Montreal Canadiens vs. Buffalo Sabres
April 3, 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 (38-32-8) host Buffalo Sabres (43-24-10)
Saturday, April 3rd, 2010
Game Seventy-Nine (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. Or late-night chocolate.
A good goalie for the present. And why not for the future?
Halak starts again tonight. Jacques says that Ryan Miller is the best post-season goaltending option in the Eastern Conference. He ranks Halak fourth on that list.
Crete says that Miller could be the most valuable player to his team this season. Demers says that Lindy Ruff is a good candidate for the Jack Adams Trophy for coach of the year and that Tyler Myers, Buffalo’s young defenceman, number fifty-seven, is a strong candidate for rookie of the year; the Calder Trophy.
Bouchard says that Buffalo forward Jason Pominville might be the most underestimated player in the league.
A win tonight gives Buffalo the Northeast Division title. Senators lost last night and that gives the Sabres the opportunity.
The numbers for Halak since the Industrial Games break include a 93 save percentage and under two goals allowed per game. These are team numbers as much as they are Halak’s. They are fine numbers. An above-average percentage is around 92 and 93 is in the outstanding category particularly over a full season.
Player introductions. Coaches in the hall. Flags, cheering and spotlights. Gorges crosses himself as he steps on the ice. Perry Pearn effects a calculus professor as he steps into the coaches’ area behind the bench.
The ice is lit in an oval of wet white and American lights; le bleu, le blanc et le rouge.
Where else is the Canadian anthem used to lead an event? Drop that puck, he says. Drop that puck.
More medalists are introduced. Eight overly happy faces. Not nine.
The blue carpet is t-shaped and extends nearly to centre ice. The athletes walk out each wearing red oven-mitt material jackets. The last introductee receives the loudest cheer.
What do medalist Ryan Miller, and near-medalists Andrei Markov and Jaroslav Halak think?
The anthem ends and the athletes leave the ice.
Miller is in net for Buffalo, of course. He’s at 0,928. Halak in Montreal’s cage.
Gomez line starts.
First Period
Gomez wins it, Pouliot pounces and is over the blue line, shooting. Snarled.
An exit and quick re-entry sees Gionta nearly score from the crease area. Pass was from Gomez. Gionta turned to make it a forehand. Gorges follows with a high wrister which Miller gloves.
Sabres win the ensuing faceoff.
To the left. Up the boards. Into Montreal ice. Derek Roy is on for Buffalo.
Canadiens exit. Andrei Kostitsyn down the right side. Off-wing wrister. Miller handles it. He sweeps it to the corner.
Faceoff follows a clearing attempt. Halak’s left.
Moore. Gaustad wins it. Houde says that we know how good Gaustad is on faceoffs.
Puck stays in the corner. Gorges hits Kirby and takes him up against the boards. Butterfly for his collection.
Puck goes towards Buffalo ice. Interference as two players crash behind the Buffalo net. Moore and Rivet. Call is against former Montreal alternate captain, Craig Rivet.
Initial faceoff results in Buffalo puck-play behind their net and a clear.
Gionta, Gomez and Pouliot are the first wave. They chase it but Buffalo clears again.
Just over a minute and this trio stays on for a final sequence.
Puck is taken up in the neutral zone and then to Hamrlik in Montreal ice.
Canadiens are stopped outside Buffalo’s blue. They re-enter.
Plekanec line. Two jam-type shots on Miller’s left. A few, really. Miller muffles it and holds it for a faceoff to his left.
Sabres win the faceoff.
Myers carries it out. Over the Montreal blue. Keeps it. Curls to the left. Houde says that fifteen seconds were killed on this possession.
Penalty ends.
Roy has it deep. Towards the boards. Then curls to the blue line. Pass to the opposing hash.
Puck stays in.
Moen, Sergei and Moore are chasing. On the boards. Moore is stopped. Goes back. Retrieves the puck and moves it out.
Montreal goes offside.
Back and forth. Now a shot by Gionta from the off-wing. Stopped. Flow changes as Lapierre hops on and takes away a central passing lane. Puck goes out of play.
Maxwell is not playing tonight.
Faceoff.
Habs move back into their own zone. O’Byrne takes it. Moves awkwardly towards Halak with it and falls. Net goes off and Halak has to smother the puck. Houde notes the crowd murmurs on the play.
Molson commercials just try too hard. Leave us be.
O’Byrne nearly put it in his own net. Replay shows the near-gaffe.
Faceoff.
Buffalo produces two shots two seconds apart. Another freeze.
O’Byrne is a bit more intense now.
He is called for roughing.
First pairing is Gionta and Pyatt. Gionta takes the faceoff. Interesting. He took a faceoff yesterday as well.
Pyatt and Gionta get a two-on-two. No shot possible.
Sergei is on. He’s back, eh. Didn’t play yesterday.
Buffalo enters. Kirby. Down the right side. Keeps it. Loses it at the blue line and the Canadiens exit. Buffalo manages to trap the puck inside their blue line. Moen and Moore are the kill pairing.
Shot by Butler from the boards just inside the blue line is gloved by Halak.
Replay shows a purposeful knee on knee by Roy on Sergei. Sergei responded in sound AHL fashion. Deserved.
We resume.
Ten seconds left in the penalty.
Markov carries it up, sludge work; then passes it from blue to blue for Gionta.
Entry can’t be maintained.
Gill is behind Halak. Tries a breakout pass. Stopped at the blue line. Mild Buffalo shot follows. Halak corrals it to the left of the net along the end line.
Kaleta is also missing for Buffalo tonight.
Buffalo wins the faceoff. To the blue line. Myers has it. Turns. Wrister. Hits a skate; Mike Grier’s. Loses most of its velocity and is tortoise-shelled by Halak.
Canadiens are in following the faceoff. Moen and Moore. Sergei is supporting. They manage one blue line pass. Puck goes out of play. Tallinder is called for delay of game. Puck went over the glass from the defensive zone.
Fouts was great at that, eh. It was legal (still is, I think).
First sequence is a turnover leading to a near two-on-two pass. But the pass is defenced by Montreal and they go to the offensive again.
It lasts three seconds and the Canadiens find themselves taking a faceoff in their own end again. Markov was shoved into his own net. By a Sabre.
Faceoff to Halak’s left.
Plekanec and Derek Roy. Cammalleri is on with Tomas.
Still about a minute in the penalty.
They are able to create. Crowd and a slot shot. Cammalleri gathers it from the group and sends it to the blue line for another shot. Nope.
Penalty ends.
Moore works the boards. Sends it to the point. O’Byrne wrists it. Goes in. Deflection?
Montreal 1, Buffalo 0
Through the five-hole. Replay is inconclusive.
Lapierre line follows.
Darche and Pyatt are with him.
Puck goes out of play following a Montreal entry down the right side.
O’Byrne is about as happy as Michael Ryder after that goal as we see from the replay. Jolly genuine. Bien fait.
We get another replay and Brunet thinks it went off Jochen Hecht last. It also hit Sergei on the way. Brunet reminds us that the league office checks remotely and will announce the official scoring credit at the period’s end. League offices are located in Toronto, Montreal and New York City. This decision comes from Toronto, I believe.
We resume. About seven and a half minutes left in the period.
Canadiens resume their one-goal lead bad habits. Puck is on the boards in Montreal ice. And then Bergeron is called for roughing. He gave Gaustad an extra shot during board-work.
Lydman and Stafford are on. So is Roy. To the blue. To the end line for Roy. Backhander off a singular move. Halak is flush with the right post and freezes it.
Faceoff.
Moore has lost his stick. Buffalo manages nearly two full squares worth of passing. Moen pokes it out and allows Moore to retrieve his stick.
Puck is cleared and allows a pairing change. Gionta and Gomez are next.
Buffalo is prevented from a re-entry.
Penalty ends.
Just under five minutes.
Plekanec line is on.
Plekanec beats Myers to a puck. Along the boards. Cammalleri loses his chase attempt.
Puck is moved out.
Lines change.
Buffalo dumps it in. Montador.
Canadiens resume control. Moore enters from the left and over the middle. Another offside. He was preceded into the Buffalo zone.
Moore line remains on. Puck goes into the Buffalo zone. Into the corner. And it’s moved out. Moore wasn’t able to get to it.
Puck stays on the perimeters. Both teams are forechecking very well. Middle is well-protected by both.
Pouliot effects an entry along the left side. Repelled.
Another entry on the right. Gomez and Pouliot combine to create some space but that ends as well.
Sabres are covering Darche now along the boards. Behind the net. To Lapierre. He appears suddenly in front of Miller. Miller stops the wrap-around.
Lines change. Breakout board pass goes past Plekanec but Andrei K nearly stops it on the hash.
Sabres move down. Shot on Halak in traffic and from the high slot. Stopped. Rebound. Canadiens collect it.
Moments later Adam Mair is called for cross-checking.
Ruff is non-plussed. Mair complains throughout the process.
Canadiens are in. A shot. Back to the point. Another shot. Wrister from Bergeron. Miller is at the top of his crease and gets low only at the last second. Fine work.
Faceoff is won by Buffalo but Gionta prevents an exit under the end-line and the puck ends up at the point for a Montreal shot.
Canadiens continue to control. Markov. Turning and sliding. Down and then back. One pass to the point. Back to Markov. To the point again. Now a shot.
Refs let a Roy holding go. Roy plays like Linseman. It’s a regular thing.
Another long shot. Miller stops Cammalleri.
Ken Linseman. Of the Bruins and Oilers. The term back then was “pest”. Generous term.
Forty-five seconds in the penalty. Ten seconds in the period.
Canadiens create space and then a pass goes through the slot unanswered.
Siren goes.
Players leave the ice.
Shots are 18-13 in favour of Montreal.
First Intermission
Montreal 1, Buffalo 0
Viewers are asked which of four teams are the ideal first round opponent for the Canadiens in the playoffs: Devils, Capitals, Penguins or Sabres. The team with the most weaknesses is Pittsburgh.
Let’s see who viewers select.
Ryan O’Byrne is interviewed by Luc Gelinas. It’s boring stuff. The translation from English to French is also boring. I dunno; how about some mangulation, then?
Second Period
Montreal 1, Buffalo 0
We really shouldn’t have refs on the ice. Or how about this; six refs with stopping ability in areas around the rink and two guys on the ice to help separate fighters. But no whistles.
Accuracy is more important than whatever is gained by having the officials on the surface.
We resume with a Sabre in the box. Canadiens can’t pressure Miller and the penalty ends with the Sabres around Halak. He is on the ice after two saves.
Plekanec line.
Dangerous right-side entry by Plekanec and Cammalleri. Plekanec’ shot hits something and goes behind the net. Cammalleri tries to come out with it but can’t effect a shot.
Action moves to the other end where Halak stops play again. Mild save.
Buffalo resumes control following the faceoff. Long shot. Halak. And Halak. Two great saves as Roy moved in the crease to create a near chance.
Faceoff to Halak’s left.
Moore line. They get it out. Grier moves it from the neutral zone boards to the centre ice dot. Only leads to more puck dithering and no clear possession.
Rush by Lapierre. Shot. Rebound. In. Lapierre shot from about twenty feet, crossing left to right. Pyatt came in with speed. Whacked it home. It’s his second goal of the season.
Montreal 2, Buffalo 0
Lapierre, Darche and Pyatt stay on.
They are able to generate a short possession along the Buffalo end boards but are kicked out soon afterward.
Gomez line.
Blasted in to Buffalo ice by O’Byrne. Chased and lost.
Moore line now.
Crowd is one tooth here and one tooth there; audio chiclets rise and fall. The sounds join briefly for an ole, ole chant.
The skating seems to match the beery melody.
Puck goes out of play after flighty strides and perimeter pdfs. The boring geometry of precise defensive coverage.
We resume. Mair sends a strong diagonal pass across the neutral zone for Drew Stafford. Sabres can’t fancy it.
Seconds later they settle it down enough for a pass to the point. Only passing results. And then a turnover.
Andrei Kostitsyn shows monster ability on the forecheck all of the sudden. The chase can’t produce a turnover but his speed and reach are enviable.
Push-in. Shot from Gorges. Stopped.
Play is whistled soon afterward. Houde warns us that we’ll have a nice visit momentarily.
Whoo.
Hamrlik is carrying. Puck moves to the perimeter again.
Some overconfident guy is talking about loving the Habs. He’s in the booth with Houde and Brunet.
A jolie visite would be one from Mike Liut.
Houde is enthusiastic and asks the Industrial dude about some gaming details.
IN the meantime, the puck stays on the perimeters.
Moore line is on. Moen misses a check in the Buffalo corner. Myers carries the puck away from Moen and then leaves it behind his net. Sabres exit lasts about four seconds in Montreal territory.
Great chance now. From behind the Montreal net a pass to the side and to the slot. Halak gets across. Pominville was the finisher.
Almost.
They should televise progressive cases that result in victory and then feature those folks in the booth instead.
Lapierre exits with two on his flank following a Hamrlik take-down. Crowd boos.
Rush leads to a turnover and not shots.
Lapierre and Pyatt work it on the Sabre end-boards now. They are closely surveyed and can’t get a puck into open space.
Play is stopped.
Uncalled play earlier was Tyler Myers’ work. There’s always a next one. Are they decreasing?
The managers could make a change.
We resume with just over seven minutes left in the second period.
Canadiens are behind the action now. Two passes and a point shot are the result. But Halak is not threatened.
Canadiens resume. Markov sends a long pass for Gionta.
Routine play by Miller by his net turns on him. Gionta nearly scores.
Exit and a stoppage soon afterward.
Gomez line stays on.
Gomez wins the faceoff. Moves very quickly with the puck to the rear. Passes to the side-slot. No sticks reply.
Gionta stays on while Buffalo compromises Montreal with a six-second possession in the high slot.
And now a penalty.
Plekanec for holding Roy in the neutral zone.
Martin looks up at the machinery. Arms folded. Now looks down. He is as calm as he can be in the second period.
Just over five minutes.
Shot from Roy from the left point. Ricochets. Out.
Buffalo can’t keep it in following another entry.
Now Roy enters over the middle. Passes to Stafford at the hashmark. Stafford loses it right away. Roy’s head drops as he sees it happen and the Sabres have to regroup.
With forty seconds left in the penalty, they set up. Buffalo forward Nathan Gerbe swerves and gets a quick high shot on Halak.
Moore exits. Drives like Zednik in the old days. Crosses the net with the puck and a poke-check saves Miller.
Suddenly Sergei is shooting from the low slot.
Montador tries to catch Plekanec unawares. But it’s Montador that falls.
It’s always the same guy who says “let me take care of this”. Unimaginative thug robotics. Programmed for unemployment.
Net goes off as Buffalo gets better control. Momentum is shifting to their advantage.
How good is Montreal’s conditioning this season?
Sergei’s shot was right on the crest. Direct.
Moore line is on now.
Moore, no fool, has a visor that goes lower than most.
Sabres win the draw.
Raffi Torres is on the ice for Sabres. Yes, that Raffi Torres.
Hanging from the lights on Whyte.
Habs are having a puck party now. Ryan Miller is invited. Glob of players in front. Guys winding up from the blue line. Shot. And again.
Sabres finally get it out.
In the corner now. To Halak’s left. Jochen Hecht. Turnover in the slot.
Montador starts the Sabres out from behind his net next.
Gomez and Gill swipe at cross-purposes in their corner but the siren goes. Brunet says the team has played an honest game.
Sabres led 8-6 on shots in the second.
Second Intermission
Montreal 2, Buffalo 0
More Olympians. Two men. Previous was a man, too.
The premise is “what a treat” but the result is where is Joel?
They are brothers and Alain asks them who the best skater on the Canadiens is. One says Gionta and the other says Gomez. They are unanimous on who the worst skater is. And I’m sure you know who, as well.
Especially now that our sensitive gentleman has retired for the season.
RDS should drop McDonald’s as a sponsor. They’re the NIKE of the food world. But much worse. And yes, that is possible.
Bouchard is working on the ice with Jason Pominville and provides us some coverage and shot lessons.
Hey, one thing you can say about NIKE is that their shoes are real.
All the Phaneuf apologists are going to be out in force for a few weeks. He was deemed the league’s most overrated player in a poll of NHL players. His immediate response was one of denial. Maybe people don’t like me, he said.
Hockey apologists and denialists are very talkative. And very predictable. And feature invalid or unsound arguments.
Bouchard says that he was watching Myers closely tonight and that he is strong, intelligent and plays well with the puck.
He’s also slow and dull. And dirty.
Could be worse. It could be 1995.
Third Period
Montreal 2, Buffalo 0
Talk of shutouts, comebacks and third-period shots allowed lends texture to the early period action.
Halak is moving along. Buffalo has come back six times in the third period to win this season and Montreal has given up 14 and 17 shots in their most recent third periods.
Again I find myself wondering about Hab conditioning.
Buffalo underscores the wondering with a seven-second possession, most of it in the haphazard slot.
Montreal’s goals have been opportunistic and they remain a team without rooks and not one queen.
Gionta from Pouliot. Circle shot. Easy save for Miller. No rebound generated.
Houde says that the hitting and such is of a higher order early this period.
No replays to support.
Lapierre is standing and smiling at a Sabre from the bench area.
Faceoff to Halak’s right.
Sergei is on. Moore wins the faceoff. Quick puck long. Moen beats two Sabres. They let him. One thought the other would take him.
Crowd after the spill. Moen went flying over the goalie. Moore is in the scrum.
Moen’s shot attempt was off the post and all of a pelican and legs play. Voop!
Refs clear it up.
Faceoff is to Miller’s left. Moore is jawing and filament. Loses the faceoff.
Whistle soon afterward on a Sabre entry.
Andrei K is in down the right side. Off-wing backhander.
Miller turns it away and into the side-boards. Good rebound management. Now who talks like that, eh?
About five minutes elapsed.
Torres falls in front of Hamrlik on the boards.
Lapierre exits. Left side. Down the column. Loses it. It’s in the corner. And now it’s out.
Sabres set up. On the hash. Down low. To the crease. Halak has it. Gloves it from a knee. Brunet remarks on his calm. Houde supports the point.
Faceoff. Sabres win. They control underneath the end-line. They scrap and fugue. They keep it. No dangerous shots result but they make life difficult for the defenders.
Stupid fake accents in truck commercials. I am a local international rock star who grew up next door; I am cool enough to sound both English and French at the same time and I’m cooler than Rene Levesque and Rene Simard. Buy this truck.
Now another Olympian. A woman.
Canadiens score.
From the slot. Crowd. Sergei. And as he skates off the ice, I finally see the resemblance. His eyes.
Pass was from Moore to the slot as he curled around the net.
Montreal 3, Buffalo 0
The Olympian squealed at the goal. Houde says that it was perfect and she giggles.
Yes, she squealed. And yes, she giggled.
Next.
Twelve and a half minutes in the game.
Lapierre takes a puck in and members of the crowd lose it. He loses it, turning.
Sabres are skating harder.
Grier line is on.
Ellis retrieves it behind the net. To Grier on the right side exiting.
Ellis is shouldered off the puck and onto the ice by Hamrlik.
Puck leaves.
Grier is in moments later. High, weak shot is stopped.
This Olympian has a good attitude. Finally.
Sabres work it down the right side. Gill shadows his winger but can’t prevent a slot pass. It’s deflected away. Sabres continue for six more seconds including a slot wave but can’t fire.
Pyatt line is on. They charge. The puck goes out of play. Darche says something emphatic to Lapierre. Hard to tell.
Another bad commercial. I never see thirty-year old cars parked on the street. What kind of product is so absent from the scene just 20 or 30 short years later? I still have my records, for example.
Sixty percent of respondents picked the Sabres as the ideal first-round opponent.
Carbonneau is in the arena. He is up in the booth with Bob Cole.
Cole is yarping away. (Yes, yarping.) Carbo waits and then comments afterward.
We resume. Just under ten minutes left in the game.
Does this mean that some of my countrywomen are watching this game?
Gomez is in down the left side. Shot is high and deflected by Miller who has full coverage.
Houde says that Moen, Sergei and Moore have had a very good night.
Jochen Hecht is called for slashing.
He sits in the box nearly expressionless. Replay shows it’s a legit call.
First wave is the Plekanec line.
Plekanec wins it. To the blue. To the left point for Markov. Shot. Goes out of play.
My computer, which has not had a very good night, goes down and I am back with about two and a half minutes left. Pinnacle Studio Nine. What a joke.
Cammalleri had a great chance alone in front.
Gionta moved in with a great move as well.
Lapierre gets into a fight and takes the worst of it. Comes off looking like a guy who can’t fight. He is smiling as he comes off.
Gaustad charged Moen to start it. Lapierre responded on the other end of the ice.
Brunet says that fights at the end of the game do absolutely nothing. There is no distinction in my hockey lexicon anymore. It’s all useless.. In fact … one day your favourite player will die.
Houde and Brunet agree that Gaustad started it all. Buffalo will get an additional two minutes.
A double-shutout is going to get the big concrete oakball rolling. Hab conversation is like logs on a river.
Canadiens go to a power-play.
About ninety seconds left in the game.
That na-na-na-na chant starts up. It has no place here.
Action is ragged to close. Canadiens have it along the boards.
We can see who the bitter losers are on this sequence. Jochen Hecht and Toni Lydman are both delivering on-the-border shots as the period closes.
And it ends. Nothing else. Halak has his second consecutive shutout.
Montreal 3
Buffalo 0
HDS Stars: Brian Gionta, Jaroslav Halak, Roman Hamrlik
RDS Stars: Jaroslav Halak, Dominic Moore, Sergei Kostitsyn
The unpleasant Alain Chantelois is on Ante-Chambre tonight after a long absence. How disappointing and I am loathe to anticipate his first unsavoury statement. Le Baron, he is called.
For a few moments I wonder if I have misremembered him. But no. I haven’t.
He is anxious to turn the conversation into an emotional diatribe. His target tonight? P.K. Subban and the Canadiens management figures who will “almost certainly” take a job from Marc-Andre Bergeron to make room for Subban next season.
He turns the conversation in that direction twice in the first ten minutes. He is a xenophobe and I turn off Ante-Chambre for the first time this season. The others shouldn’t let him go on. It’s not interesting. Controversy does not sell. Not in this living room. Not on this beanbag.
Le Baron should go back to Africa. Or wherever he thinks we’re from.
He says that he knows that many are sick and tired of “it”. What he means is that somehow the Canadiens have been doing the French player wrong for the past few years. It’s not true, there are no facts to back it up and surprisingly, the usually perceptive, Chantal Macabe agrees with him.
And it’s off. You’d think Le Baron would know better. You’d think. Kick a dog when you go home.
I’m suddenly a PK fan.
Bon Soir. And why doesn’t Bob Hartley blast him? Hartley, of them all, knows better.
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