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 (16-20-7) host Ottawa Senators (24-15-6)

Saturday, January 14th, 2012

Game Forty-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 23 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)

 

 

Mike Hasenfratz and Mike Leggo are the refs.

Craig Anderson and Carey Price are the goalies.

The dodgy Paul Devorski and Stephane Auger are the refs.

Both.

Scott Gomez is back.  First game after a long absence; injury.  Should we be happy?

First Period

Puck is into Ottawa ice.  Moen tries a stick lift and misses.

Puck is one-armed out with a stick swing.  Puck lasts a moment in Montreal ice and then Cole is on.  Bumps a man and gives him a two-armed stick shove as the puck escapes.

Ottawa entry but the man is tied up smartly.

Cole mini-dumps and follows.  Desharnais.  Three Sens to tangle ties.  It’s around the net.

Desharnais is free with five Sens unable to stop him, his shot ghosted by Anderson for the faceoff.

Gomez is on.  Plekanec and Blunden with him.  His first shift back in a long while.  No booing. No cheering.  It’s watch and wait.  One last chance, perhaps.

I think he may even be done, fate sealed.  But who knows with the thought process shown by the Canadiens in tough recent times.  They’ve been rash on occasion, one might suggest.

But not with your man from Richmond Hill.  That was too long in waiting.

Just over two minutes gone.

Konopka is on.  Phillips low for the Sens.  Long puck to the right.  Michalek chases with mild effort.  Shows the same on the backcheck.  Montréal shot misses and rounds the boards.

Spezza is on.  His attitude change was noted pre-puck-drop (by Reseau).  He’s more implicated and may be the captain-in-waiting the team has longed him to be for many moons.  So the suggestion.

I say Jason Spezza is a for-now kind of player and always will be.  Don’t bother waiting nor assuming he’s healed or grown.

Cory Clouston should learn French.

Long Gorges puck is up and off the netting.

Gomez has a few words for someone.  A ref, perhaps.

Turris’ shot on Price is replayed.

Faceoff at centre ice.  To the blue.  One pass and dumped in.

Plekanec line.

Kladno man has it.  Blunden.  Around the net and emerges.  Trundling.  Aiming.  And the shot labors over the net.  A near thing, though a groaning floater.

Gomez and Plekanec keep it alive.  Very good effort.  What a long sequence.  Unusual for five-on-five and Cole is shooting from the right point.
Montreal is out with energy and verve if some nerves and caution.  Good enough.

Habs lead in the hits category, four to one. According to RDS.

Six minutes gone.

Butler tries a shot off a turnover but the angle is nearly ninety degrees and the puck skitters through the slot.

Ottawa pressure.  Karlsson’s shot is blocked by Moen after good work from the forward preceding; hawk coverage.

Canadiens score.  Devorski waves it off.  And penalizes Kostitsyn for goaltender interference.  Replay shows that Michalek shoved Kostitsyn into Anderson.  Penalty shouldn’t have been called.

Devorski shouldn’t be reffing in this league.  This is just one of many instances where his personal agenda intrudes on the game.  Get him out.

Ottawa power-play.

Plekanec wins the draw outside his blue following a twenty-second vacuum from the Sens offence.

Gill nearly takes away a puck in the slot and then the Sens work it around.

Gonchar on the right hash.  Alfredsson on the perimeter.

Stephane Auger is also unsuited for professional work.  Long-time viewers will be aware of his list.

Darche takes a puck from Karlsson.  Spezza prevents entry.

Spezza continues the fierce work.  My admiration for Sens’ coach, Sir Walrus, increases.  He must be the reason.

Another stoppage.

Montreal wins the draw.  Cleared.  And then the whistle on Ottawa re-entry.

Montreal.  City of intellect.  Quick shot of the crowd shows intelligence etched on faces, and qualities of observation.

Plekanec.  Free.  The legs wide.  Loft-wrister. Stopped.

Plekanec shakes his head to himself on the bench.

Konopka.  Called for interference.  Konopka is quietly enraged, keeps it in and shakes his head as he coasts very slowly to the box.

He may believe it’s a make-up call.

Devorski is not forgiven.  Some guys just need to pay the ultimate professional price.  Hang it up.  Move on to something where you won’t be any harm.

Counting iron ore pellets comes to mind.  Bias won’t matter there.  Will it?

Montreal man-advantage.

Nothing in the first segment.

Late in the penalty, Gorges is tripped on his way free down the left column.

And it’s called.

Daugavins is down on the ice, holding his head, knees on the ice.  He squeezes his nose to produce more blood.  Stick was across his face on the corner rush and Weber goes to the box.  It comes at a terrible moment, says Houde.

He’s head up and being toweled off.  Stubbly and suspicious.

Four on four.

I begin wondering about carried blades and other clever blood-producing mechanisms.  Of course, in this case, the stick was a definite cause.  But to watch a guy blow more blood on the ice is a bit much.

Plekanec and Kostitsyn are the two forwards.  They circle. Share.  And Kostitsyn loses it after a nice move.  Gonchar earns a compliment from Houde.
Desharnais finds Pacioretty. A move. And a save in the muzzle.  Anderson.

Fours end and Ottawa gets two and forty on the power-play.  Just over six.

Gill blasts one to start the segment.

Plekanec is back on the ice.  Moen with him.  Gill and Gorges low.  The number one unit.

Price’s pass from behind his net is intercepted. Sends can’t get it together.

Price is knocked over.  Swings then throws his stick in disgust.  No call.

Neil sticked him.

No call.

No call.

No call.

Faceoff to his right.

Kyle Turris loses the draw to Petteri Nokelainen.

And it’s cleared.

Gonchar.  Short pass to Alfredsson.  Turns his back in front of Subban. Drops it.  Sluiced down.  Around the net.

Subban and Foligno dig with two others nearby.  Habs earn it and clear it.  Moen reaches, takes a step, puck comes with him. And he nearly shoots from fifteen.

Next Ottawa entry is negated.  Gill fires it down.

So many thoughts so many reactions. How does the trade add up and what will it mean for the rest of the season?  Some guys will wake up.  Some won’t.

But the worst of the bunch is gone.  Toxic fade.

Neil is talking with a man after a small scrum and a puck stop.

Deep right, Sens win it.  Dribbles to the circles.  Shot.  No.

Left point.  Another shot.  And this one is absorbed.

Held.  Price and Subban discuss some details and make their way to the bench for the TV timeout.

Ottawa is called again.  Penalty is late in the period and the Habs buzz and circle, Subban lays a great hit at his blue (similar to the Krejci blow but uncalled) and the period ends with a chunk of time in the infraction and hope rises.

First Intermission
Montreal 0, Ottawa 0

Tremblay believes the Cammalleri trade foreshadows more player movement.  Both he and Brunet advise the team to wait for the offers to pile up and both expect patience from the Canadiens.

Mario laments the 28th-ranked power-play.  More shots needed he says.  Brunet tabs guys like Subban for better performance.

Second Period
Ottawa 0, Montreal 0

Anderson has a pleasant Micronaut face.  Balding.

He’s also good.

Gomez spits on the ice.  Eight o clock shadow.

Two centres on one line.  I like it.  Even though it’s temporary.  Forty seconds in the penalty.  Plekanec and the crew jump to it.  They chase mostly.  And it’s out.

Sixteen and Ottawa works it out with a long pass, some bumpling and then a dump.

Back to fives.

Around the net.

Cole.  To Pacioretty.

Subban’s shot from the right point.  Misses it all.  His second shot is into Turris.

Michalek chases.  He’s mild and I look forward to the rest of his shifts tonight.

Anderson is 7-0-1 in his past eight starts.  Hot numbers accompany the on-screen comment.

Two gone.

Price exits.  And scales back quickly.  On the hash.  One pass.  And Subban is in and offside.

Zack Smith smiles to himself following the play.  Certain guys have a certain smile.  Not a fan.

Dumped in.

Blunden and Gill combine on the hash and the puck is out.

Mid-ice.  Smith.  Foligno.  And Neil.  Nice line, Ottawa.

Hack and slay.

Slashing is optional.

Cole is a bit aggressive on the forecheck and bumps a man after the puck is gone.  Allows him to get to a puck first.  And it’s legal on the replay.  Karlsson wrapped his hand around Cole’s neck and is called.

The irritating Swede shakes his head in the box.  The country does produce its share of knuckleheads.

Early pressure is funneled into the side boards.  And then it’s cleared.

Kaberle retrieves.

Left side pass.

Kostitsyn wisps into the slot.  Puck floats out.  And Kaberle steps to it.  Big windup. And the shot is lost in the forest.  And then cleared.

Under a minute.  Desharnais, Cole and Gomez.

Shot.  Gomez is shoved, stumbling into the crossbar, face-first following the stoppage.

No call.

Reseau doesn’t review it but we see a mouth stretch of pain from Gomez on the bench.  Forty-one in the penalty.

Spezza wins the draw.  He’s on the PK. He must be playing well.

One last segment.  Subban’s pass is intercepted along the bridge-top but the Sens can’t rush.  Penalty granules drain away.

Nothing more.

Action remains sprightly.

Plekanec down the right and a lane and a shot maw.  Laboured.  And stopped.

And another Ottawa penalty.  Gill is in some pain.  Shoofing air in and out.  Skating around in some pain.  Takes his seat under a watchful eye.  That trainer dude. Not Gervais. That quiet one.  (Ed note:  The guy you like is actually the head therapist, Graham Rynbend.)

Smith is called.  The unapologetic water swish and quick check of the scoreboard.

Montréal wins the draw.

Kostitsyn sends a quick on across.

No sticks reply.

Kept in on the point.  Anderson mishandles it behind his net.  And the Sends cover for him and move it out.

Desharnais, Cole and Pacioretty.  Puck goes up of the netting.

Thirty seconds after a stoppage.

Campoli has been on the ice for much of this power-play.

I don’t even want to think of Markov and where he might be.  And whether he’d be a two-minute guy on the power-play at this point in his career.  Career. What career.

Anderson gets a glove high to frustrate Kostitsyn.  Spectacular, says Denis.

Eight minutes left.

Montreal ice.

Blunden boots the puck from Cowen on the left point.

Cole. Left side.  Anderson is out like it’s the seventies. Cole falls.  Delayed call.  Montreal.  Cole takes it out on a defender.  Boom to the boards.

And Pacioretty is called.

Really too bad, says Houde as the Canadiens were dominating this period.

Ottawa is forced to reset and retrieve immediately.

Price golfs the puck.  And misses.  Habs close.  And clear.

Michalek is shown.  Looking like a part-time werewolf. It’s a compliment.

They entered offside.

Ninety seconds in the penalty.

Another Ottawa entry offside.

How does Alfredsson put up with this team?

Let’s go, let’s go he says almost to himself as he takes the bench.

I have nothing but praise for the sure hall of famer.

Ottawa wastes the rest of the opportunity.  Here’s a log pass from Karlsson that misses everything and is called for icing.

Deep left faceoff.

Five oh seven.  Desharnais line.  Cole finds it and sends it along the boards and the seconds tick away, penalty dies.

Habs lead on shots 11-4.

Computers are a great foil for commercials.

Randy Ladouceur is interviewed.  Ladouceur is also selling himself in these segments.  I suppose a coach will use his time as wisely as possible.
Gill is blinking and talking with Ladouceur.

How pink and punch is Ladouceur, anyway.  Carnations, boasts and toasts.  I wonder.

Under four.

My latest hobby, analysing coaches on YouTube has been worthwhile.  Not just coaches.  Hockey personalities, shall we say.

The body doesn’t lie.  Not well, anyway.

And sports guys aren’t politicians, prone to prevarication.  And the other thing.

Starts with an “e”.

Uh, not emoting.  (Ed note: You were searching for “equivocate” or “equivocation”)

Sometimes pizza and coke are the best way to e-nihilate a cold.

Shot.  Changes trajectory.  Hits the crossbar after missing Price’s head.  Weber got a trailing stick on the Daugavins shot.

Boy, Ottawa is bad.

And the score is 0-0, you say.  Yeah, I know how it looks.

Price sees a cowman round his net and the backhander can’t be had.

Another delayed call.

Light booing.

Why won’t those Montreal fans just shut up.  Or so say those who would see us silenced.  Try again.  We’re too proud.  Too loud.

Pacioretty.

And opinionated.

Tapped a man’s leg on the way to the bench.  Senator leg.  Pacioretty is up and then down in the box in smiling, mock complaint.  Look, just don’t do it.

Players aren’t the only humanoids who don’t like you.  Some refs will look for it.

Ottawa man advantage.

Not much.

Gorges fires long on Anderson.  And the siren goes.

Pacioretty, shameless, leaves the box.  He has a Marc-Andre Bergeron quality.  That quality.  The strange alien unawareness of his surrounding and how he may impact on them.

Interesting.  I’d never noticed that.

Not a good guy to share qualities with.

Second Intermission
Montreal 0, Ottawa 0

The trade.

Tremblay has some harsh but true things to say about Cammalleri.  And he backs it up with player sentiments that he says weren’t plucked from just anywhere.

Cammalleri wanted to play with the best centres on the team and demanded such from Martin in the coach’s office.  Thus Pacioretty was moved from his successful alignment on the Cole line (and other Michael Experiments) and Tremblay says this had a negative impact on his teammates.  Cammalleri’s unwillingness to do the extra work also galled his mates.  He blamed the system for his low scoring output.  Tremblay lays it all out.

Tremblay says some nice things about the late Ron Caron and we’re done.

Michael Cammalleri is a coach-killer and all about Michael Cammalleri.  How sad. And how predictable.  Spezza is the same.  Good luck with those types.

The defenders and apologists will be the same.  Why bother.

Players with an overly inflated sense of self will never shoulder the blame, will never look in the mirror.  And those that apologize for them should consider different careers.

Journalism is about the truth.  Even in sports.

Not that your scribe is a journalist.  More of a literary thug.  But truth isn’t my journalistic weakness.  Now, is it.

Cancer gone.  Team will recover.  As for the rest, the gaffes, the other blemishes, we’ll see.  The worst is over.

Third Period
Ottawa 0, Montreal 0

Or so he thought.

Twenty shifts for Plekanec tonight.  Houde says he’s worked hard but it’s been a tough season.

Price is scissored and slats.  He, too, has been justified.  I can’t imagine he appreciated thirteen’s guff.

Plekanec gets free.  Breaking away.  Breaking.  Chased.  Works, skates works skates.  Harangued.  He needs this.  It won’t.  It won’t.

It will.  It does.  Through. Bouncing.  And lost to Anderson.

The goal.

Bien, bien, bien.  Short-handed.  Notre Homme de Kladno.

Montreal 1, Ottawa 0

The crowd loves him.  And so do we.

Uh.  Me and my glass of coke.

We love him.

Nobody finer.  He sports the A.

Replay.  The great speed.  And the jostling and nearly falling shot from the crease, through two Sens is another sweet signal.  Who says we can’t heal.

Yes, it’s a we night.  Me and my glass.  Uh.

Of Coke.

Even Michael Jordan had fixed his diet somewhat by his forties.  No?

Mr. McDonald’s.  Mr. Cheeseburger and fries.

Eller.  With Moen.  Two on one.

Eller keeps.  Shoots.  It’s high.

Settle down, son.  Around the net.  Shot by Moen.  Off glass.

Price is beaten.  And his arm says no.  What a save by Price, says Houde.

Another burst.  More pressure.  Carey, Carey chants.

That high wrister by Eller.  Just off the arm.

Price shakes it off and moves ahead.  Blink.  Up at the board.  Tight eyes.  And the sweat that drips.  He’s gotten better at it.  Better at shutting it out.  What concentrated kettle pressure this city boils.

Even ice cubes melt.  Even Koivu is gone.

Fifteen.

Spezza.  Right corner.

Habs play for one another.  The relief must be so much.  Straps and pads.  And the marks left behind.  Yes, Pacioretty can use some maturing but it’s much worse when it’s one of your core stars.

Sens work it.  Around.  To the blue.  And behind him.  The red light.

And Dryden’s words recur. The hubris, the panache.  Can all end a period later.  With one shot.  Price wasn’t indulging;  I was just remembering the specificity of the situation illustrated by the former Hab great.

Ottawa 1, Montreal 1

In some ways, today’s player is wiser.  So much more is taught.  And there is a bit more to learn.  Systems.  And the complex cosmopolitan maquillage that is this hockey city’s personality, its media, its culture and its people.

To be Grand again.  To be Quebecois.  To clutch the banner.  To hold Lord Stanley’s silver high again.

Pace is back to mine.  Heart and hare and never before tonight.  The best period of the bunch.

Kostitsyn. Out on the right.  Lofted.  Picked up.  Gonchar.  Across.  Bumped, logged and steered in.  Lost on the hash in a munge of players.

And the puck is shared by Sens low.  Here they come again.

Challenged.

Bodied.

And maybe that’s the most significant mistake Martin made.  But what could he have done. Did Gauthier have his back?  Did Gauthier say, yes, this guy, you can sit him down.  None of it reflects well on the GM.

Nine and a half.

And how much is Gauthier influenced by Gainey?  Is Gainey, robes and hood, slipping switches, shuffling shells and manning the levers?  He’s an intimidating man.  And no doubt he has his own ego, his own sense of things.  Few dare question him.  And maybe more should.

Denis chides the Canadiens turnover of the past few sequences.

Cammalleri wasn’t on the ice for all these mistakes and the same mistakes can’t be blamed on one man. Montreal must, one man to the next, dig themselves out of this.

Cole.  Right side.  To Pacioretty.  Stick in the cave, Anderson across and down and how did that not go in.  What speed from Cole.

Anderson’s stick chacked at it.  And sent it out.
Cole hit on a man is shown.  He’s been almost heroic in his role.

Again, what an addition.

And that, too, was Gauthier’s work.

Yes, it’s all rather complex, isn’t it, Dennis.

What’s been the change in the Sens, a viewer asks.  Paul MacLean, answers Denis.  The club is reenergized since the coach’s installment.  Let’s see how he manages Murray and Spezza.  What a joke.  I’d make it a condition of hire that my rule is the rule.  Or forget the job.

I want to buy the groceries.

But there are only so many Parcells types, those who can call their own terms.  It’s too bad and it speaks, again, to the need for a coach’s union and a better wage among other mechanisms to create a less toxic sports environment.

Seven minutes.

Plekanec entry.  Smith takes a stick to the face.  Accidental.  Plekanec is very upset with the result.  Frustrated.  He didn’t mean it.  And Plekanec goes to the box immediately. He’s upset because the situation allows it.  Rather than numbed at the prospect of a continued toxic season.  With Cammalleri gone, the worst, the most silent of the problems, the toxic whisper, allows for a new kind of hope.

Ottawa scores.

Price despairs for a moment.

Price was a bit deeper in the net than usual, two Sens in the area.  Spezza’s high slapshot rises like a small, mean UFO and sizzles into the net over Price’s left glove.

Ottawa 2, Montréal 1

Just under six.

One goal.  One team.  One net.

But the power-play continues.  Blood and four.

Habs work like the Habs they are.  Eller. Moen.  Gill.  Gorges.

And Tremblay’s mini-tirade occurs again; Cammalleri should never have been on the penalty kill says Tremblay.  Of course, PK assignment can sometimes get a guy going.  Anything.  You know?  But I think Cammalleri was assigned it as a reward.  For his entitled whining.

Penalty ends.

Habs are out.  Plekanec. To Cole.  Pass back is ticked away.

Plekanec has always had chances to stop.  But he never does.  That phone conversation with Koivu helped him.  And the rest has been Tomas.

Three and a half.

Kaberle sends it across from the end line. Desharnais can’t put it away.  Anderson interfered.  Meddled with our puck.

Stoppage.

Gorges’ leadership is discussed.  We can’t give up as long as we’re wearing this jersey.  So Denis heard the BC defenceman say to teammates at bench level.  Invoking his mates.  Is he really Bleu Blanc Rouge?  If he is, he’s welcome here.  And he’s here for the long haul after that contract.

Just over two.  Montreal chases.

Desharnais.

Kaberle sends a pass into the skate.

Kaberle signals, arm in the air and leaves the ice.

Ninety seconds.

Eller.  From the hash.

They struggle.  Smith helps keep the puck in Montréal ice.  Price leaves.  One oh eight.  Lines change.

Nobody to help.  Dangerous.  Houde exclaimed.  It’s in Ottawa ice.

Cole wipes out a man deep.  Just concaves him.

They work, they work and they will it in.  Desharnais is in the crease.  Shot backhanded, rebound.  Pacioretty whacks it in.  Finish and fame.  Desharnais rushes to Pacioretty to hug him. The crowd is buffoon and blam and the confetti flies through the city.  Winter is wonderful.

Montreal 2, Ottawa 2

Faceoff.

And now something dismal.  Accidental puck over the glass. Delay of game.  Gorges is apoplectic.  In his veins.  His guys have to bail him out.

Twenty-seven seconds.

Spezza on the right point.

And I fear the big centre for the first time since 2006.  One shot.  Blocked before the gate.

Another shot.  Legs.  And then an obtuse angle.  Price is there.

Shots were tied at 11.  Twelve six in the second for Montréal  and 9-7 Montreal in the first.

Habs lead 32-24, overall.

And overtime.

Five minutes.  Four on four.

Overtime
Montreal 2, Ottawa 2

Records are shown.  So what.

(C’est la mien.  Troy Tongue.)

Gomez spits and watches.  Plekanec Subban and Plekanec.  Gorges is normally on in a situation like this.

One entry rebuffed.  A second, as Plekanec crossed the lane and his wayward stick was shrewd, not lax.

One shot.  High.  Glass.  Context, perspective, philosophy mean nothing.  And another shot.  It’s also high.

And a stoppage.

So what.  So what. So what.  It all matters.  It doesn’t matter that it doesn’t matter.

Draw. Gill gets low.  And Plekanec wins it.  And it’s long.

Karlsson.  Over.  Brakes immediately.  Sent down. Three Habs looking like five.  The same three.

Shot.  Off Neil.  Price bumps it.

Eight seconds.  Ottawa. Desperate. They need and want to shut us out and shut us down. More a response to the crowd, to the game.  Their pro pride and these are north-east opponents after all.  A long history.

And a close neighbour.

Penalty ends.  So what.  So what.  So what.

Here come your Habs. Under three.

Diaz. Can’t handle it.  Now he does. Fires it.  Off a leg. Maybe Anderson’s.  Karlsson is behind the net.

Crowd is reduced to prison catcalls, jeers and a whining concrete furl.

Eller.  Two men.  Pacioretty goes offside.  Eller should have gone straight in.

Pacioretty is fully contained.  Spitting.  Eller, disappointed.

Plekanec is back on.  Gorges with him.  The disappointment fades like rage falling from cheeks.

Two minute s and they have a job to do.

Subban.  Takes it back.  Keeps gliding.  Behind his net.  Across.  Plekanec to Subban. Back to the centre.  And no third response.

Shot left point.

A reset.  PK through one, and a second.  And he has to hustle to get back.  His chance was a lost sock in the living room.

One oh five.

Montreal presses.

But Karlsson is out.

Keeps. Over. Backhanded.  He’s so slow. Hands work.  And the magic isn’t there. Price stops it easily.

Forty seconds.

Cole.  Left side.  Around and under the blue, a J- shaped hope. Around the hash. Lost puck.  Habs come up with it.  Subban slashes a player.  Gets away with it.

Plekanec left side.  Plekanec. Left hash.  Just try and make a bad call, Devorski.

Five seconds.  Kaberle glides up and harangues Foligno.  Long shot from mi-ice.  And it’s gloved.  And the period ends.

Price’s time.  And his face says as much.

Shootout
Ottawa 2, Montréal 2

More stats.  So what.  So what.  So what.

Just win, baby.  As the late Al Davis used to say.  As he coined.

The goalies ready.

The shooters are known.  Pieces of paper to eh scorers’ table.  Old men.  Good thing they’re not goal judges. Do we even need goal judges.

I wonder if I’m going to be anti-old man when I’m an old man.

Hmmm.

Yes.

I shall.

Old men are nothing but trouble.

They scrape their creases.  That stupid LMAO Shots song blares through.  I hate that album.  Get drunk and rape a girl.  That’s the message.  To hell with chauvinism.  And hate.  And misogyny.

Eller.

Deke.  Over the net.

Not even close.

Michalek.  Number nine.  The wolf.

Over the blue. Michalek blocks it sliding backward, the right leg across.

Great save.  All reflex.  And he stays prone for a few seconds in the net.

Kaberle.

A fake and then a try for the five-hole.  Closed pads.

Spezza.  The overconfident teeth.  And the sniffle and snort.

Way wide.  Over the net.  Spezza and Price is a peer on peer showdown. And I’m additionally happy for this reason.

Pacioretty.  Crowd loves him.  Who knows why.

Changes speeds.  Shoots.  Stopped. He only ever shoots.  Like Dagenais.

Dagenais has a much better shot.

Alfredsson.

Shot and a goal.

The captain wins it.

Tough loss.

But not for lack of effort.

Final Score
Ottawa 3
Montreal 2

A little head fake and a shot through the legs.  With panache, says Houde.

HDS Stars: Tomas Plekanec, Jason Spezza, Erik Cole
RDS Stars: Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, Craig Anderson

Daniel Alfredsson is one of the great leaders in hockey history.  A UFA very soon.

<let’s sign him>

 

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