Montreal Canadiens vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
March 5, 2011, by Homme de Sept-Îles
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 (35-23-7) visit Tampa Bay Lightning (37-20-7)
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Game Sixty-Six (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.
click here to expand post (it looks prettier)
Mario (Tremblay) is on his way to Afghanistan with other members of RDS. So it is that Denis Gauthier is welcomed to the studio table with Alain Crete and Joel Bouchard. Afghanistan? Marilyn Monroe trip? What. What.
Marc-Andre Bergeron, the turnover machine, gets far too much coverage prior to this game. He’s now with Tampa and Renaud Lavoie gets the plum assignment of interviewing number 47 at ice level. The chieftain imprints the situation with the homage and pomp he feels is needed.
It isn’t.
Tampa Bay gives up goals at a high rate. They also score at a high rate. Lightning ice-boss Guy Boucher is one of the best coaches in the NHL, in my view. Regardless of everything. Despite everything. Yes, he is good. I will explain.
We’re still in Afghanistan? Still? Good thing I’m ignoring most news these days. Epouvantable, votre gouvernement.
And Karl Peladeau remains an unsavoury figure on the Canadian communications and political scene. Check it.
His buddy Kory Teneckye has since been shamed from further political action. They were hoping to improve Canada. Ok. They were hoping to further retrograde our progressive mechanisms.
These are your friend in Ottawa’s buddies. His kinda guys. Stay alert.
Carey Price is in net for Montreal and Dwayne Roloson for Tampa. Two of my key fear organs flinch slowly. Roloson is old, canny and quick.
First Period
One line change and an offside on a Hamrlik shovel-in at the enemy blue.
Paul Mara, Alexandre Picard and Ryan White are Montreal’s healthy scratches tonight.
Tampa star youngling Steve Stamkos is in a rare rough patch, says Pierre Houde. Houde should be Premier of Quebec, no?
Steve Downie, Matt Smaby and Blair Jones are out of the lineup for Tampa.
Downie is still allowed to play pro hockey? His jersey should be retired. The unceremonious way.
Flow is smooth early and the Canadiens control the puck for most of the first five minutes.
A longer possession occurs and the puck goes to the right circle before Montreal captain Brian Gionta turns, covered and finds hulking defenceman Hal Gill at the blue. Gill shoots, it hits a Tampa player in the low slot and eludes Roloson to his right. It’s Gill’s second goal in two games. He’s not a goal-scorer. It’s also his second goal of the season; this is game sixty-six. As contrast, there are dudes who have more than forty already this season.
Just sayin’.
Montreal 1, Tampa 0
Breaded or deep-fried. Anything. I’d eat breaded wood, for example.
Reseau colour-man Benoit Brunet discusses the merits of the Lightning’s acquisitions en route to the playoffs. Eric Brewer and Dwayne Roloson. Plaudits all around. Fair enough.
Lightning are quick, clean and skilled. They are coached by a Francophone and feature two of the biggest Francophone stars in the NHL in captain Vincent Lecavalier and former Hart Trophy winner Martin St. Louis. Oh, hey, let’s not forget Marc-Andre Bergeron.
Some love this stuff.
Talk this week has included some fans’ wish to see a Lightning-Canadiens playoff matchup. It last happened in 2004 and saw Tampa sweep Montreal on strong skating and other delights. En route to a Stanley Cup win, that time. Against Calgary in the final.
Long Tampa puck.
Steve Bergenheim is called for roughing. He doesn’t like it and argues the call. He’s from Helsinki, Finland.
Dignified David Desharnais and burgeoning Andrei Kostitsyn are on the first wave.
Puck under the end-line. Interception by Desharnais. Kostitsyn has it. Back to Desharnais in the crease. A move, a fall and a goal.
Desharnais scores his eighth of the season. Very good quickness by Desharnais. Equally good move.
Montreal 2, Tampa 0
Eleven minutes.
Tampa captain Vincent Lecavalier is down the right side, covered by Gill. Gets a bit of room but the backhand is leaning and sandwiched between Gill and Price. Stop and stoppage.
Canadiens win the draw. Michael Cammalleri. Left side, from Plekanec. Alone. Puck across the crease. No sticks reply. They stay on for the neutral zone faceoff.
Home team leads 5-4 on shots.
Do butlers clean forks? Or is that for the hidden staff at the back to do? Hmm.
Offside pass to Tampa’s Pavel Kubina from the Montreal end line. Delayed call, too, it seems. We’ll sort it out after the commercial.
Montreal’s Tom Pyatt turning and reaching. Missing. Now finding a puck on a hash exit. Passes. But the puck is lost to the Lightning. And another turnover.
Lars Eller line. Rugged Travis Moen and Kostitsyn. Still intact. And will be for some time, I’d wager.
Price traps a puck on a mild Tampa entry. Three on two. Stamkos shot it between Gill and enervating PK Subban. Price saw it without problem.
Stoppage.
Habs press down to the end-line. They are taking the opponent seriously. The scoreboard is meaningless, the message is the message. Montreal hasn’t won against Tampa this season despite outperforming them in at least one match. The last one.
Struggling Montreal centreman Scott Gomez loses a draw deep left. They say this is Gomez’ time of year. Down the right. Gionta alone. Shot. Roloson down. Second shot. Certain goal. And somehow Roloson stopped that, too. Turning to adjust the pillow. Real quick. High glove hits the lamp and the puck goes dark. Oh, wait.
Brunet exults and then remarks on Roloson’s unorthodoxy.
Under six.
Eller sends a careless pass to the slot wasting his good work on the boards under the left hash.
Stoppage moments later. Four hombres in Tampa blue hats skate out to the ice surface from the corner, one with a barrel, one with a shovel to attend to some ice mess.
Commercial.
Tampa Bay must have some magnificent restaurants.
Quick shot of Steve Yzerman up in a luxury box with two other suit fellas. Yzerman, wizened in a red Detroit helmet, looks teenish in his general manager’s suit. He’s been good.
Free puck in the low slot. Kostitsyn. Shot. How did that not go in.
The answer is Dwayne Roloson. Houde says that it could be 4-0 but for the oldster. Well, he’s about three weeks younger than me.
Faceoff to his right. Plekanec wins it. To Halpern, parked a bit higher on the circle. To the blue. Shot. It’s out.
Another entry. Montreal’s pressure is more than organized, it’s desperate. There’s no going away. The team has delivered one of its best periods of the season. And the Lightning aren’t casual.
Dwayne Roloson could easily steal a series. Could easily take a team to the Final. Oh, yup. Athletic and with the quickness of a man ten years his junior.
Gomez loses the draw deep left.
Lightning are sent back from mid-ice.
Lecavalier turns to face his defenceman as he nears the blue. Entry can’t be had.
Now a sustained effort from Tampa. They work on the boards. And Price emerges to smother the eventual net advance.
Faceoff. Lightning continue. Flash and static. Price is low. Pads down. Across with quickness that belies his size. The nettled Canadiens close the low slot. Lightning produce two convincing shots.
Now it’s out.
And in again.
Eller line. Eller loses one puck battle. Now he raises his arms to say he did nothing. Stamkos was knocked down. Tripping. Called attention to it. Stamkos skated hard against Eller’s stick, trapped between the attacker’s legs on the Montreal low hash.
Martin has a forgiving look of concern as Eller takes a seat in the box.
One possession for Tampa. Cleared. Period ends.
Brunet says that this is the Canadiens’ best period so far this road trip. Tampa led on shots 13-9.
First Intermission
Montreal 2, Tampa Bay 0
Denis Gauthier says that Taylor must take some of the blame for what happened in his fight against some thug. The fight resulted in a season-ending ankle injury. We glimpse Hall’s character on the replay; started the fight by hitting his opponent from behind after taking a check he didn’t like.
Second Period
Montreal 2, Tampa Bay 0
Lightning power-play continues. Bergeron is on the blue. He scored fourteen goals for Montreal last season and had some of the more zealous members of the Quebec sports media complaining and making cases on his behalf when he wasn’t re-signed by Montreal and then again, when Montreal ran into injuries to defencemen but didn’t elect to sign the, then, inactive Bergeron.
Lightning pressure continues. Kubina shoots from the left circle and former Canadien Dominic Moore scores on the rebound from the low slot. Moore, on the other hand, was very effective for Montreal, particularly in the team’s deep playoff run.
Montreal 2, Tampa Bay 1
More Tampa pressure. Left side pressure. Forty-five degree pool ball popout and a shot from the right. The low circle shot is handled by Price. Volley after volley.
Finally the Canadiens move it out. Cammalleri, Gomez and Gionta are involved. The lines change fully and Plekanec joins his linemates. One defensive coverage sequence. Puck is pushed out and a quick change sees Eller’s line hop on.
Lightning press meantime and a bad change, as described by Brunet, results in a Price save. He turns to look behind him even as he slides, right, away from his crease. It’s between his pads. Bergeron is shown making strange mouth movements. It’s always an oddball’s pantomime with this strange character. I never did figure it out. But he’s different.
Roloson traps a puck after some Montreal buzzing. Faceoff to his right.
Here comes Martin St. Louis down the left. The robust winger is hit into the boards and elbowing is called. Pouliot.
Martin is, what, not pleased, certainly. Again? Or seems the expression. I feel the same. Pouliot feels terribly about it and perhaps it wasn’t intentional. St. Louis is quite short, after all. And Pouliot is a bit tall.
Lightning power.
On the boards. Plekanec traps it. Holds it. One, three, four seconds. And out.
Now Moen leaves the ice for Gomez and Gionta. Sopel is low with Hamrlik.
Sopel is lowest and crouches in good position.
Montreal two on one. Held by Gomez. Waits, waits. Tries a pass. A man falls. Stamkos tripped Gionta. Not a good call. Gionta seemed to run into a stick. Revlon, as Gretzky might say.
A make-up call for the near-phantom call on Eller.
Four on four. Tampa entry. Cage falls forward. Onto Price. He’s ok. The crossbar landed on the back of his head but at low velocity. Tampa’s involved forward expressed concern. Stoppage.
Fours come to an end.
Montreal power.
One and twenty.
Montreal struggles under their end-line.
They emerge. Gomez. Crosses. Across to Hamrlik. Winds and shoots.
Off the mark.
It stays in. One pass. Another. Now it’s lost at the blue as it eludes Hamrlik’s stick. Price exits nearly to his blue line. Tampa are helter and melter at their blue and black hurley bench.
In the meantime the puck stays out of the Tampa zone. On the perimeters. It’s forced in along the bowl-edge, at last but the penalty ends. And the puck is out again.
Just over twelve minutes.
Eller and Moen. Pacioretty, too. Subban and Gill, low.
Pacioretty comes back nearly to the low slot. Doesn’t do anything, though. Canadiens exit off the well-covered entry.
And another stoppage. So many events in this game that continues to be played with near-playoff intensity. Rhythm has dropped two notches. But still pulsing under the Florida moon. A Honeymoon Suite beat.
Commercial.
Do Americans love hockey? Do they? Do they have long memories?
Tampa’s jerseys are of the alternate variety; Bolts is scribbled across the front.
Gionta with a near-point shot.
No.
Tampa entry. Three and two. Wide.
Canadiens respond. Whistle.
Speed, speed and more speed. Spaces are nearly text-book.
Deep right. Halpern. Cammalleri crosses the ice at a leaving-the-zone diagonal and his move is sound. He joins the coverage as Tampa gets across. Lane integrity from the forwards is something that Montreal stresses and have improved in under Martin.
Around nine.
We can hear the players’ voices, the shushing of the ice and the small booms and stick clicks along the boards. It’s still clean and it’s become a challenge of sorts. Who is faster? Who has the lungs?
Montreal defenceman James Wisniewski turns and fires a puck out (still wearing the protective face-cage). Blocked at the blue. A shot. Wide. Kept in. Price is in the net. Loses his stick. Still low and searching. Sudden puck. He’s across and all mittens and mimed misery. He’s got it. Holds it for the faceoff.
Yes, this would be a great series.
Stamkos is called for hooking. Brunet says that this is a great example of growth from PK Subban. Replay can’t help me here. It isn’t shown.
Montreal power.
Point. Hash. Kostitsyn low slot. Another good chance. Stopped.
Reset.
Cammalleri’s one-timer form Plekanec at the hash is handled by Roloson. Faceoff to his left. Roloson is very low. Montreal controls. One minute.
Gomez on the hash.
Plekanec at the blue. Can’t keep it in, hops over his stick. He’s not used to being on the blue. He’s being used at the point, normally a spot for a defenceman. Montreal is going with four forwards and one defenceman as opposed to three and two.
Plekanec circles and enters down the middle and is funneled left.
A pass. Another. Shot. Rebound. Shot. Goal. Pacioretty Dirty-birding at the post. Hacking and feathers. Persistence goal. Yes, and a bit crash-and-bang.
Montreal 3, Tampa Bay 1
Pacioretty’s beard is sparse though nearly complete. Takes a sip of water. Spits it out. Peers out from the bench with his starved demeanour.
Resumption. Some swirl.
Stoppage soon afterward.
Lars Eller is called for hooking. He sits in the box, fully accepting of his fate.
Plekanec loses the draw to Price’s right.
To the blue. To the low hash. Passed into the crease. Price deflects it away.
Cleared.
Steve Stamkos, Martin St. Louis and Lecavalier are the first wave. Bergeron and Brett Clark on the blue.
They work the perimeter after one failed entry.
Gomez and Gionta are the kill pair. Gomez plays very high. Takes the puck away from Bergeron. To Gionta. Skates down. One against one. Shot is wide and thumps off the back boards.
Twenty seconds and the Canadiens are covering low.
Cammalleri took a puck to the ankle. Down. Up painfully.
Penalty ends on the ensuing clear. Plekanec. Eller back on the ice.
Just under three.
Across the blue.
Another line change. Puck is left to allow the personnel change.
Hitting begins for the first time. Tampa initiates. Forward Dana Tyrell. Canadiens take two hits and then follow with three of their own.
Montreal ice. On the hash. Lightning are trying to change the tenor using brawn. This will fail. All you’re doing is keeping a somewhat young team interested in a two-goal game.
Faceoff to Price’s left. Oh. And Bergeron is a turnover machine.
Under two.
Neutral zone. Gill. Subban. Shot down. Canadiens fail on the boards but Gionta turns and fires the disc from under the blue. Roloson is forced to trap the bounding disc.
Backup Mike Smith is shown. From the home of Kirk Muller. He’s 28. Remember. Roloson is 41.
Shots are in favour of Tampa 27-17.
Stamkos wins the draw. Slapped in. And it’s back out. Plekanec line. Cammalleri observing. Long Tampa puck. Price leaves it for Subban. Up. Another pass. Intercepted. Tampa clears it.
Subban retrieves. To the blue. Wrists it down. Cammalleri and Gomez combine on the boards. Now a pass. Cammalleri’s shot. Rebound and Gomez nearly sword-slices it in. Cammalleri hangs his head briefly on the bench. The fun bunch, the cowboys, are struggling. They’ll get it going. Right on time.
Spring brings the thaw and the twitters … and the playoffs.
Period ends. Auld gives glove as each player leaves the ice. Lightning led on shots 14-9 for a 27-18 total.
Second Intermission
Montreal 3, Tampa Bay 1
Jeff Halpern likes the buzz and how many things there are to do. New York. The little featurette again. Is Halpern Newfie? Hm.
He’s from Potomac, actually. Maryland, you know. Sugar Ray Leonard lives (lived?) there. And a famous quarterback born on March eighth. Well, maybe not so famous. There was a film, though. An old film.
More on Peladeau.
Joel tells us that Stamkos is normally excellent against Montreal. But the three penalties he has taken tonight have been out of character and head-scratching, says the erudite analyst.
Denis Gauthier says that Gomez hasn’t been getting points and that players struggling in this area should try harder to do other things. And he commends Gomez for doing many of those things well tonight. Says that there’s even more effort from Gomez than usual.
Third Period
Montreal 3, Tampa Bay 1
We are shown Bergeron’s minutes played as one of key stats. Bergeron. What a waste of chyron space.
Montreal ice. Around the boards. Tampa works. Montreal watches. Plekanec works. One guy. Finally a diving Halpern poke-shoves a puck out on his stomach.
Two-on-one. Gomez. Across. With Pacioretty on the wing. Crosses. Skating, passing, one-timer. In. Red light. Nicely timed. Nicely shot.
Montreal 4, Tampa Bay 1
Gomez line remains. Pacioretty tries to follow a puck and his held up on the line. Today’s game favours a skinnier player, really. Despite the changes in size and so forth. It’s a proportional notion.
Eller dives in the slot to block a Tampa shot. Eludes him. But not Price. I’ve seen that expression before.
Maybe we can call it his third period expression.
Tampa wins the draw. Montreal gets two opportunities to clear. One, Pouliot fails on. The second sees the puck slip through the middle.
A Cammalleri shot is stopped.
Deep faceoff left. Plekanec. Wins the draw against a replacement. To the blue for Hamrlik. Across to Wisniewski. Interference. Whistled. Cammalleri.
Bumped Moore.
Tampa power.
One of three tonight.
Stamkos at the blue line. St. Louis on the other side. Puck is sent out. Stamkos across the right side. Price gloves a high puck. Second penalty.
What a league. Moen. Hooking. The scoreboard determines what the referees see. Weak call. Weak philosophy.
Subban and Gill low. Plekanec is the lone forward.
One shot. Turned away. Gagne alone now. All alone. Price dives forwards unexpectedly. Pool-cues the puck off Gagne’s stick and out of the slot. Houde marvels. My blood-rate returns slowly to normal.
Cammalleri is back on after some failed perimeter work by Tampa.
About twenty. One man.
Cleared by Halpern.
Chased by Cammalleri. Followed by Gomez. Back to fives as the Lightning re-enter.
Gionta takes a puck out of the Montreal slot. Skates, dumps and sees Gomez take it under the end-line. Around the bowl. And out again.
Whistle as the puck goes out of play.
Break.
If you think I’m the only guy slow to warm to #67, think again.
High slot. Wind-up. Shot. Price. Sees and stops it. Holds it in the air for a brief second. Houde says that Brunet is right; Price is a true Olympian. Brunet says that some nights everything comes easily.
Purcell’s shot is stopped by Price.
The team gets the lead. Price does the rest.
Yes, we can live with that.
Guy Boucher seems to be puzzling, concerned but not frustrated. Folds his arms. Looks askance. Now back to the ice.
Pacioretty enters offside.
Montreal worry-mason Jacques Martin paces. Blows air out, puffed cheeks.
Gomez wins the draw to Price’s left.
Gomez. On the right. Brakes. Drops it for Gionta who shoots. Off something.
Lines change.
Interception. Served to Desharnais by Pavel Kubina.
Shot is stopped by Roloson; two on two entry at medium speed.
Kubina has blocked 91 shots this season we are told.
Desharnais takes the draw deep left and loses it. It’s kept alive on the boards. Pouliot makes himself visible for the first time since his penalty. Bumps a man. Can’t get the puck. I’m going to guess his is Pouliot’s first appearance since his penalty.
Kostitsyn falls. Around the end boards.
Montreal exit. Moen and Clark collide, heads looking in opposite directions.
Back in Montreal ice.
Lecavalier to the crease. Blap and blop. It’s Price with the blop. Falls on it and ends it. St. Louis and Stamkos were both there. No animosity ensues. Good line.
Stoppage.
Punishing a full trio for the misdeeds of one does have its merits. The other guys will police the perpetrator. It’s added pressure but from peers. Interesting.
Martin sometimes benches a full line for the misdemeanors of one.
Joel says he’s not worried about Stamkos, he’s under a lot of pressure. He’ll be fine. Fair.
We resume.
Stamkos line remains. Canadiens exit.
Nine. Cammalleri dumps it in for a line change.
Long Tampa puck is glommed by Hamrlik and passed to Wisniewski. Brief Tampa response. Brief Canadiens rush.
Bergenheim and Hedman. Puck is lost on the left.
Gomez on the left and a good pass for Pacioretty. Gionta was there, too. Just too long for both.
Tampa offside.
Tempo has increased again.
Brunet expresses how difficult it might be to match speed and be in position in playing with Cammalleri and Plekanec. He’s referencing Halpern’s placement (a few games ago) with the speedy twosome. Halpern is a defensive centre and, adds Brunet, he’s accustomed to shutting people down and winning faceoffs. Brunet wonders how it will all end.
Halpern will run his own line again. And the winger? I think Martin, Muller and Pearn are working on that answer.
Stoppage. Some animosity at centre ice.
Subban is shown apologizing to Stamkos for slamming him partially into Price. A replay. Subban partially hit Price with his own stick on the play.
We resume.
The loud horn. A seahorn. It’s due to their captain scoring.
Moore stole a puck from Gill and Subban behind the net. To Lecavalier in the circles. And Price could do nothing.
Under six.
Montreal 4, Tampa Bay 2
Plekanec, Halpern and Cammalleri. Long Hedman pass. Wisniewski intercepts and starts the team with a pass.
Gomez is circling. Finding. Passing. Leaving. Falling. Resuming. Up from his knees. Snow on the pants. Finding Gionta this time. A long slapper. No.
Gionta isn’t scoring on his many, many shot opportunities. When, oh, when.
Great shift from Gomez and his line leaves the ice.
Tampa enters offside.
This rink features cheerleaders. They’re all females. I’m not down with all that cheer business.
Four minutes.
Sends the wrong message. Women cheer. Men do.
Do. Do. Remember Planet of the Apes?
Faceoff to Price’s right. Halpern is booted. Draw is won by Gomez. Gionta with them. Interesting close-out line. Martin often rewards his best of the night with late-game assignments and will rejig his lines to do so.
It’s another way to communicate with the team.
Price closes to a post and stalls another Tampa presence. Luke-warm. The presence.
Plekanec, Halpern and Cammalleri. Halpern is getting double-shifted.
Two minutes. Hamrlik and Wisniewski low. Canadiens are flippering around. Roloson has left for the sixth attacker.
Hamrlik is hooked. Houde says that the officials will tolerate it. Why let the worse team back in? What have they done to deserve it? What a fonging stupid philosophy. From the dim-bulbs who hate communist ideas. What’s more communist than managing the score, you finging tong?
Ninety seconds.
Long slapshot. Price turns it away.
Lightning keeps it in. St. Louis with a gliding low shot. From the slot. What a save. Brunet compliments Price. What work. Indeed.
Timeout Tampa.
Or is it Montreal. Moore, St. Louis, Hall and Lecavalier crowd around, standing on ice.
Martin exhales. Has long forgotten about his purple tie.
Price crouches. Glove up. Tampa wins the draw.
Gionta intercepts. Gionta turns. Smart backhand pass. To Plekanec. Long, hopeful bounder. Stays out. Back in Montreal ice.
High stick.
This referee is a toong.
Four minutes. Halpern.
Might be a legit call. But.
Six on four.
Tampa wins it. To the blue. Long shot. Back to Bergeron. Another.
Tripping. Subban got tripped. And tong-bot called it. Chews gum like he’s smarter than the rest of us.
You ain’t.
Lecavalier for hooking. Reseau shows it as tripping.
Faceoff deep left. Five on four. It ends.
Martin utters a few oaths to himself as he leaves the bench. The reffing, perhaps.
Final Score
Montreal 4
Tampa Bay 2
Mild congratulations for Price. But thankful.
HDS Stars: Max Pacioretty, Dwayne Roloson, Carey Price
RDS Stars: Carey Price, Max Pacioretty, Hal Gill
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