Habs Lose To Flyers 4-2, And Trail 3-1 In The Series

The Montreal Canadiens lost 4-2 to the Philadelphia Flyers tonight, now the Habs have their backs against the wall, trailing 3-1 in the series which heads back to Montreal.

The scoring for the Habs went like this, Tomas Plekanec, from Josh Gorges, and Francis Bouillon, and Saku Koivu, from Mark Streit, and Francis Bouillon. Jaroslav Halak made 22 stops in the loss. For the Flyers, the scoring went like this, R.J Umberger, from Daniel Briere, then Scott Hartnell, from Vaclav Prospal, then Daniel Briere, from Mike Knuble, and Prospal, and finally R.J. Umberger, from Jeff Carter ( empty net ). Martin Biron made 36 saves for the win.

After two periods, the Canadiens had almost double the amount of shots that the Flyers had, but they still couldn’t beat Biron. The Habs were trying, but Biron seemed to see everything. Why didn’t Guillaume Latendresse stand in front of the net? Perhaps even Tom Kostopolous, or Steve Begin. Well, either they are too afraid, or they are being told otherwise. Hello, if Biron is seeing everything then blind him somehow, it doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.

Jaroslav Halak played well after two periods, especially on the Jeff Carter break-away. The defence played well also, as one could see from the shot total, but there was no finishing on great plays that the Habs made. It almost seems as though the Canadiens were shooting the puck directly at Biron, making him look better than he really is. After two periods, the Habs were behind 1-0.

In the third period, the Flyers were able to score another goal, for which the Habs replied scoring two quick ones to tie the game. Unfortunately for the Habs, two goals wasn’t enough to get them into overtime. Once again during the course of the game, the Habs out-played the Flyers only to get the short end of the stick. Again the Habs were able to keep the number of shots to a minimum for the Flyers, but when Philly got a chance they buried it.

So far in the series after four games the Habs have out-shot the Flyers, and have for the most part out-played them also, is Biron as good as he seems, no, he’s a good goalie, when he was available I wanted the Habs to acquire him, but he isn’t as good as he seems. The Canadiens seem to be shooting right at him, sure he is in the right position sometimes, but all the time? No goalie can boast that! In the play-offs the majority of the goals are garbage, which opens up the skilled shooters to score as everyone’s attention is on the guy in front of the net. For the Habs, they shoot, but from un-obstructed angles, so Biron sees everything, no one is in front of the net. I don’t know if they are being told something different, but it seems that no-one is willing to pay the price and stand in front of the net on a consistent basis, that’s what will disturb Biron enough to let in goals.

If the Canadiens want a chance to win game #5 in Montreal, they have to crash the net, and bother Biron, and like I said, with someone standing in front of the net, there will be a spot for someone to shoot from as a defense-man will try to move that person obstructing Biron’s view, I’m sure that the coaches have noticed that after four games?!

Maxime Lapierre should be replaced, the Habs have nothing left to lose, put in someone like Gregory Stewart, he’s grittier than Lapierre, and fresh, Plekanec is also not doing much, he should be replaced also, put in Mikhail Grabovski, sure Grabs isn’t the best face-off guy, but how many face-offs has Plekanec won lately? And why replace Ryan O’Byrne with Patrice Brisebois again, O’Byrne played well last game, and the Flyers only had 14 shots on goal, am I missing something? Brisebois isn’t playing better than O’Byrne, at least if O’Byrne makes a mistake, he’s a rookie, what excuses can be made for Brisebois when he makes mistakes?

The series now shifts back to Montreal on Saturday, hopefully the two day break will give the Habs enough time to figure out how they are going to win on home ice, and not lose the series 4-1 in Montreal. The Canadiens will most likely come back with Carey Price in nets, hoping that the break he had will have cleared the cobb webs out of his head. The Habs have to play the same way defensively, but have to break their funk of not being able to capitalize on their chances. If they can’t find a way to bother Biron, well then the Habs have to hope that Biron has a bad game, either way, the Habs can’t permit themselves to lose the series on home ice, the Habs shouldn’t even be in this predicament. Crash the net boys, bother Biron, get the Flyers into penalty trouble, and then score, wear the Flyers defence out, and get in front of Biron!