 0
The ice is clean. The crowd is beery. The Rideau is cold. Your scribe is caffeinated.
Gionta up for Darche. Big rebound. Gionta gets two solid puck whacks at the doorstep and two non-solid ones. Elliott covers it.
Faceoff to Elliott’s left. Ottawa centre Chris Kelly loses it. Retreat and reset. Metropolit takes it down. Whistle follows after an offside dump-in.
Maxwell takes the faceoff against Fisher and wins it. Impressive.
Ottawa gets control and they move it up. Kovalev is on the ice. Shot. Halak stops and immobilizes the puck.
Darche gets a draw on this draw. Canadiens exit.
Pouliot is on the side boards. To the point to Markov. To O’Byrne. Shot is wide. Kovalev gets it and turns it over outside the Montreal blue. He catches up to it in the corner. Moves around the net. Centring attempt. Puck hops up slowly. Lands harmlessly.
Line changes as the Ottawans reset.
Halak intercepts a puck behind his net and restores Montreal possession.
Sergei slants through the neutral zone. Cammalleri loses it in the corner. Regains it. Nearly jams a backhander through Elliott from the side of the net.
Whistle. Officials confer. Standing huddle.
Gionta doesn’t look happy.
Puck went off a Hab. No delay of game call.
Gruden’s haircut is a bit goofy. I mean Clouston.
Gionta falls and sends a very dangerous pass for Darche through the slot. I can’t tell how Darche missed that.
Mathieu Darche. I’d rather have Mathieu Dandenault. Or Mathieu Schneider. Or Mathieu Dubois. Dubois is an undrafted legend that could easily have gotten six or seven fifty-goal seasons. He’s a military man instead.
Five minutes elapsed.
Kovalev. Up for Kuba. They enter. Dropped for Foligno. Shot. No crackles.
Fisher gets a shot from thirty-five. Strong shot. Big dangerous rebound. No Sens nearby. A “whoah” play.
I think I like these afternoon games.
Turnovers.
Bergeron moves it up. Line change. Pouliot keeps the possession alive.
Plekanec chases following an Ottawa lob out.
Whistle as the puck goes over the boards.
We should be able to vote commercials off the island. Only the ones that get the high votes stay. It’s a bit more free market. A bit more classic capitale. N’est-ce pas? We’d also get better commercials. A greater variety. For those of you who don’t mute them.
Cammalleri is the little car that could. Uses his tricks against bigger players and retains the puck on the boards. He has two unrelated such sequences behind Elliott. Very impressive. Very Saku.
Fisher is coming in one-on-one against O’Byrne. Fisher gives a good move. O’Byrne responds with a great defence of his own. No shot. Puck skitters wide.
Whistle seconds later.
Faceoff is to Halak’s left.
Canadiens nearly move it out but the puck is kept in on the point.
Neil extends the possession but finally the Canadiens exit down the right side. Metropolit line hosts the short possession.
Bergeron now has it after a line change. He is over the circle. Moves left and fires a wrister. Great offensive selection. Puck is stopped. But the big rebound leads to a slot chance for Montreal. Ottawa smothers this and a faceoff follows to the right of Elliott.
Darche and Bergeron stay on the ice. Weber and Gill are the rearguard.
Ottawa gets a brief incursion. That ends and Halak is now playing the puck behind his net. Ottawa interrupts this and creates two sequences with one dangerous shot that goes over the net.
Ottawa is winning the boards battle with a line-change besides. Michalek has it behind Halak. Canadiens are gassed. Longest possession of either team tonight. Finally a whistle. But not the good kind. This one’s a penalty. Martin shakes his head.
Persistence pays. Puck control pays.
Ottawa is awarded a power-play. Plekanec and Moen are the first pairing for Montreal. Markov and Gorges are underneath. Alfredsson is on the point. Kovalev is in the phone booth. Michalek is supporting up high and going to the net.
Ottawa needs to reset. They retrieve and return. Long shot. Goal. Deflection by Spezza.
Ottawa 2, Montreal 0
Gionta line follows.
Kovalev nearly squirms in on the left side. Puck is lifted. Canadiens enter.
Kovalev falls awkwardly and unexpectedly. Members of the crowd jeer.
Puck stays in a small oval in the neutral zone. Now it’s in the corner to Halak’s right. Puck rounds out of the zone.
Chris Kelly retrieves it for Ottawa.
Sens chases it in. Chris Phillips follows it and has it briefly.
Lapierre line gets a brief presence.
Canadiens get final rush and possession from this line. Moen keeps it in. Whistle. Ottawa is called. It’s been several games since this line has done something significantly positive.
Poker commercial. I can understand why the church was so anti-casino back in the century.
Matt Carkner is called for hooking.
Refs shouldn’t have numbers. They should have letters. Or better, symbols that match their personalities. Red fist. Blue bull. Green cash.
Canadiens first sequence is thirty seconds and no shot.
Plekanec and Pouliot are on with Cammalleri. Bergeron and Markov are on the blue line.
Pass from the low inner hash. Bang, it’s in.
Ottawa 2, Montreal 1
Plekanec passed to Pouliot.
It’s Pouliot’s 13th goal of the season.
We can hear the Canadiens fans chanting.
Gionta line is on. Canadiens show some early zip. But Ottawa is back in the Habzone.
Behind the net. Pass attempt is bumped away.
Three and a half minutes left in the period.
Moen hits Carkner behind the net. Lapierre gets it in the corner and centres it for Moen who is not in position to make a play on it.
Kovalev enters and sends a high backhand while covered. His acceleration is shown for the first time on a drive tonight. He still has the great speed of a much younger player.
Halak freezes it a few seconds later, Kovalev waiting in the crease.
Here come your Senators. Corner. Around. Corner. Point. Shoveled. Back to the point. Shot. Halak has trouble controlling it. But it slides to the sideboards.
Sergei exits with the puck. Repelled.
Now Hamrlik takes it across the blue line. He is behind Elliott a la Larry. Can’t create the chance. But he is inspirational. He gets back in time to defend the Ottawa response.
Markov and O’Byrne are on. Just under a minute. Markov carries it up. Turnover. Markov gets back and whacks the puck out into the neutral zone again.
O’Byrne steps up to support another entry. That lasts about two seconds.
More neutral zone and behind-Halak chase. No clear possession.
Period ends.
Houde and Brunet discuss the Canadiens newfound vigour to close the period.
Shots are 12-12 for a total of 23-23.
Second Intermission
Ottawa 2, Montreal 1
Not much to say. I, too, am a bit of a chocolate bar superstar and I had to go get some.
Third Period
Ottawa 2, Montreal 1
Plekanec wins the faceoff. Canadiens turn it over with a long puck.
Spezza enters. Just over the blue line. Pauses. Sends it to the opposite corner.
Hamrlik has a swarthy look to him today. Could just be those beard hairs. The scar under his left eye is fading.
Bergeron is deep. Losing the puck in the corner.
Gill misses a check on the blue line.
Shannon and Peter Regin make the Canadiens earn their exit. Trapping behind the net.
Sens have the puck following the line change. Brunet says that Regin, Cheechoo and Shannon got the job done on that shift.
Cammalleri crosses. Backhand pass the other way for Plekanec in the slot. Shot. Somehow it’s stopped. Two defenders and a goalie. Now that Gerber is gone, the Sens don’t have to use the two goalies and a defender formula.
Gionta line. Twenty-one sends a slot pass.
Other way. Weber stops action behind Halak. Captures the puck and sends it on its way.
Some swirl and send; pucks intercepted. Gomez comes up with it and wheels in for a short spell.
Disappearing spell? Puck vanishes and reappears on a Senator stick.
Pace increases and Hamrlik is called for holding in the Montreal zone.
Canadiens survive the power-play and create scissor in for a chance of their own.
Glass needs to be replaced shortly afterward and we get a break. They use a yellow Denver-boot type suction tool to remove the glass.
Action resumes. Freak hit occurs.
Cammalleri is down. Volchenkov is shaken up. Cammalleri’s right leg is up and he is supported by Sergei and the trainer as he leaves the ice. Initial viewing is bad. Replay is worse. Much worse. Ankle got twisted backward as he fell into the boards awkwardly. Accidental contact.
It’s grimacing.
He could be done. Really bad crushing of the ankle.
Six and a half minutes.
Forty goals gone. And all that leadership.
What a disaster.
Concern is in evidence as we get a look at the Canadiens bench after a stoppage of play.
Now Foligno limps off the ice after taking a puck off the ankle. Man.
Gomez line is on. Kovalev gets the puck in an Ottawa corner. He clears it up.
Some vectors smile. Spezza gets it. Fires almost immediately. High and wide. Wrister. He gets great torque on his shots.
Canadiens nearly score off an unexpected turnover behind the Ottawa net. Lapierre can’t get his stick on it.
Lapierre takes a stick to the face. Kelly’s stick.
The Sens try and get someone in the box. Habs curl away from it all.
We see Foligno’s injury. He threw himself to the ice to block a Bergeron shot.
The penalty is a two-minute job (four minutes if there is blood). Early seconds are null.
Markov gets a shot with forty seconds elapsed.
Wide. Now Markov quarterbacks. Plekanec is the junior at the hash.
Great job. Puck is in the net. Seven passes. Markov made the most creative and skilled one. Gionta sent it in. From the slot.
Montreal 2, Ottawa 2
What a play by Markov. Didn’t panic as he got the puck at the side of the net, low. Stickhandled. Waited. Sent it to the slot.
We see a shot of the wanna-be Conservative. He is anti-Montreal in all his endeavors. Biting his finger and thinking unsavoury hockey thoughts. He’s a Toronto fan. But unlike most Leaf fans, he hates the Habs more than the Sens. This is a rare thing. And speaks to his corroded well.
Just under two minutes left.
Faceoff to Elliott’s right. Plekanec wins it.
Brief presence. Gionta is on with him.
Canadiens have to retrieve the puck.
Pouliot is sent ahead and receives a pass deftly as he cruises through the neutral zone. Shot. Stopped. Whistle.
Another whistle soon afterward.
Canadiens win the faceoff. Goes to the point. Markov shoots. Darche has a whack at it. Point-blank to Elliott’s right. It goes out of play.
Two-on-one follows. Alfredsson. Keeps it. Shoots. Fools Halak. Misses the net.
Twenty seconds left.
Pouliot takes it in. Gets it to Gionta. Wide.
Second entry ends with the horn.
Overtime.
Shots were 9-6 in favour of Ottawa for a total of 32-29 in favour of the home team.
Overtime
Ottawa 2, Montreal 2
So. Four-on-four. Speed and space.
Gomez and Gionta are the first pairing. Markov carries it down and goes past the Ottawa end line. Gomez sends it without looking. Intercepted. And Montreal gets lucky. No rush results.
O’Byrne prevents an almost certain goal. Intercepts a slot pass.
Gorges fell. Got close enough to the puck to prevent another blotting of our hearts.
Pouliot enters. Taken down. Plekanec is with him.
Halak moves it to Bergeron.
Sergei comes down to dig it out. He keeps up the good work and buries a defender allowing Montreal to retain possession.
Halak makes a save as Spezza cuts down the middle. Brunet says that it should be a penalty shot after Spezza is hauled down by Gill. Two minutes instead.
Brunet is right.
Penalty shot is more likely to be a goal than a power-play.
Clouston calls a time-out. Clouston always has the complete attention of his players. Demeanour is an important part of respect. But he knows a bit about running a team, eh.
Faceoff to Halak’s left.
Markov bangs and whacks to prevent doom. He goes to the boards and Kovalev dumps Markov. Oy.
Whistle follows some coal and tong.
Just over two minutes.
Four-on-three continues.
Kovalev has it down the right side. Goes around. To the point. To the other point. Alfredsson whooms it. Halak has it sliding right and papillon.
Faceoff. Lost by Plekanec against Spezza.
Spezza is called. He argues abusively like the twelve-year old Ontario minor hockey prima donna he once was.
Even strength. Three-on-three.
Puck goes out of play. Sense of urgency from both teams is high.
Canadiens will get forty seconds of man-advantage in due course.
But Fisher drives down the right side, cuts into the slot and beats Halak to end all that.
Nice play.
Ottawa 3
Montreal 2 (OT)
Keep on truckin’. Lotta hockey left.
HDS Stars: Brian Gionta, Mike Fisher, Alex Kovalev
RDS Stars: Filip Kuba, Tomas Plekanec, Alex Kovalev
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