Montreal Canadiens vs Ottawa Senators

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 (36-29-7) host Ottawa Senators (37-30-5)

Monday, March 22, 2010
Game Seventy-Three (score posted following scribbles)

Missed it? Musings capture the game in writing. Based on the RDS telecast, Musings take about 20 minutes to read. More detailed than an article, fresher than a looping highlight and good with morning coffee.

C’est Halak encore et puis Brian Elliott pour vos Senateurs.

First Period

Few hoots when former Montreal star Alex Kovalev carries the puck.

Who?

Are you kidding?

Montreal defenceman Marc-Andre Bergeron is not in the lineup tonight. Nor tenacious forward Mike Cammalleri. But both are skating with the team in practice.

Boom-boom Bergeron. I just wanted to see.

Ottawa’s Chris Neil has it in the corner and leaves it for Chris Kelly. The Senators are allowed to work the boards. Finally Montreal’s Dominic Moore (the reluctant Montrealer) and then Josh Gorges up the ante and body the Sens. The work results in a Montreal possession and push-out.

Ottawa’s dynamic forward Peter Regin is in after the Canadiens can’t get beyond the centre line. Regin tries a wrap-around on his backhand but it’s too slow and is worth only the time of possession it exhausted.

Canadiens get an entry and the crowd voice rises in anticipation.

Scott Gomez line is next. Jaroslav Spacek and Roman Hamrlik are the defenders. Montreal, Montreal.

Stoppage occurs and we resume outside the Montreal blue and in front of the players’ bench.

Are they as important as the logo? Which has greater vitality; a compelling headstone or a living killer?

Kovalev takes up the puck outside the Ottawa line and chugs to acceleration in his accomplished way. A bear looks slower than it is.

But as he crosses the Montreal blue Nick Foligno is whistled for an infraction and Montreal goes to the power-play.

First incursion results in a bowl-around and an exit.

Gomez carries it back over the Ottawa blue.

Rejected.

Next rush is slowed at the red line. Canadiens enter nonetheless. Another carry. Brian Gionta gets a shot from under the circles. Goalie is ready. Puck goes out of play and we get Tomas Plekanec and Benoit Pouliot on the second wave. Just under a minute in the penalty.

Montreal’s Andrei Kostitsyn has it on the hash. AK. To the point. They work it. One shot. Nothing.

More passing.

They (the puck carriers) move after puck receptions and search. But the other forwards don’t move. Two are planted in front. Interesting.

Ottawa defenceman Andy Sutton falls on the puck. Takes a couple of stick shots from Plekanec. Both get away with their respective misbehavior.

Plekanec hears about it after the whistle and jaws it up as a large Ottawan turns away. Fisher approaches Plekanec but we are interrupted by a break in the telecast.

Faceoff to the Ottawa goalie’s left.

Ottawa two-on-one. Montreal escapes. An Ottawa forward’s centring pass for Spezza was good but Spezza missed the net from eight feet out. Looked like Foligno.

Foligno gets called seconds later. Again.

Hoooking.

My pathetic automatic as-you-write spell-checker can’t infer that “hoooking” should be changed to “hooking”.

Plekanec, Pouliot and Andrei Kostitsyn are the first wave.

Missed shot. Pushed out. No other shots.

Gionta line is next.

Glenn Metropolit and Gomez accompany him.

Metropolit sneaks in from the left. Shot just wide. Metropolit is so easy to respect. Every game. Every shift. He’s not just a lunch pail guy. He’s a foreman. The good kind.

Just under eleven minutes left.

I wonder if Martin should work to find a pairing for Metropolit; a guy that’s always on with him and that clicks with him. With the right third-line type, they could shut down opponents and score a goal every two, three games. Or more.

Halak makes a save. Saves his defencemen. Faceoff to his right.

The penalty came and went with nothing more than the missed shot by Metropolit.

Ottawa is not playing with the conviction I expected. I’d rate it about a 7.2. Montreal is at about 7.4. Neither is acceptable with nine games left.

Now a shot-pass from the right circle is deflected past Halak in the crease.

Nicely done. Regin is the recipient and converter.

Ottawa 1, Montreal 0

Canadiens respond with some interest and creativity. Andrei K. About ten feet over the blue line, standing still, turns or is turned and then leaves the puck in the alley for an advance and shot. The rebound is red signature.

But Anton Volchenkov slides over. It’s an other-dimensional Banff! Yeah, I’m comparing him to Kurt. Why not. They’re both immigrants. And so are your ancestors. 

And mine.

Or maybe it was Bammff!!

Door-step replay shows that Brian Elliott was so, oh so, out of the play. Such tarnish.

Kovalev is on. Fisher is with him.

Plekanec line is on against them. How does Andrei play when his quasi-mentor, Kovie, is on the ice with him?

Stoppage.

We resume and Kovalev is carrying it down the right side.

Kovalev wants to have a good night. The entry is initially muffled but the big Russian takes the puck from behind the net and moves it around for a true wrap-around chance. Halak’s skate is there. Whistle and stoppage.

Siren goes. It’s a check stance.

Officials want to confirm that the puck didn’t cross the line.

Replay shows that Halak’s glove was more important than the skate in preventing the goal. And a top-view indicates that the puck crossed the line. Hints, rather. There is no visual evidence as Halak’s reach-back, his big glove, blocked the view. If it isn’t conclusive, it will remain a non-scoring situation and we will resume play.

Players weave around slowly waiting for the decision. On-ice officials are on the phone and around, waiting as well.

Brief siren is used to signal an officials’ stoppage in play. I’m paraphrasing.  The rule-book.

Kovalev is such a senior spokesman. A scoring poet of good standing. He knows more tricks than the younger, faster guys. And it’s enough as he approaches his forties.

“On-ice decision will stand.”

Faceoff. Puck lies there alone. Players jostle around the dot for about thee and a half seconds. Canadiens move it out.

Gomez line is repelled within a second of entry.

Board work now. Montreal zone.

Spezza has it moving to the middle. He is impeded all the while.

Canadiens resume control. Hamrlik. Up for Gomez in the middle. Turnover.

Lines change.

Sergei Kostitsyn is on with Travis Moen and Moore. Man Gill is on the blue. Kovalev line is there for Ottawa. Ok, Hal Gill.

Stoppage.

Ruddy Pouliot looks at the scoreclock.

Habs win the draw.

Sergei crosses the line. Moore advanced ahead of the puck. Or perhaps it was Moen. Houde doesn’t say. No replay.

That line leaves the ice.

Martin is in Mauve and is wearing hair gel. So that’s what it was. I assume.

Lapierre line. Darche and Metropolit with him. I suppose Darche is the right guy for Metropolit, come to think of it. They’ve been linemates for a short time and can only improve. I say it because both are of the maturity required.

Shot of the grim-faced Chris Neil sucking back the free water on the Ottawa bench. Lip sticks out like a British obstructionist’s.

Plekanec line is on now.

Not much.

Gionta line is next and they give up a two-on-one that becomes a three-on-one. Ting. Off the post and out.

Next stoppage sees Moen and Carkner exchanging stick-low shoves.

Commercial.

We’re reminded that the next game is against Buffalo on Wednesday. And then Friday against Florida.  Or perhaps Thursday as a quick check reveals in my Google Calendar (which no longer features “search public calendars”.  Dullards.)

Neil and Moen are jostling for position prior to the faceoff outside the Ottawa blue line.

Canadiens retreat. Gorges picks it up behind his own net.

To the Ottawa zone. Six seconds of chase and one hit by Moen as the puck leaves.

Re-entry is a left-side entry by Moore. Winds up. Shot. Useless bantam play. Puck leaves the surface soon afterward.

(Oh, hey, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot. Oh, hey, hustle, hustle, hustle, hustle, hustle, hustle, hustle. Oh hey, I’m the coach.)

So smokin’ smart, eh. Fail.

Faceoff is to Elliott’s right.

Canadiens keep it in long enough for a fives chance from the blue by Markov.

Puck moves out. Whistle. Kovalev was involved in something.

Kovalev sticked Markov after Markov checked him. Whistle and a crowd. Kovalev and Markov both approach each other as non-teammates but both avoid eye contact. The response of countrymen separated by duty.

Now we have a faceoff to Elliott’s right. Regin takes it in place of Spezza. Loses it to Plekanec.

Shot. Rebound is missed. Andrei K.

Ottawa rush. Left side. Failed slot pass on a standard, covered entry.

Other end. Pyatt is squeezed against the boards behind Elliott’s net. Sens skate away.

Action heats up somewhat.

Canadiens try for the tying goal. Pouliot line.

The work is done. But with three guys under the end line, a three-on-one is the result. It’s a late-developing advance and Halak’s save isn’t as hard as if the Sens had had more time with the rush. Puck-carrier also blew the shot, a shot he decided to keep for himself. Rush was from the left side.

Siren. Crowd is disappointed and very quiet. Brunet says some grandmotherly words of comfort for partisan viewers.

Canadiens lead on shots 6-5.

First Intermission
Ottawa 1, Montreal 0

Some Phoenix blathering.

Second Period
Ottawa 1, Montreal 0

Gomez wins the opening faceoff.

Ottawa generates a rush from the neutral zone. Spezza on the left sends a backhand pass across the low slot. No sticks reply.

Lines change.

Fisher is on against Plekanec’ line.

Spacek retrieves behind his net and gives it to Hamrlik in the corner. Canadiens are forced back in moments later.

Shot is stopped by Halak. Slot-shot.

Andrei K leads a rush. They keep possession. Elliott freezes the puck moments later.

Canadiens win the faceoff. Puck bounces off the post in a weird way and the rebound, golfed, is difficult for Elliott. Goes off the protective part under his glove.

Lines change again.

Kelly’s long shot as he crosses the Montreal blue is gloved by Halak.

Ottawa wins the faceoff. Zack Smith wins it.

On the boards it stays til O’Byrne sends a backhand pass along the boards for Markov. Neutral zone bottling for three seconds.

Ottawa controls deep now. Two shots off two sequences.

Gomez gets the team out of trouble and the Canadiens and the puck draw a small group in front of Elliott who is desperately groping and grabbing for the disc. An Ottawa stick flips it to the point and the Canadiens’ remaining few seconds on the attack are shotless.

Forth and then back.

Ottawa starts a rush. Down the right side. Slot pass fails.

Sens get careless on their breakout but the Canadiens can’t silence the puck’s bounces and the Sens avoid a difficult defensive.

Campoli sends a puck in short of the red line and a too-long pass is the result; whistle.

Metropolit wins the faceoff. Darche is game under the end-line and slows his pursuer but can’t retain the puck.

Another icing type of call. Same players will stay on for Ottawa says Houde. Small chance here for Vos Glorieux.

Faceoff result is ambiguous and so is the sequencing. Puck finally leaves Ottawa ice and then Montreal enters offside.

Andrei is in. Shot high. Tough save. Rebound. Pyatt turns and gets good wood on it. Stopped. Andrei again. Misses the sudden gawp.

Ottawa moves it out.

Plekanec is in. Kostitsyn loses his stick down the middle. Plekanec keeps. Somehow beats Elliott. But the puck stays out. Behind Elliott. Whistle. Power-play.

Volchenkov was called.

First wave. Underneath. Gomez. To the side-boards. To the left point, Markov. Across. Shot by Spacek. Gloved and controlled by Elliott. One-timer.

Faceoff to Elliott’s left.

Gomez wins it. Pouliot loses it on the boards. Cleared.

Markov. To Pouliot. Left for Gomez on the Montreal blue. Fired in.

Puck is lost at the circle and cleared.

Markov to Gomez at centre ice. Entry is laboured.

Montreal is forced into angular passing, diamonds in the neutral zone.

In at last.

Andrei has it underneath. AK. Canadiens keep it going. Six seconds.

Ottawa exits. Alfredsson leads a two-on-one. Keeps. Shoots. Halak stops it.

Volchenkov gets in as the penalty expires. Alone. Drives. Stopped. Net and players collide and spin slowly into the end-boards. Puck crosses the goal-line but only after the net went off its magnetics.

Moen takes a hit to the face. Stick? He is rolling in the corner. Houde and Brunet are concerned.

Not sure yet.

They resume outside the Ottawa blue.

Sens win. Regroup and exit.

And they enter offside.

Bryan Murray looks on with his typical concern, worry and intensity.

Faceoff. Puck is along the Montreal boards. Down to the corner and back up to the hash.

Work is along the Ottawa boards next. Also about four seconds.

Canadiens retain.

Gomez works with Pouliot behind the net. Interrupted at last. Fisher line was on. Alfredsson line follows.

They generate a mild chance which Halak stops and freezes. Shot was from the captain from the circle-top.

Faceoff is to Halak’s left and won by Ottawa.

Plekanec line exits. Down the right. To the slot. Puck isn’t listening. Tepid chance.

Canadiens re-enter. Along the boards.

Chris Phillips captures the puck and shoots it out.

Metropolit line follows. He has some harry and hurry control just inside the Ottawa blue.

Exited.

Re-entry sees Elliott forced twenty feet out of his net to play a puck that Metropolit was chasing with blood-dawg purpose.

Now Pouliot is upended going for a puck in the neutral zone. Opportunistic effort but his head was down. Boom. He’s ok and heads to the bench. Gionta line follows.

Montreal zone. Markov cleans up. Moves them out. Kovalev stops things at centre ice. Sends it back down.

Canadiens re-enter. Darche is on. To Gomez. Can’t finish. Good creation by Darche.

Pace is increasing. Kovie is still on. Majestikov.

Cullen is met by Spacek and Darche behind Halak. Canadiens move it up but not out.

Gomez and Gionta are still on the ice. Houde comments on the length of their respective shifts. Gionta finally gets off the ice.

Plekanec traps the puck in the Ottawa corner to Elliott’s left. Line change is complete.

Regin works in the corner to Halak’s right.

Gill has lost his stick; after a Montreal exit.

Montreal goes briefly into chase mode. Spezza slows down at the circle and turns and this allows all Habs to get back into position.

Ottawa’s Jesse Winchester turns outside the Montreal blue, crosses and lofts a shot easily gloved by Halak who holds it for the faceoff.

Faceoff is won by Montreal.

Campoli gets a shot from the point. Houde’s voice rises.

Canadiens exit.

Darche and Lapierre work behind the net. Lapierre misses a pass. Loses the puck and checks his coverage after the puck leaves.

Canadiens retrieve.

Can’t advance past the neutral zone.

Ottawa is an even match for Montreal as the shifts go along.

Pouliot enters, struggles and stays too tall. Gionta follows but can’t put the puck to the openings from the angle and from the chasing stick.

Markov leaves the ice and Montreal loses the faceoff outside their zone.

Siren goes seven seconds later on an Ottawa dump-in.

Are fat ties becoming the norm? Ottawa coach Corey Clouston has a nice gold one. I might go on a tie-buying spree.

Canadiens lead on shots 13-11 and 19-16, overall.

Second Intermission
Ottawa 1, Montreal 0

Ignorance is bliss.

Third Period
Ottawa 1, Montreal 0

I think it’s just easier to bring out the red pen. Nobody is paying me to correct y’all. So from now on it’s “fail” or “pass”.

And leave the shooting to Pouliot.

Spezza has it on the boards. To Sutton at the point. Passed to Alfredsson. Loses it.

Andrei K exits down the right side. Shot misses the net. Houde laments the loss of a three-on-two due to a broken stick. That’s what that sequence was.

Kovalev is on. Hassled by Moen. Checked by Darche. No support from his linemates. All this just outside the Ottawa blue.

Now a chance for Ottawa. Huge rebound. Kovalev shoots. Halak got over.

Darche gets hit in the face. Stick. Penalty.

Houde says it’s a stupid penalty by Mike Fisher. Brunet agrees. He also uses the word stupid. It wasn’t the stick. And it was stupid. Fisher just punched Darche in the face, glove on. Two minutes. And two lifetimes. What cures a stupid man? Karma. And I’m told that Karma can take a long time.

Moments later, Andrei delivers an accidental high stick. Kelly is ok. Kostitsyn gets two minutes.

I need to use Andrei’s middle name if he has one. Or the other Andrei’s middle name. Or something.

Billy, Bobby, Johnny, Ralphie.

Four-on-four.

Gionta and Gomez are the first pairing.

Entry. Scurry.

And on the other end Halak scoops a puck for a faceoff.

Sergei and Plekanec are the next pairing. Two on two entry. Markov comes up and takes a shot off a drop-pass. Nope.

Regin sets up a shot now. Halak governs it. Low and arm.

Time elapses on the fours. About fifteen seconds of man-advantage for Ottawa.

Kovalev is on. We hear some boos.

Gill sends Andrei long. Has a chance but has to slow and control the puck. Chance ends. Gionta takes up the cause and generates a chance. Wide. Whistle soon afterward.

Andrei K gives his head one shake on the bench. Something new in his demeanour over the past few games. Something more determined.

Faceoff.

Ottawa exits. Hamrlik falls. Spacek covers. All in the slot. Canadiens manage the situation. Lapierre is on. Missing and chasing but delivering hits after the puck has left. Where’s Chartraw. Where’s Napier. Where’s Houle.

I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like for a fourth-line player to generate turnovers and retain possession. That’s what the job description is. It isn’t playing a Washington General to a Harlem Globetrotter. Table cloth.

Plekanec line. Plekanec is sent down he right side. Funneled into the corner. Canadiens enter on the left now. Gomez line.  And they can’t retain.  Ottawa exits.

Fisher forces his way down the middle. Too much traffic and he is forced off the puck.

Kovalev loses the puck in the neutral zone and a Canadiens even numbers entry follows. No shot.

Hamrlik is retrieving. To Gorges.

Hooking. Against Montreal. Sen taken down in the mid-slot. Looks legit. Houde says we’ll find out after the pause.

Moore. Replay shows him hook Chris Neil. Legit.

Ottawa wins the faceoff.

Around the perimeter. All the way around.

Shot. Puck is high. Halak nearly nabs it above his shoulders. Puck drops out. Coverage is there.

Puck is pushed out.

Sergei is on next.

Long shot. In. Not many Ottawa fans. Crowd is talking quietly.

Ottawa 2, Montreal 0

I don’t see a way to win this one.

Erik Karlsson scored. That young defenceman, nineteen years old. He’s from Sweden.

Plekanec line follows.

Gomez line is on now. Martin has mixed them up.

Gionta is there.

Brunet says rien fonctionne pour Kovalev. He adds that he’s been watching Kovalev and the effort is there.

Darche line now. Metropolit and Moen besides. Under ten minutes now.

Spezza lobs the puck in for himself. Rams Gorges. Gorges absorbs it and moves it to his defence partner, Gill. Stopped on the boards. But the replay is successful and the Canadiens are pressing again.

Gomez is on with Sergei and Gionta. Stoppage along the Ottawa boards. An Ottawa player is swinging. Ruutu is there. Neil, too.

It cools down.

Neil has that same expression that McCabe gets. The kind of guys who’d enforce the emperor’s belief in a flat earth.

In response, we go to an emperor’s moment. Two of them. Dominant ideology enforcement. In pleasant thirty-second muted (by me) hit singles.

Montreal goes to the power-play. And many are thinking that we are missing Marc-Andre Bergeron. And many are right. Montreal’s power-play effectiveness has dwindled quickly over the past nine, ten periods.

Early exit.

Gomez controls now in the corner. Good, heads-up work but a turnover and clear result.

Canadiens enter again. Bang, long shot by Gionta. Bang, a rebound and shot by Darche.

But no.

And another chance.

And again, no.

Second wave. Just over thirty seconds.

They control. Sergei. Shot. Out of play. He’s on with his brother. And, yes, Mathieu Darche was on the first wave. Martin is sending a message. And also trying something, anything that might work.

Try Gionta, Metropolit and Darche as a power-play unit.

Penalty ends. Under seven minutes.

Hamrlik to O’Byrne under the Montreal blue. To the neutral square.

Ottawa resumes control briefly but the Canadiens beat Ottawa to several pucks.

Lines change and the stalemate resumes as Alfredsson carries it over the right side and up for Regin who shoots a sharp-angle puck at Halak. Stopped and frozen.

Gomez line follows.

Gomez shoots it off the boards. It comes off in that weird way that he often manages. Shot. Elliott somehow stops it.

Break.

Montreal is zero of five on power-play chances tonight. Brunet says that it’s one of many factors in tonight’s game.

Ottawa ices soon after the faceoff.

Martin exhales with concern. He tries not to take it out on the team.

Yellers think they know when to yell. And when it might work for them. They don’t. It doesn’t. It’s a special weapon. Like an end-around. Yellers are like guys who call an end-around once on each possession. Just stupid. Are you stupid? Stop yelling, I’m having trouble understanding you.

Just under five minutes.

Moore line.

Spacek corrects a steal and gets a puck to Markov.

Moore loses it on the other end.

Crowd is disappointed. One small wolf boo bleats out.

Just under four minutes. Ottawa stays in position. Puck goes long. Stoppage.

Booing is more sprinkled. Martin maintains composure. He knows his team has worked hard tonight. Tonight was just un manque de talent.

Three and a half.

Montreal works the Ottawa corner. Markov can’t pinch. Plays a puck that bounces to him. Just has time to whap it.

Brothers K are on. They can’t get it going. Plekanec was centring them.

I’m interested in seeing such a line from the beginning of a game.

Plekanec enters down the right alone. Covered by two Sens. Puck is taken from him.

Canadiens re-enter. And again.

Metropolit line. The centre keeps working. But Ottawa turns it away.

Gomez line. Ninety seconds.

Halak doesn’t see Martin signaling him.

Ottawa keeps Montreal from exiting. Puck goes out of play. Faceoff will be to Halak’s left.

Muller is saying something in his loud, precise coaching voice. Looks over the guys as they hop on.

Martin looks sad for his team.

Faceoff is won by Plekanec.

Canadiens have to dither a bit to get it out.

They do. Spacek sends it up. Halak leaves the net.

Canadiens maintain control. Hamrlik and Spacek. Long shot from Spacek. Rebound is a juicy one off the back boards but it’s too livewire a puck for Sergei who saw a plan; a midslot pass-plan. Puck keeps bouncing in place and eventually the threat is ended.

Faceoff to Elliott’s right. Ottawa wins it. They move it out. Chance to score on the empty net is thwarted by Gorges in the neutral zone. Missed on his forehand, spun to his backhand and sent the puck on its way.

Martin is thinking and leaning as the seconds tick off. Siren goes. Is he mulling over the new line changes I have suggested? The post-game press conference? Or something wise that Kirk Muller said? Counting points needed? Or what. We shall see what he says in the post-game.

Ottawa 2
Montreal 0

Solid win for Ottawa. But much wanting for both teams.

HDS Stars: Peter Regin, Erik Karlsson, Glenn Metropolit
RDS Stars: Brian Elliott, Erik Karlsson, Peter Regin

Yeah, it was a shutout but Elliott didn’t play well enough to be a star selection. That is my view. It is a team stat, besides.

Men from Quebec aren’t afraid to shop. Or admit it. Real men don’t give a hoot.

Ottawa worked hard and stayed just ahead of Montreal in the puck chase. It’s a fair and square win and loss. Next.

We go to Jacques Martin’s press conference and he says that Travis Moen’s eye wasn’t injured and that it is a severe laceration to the forehead. It will be re-evaluated tomorrow.

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