Montreal Canadiens vs Boston Bruins

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 (28-25-6) host Boston Bruins (23-22-11)

Sunday, February 7, 2010
Game Sixty (score posted following scribbles)

Musings and In-Game Scribbles are a “live blogging” of the game that are compiled (typed, actually) during the game then 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.

First Period

The first fifteen minutes are scoreless and the Canadiens show a good tempo that belies the fact that they played a high-octane pace yesterday afternoon against Pittsburgh.

Brunet says that the Canadiens need to get more aggressive on their forecheck.

Markov is being watched by Milan Lucic as he exits and he wheels back behind the net to relaunch the breakout.

Chara picks up the puck behind the Bruin net and backhands it gently to Wideman. Bruins are in behind Halak’s net again.  They have to execute a line change and leave the puck for Hamrlik.

Bruins are back in and the action remains on the boards.  But a puck is captured behind Halak and sent to the point where it is shot in.  Savard sent the puck back.  Defenceman Adam Mcquaid scored his first NHL goal.

Boston 1, Montreal 0

Metropolit line follows.

Bruins feel a lift.  They are back in and creating.  Long shot is trapped and held for the faceoff.

Just over a minute left in the first period.

Bruins begin to beat Montreal to the puck.

Sergei Kostitsyn and Tomas Plekanec end this with an interception and rush.  They create a squiggle and mush shot in front of Thomas.  But they can’t retain control of the disc and Boston replies with a rush that ends in a whistle and faceoff outside the Montreal blue line.

Too much room is given and Marco Sturm cruises behind the net and sends a cross-ice diagonal to Chara who wrists a high shot that bounces alone in the high slot for Sturm to freely lift it into the gaping net.

Boston 2, Montreal 0

Three seconds left.  Siren ends the period.

Boston leads on shots 13-10.

First Intermission
Boston 2, Montreal 0

A La Une features Renaud Lavoie today with Francois Gagnon.  Cactus and a professor.  Gagnon talks about TV money, the Super Bowl and the Stanley Cup viewership numbers.

Lavoie just waits to make his deeply profound point.  Thanks, cactus.

Gagnon is his usual admirable, informative and positive self.  He’d be a great boss.

I was wondering yesterday if Jean Beliveau has ever been photographed in something other than his Hab costume or a suit.  I think he’d look great in a Montreal Mystique hoodie with poetry fonted all over the sleeves, chest and back.  Black trimmed in white.  Just a thought.

Lavoie now hosts with Demers and Bouchard to his left and we are forced to hear RDS’ experts on football.

This host has a Lavoie expertise demeanour as well.  I am from UP; I know everything.

Labrecque or something.  His partner looks like a centre.  Football centre.  Goatee and a reassuring demeanour.

Second Period
Boston 2, Montreal 0

The Canadiens work hard during this period and increase the tempo.  How much will they have left for the third period?

Plekanec’ efforts are of particular note.

I was unable to scribe because someone needed to talk.  Uh, it was important.  Obviously, if I pause during a Hab game, eh.

Oy.  It’s been a week and a weekend.  J’espere que les choses peut s’ameliorer.  And maybe someone can volunteer to be my French analogue.  Any takers?

Period closes with both teams playing a responsible, clean brand.  Your best opponent is the one that, in playing their best, make you play yours.  And vice versa.  Yeah, I’m paraphrasing but Mister Ken’s book is still the best on the circuit.

Canadiens outshoot the Bruins 15-3 this period.  And I’m back.

Second Intermission
Montreal 0, Boston 2

Nod to Montreal’s intrepid efforts.  I don’t care what the scoreboard says; if my team plays with valor, that’s good enough for me.  Bien fait, les boys.

Demers says the Bruins are playing as if something bad is going to happen to them.  Bouchard agrees and shows us some video to support it.

Demers is working on his game.  He’s giving us more X and O analysis and skating to keep up with Bouchard.  If Demers adds some new texture to his game, he and Bouchard could become a new pairing at a new level.

I’m tired of it.  The automated rival response for Ovechkin is Crosby.  Wrong.  Wrong again and wrong again.  The two best players in your league are Ovechkin and Malkin.  Everyone should be heatedly discussing “what happened to Malkin?”  Why is Malkin not the greatest player in the world this year following his Conn Smythe?  Why is Malkin struggling?  Is this a mutated sophomore jinx of some kind?  When is he going to be back?  Why this?  Why that?  Malkin, Malkin, Malkin, Malkin, Malkin.

Crosby isn’t even the number three or number four player in this league.  He appears to be top ten, however.  Stop the posters!

Last Bruin game we saw Begin.  This Bruin game we see Begin.  I’m a big Begin fan, but.  I’m a big complete sentence fan, but.

I think Steve Begin is going to coach in the NHL one day.

Third Period
Boston 2, Montreal 0

We are informed that Boston got their first shot of the second period at the 15:37 mark.  We are also told that Tomas Plekanec had seven shots last period.  For context, Plekanec’ season per-game average for 09-10 is 2.5.  Your buddy Crosby’s rate is 3.8 and my buddy Malkin is at 4.0.

Hamrlik up for Gomez.  To Gionta.  Puck is behind the Bruin net.

Puck is sent the other way.

Begin sends a no-look pass to the slot.  Only Habs.  Boston scrabbles and gets a weak shot on Halak which he stops and freezes.

Bruins win the faceoff.  Whistle follows soon afterward.  Plekanec line leaves the ice.

Metropolit is on with Maxwell and Lapierre.  Big hit (unseen on the screen) gets a good crowd reaction.  Replay shows O’Byrne applying a good hit at the Montreal bench.   Bruin got bent over the boards a bit.  He’s ok.

Puck escapes the ice surface again.

We resume.  Gorges is run over in the corner.  Legit.  Bruins get a sharp two-o-clock shot from the circle.  Halak stops and holds it.

Begin has been out for two shifts already in the first three minutes of this period.

Gionta has to take the faceoff.  Gomez was asked to leave the faceoff circle.  Violation.

Canadiens get it down.  Slot pass is intercepted.

Marco Sturm carries it up.  Sends it down.  It’s behind Halak’s net.  And out again.

Crowd boos as Chara touches the puck.

Ryder slides forwards through the high slot, takes a pass and shoots.  Snapper.  And it is snapped by Halak.  Faceoff to his left ensues.

Halak retrieves the puck behind his net.  Hamrlik moves the team up.

Sergei is chasing the puck behind the Bruin net.  Bruins exit nonetheless.

Desharnais is, indeed, very short.  He has a familiar skating stride.  I’ll figure it out.

Trotter is on with Desharnais.  He chases with the tenacity of Ken Linseman.  Still haven’t figured out the stride.  There’s something Keith Acton about it but I don’t think that’s it.

Metropolit enters with Maxwell.  Sends it behind for him.  Shot.  Interrupted.

The team misses Pouliot’s space-taking capabilities.

Sometimes I wish I could stand behind the Habs bench and yell a bit.  Twenty-one thousand general managers.

Gomez has it when we resume.  Pauses inside the blue line.  Looks.  Changes his mind.  Shoots long.  Big rebound.  Puck flies out and the Canadiens have to retrieve.

Twelve minutes left in the game.

That old saying, God only helps those who help themselves, comes to mind.  Not in hockey.  Not in hockey.

Canadiens must make their own luck.  Faceoff is to Rask’s left.  Habs have to chase and reset.

Puck is trapped along the boards it he neutral zone.  Lapierre line is on.

Hamrlik curves, leans and retrieves at the two-o-clock point of the circle to Halak’s right.

Bruins don’t care about length of possession; their game is interruption and prevention.  Sorta like a zone; prevent defence.  Yeah, yeah.  I agree.

And it is borne out as the Canadiens create a chance in the slot for Gomez.  Backhander.  Rask makes a good save and freezes it.

Sturm gets over the blue line.  Long shot that we could see all the way.  And Halak misses it.  Somehow.  Oy.

Replay shows it was deflected; Gorges’ stick.

Boston 3, Montreal 0

Plekanec line is on.

Recchi enters.  Fires.  Deflected.  Up.  And out.  Floop.

Commercial.

Resumption sees Halak falling backward as a Bruin incursion creates a low-slot chance.  No goal.

Canadiens go offside on the other end.

Gomez gets a neutral result from the faceoff outside Bruin ice.  Puck goes out of play soon afterward.

We get a shot of the Bruin illuminati.  Self-important analytics.

Gomez line is still on.  Moen is there with Gionta.   Bruins control.

Satan gets it down low.  Sends it to the crease.  Halak makes the save.  Whistle.

Canadiens have given up.

Faceoff is to Halak’s left.  Plekanec has not given up.  Leads the rush and the forecheck.

Crowd is as quiet as they get in this rink.  Shushing murmur.

Shot from White goes up into the stands.

Ryan White adopts a Geddy Lee shake of his head.  Frustrated youth.

Faceoff is to Rask’s right.  Bruins win it.  Chara clears it up from behind the net.

It’s trapped in the neutral zone.

Tapped up from inside the Montreal blue line.

Lapierre has it briefly in the Boston zone.

Markov sends a pass for Moen that misses.

Puck goes around the boards.

Gionta has it inside the blue line.

O’Byrne keeps it in.  Gomez line hustles to prevent the exit.  Nope.

Puck is behind the Montreal net.  Ryder.  Sends it to the point.  Turnaround shot has the speed of the seventies.  Shot goes off anyway.

Booing begins.  Stops.  It was just Chara touching the puck.

Just under five minutes left in the game.

Why give up?  You’ve got nothing else to do.  May as well play and play hard.

Commercial.

Halak makes a good save.  He turns to watch the puck move up the boards and out of the zone.

Bruins re-enter with a three-on-three.  It’s slow and well-covered.  But Mark Recchi is allowed to work along the side-boards.  Sergei is working too softly.  Same with Darche.

Booing is directed for three, four seconds at the home team.

Houde is going to say “on joue pour la forme” any moment now.

Lapierre sends a dangerous shot from the side at Rask.  Rebound is also dangerous.  But no sticks reply.

Under three minutes.

When is Paul Mara coming back?

Moen circles the Bruin net and shoots into a crowd.  Puck bounces away harmlessly.

Darche takes the puck away in the slot in swashbuckling fashion; stepped in at a different speed than the rest of the film and nearly jammed at it.  Rask freezes it.

Plekanec and Darche remain on the ice for the ensuing faceoff.

Puck is sent down the right side.  Kostitsyn gets it to Plekanec at the circle dot.  Another shot.  To Gorges at the point.  Pass is intercepted.

Recchi shoots it behind the Montreal net.

Canadiens exit.  Maxwell works to get to the net.  Leaning and stick down.  No puck gets to him.

Bruins exit.  Backhander from Satan goes over the net, goes over Halak.

Under a minute.

Canadiens buzz around a puck inside the blue line.  Spacek retreats as the puck leaves the zone.

More booing.

Siren.

Boston 3
Montreal 0

HDS Stars: God, the Bruins and the Devil
RDS Stars: Tuukka Rask, Marco Sturm, Patrice Bergeron