Game thread MTL vs BUF Nov 25, 2005

Figaro · Guru

Game thread MTL vs BUF Nov 25, 2005

Jedah · Guru

Having gone to the last game, I can honestly tell you Montreal won't have to worry about not having the hometown crowd tomorrow night

Seriously though, I think the guys can beat Buffalo. We just need to see a strong showing from all 4 lines, and our goalie to show up like he did last game against Atlanta.

superhab · Guru

Jedah wrote:

Having gone to the last game, I can honestly tell you Montreal won't have to worry about not having the hometown crowd tomorrow night Seriously though, I think the guys can beat Buffalo. We just need to see a strong showing from all 4 lines, and our goalie to show up like he did last game against Atlanta.

To bad thats not a good thing. We have not played well at home compared to our away stats.

heet_150 · Guru

superhab wrote:

To bad thats not a good thing. We have not played well at home compared to our away stats.

Habs are on the road for the next three games in Buffalo, Toronto then in Ottawa though.

I'm more concerned with the team looking ahead to Toronto and then to Ottawa. While there is the huge rivalvry with Toronto, everyone looks to see how they compare to the best, and right now, the best is Ottawa.

davidb · Guru

I am concerned for the Habs the next 3 games. If we are to win one, tonights should be the easiest. We need to start any road trip with a win anyway. When I watched the Leafs game against Boston, they looked tired and big #88 did nothing at all. A win tonight would give us confidence and we could then get ready fot the next one. Hey, the Sens are not perfect either we could possibly beat them hell, we may take all three for the 6 points

NorthwindNS · Veteran Member

I think this 3 game road stretch is just what our Habs need. Their road stats are more solid then their home stats. I hope to see a lot of fans from Montreal in Buffalo like I did the other game. It will be a good game.

Very close... 4-3.

Theodore will be solid and we will see Ribs, Begin, Markov (Powerplay), and Zednick score.

-- Edited by NorthwindNS at 17:20, 2005-11-25

AB Habman · Guru

I'm going out on a limb in saying Ribs is going to break out and have a good game as his wingers are going to finish some plays off this evening!

Kendich · Veteran Member

I just heard that Danis will get the nod in goal tonight.

thompstar · Veteran Member

whoever gets the start needs to be sharp early as you can bet buffalo will come out hungry after losing the first 2 to us....i have feeling a the start will determine the game and if we can weather the strom early or get off to a good start ourselves, then we will dominate the game....come on guys lets stay in w column

4-2 habs

go habs go!

NorthwindNS · Veteran Member

thompstar wrote:

i have feeling a the start will determine the game and if we can weather the strom early or get off to a good start ourselves, then we will dominate the game....come on guys lets stay in w column
4-2 habs
go habs go!

It seems that, since the start of this season, we cannot determine a game by the first period. Sometimes we can't determine a game by the second period. There is no telling whats going to happen. If the Sabres come out flying in the first they will be tired by the third, but so will we.

JohnM · Guru

Seems J.P. Dumont doesn't think the Habs are a good team:

From the Nov. 22, 2005, edition of The Hockey News, in the "Snapshots" column:

After suffering back-to-back losses to the Habs, Dumont writes of the upcoming Nov. 25 rematch: "It's going to be payback time, not just to win, but to destroy the Canadiens. We have the talent and the players to do nothing less."

NorthwindNS · Veteran Member

Some heavy words. Be nice to see how the game turns out tonite. Seems to be more to this game then expected... I sense jealousy?

plouf · Guru

I'm probably not the only one, but I'm unable to watch this game.

Any descriptions of how things are going would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks for whatever you've got.

NorthwindNS · Veteran Member

Wow. What a first period. Both teams came out flying. Shots are 15-13 Montreal. Danis is looking solid except for some rebounds. Very exciting game. We had a great chance with 20 seconds left in the first; Biron made 1 save, then a forward got down and made another save, the Bulis (I think it was Bulis) could have landed it in the top right of the net, but a defensemen shot it down the ice.

The next two periods are going to be very interesting.

There is hardly anyone at the game, I saw some Habs jerseys out there too!

Also, each team had a powerplay. We did not do well on ours, but the Sabres had some good chances. I can't tell if Ryder is playing on the first or second line... I think Ryder is playing with Ribs. Pleks had a great opportunity!!!! He walked right in through 3 Sabres and I believe he got a shot on net.

-- Edited by NorthwindNS at 20:47, 2005-11-25

-- Edited by NorthwindNS at 20:48, 2005-11-25

JohnM · Guru

This game is one of the worst games to watch so far this year. The way the Habs are playing with no second effort, sad to see.

plouf · Guru

Well those two posts sure contradicted each other.

But thanks for the updates! Keep 'em coming!

JohnM · Guru

plouf wrote:

Well those two posts sure contradicted each other. But thanks for the updates! Keep 'em coming!

I guess I should clarify. In each of the two periods the Habs played a decent 5 minutes. Both coming at the end of each period. For the rest of the time they look like they are sleep walking. The 3rd and 4th lines are pretty much useless in the offensive zone and the 1st and 2nd just can't bury the chances they are getting. Danis had no chance on the two goals against.

AB Habman · Guru

JohnM wrote:

This game is one of the worst games to watch so far this year. The way the Habs are playing with no second effort, sad to see.

More like the Sabres aren't giving Habs much! They are playing well defensively and Biron is sharp! Still we look flat without Kovy to break through or back up their defense!

NorthwindNS · Veteran Member

Buffalo 2, Montreal 0

Martin Biron is solid and outstanding; 30 saves. The Habs really stepped it up in the last minutes of the 2nd on the powerplay, but we got nothing except SAVE after SAVE by Biron. The two goals on Danis were caused by major gaps in our defense. The only solid defense we are getting is from Rivet and Markov. Plekantic had some good chances.

To clear up my last post; Ryder is playing on the second line with Ribs. I'm still not sure whose on the first line with Koivu and Zednik - it might be Bulis.

This is the first game that I am really watching Dagenies - and he is slow as molases (spelling). Well, the Habs have to come out flying in the third and score two quick goals - but Biron is going to be hard to beat. This is going to be a hard game to win - JohnM is right... this is one of the hardest games to watch. But I am not turning it off, I gotta stick with my Habs.

NorthwindNS · Veteran Member

JohnM wrote:

plouf wrote:
Well those two posts sure contradicted each other. But thanks for the updates! Keep 'em coming!
I guess I should clarify. In each of the two periods the Habs played a decent 5 minutes. Both coming at the end of each period. For the rest of the time they look like they are sleep walking. The 3rd and 4th lines are pretty much useless in the offensive zone and the 1st and 2nd just can't bury the chances they are getting. Danis had no chance on the two goals against.

Yeah... for the first 5 minutes of the 1st period the Habs were in control - then Buf took over, and really outskated Mon.
The second period was just the opposite - they stepped it up during the last five minutes of the period.
JohnM is right when he says Montreal was sleepwalking through most of the periods. Its sad.

Figaro · Guru

Anyone else tired of goalies always playing their A-game vs the Habs? What a pain in the bum...

JohnM · Guru

Figaro wrote:

Anyone else tired of goalies always playing their A-game vs the Habs? What a pain in the bum...

As a Habs fan it feels that way but in reality it is more likely that the boys are just not pressuring him and they aren't getting their bodies in front of the net.

JohnM · Guru

From hero to zero as Begin take a useless penalty with almost no time left in the 3rd right after Habs ring one off the post.

Buffalo scores and this one is over!

Can you say back to back losses two weeks in a row. This could be another brutal weekend if you are a Habs fan.

-- Edited by JohnM at 22:18, 2005-11-25

Habhead · Veteran Member

Yeah, I hope I'm wrong, but I just can't see Theo beating the Leafs tomorrow in Toronto. Then we go to Ottawa . . .

NorthwindNS · Veteran Member

The Habs played a strong first part of the third period. Then Begin took a bad penalty. Sabres scored twice on the powerplay to win this one 3-1. We had major chances on our last powerplay but couldn't get it in net. Rivet hit the post. Time for CJ to talk to these guys about playing a full 60 minute hockey game!

davidb · Guru

We lost this one, hot goalie loads of missed shots now TO and the Sens. We will be very hard pressed to win either of those games. Gentlemen and Ladies we are in a very bad slump or freefall whatever you want to call it. Yes Souray And Kovy are out but even if they were playing they are not on the ice 100 percent of the time. By the time the next two games are over, and they go the way i think they will we would have lose what7 out of 8 Kovy and Souray will not solve our problems

brooklynhabfan · Guru

Biron is way too underrated - when he's on, he's championship calibre. Unfortunately that was tonight.

Toronto looked sloppy a lot against Carolina tonight, so if sloppy can beat sloppy, we should be fine tomorrow

NorthwindNS · Veteran Member

davidb wrote:

We lost this one, hot goalie loads of missed shots now TO and the Sens. We will be very hard pressed to win either of those games. Gentlemen and Ladies we are in a very bad slump or freefall whatever you want to call it. Yes Souray And Kovy are out but even if they were playing they are not on the ice 100 percent of the time. By the time the next two games are over, and they go the way i think they will we would have lose what7 out of 8 Kovy and Souray will not solve our problems

They will not solve our problems but they will help! Kovy is an inspiration to the team and goalies are scared of him (another poster said this). With Kovy back in the top line we will have a strong 1st line and decent 2nd. Right now we have Zednick, Koivu, and Bulis. Bulis is not good enough for the 1st line. Ryder should be on the first line with Zedk and Koivu if we want a strong 1st line. All in all we need better defense.

davidb · Guru

we need depth on d and we need to look around for another d man

plouf · Guru

In the month of November so far:

first two weeks 4-0-2

Then we lose Kovalev.

Since then we've gone 2-3-0

One of those wins was stolen by our goalie, but some of our losses have been from running into hot goalies too. We've been outshooting teams by a lot in the majority of our games.

I wouldn't call it free fall yet.