Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals (Game Four)

Musings and In-Game Scribbles playoffs

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).

#8 Montreal Canadiens (39-33-10)
host
#1 Washington Capitals (54-15-13)

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

Round One – Playoffs (Capitals lead series 2-1)
Game Four (score posted following scribbles)

Missed it? Musings capture the game in writing. A written transcript typed during the game, posted and edited about thirty minutes afterward. Based on the RDS French telecast of the Montreal Canadiens game, 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 unique way to re-experience the game.

Back to my couch and back to Bell Central.

Carey Price starts in net tonight.  Montreal defenceman Jaroslav Spacek was said to be a game-time decision for Montreal.

This could be Montreal’s last home game of the season.

Player announcements are complete and the anthem is the last, unneeded, obstacle to the opening faceoff.

Big exhalations from Alexander Ovechkin as he stands in his bench area during the American anthem.

Quick shot of Canadiens icon Jean Beliveau in the crowd.  He is much better following his health scare earlier this year.  He knows the words to the anthem.

Some fans are very enthusiastic.  Beers and number one signs, farky hats and wild sweaters.  Why am I so quiet?

Semyon Varlamov is in net for Washington.

Cuz it’s game time.

First Period

Dan O’Rourke and Tim Peel are the referees.

Plekanec line starts against Fleischmann’s line.

Canadiens get early control

From the neutral zone the puck is sent down the left side.  Plekanec is called for interference.  Brunet says “what a stupid penalty to take”.

He took down Green well away from the puck.

Washington goes to the powerplay.

Early control from the blue line is interrupted and the Capitals are around the net and the puck goes up to the blue line.  Backstrom steps towards the net and fires.  Wide.

Canadien clear.

Moore is on.

Puck goes out of play in the neutral zone.

Moore leaves the circle and Pyatt takes the faceoff outside the Montreal zone.  Canadiens push the puck up and down the ice.  Caps reset.  They enter.  Lob shot along the boards.  Caps come up with it on the opposite side and high

Fleischmann shoots.

Price makes a save, high glove side from a sudden close- in shot.

And another clear.

Corvo fires it in.

Ovechkin comes up with it, two Habs missed it.  Ovie’s pass sails across the slot.  No sticks replay

Plekanec is back on the ice.  Penalty is over.

He has it at the right hash.  Shot.  Puck comes back to him.  Another shot.

Sergei Kostitsyn, Glenn Metropolit and Benoit Pouliot are on now.  They get a six-second presence.

Sergei is taken down on the backcheck and it looks like an illegal takedown but Houde says it’s tolerable.  Short booing from the crowd.

Andrei Kostitsyn is down the right side.

Plekanec supports.   Takes it and centres it.  Shot by Andrei K is stopped.

The action is ragged as Gomez’ line gets on.  The pace is slightly slower than the previous two first periods.

Capitals are hanging back a bit.  Canadiens are pressing but with a mind to puck protection.

Jaroslav Spacek is not in the lineup.  Darche is also out.  Ryan O’Byrne and Sergei Kostitsyn are both in the lineup in their place.

Lapierre line is on.  Dominic Moore and Tom Pyatt are with them.

Forward Brendan Morrison is not in the lineup for Washington tonight.  Five and a half minutes elapsed.

The lightning loam is ratcheting one slow grey loom-hole at a time.  The arena is wound around the ice.

No ghosts.

Cammalleri and Bergeron work the puck up but the disc is too far and Cammalleri has to turn and backcheck.

Price is low and ready.  It’s his first playoff start since the spring of 2009.  Suggestions of George, Ken and Patrick linger.

But it’s time someone got the other shoe on.  I’ve had enough of Martin Biron, Cam Ward and the Cinderella boat show.  Give us les fleurs, les drapeaus en lys, calisse.

Clint Benedict never brought a bed.

Price’s Caesar greens are still his to wear.

I don’t care.

Shot of Montreal assistant coach Kirk Muller behind the bench.  He is tense but still talking, still instructing.  And that purple vetement is back.

Faceoff is deep to Varlamov’s left.  Plekanec against Eric Belanger. Penalty against the Canadiens is called seconds later.  Andrei Kostitsyn is called for high-sticking.  Brunet says the effort is there from Andrei K but the stick was handled carelessly.

Plekanec nearly works it out at the blue line.  But the Caps get a shot from the blue line.  It’s mild and the Canadiens get a clear soon afterward

Caps re-enter.  Ovie.  Shot.  Wrister.  All power, all flour, all white, all right.  Wrister over Price’s blocker.  Brunet says it was a difficult shot to stop.

Washington 1, Montreal 0

Defensive play will win it.  But short-man ice won’t.

Sergei bursts to interrupt.  At the blue.  Over.  Passes across.  To Metropolit.  Shot.  Varlamov smothers it.

Faceoff is to Varlamov’s right.  Metropolit wins it.  Quick shot results.  Held by the goalie.

Metropolit, Cammalleri and Sergei Kostitsyn are together.

They score.

Puck was won.  Taken behind the net.  Backhand by Metropolit.  Rebound.  Potted by Cammalleri from the crease.

Montreal 1, Washington 1

Caps respond immediately.  Backstrom misses the open net and Gomez pushes the puck and starts a rush.  That ends quickly in Washington ice.

Moore line hops on.  Icing.  Faceoff will be to Price’s left.  It’s Cammalleri’s second goal of the series.

Moore takes the faceoff.  Loses it.  Quick shot from Semin.  Hits legs.

Puck goes to the opposite point.  Wide.

Lapierre leads a rush.  Curls towards the centre.  Loses the puck.  Keeps after it to seep it in to the opposition zone.

Now below Price, Markov hacks a disc along.  Cammalleri follows up the effort and the Habs exit.

But we’re back in Montreal ice quickly.  The checking increase. The Canadiens are hitting.  Caps respond within the same shift.

Sergei is playing with a witch’s broomstick and spry spells crackle form his broom.  What action from the younger Kostitsyn.

Action remains quick and hectic along the boards.

Gionta is on.  Gill and Gorges are the defensive pairing.

Gomez and Gionta work with Pouliot watching at the side of the net.

They cocoon the puck briefly to Varlamov’s right but are forced out and Gomez ends the shift by whacking the puck down.

Lapierre is on.  He hits a defender behind the Cap net.

Canadiens are increasing their pace.

Lapierre delivers a huge check on Sloan.  O’Byrne puck tangles with Bradley to the crowd’s appreciation in the Montreal zone.

Plekanec mixes it up in the Montreal slot and prevents a chance.

Long puck is waved off.  Sergei puts a slot pass on a Capital disc.

Poti exits.  Up for Eric Fehr.  Puck is taken away by the Habs.  Montreal is forcing turnovers and playing the only way they can play to win this game.

Now Gionta takes a puck from his blue line.  Skates.  Passes to Gomez.  Shot.  Varlamov covers up.

Stoppage.

Bouchard says that Cammalleri has been changing sticks for every stick.  Some chuckles.

Gill takes it up following a Capital won faceoff.

Nothing can help this team but their actions on the ice.  And that is the message they exude.  It’s personal.  But it ain’t personal.

Moen line.

Moore supports in the corner.  Allows Lapierre to keep it.  Centring pass.  Goes through untouched.  To the point where Markov does the extra bit to keep it in.  Now it’s halcyon.  Four and five and a puck.  Varlamov doesn’t know where it is.  Neither do the Caps.  Puck stays in play.  It appears on the side.  Taken around the net.  Jampad save by Varlamov.  And a stoppage.

Sergei was up and into the chicken banter, flock and feathers but no black egg appeared where the net is most chubby.  Flappy.

All of the cluck leads to a delay of game against Fleischmann.

Cammalleri takes the faceoff and loses it.  Andrei Kostitsyn is with him and Plekanec, too.  Original line for the first wave.

Faceoff.

Canadiens enter.  Manage a shot from Bergeron from the point.  Deflected and out.

Habs are back in.

Crowd boos as Andrei Kostitsyn is knocked down uncalled by the side of the net.

Puck is cleared.  Canadiens are stopped once before a dump-in is picked up and cleared this time b y Bradley.

Just thirty seconds in the penalty as the Canadiens fail to enter.  Awkward entry pass by Hamrlik.

Penalty ends with no further possession.  Teams change personnel.  Caps ice and the clock shows under a minute.

Randall’s right, it’s hard to be creative under stress.

The playoffs are doom’s imposition.

Faceoff again.  This time because of a puck that went high.

Backstrom gets a dangerous shot.  Nope.

Caps finally create.  On the boards.  Backstrom is checked by Moore and he survived the contact and continues to frog-leg towards the puck.

Knuble sends it to Corvo.  Caps are controlling.

Very dangerous possession ends with the siren.  Fortune favours the bold.  Or somebody wearing red.  Lots of red.

Brunet says that the Canadiens managed their energy better than in the previous first period.  I really like this observation.

Montreal led on shots 13-9.

First Intermission
Washington 1, Montreal 1

Gagnon says that if he was a GM he’d take Ovie for the poster and product aspects of running a team but on the ice Crosby is a more complete player.

But Ovie has far more potential.  We’ll talk in twelve years.

In 1989, many would have taken Barkley over Jordan.  By 1998, well, you know the rest.  (Jordan was revered, six championship rings including a 1993 victory over the Barkley-led Phoenix Suns in six games)

They discuss the trophy situation.  Francois says that when a guy with 90 points is one of the finalists for a defensive forward trophy, something isn’t right.  Datsyuk is one of the finalists.  Plekanec was considered but didn’t make it past the final cut.

Hockey media.  The worst as a group of the major North American sports.  And this group votes on the trophies (and many use the awards as foundations for arguments).

Go home.

Cammalleri is interviewed by Luc Gelinas and says that the Canadiens seem to have one bad period every game and that they have to avoid that tonight.

He thinks and plays like a winner.  You all were right.  I like him.

Second Period
Montreal 1, Washington 1

Plekanec line starts.

Faceoff is won by Washington.

They lose the puck on entry.  Plekanec is backchecking well.  Now he’s in the slot and following his coverage.

Long pass from the neutral zone bounces slowly into the Capital zone.  Varlamov covers the slowly moving puck.

Faceoff is to his left.  Caps win it and clear it along the boards behind their net.

Hits have begun.  Pouliot delivers one as the puck leaves.

No Gomez holds Vie up against the boards.

Leads to a brief exit but Gionta loses the puck on the left side.

Canadiens get it going.  Long shot from Pouliot is designed to get a line change.

Moore line hops on.

Markov has it under his end line.

Up for Moore.  Skates a bit.  Stickhandles.  Passes to this right.

He’s in.  Getting support.  Moen is in next to the crease.

Now the puck is going the other way.  Straight line past O’Byrne.  Price steps up to help O’Byrne out.  More clearing.  Stays on the perimeter.

Bergeron makes two nice moves under his circle.  Here Habs are in.  Turn.  Shot.  Rebound.  Nearly a goal.

Pyatt leaves the ice after a shot following a Capital exit and repulsion.

Cammalleri is on again.

O’Byrne is paired with Markov.

Cammalleri is in on the right side.  Poti takes down Cammalleri.  Houde says that Poti touches the puck first so it’s legal.

Puck goes out of play in the Montreal zone moments later.

Caps are not able to keep the intensity high.  Montreal is setting the algorithm.

We see some numbers but I can’t process them.

Gomez loses the faceoff.  Shot from the blue line.  Rebound lies there.  Houde gets tonal.

Canadiens get to it first.

Gomez leads the rush out.  Shot on Varlamov.

Gomez saved the shooting chance in the Montreal slot.  Tied up his man.

Action gets end to end for about three rushes.

Lapierre line is on.  Lapierre is playing to make a difference.  But we should have asked Steve Begin to take a pay cut.  Yeah, I know.  Would never happen.

We could have asked.

Stoppage.

Another dead-cell beer garden commercial.  Coors, sting of jeers.

Sergei takes a pass on the left side.  Covered.  Retains.  Gets it to the slot.  No shot.

Canadiens keep it going.  O’Byrne gets a shot from the blue line.  Good wood.  But doesn’t get to Varlamov.

Caps exit.

Capitals are in some trouble.  Andrei K gets back to lift a stick and take a puck from an attacking Capital.  Puck bounds away from both and the Capitals manage an entry on the right side.  Fleischmann gets a shot.

Whistle soon afterward.

Fleischmann stays on.

Action flows down the left side of the ghostless arena.  Cammalleri tries a semi-high wrister.  Doesn’t get a bounce-off.  Varlamov keeps it.  Plekanec was closing to the net.

Price stops a similar shot and also holds it.

Gomez wins the faceoff with Ovie watching near the blue line.

Canadiens begin their breakout.

Pouliot is sent in by Gionta.  He weaves and keeps it.  Always a tumble away from disaster, he plays so high.  Gionta supports.  Gets the puck.  Works to the net.  Not much more.

Moore line is on and they continue the pressure.  But the Caps move it out.

Eric Fehr.  Chased by Markov.  Taken down.  Close.  Legal, imply the refs.  Net goes off as Fehr slides into it.

Faceoff.  Caps get some control.  Now a long shot.  Good placement.  Caps in front.  And Price finds it somehow.
Replay shows that he saw it all the way.

Caps win the draw.

Bradley underneath.  To the other side.  Near the other side.

Capitals increase their efforts.  Canadiens respond.  Action continues.  And then a stoppage.

Bouchard informs us that Boudreau and his staff are calm behind the bench.  He says that Boudreau is funny with the press and expressive but very different during a game.

High shot on Price.  He hops up a bit to stop it.

Gomez now has it on the other end.  Under the Washington blue line.

If Montreal would just take a four-goal lead, I could relax and do a better job of this.

There’s nothing I can do.  I shake my head.

Moore loses the faceoff deep in Washington ice.

Two big hits, one from Washington and one from O’Byrne.

Stick goes up and hits Markov in the face.

It’s called.

Markov always adds a bit when he gets hit in the face.

Canadiens control early.  Cammalleri gets a point-blank shot with the luxury of time.

Crowd grows into one horned, blue goat.  Exhorting milk from pucks.

Exit and re-entry.  Cammalleri gets a golf chance at the side of the net.

Stopped.

Now Hamrlik gets a chance off a faceoff.  Wrister high.  Brunet says it would have been better if it had been Markov or Bergeron who had gotten the shot.

Gomez line.

Another chance.  Whistle as the puck visits the crease.

We resume.  In and then out.

Price handles it.

Around his net.

Some hesitation.  They nearly miss the puck entirely as one man leaves the ice.

Montreal sets up.  Two passes.

Pouliot misses a chance from the slot.  More pressure.

Penalty ends but the Canadiens continue to make Varlamov scrub and drip.

Stoppage after some good hot puck.  Small gathering. No fists or sticks apparent.  Refs round it all up.

Crowd is like a big bag of blue rice.  A thousand grains make indigo aural shapes and ridges of seashore ice sound.

It’s a ripple and a lake.

Jason Chimera ends up in the box for roughing.

Early clear.

Bergeron boinks it around the boards.

Entry is interrupted.

Plekanec line is the first wave.

They chase the puck and can’t keep Brooks Laich from backhanding it out of the zone.

Finally they enter.  Left side.  Andrei K turns and backhands it along the back boards.  Now it’s up to the point from Cammalleri.  Shot-pass to Bergeron who is at the circle.  Nice.  Shot.   Stopped.

Stoppage.

We resume.  Long shot.  Bounces from behind the net to the side.  Gionta ribbon special.  Need I say it’s blue?

Montreal 2, Washington 1

Washington gets immediate pressure.  Lapierre is on the ice with Moore.  They make mistakes.  One by Moore.  Two by Lapierre.

They get it out.

Now Ovechkin is back in.  Gill takes him down with a close arm-push by the neck.  Bull takedown.  It’s called.  It’s legit.

Early possession is interrupted a after a Cap shot goes wide.

I want Lapierre off the team.

Plekanec enters, two-on-two.  High, sudden shot.  Varlamov drops low, gloves high.  Hast to hold it.

Gomez and Gionta are paired with about eighty seconds left.

Now O’Byrne should be off the team.  Ruins a great passing sequence involving Gomez, Gionta and a third.

Shots.

But the Caps are called for too many men on the ice.

I’m not kidding about O’Byrne.  He should at least be on the third pairing then.  Talk to me in a few years, when I’m over this series.  What is he doing on the ice in a short-handed situation, anyway?  Where’s Larry Robinson.

Four on four.

First pairing is Cammalleri with Plekanec.

Montreal penalty ends.

Long puck is tortoise-shelled by Price.

Faceoff will be to Varlamov’s right.

Gomez versus Belanger.  Belanger wins it.

Come on.  Caps clear.

Montreal is in.

Gomez at the hash.

To the point for Bergeron.

Back to Gomez.  To the slot.  Beautiful pass for two Habs but the deflection can’t be had.

Another clear and then a repulsion.

Caps get a two on two with a third chasing.

Pass gets across.  Score.

Boyd Gordon to Tom Knuble.

Price couldn’t get across.  Who could have.  Well-timed, well-placed.

Washington 2, Montreal 2

Siren ends the period seconds later.

Frustrated expressions on the Canadiens’ faces as they leave the ice.

Shots were 20-9 in favour of Montreal.  Total is 33-18.

Second Intermission
Montreal 2, Washington 2

They discuss Semyon Varlamov’s good performance.  Demers uses the term magistrale.  Superior.  Magnificent.  And so on and so on.

Bouchard says that Montreal’s defensive play has been excellent and that they should be alright.

Bouchard has an orange paper on the desk in front of him.  Demers and Crete have white papers.

I need to escape this somehow.

Every commercial is an onion.  Every smile is a screech.  Every puck is barbed.

Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers.

Blanched puck strokes.

We get some score updates.

Gionta is interviewed.  He talks about getting more traffic in front.  He seems calm.  Ok.  Ok, then.  I can be calm.  Ok.  Ok, then.

I’m waiting to be calm.

Some replays.  Caps lead on faceoffs with a 71% rate.

Third Period
Washington 2, Montreal 2

Gomez line starts.  Backstrom wins the faceoff.

Penalty ends.

Caps are in.  Gomez beats Knuble to the puck in the corner.

Price is down.  Two sequences close in and two failed scoring opportunities by Washington.

Pace is slow but increasing.

Long puck is called against Montreal.  Houde is surprised.  Crowd boos.  But we see a replay of the early pressure on Price.

Price now gloves a weak backhand from the circle.

Lapierre loses the faceoff.  Then he does a half-handed job in covering the forward in front of him.

Crowd.  Puck gets free.  Moen falls.

Capital advances.  It’s lost in the crowd.  Canadiens exit.

Capitals are young and worried.  The nerve-poison chemicals of anxiety are slowing the blood.

Montreal is on their own page, using their own ink bottle.  Nobody matters.  Not the crowd.  Certainly not any scribes.

The lines change and the theme remains for now.

Markov leads a rush and the crowd rises.

Gomez leads another rush and the crowd quiets in anticipation

The Capitals are waiting.  But for what.

Ovie has it down the right side.  Stops.  To the slot.  A near thing.

The teams are emotionally dipping.

Icing.  Washington’s players must stay.

One can try.  But failure robs the elixirs.  Some think it’s a finite thing.  Maybe they’re right.

Pyatt turns the net.  Changes the spacing.  Stretches tongues.

Markov has it at the point.

Shot.

They are chased out.

Houde remarks that the Canadiens are regaining their confidence this period.

Bergeron gets back to take a puck away.  Lovely.  Then Plekanec runs a pick to get Cammalleri into the clear.  Shot.  Nope.

Gomez sends Gionta in now.  Puck goes high and out of play.

They stay on the ice.

Gionta has to take the faceoff.  Loses it.

Gomez flies in for a pass at the circle.  Shoots.  Ripe but wide.

Knuble is in now.  Shoots.  Price gloves it like a grape, himself.  Nicely done.

Green sent Knuble in after crossing the blue line.  Covered but the shot was unimpeded.

Canadiens are taking each man.  It’s whiteboard perfect.

Markov to Sergei at the side.  Houde says it was a great pass.  The puck went high.  Oy.

Pass was from the blue line to the side of the net.  Sergei was free to shoot and did.

Faceoff.

Martin is intense, arms folded, nearly biting his tongue as his eyes squeeze with lime thoughts for his defensive.

Just over nine minutes in the period.

We’re all waiting.

And Semin takes it over the line.  To Ovie in the slot.  Ovie makes one move, takes one shot, gets one goal.

Washington 3, Montreal 2

Nothing to do as usual.  But wait.

PA announcement blares.  The pace looks slower.  Crowd is out of it for about six seconds and then they are chanting again.

Moore line is on.

Bradley works under the net.  Is free.  Backhand pass to the slot.  Mistake was made.  Shot.  In.

Chimera scores.

Washington 4, Montreal 2

Price gets a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

He cleared the puck out of his net in a frustrated manner.  Houde guesses that this wasn’t the penalty.

Seven and a half minutes left.  Washington goes to the powerplay.

They move it around.  Price shoves someone out of his crease.  Laich.  Now Price stops a shot.

And retains the rebound.  Price’s shove of Laich is shown twice more and we see how hard a shove it was.  And I’m reminded of Billy Smith.  A mild modern vignette.

Stoppage after a faceoff.

Canadiens clear off the next faceoff.

Gionta and Gomez enter.  Short-handed.  Markov is with them.  Markov gets the puck and shoots.  Dangerous rebound.  Looked like the initial shot went off the post.

Moore and Sergei Kostitsyn are the next kill pairing.  Caps look as they’ve eaten too much chocolate.

Penalty ends.

Five and a half minutes left in the period.

Cammalleri falls as he enters chasing a pass.

Bergeron retrieves.  Leaves it for Gomez.  Entry is repulsed.

Gomez and Cammalleri are on together briefly but it’s just a delayed line change.  Four to two is easier to work under than a one-goal game.

Thing is, Montreal could have won this one, too.  That won’t be remembered by most.

Ah well.  It will be remembered by me.

The final score, the final score.  Who’s it for?

The Canadiens have given up.  The rope was tight.  For a while.  Players are even less optimistic than in previous lives.

Price is pulled.  Very early.

Brunet says he likes it.  So do I.  It will, at least, re-instill the sense of urgency.

Gill talks with Price.  Price nods.  They are both standing at the bench area.

Pouliot has to take the faceoff deep.

Loses it.  Caps exit.  Pass to Knuble.  He handles it heading up.  Shoots.  Scores.

Crowd is in quiet grumble mode.

Washington 5, Montreal 2

Moore wins the following faceoff.  Still two minutes and twenty seconds or so left.

Moore scores on a short-side backhand.

Washington 5, Montreal 3

Price will have to leave the net again.

Canadiens have trouble starting out.  Gomez carries it in down the right side.  Repelled.  Caps can only manage a sharp angle shot.

Plekanec and Gionta are on with Cammalleri with Markov and Bergeron on the back line.

Another entry.  It’s about six seconds.

Caps exit.  They shoot.  And score.

Washington 6, Montreal 3

Nicklas Backstrom’s fifth goal of the series.  Price takes another unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Game ends about seven seconds later.

Capitals lead the Canadiens three games to one.  We return to Washington for Game Five on Friday, April 23, 2010.

Washington 6
Montreal 3

HDS Stars: Brian Gionta, Nicklas Backstrom, Semyon Varlamov
RDS Stars: Semyon Varlamov, Alexander Ovechkin, Mike Cammalleri

The “he cares” argument is not a winning one.  The other guys also care.

Related posts:

1. Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals
2. Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals (Game Seven)
3. Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals (Game Six)
4. Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals (Game Five)
5. Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals (Game Three)
6. Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals (Game Two)